As the country's most celebrated amateur athlete of the early twentieth century, Hobey Baker was a genuine superstar on both the ice and gridiron. He is the only individual to be inducted in both the Hockey Hall of Fame and the College Hall of Fame. Today the Hobey Baker Memorial Award is college hockey's equivalent to the Heisman Trophy, and is awarded annually to the country's most talented player. Thousands admired the gifted, handsome athlete including F. Scott Fitzgerald who patterned several of his memorable characters after Baker.When the Great War broke out in Europe, Hobey joined the legendary Lafayette Escadrille and took part in deadly air battles alongside Eddie Rickenbacker against the feared Flying Circus of Baron Richthofen, the Red Baron, over the trenches and death fields of France.Just weeks after the armistice ended the horrific carnage, Baker lost his life in a senseless and mysterious plane crash, his orders to return home discovered tucked in his jacket pocket. He was twenty-seven years old. His story is one of courage, adventure, chivalry and suspense in the final days before the Great War forever shattered America's innocence.
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