Eddie Rickenbacker

"Our American doughboys were pushing in on both sides of the salient. We could see them moving forward. Their bayonets were fixed, and they were using them. They stormed the trenches, fighting with cold steel and rifle butts. From my comparatively safe place in the sky, I watched them with admiration. I have always maintained that American infantrymen were the heroes of the war and that Alvin T. York, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, was the greatest hero of them all."

"When we arrived home, we found the situation in the United States no better. In vain did I attempt to describe to our military leaders the true situation in Germany. My reports were completely at variance with those coming in from our social-climbing lounge lizards, who were too busy going to cocktail parties to do their jobs."

"The Prime Ministers car picked me up at the Savoy Hotel, It appeared to be European-royalty day at the Chequers, with all the deposed kings and queens of the Continent present. After a pleasant luncheon, Churchill and I moved outside and sat under a large oak tree. He asked me about Russia, but, when I started to give him my observations, he interrupted me in a bantering tone, questioning my statements as though I had been sold a bill of goods. "Mr. Prime Minister," I said, "you invited me here, and I was pleased to come. If you dont care to listen to what I have to report, then I would really prefer to leave, for I am behind schedule and have plenty to do. And if you arent busy, you oughyt to be, as I would imagine youd have plenty to do too." "Oh, Im sorry, so sorry," he said. "Please do continue." I did, and this time he listened attentively. I concluded by imploring him to work for a better understanding between him and Roosevelt on the one hand and Stalin on the other. I recommended that Britain and the United States be realistic with Stalin and establish a firm and just agreement before the war was ended, with positive understanding and respect on all sides. "If this isnt done," I said, "Russia will demand ten times more after the war than she will ask for today. By sincerely holding out the olive branch of peace today, you will get credit on the books of history for eliminating the possibility of another great war within the next 25 years." Discussing other areas of the war, Churchill said that, when victory in Europe was secure, he would send his armies to the Pacific to give the Americans abundant help against the Japanese. "Mr. Churchill," I said, "when the Germans capitulate, the English people will be through with war. You will probably no longer be prime minister." It is sad, but that is exactly what did happen."

"It seems only yesterday, in 1934, that Eastern Air Lines was a struggling little company pioneering in a new and untried field. It became a giant in the industry. We built it through hard work, dedication and faith in the future of America. This kind of faith in the future of America is being expressed everywhere you look. It is based upon the one eternal trith on which our nation is founded. The future promises that men and women, free to dream and free to work to make their dreams come true, can accomplish anything. There can be no limit to the creative imagination with which a beneficient God has endowed mankind."

"To my mother, Elizabeth Basler Rickenbacker, with love and appreciation; her inspiration throughout life never failed me. To my wife, Adelaide Frost Rickenbacker, whose constant confidence, love and dedication have always supported me through failure and success."

"Courage is doing what youre afraid to do. There can be no courage unless youre scared."