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The legend of Chuck Yeager was founded in the Second World War. Growing up in Hamlin, West Virginia as the son of a gas driller, Yeager joined The Army Air Force in 1941 at the age of 18.
In 1943, at the age of 20, he graduated to the rank non-commissioned flight officer – a qualified military pilot – and he was subsequently sent to England to fly fighter planes. In his first eight missions, Yeager downed a total of two German fighters, before he himself was downed over German-occupied France, shot down by German anti-aircraft fire on his ninth mission. Although wounded from the flak that had hit both his aircraft and his body, Yeager was able bail out the crashing plane, and parachute safely to the ground. Here he was picked up by the French underground who speared him safely across Pyrenees-border into Spain from where he, after being briefly imprisoned, returned to England and to active duty. He went on to fly through the whole of the allied invasion of France, and on October 12, 1944, Yeager successfully and single-handedly shot down five German fighter planes in succession.
Yea, it gets to sound quite Wikipedish when all the colour is taken out and the facts only remain. What is the take-away for you from doing this exercise in this manner?
ReplyDeleteI feel that Yeager is a legend in his own right, and the merits of his life and career can carry a text on their own, without the interference Wolfe's unique personal (self-centered) style.
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