At 79, Yeager Breaks Sound Barrier

Newsday.com ^ | 10/26/02 | AP - Edwards AFB,CA

[SkyPilot]

My father saw Yeager at "Sun n Fun"--and air show in Florida. The general sat there alone, eating. He went absolutely unnoticed until someone said, "My Gosh! It's Chuck Yeager!"

Yeager walked around shaking hands and smiling, while his breakfast went cold--but he didn't mind one bit.

It says something for America, and our "citizen soldiers" regarding the comment you made. America is great because she has freedom, and that freedom comes not from our government, but our Creator. We have this God given dignity that amazes the world.

Here, in Germany where I have lived for some time, I have had the pleasure of meeting a few old Luftwaffe pilots. I love hearing their stories. These old Luftwaffe pilots still alive are frail men now--and they have to a man told me how the Americans were so brave, so ferocious in battle.

My father gave Luftwaffe Gen. Adolph Galland a picture of a Spitfire to sign once at Oshkosh. Galland laughed, and said "I put a few of those in the ground!" Galland also told Herman Goering to give him Spitfires for his wing back during the Battle of Britain!

At the airshow I mentioned, a German pilot friend of his looked at a Mustang and commented that "They weren't so tough--I shot 7 of them down." Someone said, "Well, I guess their pilots were not so pleased with you." The German shouted back---"Well, I was not so pleased at the time with them either!"

I watched an interview with a Japanese fighter pilot who survived the Battle of Midway (I have it on DVD). He said: "We could not believe you Americans at first. We were told you would not fight--that you were soft and lazy. I believed this--until wave after wave of torpedo planes advanced towards my own carrier as I watched. You fought like Samurai! You fought like us!"

[Psycho Francis]

Not a true American hero?

SPECIAL HONORS: Glenn has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on six occasions, and holds the Air Medal with 18 Clusters for his service during World War II and Korea. Glenn also holds the Navy Unit Commendation for service in Korea, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the China Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, the Navy's Astronaut Wings, the Marine Corps' Astronaut Medal, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

EXPERIENCE: He entered the Naval Aviation Cadet Program in March 1942 and was graduated from this program and commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1943. After advanced training, he joined Marine Fighter Squadron 155 and spent a year flying F-4U fighters in the Marshall Islands.

During his World War II service, he flew 59 combat missions. After the war, he was a member of Marine Fighter Squadron 218 on the North China patrol and served on Guam. From June 1948 to December 1950 Glenn was an instructor in advanced flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas. He then attended Amphibious Warfare Training at Quantico, Virginia. In Korea he flew 63 missions with Marine Fighter Squadron 311. As an exchange pilot with the Air Force Glenn flew 27 missions in the in F-86 Sabrejet. In the last nine days of fighting in Korea Glenn downed three MIG's in combat along the Yalu River.

After Korea, Glenn attended Test Pilot School at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland. After graduation, he was project officer on a number of aircraft. He was assigned to the Fighter Design Branch of the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics (now Bureau of Naval Weapons) in Washington from November 1956 to April 1959, during which time he also attended the University of Maryland.

In July 1957, while project officer of the F8U Crusader, he set a transcontinental speed record from Los Angeles to New York, spanning the country in 3 hours and 23 minutes. This was the first transcontinental flight to average supersonic speed. Glenn has nearly 9,000 hours of flying time, with approximately 3,000 hours in jet aircraft.

[Spyder]

My husband watches the movie at least a couple of times yearly. He's a bartender at Pancho's and offers Harry Shearer's and Jeff Goldblum's characters a drink. Harry Shearer says, "I'll have a Coca-Cola." Yeager says, "Coke?" and Shearer responds, "in a clean glass."

We got Yeager's autograph on his book in 1993 at an air show in Indiana - got lucky as he was just getting into the plane and only signed for a few of the many people in line waiting for one. Neat, neat, patriotic American. Wish we had more just like him.

[Dan(9698)]

"The Right Stuff."

He did really good, except he left his right turn signal on all the time.

[evolved_rage]

Don't forget joining the Keating 5...

[Psycho Francis]

Or his 149 combat missions in defense of his country....

[yarddog]

Yes I read Adolph Galland's book. He mentioned that he told Goering he would like a squadron of Spitfires in response to the question of what he would like or something like that.

Galland then added in the book that he was just angry at Goering and said it to get his goat. He actually thought the Messerschmidt was just as good a plane as the Spitfire.

[snopercod]

Cool!

I had the pleasure of meeting him once, and got him to sign my logbook.

He told us, "You should try to never let a day go by without having a little fun".

Words to live by.

[VOA]

Driving through the desert, "Look, Sir, is that a man?"

"You damned right it is!"

One of my favorite real man movie scenes.
And one that raises the American pride level an order of magnitude.

A lot of my friends think the movie "The Right Stuff" was just too slow-paced,
but it's one of my favorites.

[VOA]

The general sat there alone, eating. He went absolutely unnoticed until someone
said, "My Gosh! It's Chuck Yeager!"

Just another sign that Yeager is The Real Deal.

[americafirst]

I would argue that anyone on my side of the aisle who watched the ChinaGate hearings in 1997 would have a hard time thinking of Glenn as anything but a sellout. As in he sold out his principals to get a ride on the shuttle as political payola from his buddy Clinton. But that's just my opinion. His military record is distinguished and I have the utmost respect for the uniform. Plus, he flew with The Man, Ted Williams

[JamesWilson]

A lot of my friends think the movie "The Right Stuff" was just too slow-paced, but it's one of my favorites.

I love the movie, too. In fact, I wish it were longer.

[SkyPilot]

As in he sold out his principals to get a ride on the shuttle

Glenn had an outstanding military record.

But I am afraid he cheapened himself with his "fantasy trip" aboard the shuttle. I saw him lose his temper and swear at a young reporter when I was living in DC because she questioned Glenn's assertion that his trip aboard the shuttle was to "study the affects of aging and space." It was a ridiculous pretext and excuse for him to be aboard that mission--and everyone knew it.