Who is eddie rickenbacker

Dated , this photograph shows Eddie Rickenbacker, a fighting ace in the 94th Aero Squadron, sitting in a plane cockpit while stationed in France during World War I. Rickenbacker received his first confirmed aerial victory in April of Though older and with less formal education than many of the other pilots, Rickenbacker made friends with other famous aces like Quentin Roosevelt and Frank Luke.

Rickenbacker noted in his autobiography that their deaths, as well as others like Raoul Lufbery, would change his approach to combat making him more circumspect about how he ran future missions to the front, a quality he adamantly tried to instill other pilots who were new to the front. As American forces pushed north toward Sedan during the Meuse-Argonne offensive, Rickenbacker and his fellow pilots began accumulating aerial victories at a faster rate than ever before.

In the fall of , Rickenbacker ascended to command the 94 th Aero Squadron and achieved the rank of Captain. The Ohio History Connection preserves a piece of his famous Spad XIII in its collection, stripped from the fuselage by Rickenbacker before leaving France and donated to the museum shortly after the war.

In the s, Rickenbacker received the U. Rickenbacker would go on to run Eastern Airlines and survive several more brushes with death, including more than 21 days at sea after a plane crash into the Pacific Ocean during a top-secret mission in World War II. David Lewis. Founding Sponsor. Terms Of Service Privacy Policy. Having raced in the first Indy in , he knew the importance of the race as a testing ground for automotive technology.

By the time the war was over, his attention had turned toward running Eastern Air Lines. The repairs needed to make the Indianapolis Speedway usable after years of neglect were too much for Eddie.

He sold the track in for what he had paid for it. Nevertheless, Eddie stayed in contact with automotive racing for the rest of his life. Auto racing and manufacturing photos from the Rickenbacker Digital Collection.

He was assigned as a staff driver for General John Pershing at the rank of sergeant first-class, but what he really wanted to do was fly. With the connivance of high-ranking friends in the AEF especially Billy Mitchell , Rickenbacker was accepted into the Army Air Service even though he was two years over the age limit.

When his training was complete, he was commissioned as a first lieutenant and became the chief engineer at the poorly prepared training base in Issodun. After making many improvements at Issodun, he was sent for training in aerial gunnery in Cazeau in January, He qualified as a candidate for training to become a combat pilot, although because of an old injury to his cornea he would never have better than average aim.

In February, Eddie was sent to Villeneuve-les-Vertus for advanced training and was assigned to the 94th Aero Pursuit Squadron, the first all-American air unit to see combat April 14, He received training there from Raoul Lufbury, a veteran of the Lafayette Escadrille. Eddie had his first confirmed victory on April 24, and in May, he became an ace and won the French Croix de Guerre by shooting down five German airplanes.

He was named commander of the 94th, the "Hat-in-the-Ring" Squadron, on September 24, The following day, Eddie shot down two more German airplanes, victories for which the U. His twenty-sixth confirmed victory occurred on October 30, and the last victory the 69th for the 94th occurred on November 10, World War I ended the next day.

Eddie returned home in as America's "Ace of Aces. Nevertheless, Eddie supported the war effort once the U. At the request of General H. In September, Secretary of War Henry Stimson asked Rickenbacker to tour bases in England "as a continuation of your tour of inspection" and to seek out evidence of espionage. Rickenbacker returned from England in October. Stimson immediately sent him on a tour of the Pacific theater.

Due to inadequate navigational equipment and a faulty weather report, the B overshot its mark. Hundreds of miles off-course and out of fuel, Cherry ditched the plane in the Pacific. The eight men lashed together the three rubber rafts so they would not get separated. They thought that rescue would come quickly because of Rickenbacker's fame, but they remained lost at sea for twenty-four days.

Their meager supply of food ran out after three days, but on the eighth day a sea gull lighted on Eddie's head. The unfortunate bird became dinner and fishing bait. Private Bartek's first hand account of the ordeal is a part of this collection. On the home front, Eddie's wife Adelaide remained optimistic that Eddie would be rescued. When it appeared as though General "Hap" Arnold was giving up on the search, she "stormed into his office and "practically tore the decorations off his jacket," demanding that the hunt continue.

The rescue came too late for Sergeant Kaczmarczyk, who died after two weeks at sea. Suffering from exposure, dehydration, and starvation, Rickenbacker rested a few days then proceeded on his original mission, including inspections at facilities at Port Moresby, Guadalcanal, and Upola.

He reported to Secretary Stimson and General Arnold on December 19, and then returned to New York the following day where he was reunited with his family. After returning home from World War I, Eddie retained his interest in the potential of aviation, and was on the look out for opportunities. This venture lasted less than a year. Eddie took a job as assisstant general manager for sales at General Motors in January of After a series of disappointments, he resigned from GM in From there he moved to American Airways for one year.

In , he moved back to GM as vice president for public relations of it's aeronautics division, which then included Eastern Air Transport, soon called Eastern Air Lines.

Eddie was appointed general manager of Eastern Air Lines on January 1, At the time, just prior to the Second World War, all airlines in the United States used government subsidies to stay financially sound. The only government monies accepted into Eastern's coffers came from air mail contracts, money Eastern was willing to sacrifice in the interest of building its empire.

His reward was that he secured another leg of his dream route across the U. Eastern collaborated in designing its successors, the Super-Constellation and the Electra. It also re-designed its operations to be open and responsive, and implemented a training system that prepared entry level workers to move up the corporate ladder.

The "Eastern family" was very loyal to their employer. The pay-off to Eastern was that it was the most profitable airline in the country in the post-war era. Eddie resigned as president of Eastern Air Lines in to become it's chairman of the board. He started a comic strip called Ace Drummond that ran in newspapers and published a book titled Fighting the Flying Circus, both based on his World War I experiences.

All this was not enough activity or income for the hyperactive Rickenbacker, however, and he was also appointed head of sales by General Motors for La Salle and Cadillac autos. Meanwhile, he continued to give speeches promoting aviation and was involved in several crashes as a passenger during his flights around the country, miraculously escaping each time without injury.

On one occasion the plane he was in hit a house, and the end of a two-by-four missed his head by two inches. Rickenbacker was still so well-known that he always attracted crowds as a speaker. In he got his first experience in commercial aviation when he and several associates formed Florida Airways. When that venture folded, Rickenbacker was appointed vice president of General Aviation Corporation formerly Fokker , followed in by vice president of North American Aviation and general manager of its subsidiary, Eastern Air Transport.

Rickenbacker made national headlines again when President Franklin D. The Air Mail Act of was passed after several more Army pilots were killed because they were untrained in instrument flying and their aircraft were inadequately equipped. The legislation changed the structure of U. Under the terms of the act, General Motors had to divest itself of most of its aviation holdings, but it was permitted to retain General Aviation Corporation and a reorganized Eastern Air Transport, with its name changed to Eastern Air Lines.

He began to build the airline by improving salaries, working conditions, maintenance and passenger service, and making stock options available to employees. A weather reporting and analysis system was inaugurated, and radio communications were improved. A reduction in fares brought an immediate increase in passenger traffic. The company became a bonded carrier, the first airline in the world to take such an action. It meant that goods entering the U. As Rickenbacker saw it, Eastern was the first airline to operate as a free-enterprise company — without government subsidy; for many years, it was the only one.

In , it was also the first airline to receive an award from the National Safety Council, after having operated for seven consecutive years — and flying more than million passenger miles without a passenger fatality.

He was aboard a DC-3 equipped as a sleeper that smashed into trees on an approach to Atlanta; 11 passengers and the two pilots died. For days Rickenbacker, badly injured, hovered between life and death, and it took nearly a year before he could get back to work.

Afterward he slumped a little and walked with a slight limp. Rescue workers carry a badly injured Capt. Rickenbacker could never get used to the idea of women working for an airline, especially as stewardesses. He preferred to hire male stewards because he believed they were less likely to leave the company soon after being trained.

He worked a seven-day week himself, demanded that his employees work on Saturdays, and was a fanatic about punctuality and a penny-pincher when it came to company expenses.

But many of his associates thought his toughness was a sham and tried not to take his scathing comments too much to heart. He was always able to make instant, no-nonsense decisions, and he was fair and loyal to his employees, despite his acidic manner. Most important, he got results. Rickenbacker continually expounded on the old-fashioned values, especially thrift. He started a company newspaper — Great Silver Fleet News — which carried his personal advice about living and working. If you cannot pay cash for it, wait until you can; but do not in any circumstances permit yourself to mortgage your future and that of your family through time payment plans or other devices.

By the end of , Eastern was serving 40 cities with 40 DC-3s. The advent of World War II drastically changed all the commercial airlines. Eastern had to give up half its fleet to the military services and took on the task of military cargo airlift, flying Curtiss Cs to South America and across the South Atlantic to Africa. With the government dictating what the airlines did, Rickenbacker was only able to stand by and see that Eastern held up its end.

He was offered a commission as a brigadier general but refused it. The offer was upped to major general and again he refused. He wanted to be able to criticize whatever he found wrong without restraint.

When Rickenbacker returned to the States that October, Stimson immediately sent him to the Pacific on a similar inspection mission, which included taking a memorized, verbal message to General Douglas MacArthur from President Roosevelt. He was en route in a Boeing B from Honolulu to Canton Island when the pilot got lost and had to ditch after running out of fuel.

One of the eight men aboard was seriously injured during the ditching. The men retrieved three rafts, some survival rations and fishing kits from the sinking bomber, then roped rafts together to provide a larger target for search planes. The next 22 days became a classic survival saga. Rickenbacker, dressed in his trademark gray fedora hat and business suit, took command of the situation, although a civilian. Such a strong-willed, independent thinker would not let military rank prevent him from stating what he thought and what decisions should be made.

Rickenbacker, center, is helped to a jeep by Col. Robert L. Griffin, Jr. No one knew where to look for them when they were overdue at Canton Island. They nearly starved and had only a few oranges for liquid until they caught some rainwater during squalls. Rickenbacker took charge of doling out the oranges and water in equal shares each day. The salt water quickly corroded the weapons that several had carried from the plane, so they would not fire when a few birds appeared overhead.

Fish lines netted a shark, which tasted so bad no one could keep it down. But they also managed to catch smaller fish, which they divided into equal portions.