Edward Rickenbacher was born on October 8, 1890 in Columbus, Ohio. He adopted his middle name, "Vernon," later and changed the spelling of his last name to "Rickenbacker" in 1918. His father, William, and his mother, Elizabeth (Basler), were Swiss immigrants who met and married in Columbus. "Eddie" was the third of eight children, seven of whom lived to adulthood.
After 1893, William Rickenbacher operated his own construction company, but the family remained mired in poverty. Eddie recalled that most of the land surrounding their home (handbuilt by William but without electricity, indoor plumbing, or heat) on the outskirts of Columbus was used for growing vegetables and pasturing goats. William was a stern disciplinarian, present- and practical-minded, and Elizabeth instilled in Eddie a great reverence for religion, attributes that seemed to form the nucleus of Eddie's personality.
Eddie worked at odd jobs since he was seven years old, earning cash for his own projects. This changed in 1904 when William was killed at a construction site. Eddie attributed his father's death to an accident, but the Dictionary of American Biography entry by Dr. W. David Lewis concludes that William "was killed by an assailant." Nevertheless, Eddie quit school immediately to find work to support his family.
Though his older brother (also named William) worked full-time, Eddie decided it was his job to support the family. He knew his mother and brother would oppose him, so he decided to present them with a fait accompli. He lied about his age to circumvent the child-labor laws and got a night job as a helper at the Federal Glass Factory. In a few weeks he quit to take a day job at the Buckeye Steel Casting Company. From there he worked in a beer factory, a bowling alley, a cemetary monument yard, and with the Pennsylvania Railroad as an apprentice.
He was unhappy and viewed every job only as a way to make money for his family. His stint in the machine shop of the Pennsylvania Railroad combined with his lust for adventure lured him into the naescent automobile industry. He began his automotive career in the Evans Garage. To upgrade his mechanical skills, he took the mechnical engineering course from International Correspondence School in 1905. He also successfully campaigned to land a job with the Frayer-Miller automobile manufacturing plant in Columbus.
First World War
Eddie enlisted in the U.S. Army in May, 1917 and arrived in France on June 26. Although interested in aviation, the AEF assigned him as staff driver for General John Pershing at the rank of sargent first-class. With the connivance of high-ranking friends in the AEF, Rickenbacker was accepted into the air corps. He trained at Tours, France, was promoted to lieutenant, and became the chief engineer at Issodun air training facility. In March, 1918, after training in aerial gunnery at Cazeau, Eddie was assigned to the 94th Aero Pursuit Squadron, the first all-American air unit to see combat (April 14, 1918). He became an ace, and won the French Croix de Guerre, in May by shooting down five German airplanes and was named commander of the 94th, the "Hat-in-the-Ring" Squadron, on September 24. The following day, Eddie shot dow two more German airplanes, victories for which the U.S. government awarded him a belated Congressional Medal of Honor in 1930. His twenty-sixth confirmed victory occurred on October 30, and the last victory (the 69th) for the 94th occurred on November 10, 1918. World War I ended the next day.
Second World War.
Rickenbacker vehemently opposed the United States' entry into World War II and even joined the "America First" committee. Nevertheless, Eddie supported the war effort once the U.S. committed itself, though he spent the first three months of the war recuperating from an airliner crash. At the request of General H.H. "Hap" Arnold, Eddie toured Army Air Corps training bases throughout the Southeast during March and April of 1942 to bolster morale, impress pilots with the seriousness of their mission, and secretly examine the bases and training pilots received. In September, Secretary of War Henry Stimson asked Rickenbacker to tour bases in England "as a continuation of your tour of inspection" and to seek out evidence of espionage.
Rickenbacker returned from England in October. Stimson immediately sent him on a tour of the Pacific theater. After visiting bases in Hawaii, Eddie, his aide Col. Hans Adamson, and their B-17 flight crew flew for Port Moresby, New Guinea. The first leg of their trip should have ended on Canton Island, but with inadequate navigational equipment and a faulty weather report, the B-17 overshot its mark. Hundreds of miles off-course and out of fuel, the pilot ditched his plane in the Pacific. Rickenbacker and company were lost at sea for twenty-four days. Their meager supply of food ran out after three days, but on the eighth a sea gull lighted on Eddie's head (as he shows in this photo). The unfortunate bird became dinner and fishing bait. Navy pilots rescued the crew in the Ellice Island chain on Friday, November 13, 1942, more than 500 miles beyond Canton Island.
Suffering from exposure, dehydration, and starvation, Rickenbacker rested a few days then proceeded on his original mission to inspect facilities at Port Moresby, Guadalcanal, and Upola. He reported to Secretary Stimson and General Arnold on December 19, then returned to New York the following day.
In April, 1943, Eddie took on yet another assignment for Stimson, this time visiting bases and production facitlies in North Africa, the Middle East, India, Burma, China, the Aleutian Islands, and the Society Union.
