Oliver Patton Echols was born on March 4, 1892 in Charlottesville, Virginia, to William Holding Echols, a university professor [REF].
Echols enlisted in 1916 and served in World War I with the United States Army Air Service, American Expeditionary Force, from August 1917 to April 1919, participating as an aviator in the battles of Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne [REF].