Sunday, October 27, 2002



The Right Stuff....
The term "Hero" is used loosely in this day and age. But one man that personifies and deserves that appellation is Gen. Chuck Yeager. Not for just breaking the sound barrier all those years ago, but for a lifetime of services much above and beyond the call of duty. And doing it mostly out of the eye of the media. He will be the first to tell you that he doesn't like being called a hero. He will say that he was just a guy doing his duty and what he loved to do. In a personal setting he gets noticeably peeved when all people want to do is talk about breaking the sound barrier. He will tell you that it was the luck of the draw that got him in Glamorous Glyniss that day, that it could have been any number of other well qualified pilots. He would really rather talk about his days as a P-51 fighter jock....and ace. To talk about what it meant to defeat Nazi Germany and about all his friends who weren't as lucky as he, and who didn't come home.

I was lucky enough this year to meet Gen. Yeager and hear him say these things. So it was with relish that I read today that he once again, probably for the last time got to break the sound barrier. Sorry Gen. Yeager, I know you wouldn't want to hear it, but you are a hero.....and a genuine legend.