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As a young cadet Manfred von Richthofen climbed a church steeple at Wahlstatt and tied his handkerchief to its lighting rod, just for fun. He loved risk. He came from a wealthy Junker family and in his youth enjoyed hunting and riding horses. When the war broke out Manfred was a cavalry officer and saw duty on both the Eastern and Western fronts scouting for the German Army. By May of 1915 he was bored with scouting and asked to be transferred to the Flying service. On September 17, 1916, Richthofen recorded his first aerial combat victory. Before his career was over he shot down eighty allied aircraft and was the leading ace of the war. As his success increased so did his popularity with the German people. He was showered with military decorations and treated like a hero by the Germans. His flaming red Fokker airplane became infamous to the troops in the trenches. In the air he embodied deadly grace and his experience as a hunter helped him as a pilot. By 1918 he had become such a legend that it was feared that his death would be a blow to the morale of the German people. His superiors asked him to retire, but he refused as long as there were still troops in the trenches. He began to get more depressed and the emotional weight of being responsible for so many deaths began to press on him. On April 21, 1918, his career ended when he was shot down over enemy lines by Roy Brown of Canada. His opponents had so much respect for the noble flyer, that he was given a hero's funeral.