Eddie Rickenbacker

Quotes

• “Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.”
• “To my mother, Elizabeth Basler Rickenbacker, with love and appreciation; her inspiration throughout life never failed me.'To my wife, Adelaide Frost Rickenbacker, whose constant confidence, love and dedication have always supported me through failure and success.”
• “Our American doughboys were pushing in on both sides of the salient. We could see them moving forward. Their bayonets were fixed, and they were using them. They stormed the trenches, fighting with cold steel and rifle butts. From my comparatively safe place in the sky, I watched them with admiration. I have always maintained that American infantrymen were the heroes of the war and that Alvin T. York, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, was the greatest hero of them all.”
• “When we arrived home, we found the situation in the United States no better. In vain did I attempt to describe to our military leaders the true situation in Germany. My reports were completely at variance with those coming in from our social-climbing lounge lizards, who were too busy going to cocktail parties to do their jobs.”

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Key dates

Born

8 October 1890

Died

23 July 1973

via Wikidata · CC0

Wikidata facts

Instance of

human

Gender

male

Citizenship

United States

Place of birth

Columbus

Place of death

Zurich

Occupation

national hero

Languages spoken

English language

Award

Medal for Merit

Sport

auto racing

Conflict

World War I

Military branch

United States Army

Military rank

Major

Image

Captain Edward Rickenbacker, America's premier Ace officially credited with 22 enemy planes and the proud wearer of th - NARA - 533720.jpg

Work location

Coconut Grove

via Wikidata · CC0