He was the son of famed astronomer William W. Campbell, the head of the Lick Observatory and future president of the University of California.

At the time the United States entered World War I in April 1917, he was a student at Harvard University noted for his athletic prowess.

[2] Assigned to the Air Service, Campbell learned to fly in a Curtiss Jenny aircraft and was later trained in a Nieuport fighter.

He was assigned to the famous Pursuit 94th Aero Squadron (the "Hat in the ring" gang) - at this stage flying Nieuport 28 fighters.

Campbell was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery in aerial combat over Flirey, France on May 19, 1918 and in the next 3 weeks received 4 Oak Leaf Clusters.

Cartavio was a farm where sugarcane was grown and where W. R. Grace & Co. had built the first mill to produce sugar at the end of the nineteenth century.