Three camera-equipped Salmson A2As dropped through the clouds over Verdun, France, while the lead pilot, 24-year-old Lt. George Ohrstrom, pointed below. As his observer, Lt. Joseph Mallory, turned from his gun to take pictures, Ohrstrom sharply avoided a red-tailed Fokker D-7 that had flashed out of the clouds. Mallory got off a quick burst—the Fokker hung in the air for a moment and then nosed over, trailing smoke and fire in a slow spin downward. It was 1:15, November 10, 1918. For Ohrstrom and his 5th Corps Observation Group, it was the last mission. For the U.S., the last kill. The next day the Armistice ending the Great War was signed.

Salmson A2As were French-designed two-seater biplanes. Their top speed was a slow 116-mph, making them ideal observation aircraft. These three were among several hundred Salmsons assigned to ten American Expeditionary Force Observation Squadrons in France.

For Ohrstrom, the war was over, but his connection with aviation was not. He returned to New York and founded G.L. Ohrstrom & Co., an investment-banking firm. At the same time, Val Leach began making electrical relays for aircraft. Twenty-nine years later, Leach International became part of the Ohrstrom Group, the Chairman of which was the ex-pilot who participated in the last kill of WWI.

Leach International also happened to be the company that originally commissioned the Heritage of the Air Collection. In 2004, Leach was acquired by Esterline Corporation, sponsor of this first public exhibition of the collection. Many thanks to George F. Ohrstrom, current Chairman of G. L. Ohrstrom & Co., for loaning the painting about his father.