Theodore Rickey Hostetter was born in Pittsburgh, USA in October 1897. His father, also named Theodore, was a wealthy businessman whose wealth came from the product Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters – a tonic which also contained a lot of alcohol. Theodore Snr was also a renowned gambler and sportsman. He died in 1902. His widow, Allene, subsequently remarried Anson Wood Burchard. Theodore Jnr was at Harvard College (Class of 1919) but joined the Royal Flying Corps in Canada in 1917. After training, he was appointed as a Lieutenant (on probation) in the RFC in December 1917. He joined 54 Squadron in France in April 1918 but barely after ten days in France, he was wounded and invalided back to England. He returned to France in September 1918 after recovering from his injuries and was posted to No 3 Squadron, based at Valheureux, flying Sopwith Camels. Theodore was killed in action near Masnieres on 27 September 1918 – he was last seen engaging with eight Fokker DV11s (possibly down by the German Ace Von Greim)
Theodore is buried in the Somme American Cemetery at Bony.
Close to where his plane came down, there is a monument, paid for by his mother. His mother also made financial contributions to assist the building of a local school, named Ecole Hostetter, where a plaque can be seen in remembrance of her son.

Source: Western Front Association
Enlisted in the RAF on 14 Aug 17. Shot down in his Sopwith Camel by the German Ace Von Greim, who claimed his 25th kill. Theodore Hostetter was the son of Theodore HOSTETTER and Allène TEW (who remarried Morton Colton Nichols, then Anson Wood Burchard, then Prince Henry XXIII and finally the Count Paul Kotzbue.) After the war, his mother donated money to erect the memorial, as well as to build the school which still ports his name.