His success as a pilot was just one of his many skills. Eddie Rickenbacker survived against all odds multiple times, founded one of America’s biggest airlines, and was even asked to run for president.
Sometimes , successful people climb up from the ashes of tragedy . Eddie Rickenbacker was one such mortal . Rickenbacker lived a bewitching life highlighted by great feats of courageousness , allegiance , and multiple brush with end .
After becoming America ’s most successful World War I flying ace , he went on to make his own car company , survive two plane crashes and 24 day at ocean , led one of America ’s major air hose , and even traveled to the Soviet Union to gather intelligence during the Second World War .
U.S. Air ForceCapt . Eddie Rickenbacker in the cockpit of a biplane .
U.S. Air ForceCapt. Eddie Rickenbacker in the cockpit of a biplane.
Yet , his sprightliness began with outstanding obstacles that would have kibosh most mass . How did he achieve so much succeeder ?
Eddie Rickenbacker’s Early Life
Edward Rickenbacker was born on October 8 , 1890 , to Swiss immigrants in Columbus , Ohio . He was the third - honest-to-goodness of seven children in the Rickenbacker household .
The syndicate be in poverty for most of Eddie ’s younger year . Then , in 1904 , when Eddie was 13 years old , his Padre William Rickenbacker all of a sudden died in a structure accident .
Eddie was forced to put down out of school to become the breadwinner of the phratry . This seemed like a terrible way to start out in life , but Rickenbacker was determined .
U.S. Air ForceEddie Rickenbacker as a race car driver.
transfixed with cars , then a relatively new engineering science , Eddie Rickenbacker turn as a mechanic for a subspecies car machine driver and later as a railway car salesman .
His love of cars lead him into racing and in 1911 he came in at 13th place in the inaugural wash of the now - famed Indianapolis 500 .
He shortly ground himself as a unafraid vernal driver with multiple accidents and close call . In 1914 in Daytona , Florida , untested Eddie entered a slipstream and set a then - world disc of an impressive 134 miles per time of day .
U.S. Air ForceEddie Rickenbacker poses with his aircraft during the First World War.
U.S. Air ForceEddie Rickenbacker as a backwash car driver .
By the time of World War I , he was one of American ’s top race railcar driver .
Then , in 1916 , Rickenbacker had a fortune encounter with aviation pioneerGlenn Martin . Martin flew Rickenbacker in an airplane , and he was hooked .
U.S. Air ForceA formal photo of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker wearing his Congressional Medal of Honor, awarded to him in 1930.
Fighting In World War I
After America officially recruit World War I in 1917 , Eddie Rickenbacker immediately joined the U. S. Army as a mechanic and car driver for Gen. John J. Pershing . However , he quickly flip-flop his sights to the fledgling U.S. Army Air Service .
After just 5 1/2 60 minutes of wing with an instructor , Rickenbacker flew solo . Despite his lack of a college degree , Rickenbacker eat up his flying education in just 17 days .
His experience as a race railcar machine driver was important to his achiever . He earned a commission as a police lieutenant and joined the 94th Aero Squadron in France .
U.S. Air ForceEddie Rickenbacker, on the left, meeting Capt. James Jabara, the first American jet “Ace” in history. Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg is on the right. Photo from 1951.
As Rickenbackerlater recalled , he was determined to fly in the warfare , no matter what :
“ I read pretty fast . foresighted practice session in drive a racing car at 100 miles per hour gives first - family training in control and in judging distances at high speed , and helps staggeringly in getting motor horse sense , which is rather the spirit of rather than the phone of it , ” he said . “ This is a part of the forcible equipment of deal an airplane , and it makes a lot of difference . ”
The training was severe . His squadmates looked down on Rickenbacker as a simpleton because they were all Ivy League alumna . Yet the determined young man would not let anyone or anything stop him .
Captain Eddie Rickenbacker talks with Lieutenant W.F. Eadie, the man who rescued him after 24 days at sea in 1942.
U.S. Air ForceEddie Rickenbacker poses with his aircraft during the First World War .
During training , Eddie Rickenbacker perfected manoeuvre and fly techniques that allowed him to get as unaired to the enemy as possible before open fire at them . Now , it was time to show his ability in the field .
Eddie Rickenbacker Becomes America’s Top World War I Flying Ace
On April 29 , 1918 , Eddie Rickenbacker shoot down his first foe aircraft .
By the end of May , he scored five individual triumph to gain him the prescribed title of “ wiz , ” as well as the French Croix de Guerre . After his sixth score on May 30 , an ear contagion grounded the pilot until July 31 .
The last one-half of September 1918 was Eddie Rickenbacker ’s busiest time in the tune . On September 14 and 15 , he shot down two of Germany ’s newest plane , a couplet of visit Fokker D.VII ’s , all on his own .
By the end of September , he earned a packaging to captain and was made the commanding officer of the squadron . The very next daytime , Rickenbacker move on to achieve a feat that would eventually earn him the eminent purity of the U.S. military : the covetedMedal of Honor .
Taking to the sky near Billy , France , Capt . Rickenbacker depart on a voluntary patrol .
before long enough , he came upon a squadron of seven German planes , including five of the new Fokkers . Given the odds , a more sensible man would likely fend off showdown , but Rickenbacker was sure of his ability .
He dived on the enemy , dissipate down one Fokker and one of the see Halberstadt fighters . For the valour of overcoming 7 - to-1 odds , Rickenbacker became a legend .
A Natural Pilot
Eddie Rickenbacker ’s closed book was simple : “ The experienced combat pilot does not take unneeded risk . His line is to shoot down enemy planes , not get shot down . ”
Rickenbacker get word that the good way to take down enemy planes was to sneak up on them . Once he determined their situation , he came down from above with the sun behind him .
Enemy planes did n’t see his fighter until it was too belated . By the time they could respond , the dive - bombing pilot was out of sight and ready for another attack streak .
His skills were not without risks . He returned from one mission with a fuselage fill with bullet holes and half of a propeller . On another mission , a bullet grazed his helmet .
But , all of that did n’t matter . Eddie Rickenbacker truly love flying — he just wanted to be up in the air .
Whereas many other paladin pilot light grow tired of their problem and provide the service , Rickenbacker had no such cerebration :
“ The sky means something to me it never meant before . When I look up and see the sun shine on the patch of livid clouds up in the blue sky , I begin to suppose how it would find to be up somewhere above it , winging swiftly through the well-defined air , watching the earth below and the men on it no cock-a-hoop than ant . ”
In all , Eddie Rickenbacker fly 134 scrap missions . He shot down 22 sheet and four observation balloons for a total of 26 kills .
U.S. Air ForceA formal photo of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker wearing his Congressional Medal of Honor , awarded to him in 1930 .
Eastern Air Lines And Another Brush With Death
Eddie Rickenbacker go to bed from the armed forces after World War I. Although he was promoted to major , he chose to keep the title of captain . In his own intelligence , “ I felt that my rank of captain was earned and deserved . ”
Consequently , he was denote to as “ Captain Rickenbacker ” or “ Captain Eddie ” by the public .
This may have been a good time to determine down and make enjoyment of his considerable celebrity as a flying ace . However , Rickenbacker was not that kind of person .
alternatively , he went into the car manufacture and later air Department of Transportation business sector , eventually becoming president of Eastern Air Lines , which he develop into one of America ’s biggest , most profitable airlines .
Then , on February 26 , 1941 , Rickenbacker again brushed shoulders with death when the Eastern Air Lines aeroplane he was jaunt on break up into a hillside .
Although both pilot and 11 passengers perished , Rickenbacker somehow managed tosurvive the crash , adding to the popular belief that he was blessed with good fortune .
Despite profound combat injury , include a tattered pelvis , broken rib and leg , and a torn eyelid , Rickenbacker spent the next nine hours reassuring and guiding the survivors .
After being rescued , he reportedly hovered between life and death for some 10 days but at long last survived , afterward crediting his self-command as the critical factor .
He spent the next year recovering , although the crash left him with a limp for the residual of his living .
U.S. Air ForceEddie Rickenbacker , on the odd , come across Capt . James Jabara , the first American jet “ Ace ” in account . Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg is on the right . photograph from 1951 .
Surviving Being Adrift At Sea
Despite his ordeal , Rickenbacker was driven to proceed living his active , often - dangerous life . He raised funding for Britain during the Second World War , toured military bases in England and the United States , and even used his airline to defend the warfare effort .
Then , in October 1942 , as Rickenbacker was on the way to New Guinea to audit the American troops and deliver a secret message to General Douglas MacArthur , his B-17 airplane went down in the ocean .
Although all eight men survived the clang , they were now strand in the center of the ocean in rubber wad .
Despite being the only civilian , Rickenbacker immediately take charge of the situation . He allegedly bait the humans to encourage them to stay alive and helped part the rain and fish that served as their only author of nutriment .
purportedly , when a seagull landed on his headland , Eddie Rickenbacker toss off it with his bare hand and divided the carcass among the men .
Thanks to Rickenbacker ’s indomitable will and a little bit of his patented luck , all but one man live for 24 days at sea until they were finally spotted by an American airplane .
They credited the seemingly unbreakable 52 - year - old man for their natural selection .
Rickenbacker ’s amazing story once again brought him public attention , and a exposure of him after the rescue , some 60 pound lighter , was excellently pictured in the Boston Globe newspaper with the legend “ The Great Indestructible . ”
Captain Eddie Rickenbacker talks with Lieutenant W.F. Eadie , the man who rescued him after 24 days at sea in 1942 .
Eddie Rickenbacker’s Trip To The Soviet Union And Later Life
Not long after his deliverance , Rickenbacker continue his touring mission to promote the war exertion . Then , in 1943 , he went on a 55,000 - mile trip to Russia , visit how the ally was using American equipment and offering his military advice .
He returned to the U.S. with critical military intelligence . By this point , “ Captain Eddie ” was so democratic that many citizenry wanted him torun in the 1944 presidential electionagainst Franklin Roosevelt : a adult male he had powerfully disagreed with on several occasions .
But just as he did before , Eddie Rickenbacker choose to stay out of the spotlight . He continued to execute the Eastern Air Lines company , traveled the United States with his wife , and went on address tours touting conservative American values .
After a prospicient , adventurous , and exciting 82 age of living , Eddie Rickenbacker passed away in 1973 in Switzerland .
After determine about Eddie Rickenbacker , read aboutRichard Bong , who drink down 40 airplane during World War IIalong with more ofhistory ’s most famous warfare heroes .
