His age and education prevented him from being accepted into flight training. Two months later, December 7, 1941, changed everything. He was then accepted and in March of 1943, he graduated and was assigned into the 357th Fighter Group. In late November 1943, he shipped to England and was soon flying P-51s with the 363rd Fighter Squadron.
After scoring one victory, he was shot down over France, March 5, 1944, on his eighth mission. He managed to escape to Spain with the help of French resistance fighters. He was awarded a bronze star for helping another downed pilot during the escape. Eventually back in England he was faced with a regulation that prohibited escaped pilots from flying over enemy territory. He and another pilot, Captain Fred Glover, managed to petition Eisenhower directly and convinced him to allow them to fly again. He credits that decision for all of his following successes.
During World War 2, he scored 11.5 victories, 5 in one day. That feat earned him the Silver Star. He was also awarded one of his Distinguished Flying Crosses for shooting down a ME 262, one of the first few jet fighters to be shot down. He was eventually promoted to Captain, and sent home in January of 1945. As an "evader"(escaped pilot), he was given his choice of assignments. He chose Wright Field, which was near his home and pregnant wife. His experiences qualified him to be a test pilot of repaired aircraft.
After the war, he was assigned to what would become Edwards Air Force Base. He was eventually selected to be the test pilot for the Bell XS-1 program to research high speed flight. Two days before the flight, he broke two ribs, which he managed to keep secret. On October 14, 1947(68 years ago today), he reached a speed of mach 1.07 in the X-1. He would go on to set many records in his career.
Yeager held several commands as he continued his career with the USAF as a fighter pilot. One of them being with the 405th Tactical Fighter Wing, where he flew another 127 missions in Vietnam. He was promoted to Brigadier General on June 22, 1969. He retired from the Air Force in 1975, but still continued to fly for them and NASA as a consulting test pilot.
Three years ago, at age 89, 65 years later, he broke the sound barrier again, this time not as a pilot, but still a feat not many 89 year old men can boast of.
Yeager, now 92, is still with us. He actually lives just north of me in Northern California. He is very deserving of the title, hero. If not for his many feats in the air, then surely for saving the life of the severely injured pilot when the were escaping to Spain. I certainly don't having a problem calling him a hero.
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