WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Bullets screamed by as the wooden DH-4 airplane skimmed the top of the French Argonnes forest in 1918. The airplane carried vital ammunition and supplies for the Lost Battalion — a group of more than 500 men in the United States 77th Infantry Division trapped and surrounded by German forces in the middle of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in World War I.

Lt. Erwin Bleckley, a forward observer from Wichita, pressed his pilot, Lt. Harold Goettler, to fly lower so they could more accurately search for the battalion. Their low altitude drew gunfire, revealing German positions, and...