We all learned about him from the movie The Right Stuff in the early Eighties, the first known man to break the sound barrier. It is a shame he didn’t get to be astronaut because he didn’t have a college degree. Chuck joined the Army Air Corps right out of high school during WWII and stayed in the military after the conflict while many contemporaries took advantage of the GI Bill (another big government success).
I think he did some commercials while I was a teenager and that’s about it.
Still, I thank you for doing what many felt was impossible, defeating the luftwaffe (12 kills) and all the other things you contributed through your service. One thing I do recall, you were never bitter over being overlooked for the space program. You said something to the effect of…as a test pilot, we’re working on stuff that’s been relatively figured out. Astronauts are doing stuff that’s really dangerous, namely sitting on rocket which is mostly made of explosives.