Although the DH-4 was originally a British combat airplane, it was redesigned in the U.S. in 1917 for the famed Liberty engine. The airplane was used by the U.S. Air Service in France primarily for observation, day bombing, and artillery spotting. It carried the nickname "The Flaming Coffin" because of the supposed ease with which it could be shot down in flames but, in reality, only eight of the 33 DH-4s lost in combat by the U.S. burned as they fell.

This was no greater percentage than for the French and British-built airplanes used by the A.E.F. in France. The DH-4 was the only U.S.-built airplane to get into combat during WW I. By the Armistice, 3,431 had been delivered to the Air Service, most of which were built by the Dayton-Wright Airplane Co. Of these, 1,213 had been shipped to France and 417 had gotten into combat.