Chuck Yeager
Charles Yeager
Born February 13, 1923 (1923-02-13)
Nickname
Chuck
Place of
birth
Lincoln County, West Virginia
Allegiance
United States of America
Service/
branch
United States Army Air Forces
United States Air Force
Years of
service
September 12, 1941 - March 1, 1975
Rank
Major General (retired list)
Battles/
wars
World War II
Vietnam War
Awards
Distinguished Service Medal (2)
Silver Star (2)
Distinguished Flying Cross (3)
Legion of Merit (2)
Bronze Star
Purple Heart
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Congressional Silver Medal
Other work Flight instructor
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager
(born
February 13, 1923) is a former brigadier gen-
eral in the United States Air Force and noted
test pilot. In 1947, he became the first pilot
(at age 24) to travel faster than sound. Ori-
ginally retiring as a brigadier general, Yeager
was promoted to major general on the Air
Force’s retired list 20 years later for his milit-
ary achievements.
His career began in World War II as a
private in the U.S. Army Air Forces. After
serving as an aircraft mechanic, in Septem-
ber, 1942 he entered enlisted pilot training
and upon graduation was promoted to the
rank of Flight Officer (WW 2 U.S. Army Air
Forces rank equivalent to Warrant Officer)
and became a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot.
After the war he became a test pilot of many
kinds of aircraft and rocket planes. Yeager
was the first man to break the sound barrier
on October 14, 1947, flying the experimental
Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 13,700 m
(45,000 ft). Although Scott Crossfield was the
first man to fly faster than Mach 2 in 1953,
Yeager shortly thereafter exceeded Mach
2.4.[1] He later commanded fighter squad-
rons and wings in Germany and in Southeast
Asia during the Vietnam War, and in recogni-
tion of the outstanding performance ratings
of those units he then was promoted to bri-
gadier general. Yeager’s flying career spans
more than sixty years and has taken him to
every corner of the globe, even into the
Soviet Union during the height of the Cold
War.
Biograph