Yeager B-Day

[DMark]

Happy 88th Birthday to Chuck Yeager.

"The Greatest Pilot You Ever Saw....."

First man to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947

Retired in 1975 as a brigadier general, Yeager was promoted to major general on the Air Force's retired list in 2005 by President Bush.

He is "The Right Stuff."

Edited February 14, 2011 by DMark

[Oh Shoot]

Ah, glad it was THAT Yeager.

- OS

[MacGyver]

A true American hero.

[Mechanic_X]

He was shot down and rescued by the French Underground. The rules were you could not go back into combat after that. He pushed it all the way to Ike. And got his seat back.

Amazing man.

Happy Birthday Chuck!!!

[greenego]

A True American Hero.

[vontar]

He was shot down and rescued by the French Underground. The rules were you could not go back into combat after that. He pushed it all the way to Ike. And got his seat back.

Amazing man.

Happy Birthday Chuck!!!

For those that are confused about why. I had to look it up as well

Chuck Yeager - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stationed in the United Kingdom at RAF Leiston, Yeager flew P-51 Mustangs in combat (he named his aircraft Glamorous Glennis[4] after his girlfriend, Glennis Faye Dickhouse, who became his wife in February 1945) with the 363rd Fighter Squadron. He had gained one victory before he was shot down over France on his eighth mission, on March 5, 1944.[5] He escaped to Spain on March 30 with the help of the Maquis (French Resistance) and returned to England on May 15, 1944. During his stay with the Maquis, Yeager assisted the guerrillas in duties that did not involve direct combat, though he did help to construct bombs for the group, a skill that he had learned from his father.[6] He was awarded the Bronze Star for helping another airman, who had lost part of his leg during the escape attempt, to cross the Pyrenees.

Despite a regulation that "evaders" (escaped pilots) could not fly over enemy territory again to avoid compromising Resistance allies, Yeager was reinstated to flying combat. Yeager had joined a bomber pilot evader, Capt. Fred Glover, in speaking directly to the Allied Supreme Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, on June 12, 1944. With Glover pleading their case, arguing that because the Allies had invaded France, the Maquis resistance movement was by then openly fighting the Nazis alongside Allied troops, so there was little or nothing they could reveal if shot down again to expose those who had helped them evade capture. Eisenhower, after gaining permission from the War Department to decide the requests, concurred with Yeager and Glover. Yeager later credited his postwar success in the Air Force to this decision, saying that his test pilot career followed naturally from being a decorated combat ace with a good kill record,

We have some much rich history, it is impossible to keep it all in our heads.

[Guest Bronker]

As reported in the OP, see the movie "The Right Stuff". Great depiction of his early days as a test pilot and his own self-imposed exclusion from the emerging space program of the late 50's on.

A great movie. And this a great hero.

[MacGyver]

His autobiography is a great read. You come away thinking they don't make people like that anymore.

[sigrug17]

HAPPY B-DAY Gen. Yeager!!!! What an incredible aviator and man, a true Hero !!!!

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Happy Birthday! Definitely, the right stuff!

[Guest boatme99]

Damn, I missed it! Happy Birthday, General!

Wing Nuts rule!