General Eisenhower meets Flight Officer Yeager

Friends long after WWII General Yeager and General Eisenhower

In General Yeager’s words: “The brass kept trying to send me home after I got back to England after being shot down and evaded.

I got pretty brassy and worked my way all the way up to General Eisenhower. There we were; Glover, a college boy, and me, a high school graduate standing in front of the Supreme Allied commander. I was so in awe I barely spoke..

“Eisenhower said, ‘I’ve got guys shooting themselves in the foot to go home. What is the matter with you?”

“I replied, ‘General, I haven’t done my job. I don’t want to leave my buddies after only 8 missions. It just isn’t right. I’ve got a lot of fightin’ left to do.”

“Glover, a pretty smart college boy, did most of the talking, and Eisenhower kept nodding in agreement. Finally, Eisenhower said, “I just don’t have the authority to keep you here. That’s a War Department regulation, not mine. But I can ask Washington if they will give me the authority to make the decision. That’s all I can promise.”

“I went back to Leiston, my air base, and awaited the decision of whether I could stay or had to go home.

The waiting was interminable.”

c. GCYI