Campbell; 1st U.S.-Trained Flying Ace

COS COB, Conn. — Douglas Campbell, who flew the first American mission over enemy lines during World War I and was the first U.S.-trained pilot to become an ace, died Tuesday of respiratory failure. He was 94.

Campbell, who died at his home here, was one of only two surviving American aces--pilots who shot down at least five enemy aircraft--from World War I.

He flew the first American mission with Eddie Rickenbacker on March 6, 1918, and later that year shot down six German planes.

Wounded in a dogfight, Campbell was discharged as a captain. He later worked for Panagra, the airline formed by W. R. Grace Co. and Pan American World Airways to serve Latin America.

Two American pilots--Maj. William Thaw and Capt. D. M. K. Peterson--had each previously downed five planes, earning the ace designation. But they had trained in France with the Lafayette Escadrille and not under American officers.