![]() ![]() By the end of the war, he was a fighter ace credited with shooting down at least 12 German planes, including five in one day. He first stepped into a cockpit during World War II after joining the Army Air Forces directly out of high school. Arguably the finest test pilot in history. ![]() The first human to break the speed of sound. He was a true American hero in every sense. Yesterday, Chuck Yeager passed away at the age of 97. He could not have known the reach of his poem over all the years, nor how it might describe another pilot, Chuck Yeager. Magee, only 19 years old, crashed to his death. Later that year, in December, Magee, a pilot in the RCAF, and his Spitfire collided with another plane over England. It was written in 1941, but it surely envisioned the later life and exploits of Chuck Yeager. That is from the poem “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. Put out my hand and touched the face of God.” I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,Īnd, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod ![]() Hovering there I’ve chased the shouting wind alongĪnd flung my eager craft through footless halls of air. Wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence. Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds –Īnd done a hundred things You have not dreamed of – “Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,Īnd danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings ![]()
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