Fighter pilot
Flight Officer (F/O) Yeager Makes Way to Nerac to Evade Nazis
March 10-12, 1944 The Germans seem to have lost interest in finding me; there are fewer patrols now. Maybe they think if they stop looking for me so hard, I’ll become careless and fall into their net. And it nearly happens that way. Little Jean-Pierre and I are hiking to the pond, while crossing an…
Read More about Flight Officer (F/O) Yeager Makes Way to Nerac to Evade Nazis6-9 mars 1944: Caché à la vue de tous à Casteljaloux et à Pompogne à Vélo
6-9 mars 1944 Abattu le 5 mars 1944, se cachant toujours des Allemands et de la Milice française. J’ai passé la nuit dans une maison bien en vue à Casteljaloux, France. J’étais caché sous la maison dans un espace qui s’étendait de l’avant à l’arrière de la maison, une petite fenêtre à chaque extrémité donc…
Read More about 6-9 mars 1944: Caché à la vue de tous à Casteljaloux et à Pompogne à VéloMarch 6-9 Hiding in Plain Sight from Germans and French Milice
March 6-9, 1944 Shot down March 5, 1944, still hiding from the Germans and French Milice. I spent the night in a house in plain sight in Casteljaloux, France. I was hidden under the house in a space which extended from the front to the back of the house, a small window at either end…
Read More about March 6-9 Hiding in Plain Sight from Germans and French MiliceGermans at the Door – Escape and Evasion Continues
March 5, 1944 continued I decided to stay put until dark. Several times I hear low-flying planes-Germans hunting for me. I’m sweating but stay well-hidden under thick brush. I saw a lot of farmland coming down and at night I’ll pop out of these woods long enough to raid some turnips and potatoes. I figure…
Read More about Germans at the Door – Escape and Evasion ContinuesGeneral Yeager Leads Fly By for General Eisenhower’s Memorial – in his own words
General Yeager told this story at the National Memorial Day Parade in 2012: “Don’t tell anybody but: After General Eisenhower died, Mamie Eisenhower asked if I could plan, lead and execute a fly-by during his funeral procession. “I responded: Yes, ma’am! “I called the Pentagon and Andrews to set it up. A two star said:…
Read More about General Yeager Leads Fly By for General Eisenhower’s Memorial – in his own wordsShot down over France
Free falling. Flat on my back. Spinning from 16,000 feet. Velocity doubling each second. Hold off. Get below clouds where Krauts can’t see your chute. Yank that cord now, you’re dead. Germans strafe guys floating down. Clouds whisk past. French countryside filling horizon. Even so, wait goddammit. Ground rushing up. Occupied territory. Two fingers grip…
Read More about Shot down over FranceCombat over Berlin March 4, 1944. The Cavalry
Glamorus Glen March 4, 1944 Some of us never got word of the recall. The weather was stinkin’. There were only two of us P-51s escorting a box of bombers for the first US daylight raid over Berlin. None of us had gotten the recall. I spotted an Me-109 below me, dove on him and…
Read More about Combat over Berlin March 4, 1944. The CavalryGreat Aviatrix, Pancho Barnes, in Chuck Yeager’s Own Words
I first met Pancho Barnes on my first trip to Muroc in 1945, when we were testing Shooting Stars. Pancho was 46 when I first met her. She had black hair and dark eyes, slim hips and broad shoulders. She would never use a 5 or 6 letter word when a four-letter word would do.…
Read More about Great Aviatrix, Pancho Barnes, in Chuck Yeager’s Own WordsIn His Own Words: Emmett Hatch, black pilot, in Chuck Yeager’s Squadron 1950’s
In his own words from Yeager, An Autobiography pp 290-297: “The Air Force had only been integrated seven or eight years by the time I became a fighter pilot. I came up through the ranks as an enlisted man, the same as Chuck Yeager, but it wasn’t easy for me as a black man. There…
Read More about In His Own Words: Emmett Hatch, black pilot, in Chuck Yeager’s Squadron 1950’sFrom Chuck Yeager shot down over France
March 4, 1944 1st daylight raid over Berlin. Weather was stinkin’. Only 2 P-51s guarding a box of bombers. They hit their targes. I shot down my first enemy aircraft (a/c). Woo hoo. I was out of ammo returning home. I espied the stragglers of the bombers in formation heading home. I called ahead. “Can…
Read More about From Chuck Yeager shot down over France