Captain Georges Thenault credits Adjudant Norman Prince for conceiving in November 1914 the idea of bringing together his countrymen with some of those of the French Foreign Legion in a squadron of flyers.

Marshal Philippe Pétain, Commander-in-Chief of the French forces, commended the Lafayette squadron, composed of American airmen, for its courage, spirit and sacrifice.

[9] Between 20 October 1917 to early February 1918, the process of releasing the American volunteers from the Lafayette Escadrille so that they could become commissioned pilots of the United States Army Air Service was slow.

[10] This was mainly due to the required bureaucratic civil and military endorsements that took place between the French Bureau of the Minister of War and to the American Expeditionary Force, Chief of Staff Major General James William McAndrew, U.S.A. On Monday, 18 February 1918, under the provisions of a curious and interesting agreement between the French and American armies, the Lafayette Escadrille became the 103d Aero Squadron – originally known as 103d Pursuit Squadron – United States Army Air Service.

Of these volunteer pilots, five died of illness; six by accidents in the aviation schools; fifteen were taken prisoners; nineteen were wounded in combat; and, fifty-one were killed over the front lines.

The French government recognized the American volunteers for their heroic achievements in the skies over France with the following: four Legions of Honor, seven Medailles Militaires, and thirty-one citations (each with a Croix de Guerre).

After the disbandment of the LaFayette Escadrille, Captain Thenault accepted orders as chief pilot at the French School of Aerial Acrobacy & Combat at Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, remaining there for the duration of the war.

Following the end of World War I, Captain Thenault continued military service in the Armée de l'Air (ALA) – literally Air Army, and found time to compile his personal diary notes into a historical work pertaining to the famous LaFayette Escadrille.

Between 1919 and 1921, Thenault purposely wrote this book to place on record the exploits and sacrifices of those daring American volunteers who served under his command and who gave so noble a response to the "deed of LaFayette" whom they chose as their namesake.

[18] Promoted to commandant in 1923, Thenault completed his six-year tour as military attaché in spring 1928, went to France and later returned to the United States reporting to the French embassy in Washington DC, Friday, 27 July 1928, as Military Attaché for Aeronautics – replacing newly promoted Brigadier Gen Georges Armand Louis Dumont In this assignment Commandant Thenault sought to strengthen bonds of friendship between the United States and France by traveling through a number of cities visiting aircraft factories, conferring with aeronautical experts, and inspecting Army air stations in order to keep his government informed of American progress in the aircraft industry.

Lieutenant Colonel Thenault with his family (wife Sarah, children Catherine and Georges) were residing in France when World War II erupted.

Prior to the armistice and the cease-fire that went into effect on Tuesday, 25 June 1940, Georges Thenault had plans in place to remove his American wife, the two children, and mother-in-law Katherine "Danny" Spencer out of Europe.

In mid-July 1940, using their U.S. passports as identification, Danny and Sarah with the two children were able to travel through Spain via train to reach the Port of Lisbon, Portugal, where they boarded SS Exochorda on Thursday, 25 July.

[20] Crossing at high speed over the steamship was able to successfully transit through the U-boat infested waters of the North Atlantic, to arrive at the Port of New York, Friday, 2 August 1940.

With Katherine, Sarah and the two children eventually arrived at Harwich Port, Massachusetts, where they resided in the home of her mother during remainder of World War II.

He was buried on Thursday, 30 December 1948, with all military rites in the presence of many French and American representatives in the crypt of the LaFayette Escadrille Memorial Monument in the park of Villeneuve L'etang, between the suburbs of Garches and Marnes-la-Coquette.

The memorial, endowed by the generosity of the late William Nelson Cromwell, serves also as the tomb for pilots who were with the squadron and as a monument on which has been inscribed the names of all the American volunteers.

[26] "The squadrilla, composed of American volunteers who have come to fight for France in the pure spirit of sacrifice, has fought incessantly under the command of Captain Georges Thenault, who formed it for an ardent flight against our enemies.