[KenWittlief]

shooting down other planes in a war - lots of people did that - there were many aces on both sides

when you are in battle you are pretty much going head to head against a known enemy

but Chuck was a test pilot for a long time, and he crashed a lot more planes in test flights than he had shot out from under him.

Several pilots died trying to break the sound barrier before Yeager strapped himself in the X1 - going up against the unknown - doing something for first time - thats a whole nuther level of hero.

How many of you would have strapped yourself into your teams robot, and dropped at 20,000 feet from a bomber, knowing it was the first time the machine was tested? :c) You know what I mean - engineers can only test their theories so far, until someone like Chuck has to get in the cockpit and light the fuse to finish the job.

I think Chuck is also one of the few people around who turned down (thumbed his nose?) at NASA. He could easily have been the first man in space, in orbit, or even on the moon.

a thousand years from now, nobody will remember war heros, but Chuck will have his place in history on a big scale, next to Yuri, Orville, Buzz, and Dean :c)

PS if you were lucky enough to hear him speak, or to meet him in person - that is something you can tell your GGGrandchildren about, 100 years from now - how you met the guy who broke the sound barrier - can you image, pulling out your team shirt and showing them HIS autograph? or a photo of you standing next to him?