Eddie Rickenbacker: A Hero’s Hero.
“Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they are graced with.” (Brodi Ashton)
Came across a piece on the American Volunteer Group, better known as the Flying Tigers, which got me to thinking about people who were badasses before badassary was cool. That of course led me to thinking about one of my few heroes – Eddie Rickenbacker. From poverty to the heights of successes with a stop along the way to become America’s top WW I Ace and a Medal of Honor recipient.
Rickenbacker was born on October 8, 1890, in Columbus, Ohio. His parents immigrated from Switzerland, and he was the third-oldest of seven children. The Rickenbacker family was poor and his father a hard man who worked in construction. Eddie Rickenbacker’s first language was Swiss German, which was spoken at home, so of course all the children had Swiss accents.
Eddie, well he’s what in my time was called a ‘wild kid’ – today he’d be called a young criminal. He started smoking at five, by seven he was working odd jobs to help support his family, and in school he was known for fighting, usually with those who teased him about his accent. Not sure if he was a gang member as we think of the term today, but he and his friends were known as the “Horsehead Gang.” I have to admit that’s a pretty cool name!
As hard as life was for Eddie, it got harder. In 1904 his father died in a construction accident and at 13 Eddie dropped out of the 7th grade to work full time – his family needed the income to survive. He bounced around from job to job – worked in a steel mill, a beer factory, and a bowling alley until he got a job at Frayer Miller auto plant. There he met Lee Frayer, who was not only the chief designer of cars, but also raced them. At 16 Rickenbacker became Frayer’s ride along mechanic.
Not satisfied with being a mechanic, Rickenbacker soon started driving race cars himself. For the next 11 years he entered races across the U.S., becoming one of the top drivers making about $40,000 a year (almost a million today). In 1914 he solidified his reputation as one of the most daring drivers when he set the world speed record of 134 mph.
When the U.S. entered WW I Rickenbacker left the racing world to enlist in the Army.
Initially, the Army rejected Rickenbacker because of his lack of education. However, like everything else in his life, Rickenbacker refused to give up and on May 25, 1917, the Army finally accepted him. Three days later he was on his way to France as a Sergeant First Class. What’s not often mentioned is that Rickenbacker gave up $40,000 a year to go to war for $44 a month.
When he got to France he was assigned as a staff driver for General Pershing, Commander, American Expeditionary Forces. With the help of Gen. Pershing, Rickenbacker was reassigned to the Aviation Training School at Tours, France as a student pilot.
Most of the other student pilots were graduates of Ivy league colleges and treated Rickenbacker with disdain. My God man, he was not even a high school graduate, let alone a graduate of a prestigious Ivy league university! Fortunately, Rickenbacker didn’t have to put up with the holier than thou gang for long. He soloed after 5.5 hours of flight time with an instructor, completed flight training in 17 days, and then joined the American 94th “Hat in the Ring” squadron as a newly commissioned lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps.
On April 29, 1918, Rickenbacker shot down his first German aircraft. By late May 1918 he shot down 4 more to become an Ace with 5 “kills.” On May 28 he added his 6th aerial victory, but then suffered a severe ear infection that grounded him for two months.
September was a busy month for Rickenbacker. He was promoted to Captain, assumed command of the 94th Squadron, and added 6 more victors to bring his total to 12. But October was even busier. He shot down another 14 enemy aircraft that month bringing his total to 26, making Rickenbacker the highest-ranking American Ace and earning him the title of “America’s Ace of Aces.” Three others held that title before him – Gervais Raoul Victor, David Putnam and Frank Luke. They were all killed in combat.
As good a fighter pilot as Rickenbacker was, it was not a one-way street. After one air battle he landed with his fuselage full of bullet holes, half a propeller shot off, and a bullet graze on his helmet from a not too friendly German machine gun.
In the seven months Rickenbacker flew in combat he not only became America’s top Ace in WW I, but was also awarded a record eight Distinguished Service crosses – our nation’s second highest military award and the Medal of Honor – our nation’s highest military award. 1
The French also recognized his bravery by awarding him the Legion of Honor (chevalier) and two Croix de Guerres with Palm.
Guess he didn’t need that Ivy league education after all.
Going from poverty to one of the nation’s top race car drivers, a war hero, and America’s top Ace by the time you’re 28 would be enough for most. But Rickenbacker was just getting started.
After returning to the States Rickenbacker and some of his associates created the Rickenbacker Motor Company with Rickenbacker as Vice President and Director of Sales. The first cars went on sale in 1922, but the 1925 recession proved too much. In an effort to help the company, Rickenbacker resigned – he was a quarter million dollars in debt but refused to declare bankruptcy. He eventually paid back every penny he owed. In 1927 the Rickenbacker Motor Company filed for bankruptcy and went out of business.
In 1927 a friend loaned Rickenbacker enough money to buy a majority interest in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He served as the Speedway’s president until after World War II. During this time, he also started the Ace Drummond comic strip that ran in 135 newspapers and published “Fighting the Flying Circus.” 2
Both the comic strip and book were based on his war experiences.
In 1933 he became Vice President of North American Aviation and General Manager of its subsidiary, Eastern Air Transport. Rickenbacker went with Eastern Air Transport when it was bought by GM and renamed Eastern Airlines. A few years later Rickenbacker heard GM was planning to sell Eastern so he obtained financial backing and in 1938 purchased the company for $3.5 million (about $64.9 million today). Rickenbacker became president and under his leadership Eastern became one of the largest and most successful U.S. airlines. He retired from Eastern in 1963, but not before cheating death two more times and taking a short detour to step up to the plate in WW II.
Rickenbacker’s luck seemed to have run out on February 26, 1941, when the DC-3 on which he was a passenger crashed on approach to Atlanta. Both pilots and eleven passengers died. For several days Rickenbacker was literally on death’s doorsteps, and it would take him almost a year to recover…just in time for WW II.
In September 1942 Secretary of War Stimson asked Rickenbacker to evaluate equipment and personnel in the UK. He was offered a commission as a brigadier general. He turned it down. He was then offered a commission as a major general. He turned that down too. Instead, he set his salary at $1 a year and insisted on paying his own expenses. His reasoning was that he wanted to be able to criticize whatever he found wrong without restraint.
In October 1942 Rickenbacker returned to the States and Stimson immediately sent him to the Pacific to inspect aviation facilities and deliver a secret verbal message to General MacArthur from President Roosevelt. On Oct. 21, 1942 Rickenbacker and seven others, including the crew, boarded a B-17 in Hawaii and headed for Canton Island. They never made it. For whatever reason, they missed the island and had to ditch in rough seas when their fuel was almost exhausted.
All eight managed to get out and into three life rafts before the B-17 sank. However, several were injured – one seriously – and they had no rations or fresh water except for four oranges. Rickenbacker, the only civilian among them became the leader. They survived on those four oranges and rainwater collected from squalls for 22 days. Oh, almost forgot, Rickenbacker did catch a sea gull that had the misfortune to land on his head…it became a meal, raw though it was. On the 22nd day seven of the eight, including Rickenbacker, were rescued.
After being fished out of the Pacific, Rickenbacker could have returned to the States. Instead, he continued on his mission, delivered FDR’s message to General MacArthur and visited military bases in the Pacific theater of operations. Rickenbacker undertook one more assignment in WW II – a three-month, 55,000-mile trip to Russia and China to check on what the Russians were doing with American Lend-Lease equipment.
After WW II Rickenbacker was again devoting his time to Eastern and in 1953 became the Chairman of the Board. In his 25 years as head of Eastern it always showed a profit, never took any government subsidies, and paid reasonable dividends over the years. No other airline could make that claim.
By all accounts Rickenbacker was a hard and demanding man, some called him ‘acidic,’ but he was loyal to friends, employees, and those he served with. Most importantly, he led by example and never demanded more of others than he did of himself. For example, in 1938 he set his annual salary at $50,000 – he never changed it over the next 25 years — even though he built Eastern into one of the nation’s four largest airlines.
Eddie Rickenbacker died July 23, 1973 while he and his wife were visiting Switzerland – the country his parents immigrated from. He was cremated there in a private ceremony and his ashes flown to Columbus, Ohio – his boyhood home – where he was buried. I think it’s fitting that Eddie Rickenbacker didn’t have a hero’s funeral with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, but instead returned to where that 5-year-old smoking, fist fighting kid, who dropped out of school in order to work to help his family survive started his incredible journey.
This is why Edward Vernon Rickenbacker is one of my few Heroes…
Online Sources:
Eddie Rickenbacker’s Impressive Journey to Lead Eastern Air Lines.
The Story of Eastern Air Lines from – Boom to Bust
1 Rickenbacker was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1930 after the army reviewed his action of September 25, 1918 when he attacked 7 German planes by himself.
2 The Flying Circus was the famed German fighter wing Jagdgeschwader I (JG1)commanded by Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the “Red Baron,” who shot down 80 allied aircraft in WW I. JG1 was known for painting its planes in bright colors, Richthofen’s plane was bright scarlet. He was killed during a dog fight in April 1918 – 6 months before the end of the war.