edward vernon rickenbacker 1890-1973

EDWARD VERNON RICKENBACKER
1890-1973
E. V. Rickenbacker
President- 1946-1973
Ed ward Verno n Ricke nbacker w as born in
C olumbus, Ohio on O ctober 8, 1890 to Willi am
a nd Elizabeth R. Ricke nbac ker, who migra ted to
thi s co u n tr y from th e Germa n-spea ki ng ca nton­
me nts of S w itze rl a nd . Wh e n Eddie was onl y 12
vears old h is fa th er died a nd Edd ie left sc hool to
~ee k wo rk to help sup port h is moth er, w hom he
wo rshipped, and th e other four R icken backer
c h ildre n .
O ne of his hrst jobs was th a t of ca rving tomb­
stones in a tombston e fac tory w h ere he ca rved th e
mar ke r for his fath er's grave. Odd jobs were not
en ou gh to satisfy him , and h e soo n found him self
d raw n to the th e n prim itive au to mobil e. H e h ad a n
inna te lo ve of m a~ hin e r v a nd unca nn v abilitv i n
mec hanics, w hich he i~proved by t; king c~rre­
sponclence courses in mec ha n ica l engin eeri ng and
drafting. By the tim e he was 21 , he h ad become one
of the grea t racing drive rs in this co un try. H e won
seven na tional ch a mpionshi ps a t Siou x C ity, O ma ha,
Provi de nce, Tacom a an d S h eepshead Bay, and in
1954 was elec ted to a uto rac ing's H all of F ame a t
G reenheld Village, Mich igan . O ne of his g rea tes t
fea ts was a victory ove r Ba rn ey Oldfi eld , th en con ­
side red th e kin g of the ga me, at India na polis. But
in those dal's, Eddie R ic ken bac ke r, b v now a swash­
b uckling hgure , of tall stat ure an d j ~tti ng jaw, ha d
stiU to make h is wo rl d fame, w h ich ca me in vVo rl d
W ar 1.
Less tha n two m on th s a ft er th e United S ta tes
en te red World vVa r I , h e e nli sted in the Arm y a nd
was sen t to Fra nce, where beca use of his knowledge
of mec hanics, h e was ass ig ned as a ch a uffeur to
Gen eral Joh n ] . Pershi ng, C om m and er-in-Ch ief of
the A me rica n Expeditio nary Fo rces. As a ch a uffeur ,
h is racin g techniqu es we re a little ro ugh o n hi s
passenger and G enera l P e rshing h nally acceded to
Eddie Rieke n backer's ceaseless req u ests to transfe r
to the Air Service an d beco me a p il ot. General
Pershing repo rtedl y sa id w he n h e approved th e
transfer, "if you 're as d angerous to the G e rma n s as
yo u are to me, you'll be a n ace in a week," a nd h e
was not fa r from wron g. E dd ie R ic kenbaeker lea rned
to Ay in 17 d ays and w ithin a few mo nths jOined
the famous "H at-in -th e-Rin g" (94th Aero Pursuit)
Squ adron, w h ose prime target was Germany's "Ay­
in g circus" led by Ba ron M a nfred von Richth ofen ,
better kn own as th e "Red Baro n ."
In th ose d ays th ere were no parachu tes, radios,
easi ly ma ne uve rable guns, plane stabilizers or ade­
clu a te brakes but Edd ie R icken backer, wh o then was
ca ll ed Rick , plu nged right in to th e doghg hts. H e
foug ht a hund red air battl es over F rance, som etimes
be hind enemy lines. On ce th e struts we re sh ot out
of hi s battl e pl a ne an d a noth er time h e whipped hi s
ship around in the sky with th e fabri c Aapp in g fr om
the wings.
H e alwav$ den ied th at he was rec kless and
claimed th a t his su rvi va l was d ue to his ow n ca ution
a nd a wareness of th e risks he took. Yet he did suc h
th ings as d rop to w ith in a hu nd red fee t of a hlled
enem y bal loon on a t ruck in a na rrow village street
and destrov it before it could reach the fr ont li nes.
H e o nce stayed in a he rce air fig ht to add th e for ce
of his presen ce alth ough both his mac hin e gun s h ad
ja mmed.
H e beca me the most deco rated Ame rican pilot
in th e war an d ad va nced to C omm an ding Officer of
th e 94 th Ae ro Pursuit Squ adron. H e was credited
w ith bringi ng down 26 Germa n p la nes and a t least
four enemy ball oons. H e oft en downed not one
but two enemy pl an es in a si ngle bat tl e.
Althoug h he re tu rn ed from th e wa r as an avia­
tion he ro, C a ptain R ic ke nbacker, w hose visions of
aerona utica l prog re ss led him la ter to become a
leader in commerci al a viation , seem ed to lose interes t
in Ay ing a nd he return ed ins tea d to automobiles.
A com pa ny was formed to ma nu fa cture a n ew
ca r, na med the Rie kenbacl< er, and he served as its
vice p res id e nt. Cl a im ing th at the ca r was yea rs
ah ead of its tim e, he le ft th e h rm in 1926 a nd sta rted
work as an ass ista nt sales m anage r for the C adi lJac
C ompa n y, an d la te r beca me vice presi dent of Fokker
A irc ra ft.
In 1932 he joined A viation C orporation, parent
compa ny of Ame rican Ai r Lines, bu t left it to join
G e ne ral M otors a nd in 1934 was m ad e general m an ­
ager of Eastern Airlines, a subsidiary of General
Motors. It was in that same year, as commander of a
giant Douglas airliner, that he set a new coast-to­
coast record for passenger planes. The fl.ight from
Los Angeles to Newark was made in 13 hours, three
minutes and 50 seconds. He was again in the head­
lines. There were other record fl.ights, all made to
prove that air transportation, even on long trips, was
practical as an everyday business proposition.
He became Eastern's president in 1938 soon
after raising the $3.5 million needed to buy the
company he had joined when it was considered the
ugly duckling of the aircraft industry. He remained
president and general manager until 1953 when he
became Chairman of the Board. Under his leader­
ship, Eastern grew to become one of the nation's
largest carriers. He once had the luggage of a group
of Eastern managers Hying to a meeting removed
from a plane and locked up. He explained that this
was to show the managers how passengers felt when
their luggage was missing.
He became an astute businessman, but was
rarely the pilot, being content to make the trips as a
passenger. He also cared little about driving an auto­
mobile and once boasted that he had never had a
license for either driving or Hying.
In 1941 he was seriously injured in the crash
of an Eastern plane near Atlanta in which eight
persons were killed. He was pinned beneath the
plane's wreckage, his legs and ribs crushed. He was
hospitalized for four months, about half of the time
that his doctors had predicted. He sprang back from
that disaster and a year later was called upon by his
country to help lay the foundation for the Military
Air Transport Service of World War II.
In this capacity, he was sent on special missions
around the globe to help build the morale of Amer­
ican fighting men. On one of these missions, in
October 1942, a heavy military plane in which he
was fl.ying with a full military crew went down in
the Pacific. The message he radioed-that the B-17
was lost and had one hour's fuel supply-was
thought by many to be his last, and it was-for 22
days. He and two other men were rescued on their
22nd day at sea after being spotted by planes. On
their 20th day at sea, the other four members of the
group had separated from Captain Rickenbacker's
raft and were rescued their 21st day. The group had
survived in three rubber rafts with little food and
water. An eighth member of the group died of ex­
posure and starvation. After only two weeks of rest,
Captain Rickenbacker boarded another plane to
continue his mission. He later made more Rights
for the military service.
Upon his retirement in 1963, as Chairman of
the Board of Eastern Airlines, Captain Rickenbacker
declared that he had no plans to be idle. Politically
a conservative and outspoken anti-Communist, he
said then: "I am going to expand my crusade to
save the American way of life for future generations,
as I want our children, our grandchildren and those
who follow them to enjoy the opportunities which
In 1965 , when he was named to the Aviation
Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio, he suggested that
air power should be used for "what it is meant, to
destroy powerhouses, dams, bridges, ports, and the
power to make war, rather than take human lives."
He later paid a nostalgic visit to Washington in June
1971, when he attended the celebration of the 30th
anniversary of National Airport's opening. He re­
called the old Washington-Hoover Airport, a field
on the prescnt site of the Pentagon that preceded
National Airport, which was bi-sected by a roadway
and a crossing guard halted motor traffic when a
plane was landing or taking off.
Captain Rickenbacker, who never attended
college but held 15 honorary degrees, was the author
of three books: "Fighting the Flying Circus," about
his \i\1orld War I experiences, "Seven Came
Through," an account of his ordeal in the Pacific,
and "Rieken backer-an Autobiography." All royal­
ties accruing from his book "Seven Came Through "
are donated to the Air Force Aid Society.
In interviews, Captain Rickenbacker talked
about times he had narrowly escaped death. "The
sensation of dying is sweet, sensuous, placid. It is
the easiest thing in the world to die. The hardest is
to live," he said. "1 have probably cheated the Grim
Reaper more than any other man . 1 came very close
several times. Twice 1 was actually dying and knew
it. But each time, as I moved closer, I began to fight
harder. 1 had the faith in The Power above and I
had the will to live. "
Captain Rickenbacker died of a heart attack on
July 23, 1973 in Neumuenster Hospital in Zurich,
Switzerland. His last earthly resting place is the
family plot in a Columbus, Ohio cemetery.
Among his survivors are his wife, the former
Mrs. Adelaide F. Durant, whom he married on
September 16, 1922, their two sons, David E. of
Upper Montclair, New Jersey, and William F. of
Briarcliff Manor, New York, two brothers, Louis of
Los Angeles, California and Albert W. of Beverly
Hills, California, and five grandchildren.
For his daring exploits during World War I,
Captain Rickenbacker received the Croix de Guerre
with four Palms, the Legion of Honor, the Distin­
guished Service Cross with nine Oak Leaf Clusters,
the Medal of Merit, and America's highest award ,
the Medal of Honor. The citation that accompanied
the latter read:
"While on a voluntary patrol over the land,
Lieutenant Rickenbacker attacked seven
ememy 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."
Captain Rickenbacker was President, Trustee,
and Chairman of both the Executive and Finance
Committees, as well as a Patron .Member of the
Air Force Aid SOCiety. He had been its president
since 1946 and was closel associated with the