Recently, retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager died at the age of 97. He was an ace fighter pilot during World War II and an excellent test pilot in the U.S. Army, becoming the first to fly faster than sound in 1947.
In mourning The Hague, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said his death was a great loss to our nation, and that General Jaeger's pioneering and innovative spirit improved America's ability to fly in the air and take us to the jet age and the space age.
In August 2006, Edwards Air Force Base historian Jim Young said at the unveiling of the statue of Jaeger: "In an era when the media is a hero, he is the real hero." Major General Curtis Bedke, commander of the Edwards Air Force Flight Test Center, called him "the most upright of all those with the right equipment."
Jaeger was born on February 23, 1923, in Myra, a small town in the mountains of West Virginia, in a muddy river deep in the Appalachian Valley, about 40 miles southwest of Charleston. The family later moved to Hamlin County, where his father, an oil and gas driller and farmer, was responsible for raising the family.
In 1941, after graduating from high school, Jaeger joined the Army and joined the United States Army Air Force. He later regretted that he had no college education and could not become an astronaut. Jaeger, who had just joined the army, started out as an aircraft mechanic, and despite his severe airsickness on his first flight, he signed up for the Soldier Promotion Pilot Training Program.
Jaeger flew 64 missions during World War II, shooting down 13 German aircraft. He was once shot down in German-controlled France, but escaped with the help of French partisans. After World War II, he became a test pilot and began working at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
Jaeger's life flew for more than 60 years. On October 14, 1947, at the age of 24, Jaeger piloted an orange bullet-shaped Bell X-1 rocket aircraft that broke through the sound barrier at 1,660 miles per hour, achieving a daunting aviation milestone. Jaeger later said he could have flown faster if the plane had carried more fuel.
Jaeger's feat was kept highly secret for about a year, when the world believed that the British were the first to break the sound barrier. Later, Jaeger nicknamed the record-breaking rocket plane, "Charming Glennis," in honor of his wife, who died in 1990.
During the Vietnam War, Jaeg returned to the battlefield, flying twin-engine B-57 Canberra bombers several missions a month, bombing and strafing over South Vietnam. Jaeger also served as a commander in the U.S. Air Force Fighter Squadron and Wing, and as an instructor at the Aerospace Research Pilot School, training military astronauts.
Jaeger was promoted to the rank of brigadier general on June 22, 1969, and was not promoted until he retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1975. After retiring from the military, he moved to a farm in Cedar Ridge, Northern California, where he continued to serve as an adviser to the Air Force and Northrop, and became known to the younger generation of Americans as a television advertising spokesperson for auto parts and heat pumps.
In October 2002, at the age of 79, Jaeger was still flying an X-15 at Edwards Air Force Base at nearly 1,000 miles per hour. He said in Jaeger: Autobiography: "Living to old age is not an end in itself, the trick is to enjoy the rest of your life." I haven't done everything yet, but by the time I'm done, I won't miss too much. If I were going to (crash) tomorrow, I wouldn't be frowning. I had a great time. Of course, I'm worried that there's bound to be fear when you're doing something you don't know very well. But you can't let that affect your work. ”
In an interview with Men's Magazine in January 2009, he said: "I have flown 341 military aircraft and flown about 18,000 hours. It may sound funny, but I've never owned an airplane in my life. If you're willing to bleed, Uncle Sam will give you all the planes you want. ”
On October 14, 2012, Jaeger took to the skies from the back seat of an F-15D fighter jet at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada to commemorate the feat of breaking through the sound barrier. The F-15 fighter broke through the sound barrier more than 30,000 feet over California's Mojave Desert. Piloting the fighter jet for Jaeger was Captain David Vincent. David Vincent）。
Jaeger has received the Air Force Distinguished Service Cross, Army Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Meritorious Service, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Aviation Medal, Purple Heart Medal, Presidential Force Commendation, Air Force Outstanding Collective Commendation, United States Defense Service Medal, United States Meritorious Service Medal, Euro-Africa Middle East Battle Merit Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Military Occupation of Germany Medal, Domestic Service Medal, Army Expeditionary Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Air Force Long Service Medal, Air Force Light Weapons Shooting Expert Medal, Medal of Merit of the Republic of Vietnam. In December 1948, Harry M. President S. Truman awarded him the Collier Aviation Award for breaking through the sound barrier. In 1976, Jaeger received the Congressional Silver Medal. In 1985, Jaeger received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civic honor americans can receive.
On the personal family front, Jaeger married Glennes Dickhouse of Oroville, California, on February 26, 1945, with four children: Donald, Michael, Sharon, and Susan. Glennis died of ovarian cancer in December 1990, and Jaeger remarried Victoria Scott d'Angelo, 45, at the age of 80 in 2003.