Quick facts about the General, most of you may know them already:
1) He named every plane he flew after his wife.
2)He was shot down over France and escaped. He had to beg all the way to Eisenhower to get to fly combat again.
3) He fell off a horse the night before he broke the sound barrier. His buddy helped him rig the door so he could close it with cracked ribs.
He is also the only person in the short history of the USAF to obtain the rank of Brigadier General without a college degree.
In the early days of WWII the Army started a program of enlisted pilots, then dropped it. The best flyers were awarded commissions so they could remain pilots. Chuck was one of them.
I’ve read his autobiography, although it was years ago.