Viewing page 15 of 93

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Rickenbacker's Autobiography Powerful
By Dr. Warren J. Brown, M.D., Editor Florida Aviation Historical Society Newsletter

Eddie was a "Man's Man", driven by instinct and tenacity rarely seen.

On Nov. 6, 1930, President Herbert Hoover presented the Congressional Medal of Honor to Captain Edward Vernon Rickenbacker at Boiling Field, Washington D.C. The citation read:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy near Billy, France, Sept. 25, 1918. While on a voluntary patrol over the lines, the then lieutenant Rickenbacker attacked seven enemy planes (five type Fokker protecting two type Halberstadt). Disregarding the odds against him, he dived on them and shot down one of the Fokkers, out of control. He then attacked one of the Halberstadts and sent it down also.

Thus, one of Americas greatest fighting aces, received the country's highest honor. He had previously been awarded the DSC, the French Legion of Honor, the Croix de Guerre for shooting down 22 enemy planes and 4 balloons. All this took place over a period of five months at the front,

Rickenbacker preferred to be called simply "Captain Eddie" because it was the only rank he had truly earned. He was born Oct. 8, 1890 in Columbus, Ohio. Both his parents had been born in Switzerland. His mother was of French extraction and devoutly religious. His father was of German stock "stern and serious." The family name was originally Reichenbacher, later anglicized to "Rickenbacker," to take the "Hun" out of it. His father died when he was 12.

A crack mechanic by the time he was 16, Rickenbacker also earned a local reputation as a driver. By 1912, he devoted his full time to auto racing.

In 1916, he earned over $80,000 racing cars which included a world record of 134 mph on the sands at Daytona Beach, Florida.

On May 27, 1917, he enlisted as a sergeant in the Signal Corps serving as a driver to Gen. Billy Mitchell and not for General Pershing as commonly thought. By August, he had transferred to the Air Corps and was made a first lieutenant and put in charge of the American Air Training Center at Issoudon, France. (It was here that Roger Jannus, of the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line. Would crash and die on Sept 18, 1918.) Rickenbacker applied for and was given flight training, two years over the pilot age limit but with the "proper connections." On Sept. 24, 1918, this "cocky", domineering, uncouth and profane man" was named commanding officer of the 94th Pursuit Squadron. He wrote in his diary that night, " I shall never ask any pilot to go on a mission that I worst go on. I must work harder...to gain the confidence of my men." He called aerial warfare "scientific murder," and strove to fly scientifically and get the most out of every bank, turn and dive.

The very next day he earned the Medal of Honor. By his fifth victory, he was an ace, and the French awarded him the Croix de Guerre. Rickenbacker achieved 18 of his 26 victories within the last 48 days of the war.

His victories could be attributed to youthful zeal, even recklessness, although he disliked taking unnecessary risks. He was also brave, which he exhibited when one of his Eastern Air Lines planes, on which he was a passenger, crashed into a hill near Atlanta in 1941. The badly injured Rickenbacker, pinned to the body of a dead steward (he wouldn't hire women--they "would get pregnant and quit"), took command of the plane, shouted