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expansion and placed order for Lockheed Constellations and Douglas DC-4s. Those were followed by Martin 404s and Lockheed Electras. The Cold War began with the Berlin Airlift, followed by the Korean War, which forced more changes upon the airlines.

The introduction of jets to airline operations in the late 1950s caused serious adjustment problems. Rickenbacker resisted the changeover to some extent. He later recalled, "To keep up with the Joneses, we had to replace perfectly good piston-powered and turboprop airliners with expensive new jets." He preferred that the other airlines be first to take the risk of breaking them in.

Rickenbacker did not like the way the government interfered with private enterprise and believed it leaned toward more and more bureaucracy and control. He battled the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) about routes and fares and resisted what the competition was making him adopt against his better judgement. For example, he thought the other airlines were wrong in serving hot meals and labeling them "free." Since the CAB was subsidizing his competitors, he reasoned, the costs came from the taxpayers. He predicted that passengers would eventually have to pay or liquor, which they do today. And Eastern finally had to give in and hire female flight attendants.

In 1953, Rickenbacker moved up to chairman of the board but remained general manager. In his memoirs, he proudly stated that in his 25 years as head of Eastern "We were never in red ink, we always showed a profit, we never took a nickel of the taxpayer's money in subsidy, and we paid our stockholders reasonable dividends over the years, the first domestic airline to do so. During the post-war years, when all the other lines were in red ink and were running to the Civil Aeronautics Board for more routes and more of the taxpayer's money in subsidies, the Board would point to Eastern Airlines as a profitable company and suggest that the other airlines emulate our example."

When a new Eastern president was appointed, Rickenbacker found it difficult to let go of the reins. The company began a slow downhill slide as competition got tougher and Rickenbacker refused to give up power in the company he had held for so many years. One of the noteworthy innovations during this period, however, was the Eastern Air-Shuttle between Washington and New York. It began on April 30, 1961, with Lockheed Constellations and operated 20 round trips per day, flying empty or full, with no reservations required.

Rickenbacker reluctantly retired from Eastern on the last day of 1963 at age 73. He bought a small ranch near Hunt, Texas, but it proved to be too remote, especially for his wife, Adelaide. After five years, they donated the ranch to the Boy Scouts, lived in New York City for a while, and then moved to Coral Gables, Fla. Rickenbacker suffered a stroke in October 1972, but his famous luck held once more, and he recovered enough to visit Switzerland. He died there of pneumonia on July 23, 1973.

Captain Eddie's eulogy was delivered in Miami by General James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle; his ashes were buried beside his mother in the Columbus, Ohio, family plot. Four jet fighters flew overhead during the ceremony. One turned on its afterburners and zoomed up and out of sight in the traditional Air Force "missing man" salute to a brother pilot.

In an obituary published in a national magazine, William F. Rickenbacker, one of Captain Eddie's two sons, wrote:
"Among his robust certainties were faith in God, his unswerving patriotism, his acceptance of life's hazards and pains, and his trust in persistent hard work. No scar could match the scorn he had for men who settled for