Edmond Charles Clinton Genet (November 9, 1896 – April 17, 1917) was the first American flier to die in the First World War after the United States declared war against Germany, shot down by anti-aircraft artillery on April 17, 1917. Genet had deserted from the US Navy in 1915 to travel to France and fought for over a year with the French Foreign Legion in the trenches of eastern France. After six months of training, he joined the Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron of fighter aircraft that mostly consisted of Americans. Genet was killed less than four months later. Early life Genet was born in Ossining, New York on November 9, 1896, to Albert Rivers Genet and Martha Rodman Fox. He was the youngest of three sons and his two brothers served in the military during the First World War. His father was a lawyer and his mother was involved in several organizations including the Daughters of the American Revolution. Genet was the second great-grandson of Edmond-Charles Genêt, the controversial French Ambassador to the United States in 1793. He was educated at Mt. Pleasant Military Academy. When his father died in 1912, he took on several jobs to help his mother with bills, including one at a dairy owned by V. Everit Macy, a government official for the county. US Navy Genet interviewed to be accepted as a cadet at the US Naval Academy but failed mathematics and was rejected. Genet was encouraged to join the US Navy as it was thought that he would be promoted quickly. Genet joined the US naval militia as an ordinary seaman in 1914 at just 17. Genet was posted to , which was sent to the port city of Veracruz as a result of the Tampico Affair. After three months, Georgia left Veracruz and sailed to Port au Prince, Haiti, where Genet heard that war had broken out in Europe. In late December, Genet was given leave of ten days but failed to return as he decided that he would go to France to fight against the Central Powers. He was able to get a visa by giving his age as twenty-one to the French visa official. He was able to secure a passport by lying and saying he was only going to France to inquire about his family's estate. Genet kept quiet until he was able to secure the necessary documents but before