World War I produced a new realm of American heroes. One of those was Sergeant Alvin York, a Tennessee backwoods dirt farmer who single-handedly captured more than 132 Germans. Samuel Woodfill was later called “the greatest American soldier of the World War” by General John Pershing, commander of the American forces.
And then there was pilot Eddie Rickenbacker, who became the American Ace, having shot down 26 enemy planes.
Like many of the war’s heroes, Rickenbacker came from humble means. He was born in 1890 to immigrant parents in Columbus, Ohio, the third of three children. Eddie dropped out of school at 13 when his father died. During the years that followed, Eddie worked whatever jobs he could find to help support his family. One of those jobs involved working on automobiles for a locally successful engineer. Displaying an unusual aptitude as a mechanic, Eddie rapidly advanced. He also parlayed his success into the new sport of auto racing, earning the sobriquet “Fast Eddie.”
Aware of Rickenbacker’s driving skills and knowledge as a mechanic, General Pershing assigned him to the newly created U.S. Air Service. Expected to learn how to repair and construct aircraft, Eddie soon learned to fly, using the same sort of daredevil approach as he had racing automobiles. After his commanding officer was shot down, Eddie became the squadron commander. By the end of the war, he was recognized as the “Ace of Aces,” having shot down more enemy planes than any other American.
Awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the French Legion of Honor, and the Croix de Guerre, “Fast Eddie” emerged from the war an international hero. Returning to auto racing, he founded the Rickenbacker Motor Company and later bought the Indianapolis Speedway. Though the company was briefly successful, he left after several years due to growing tensions with his partners. He spent the next few years as an executive for several air companies, including one operated by General Motors. While there, he convinced GM to establish an air transport company, but, again, amid tensions with the company executives, Rickenbacker left to establish his own air company, Eastern Air Lines, which he led until the early 1960s.
During World War II, Rickenbacker was asked by the U.S. Army to assist in preparing the Army Air Force for war. In the early years of the war, he traveled tens of thousands of miles inspecting existing air facilities, overseeing pilot training, and rallying support from the nation’s air companies. His final flight ended in a near-fatal crash in the South Pacific. Adrift for 24 days, he was given up for dead but was found and later credited with having saved six crew members.
After the war, Rickenbacker returned to Eastern Air, where he remained until the early 1960s when he retired to Florida.
Eddie Rickenbacker died in 1972.
You can meet Eddie Rickenbacker in “The Many Adventures of Donnie Malone” by Paul E. Doutrich, a historical fiction novel that takes into account a great deal of American history. Doutrich chronicles the extraordinary life of Donnie Malone, a man who finds himself entangled in some of the most significant events of 20th-century America. The story begins with a young, patriotic Donnie, at the age of sixteen, swept up in the fervor of World War I. He enlists in the U.S. Army and becomes a pilot during the war’s final, intense battles. He takes on various jobs, including a stint as a cab driver for an ambitious mob figure. However, a chance encounter with his flying instructor, the legendary American pilot Eddie Rickenbacker, proves to be a turning point.
The book is available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other leading publishing platforms.