Chuck Yeager was born on February 13, 1923, in Myra, West Virginia. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces on September 12, 1941, and served as an aircraft mechanic at Victorville Army Flying School, California, before entering the Flying Sergeants Program in September 1942. Yeager was appointed a Flight Officer and awarded his pilot wings at Luke Field, Arizona, on March 10, 1943, and was then assigned to the 357th Fighter Group at Tonopah, Nevada. He went to England with the 357th in November 1943, and was assigned to the 363rd Fighter Squadron flying P-51 Mustangs. Yeager was commissioned a 2d Lt on July 6, 1944, and was credited with destroying 11.5 enemy aircraft in aerial combat during World War II, plus another 3 probables. He was shot down over France on March 5, 1944, and returned to England with the help of French resistance in May 1944. Capt Yeager returned to the United States in February 1945, and was assigned as a flight instructor at Perrin Field, Texas, until July 1945, when he transferred to Wright Field, Ohio, as a test pilot. He completed Test Pilot School at Wright Field in January 1946, and was sent to Muroc Air Base, California, as project officer on the Bell XS-1 experimental rocket plane in August 1947. On October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager flew the XS-1 to Mach 1, becoming the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound. Yeager remained a test pilot, serving at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, and Edwards AFB, California, until September 1954. He served with Headquarters 12th Air Force at Ramstein AB, West Germany, from October 1954 to March 1955, and then with the 417th Fighter Bomber Squadron at Hahn AB, West Germany, and at Toul Rosiere AB, France, from March 1955 to September 1957. Yeager next served on the staff of the 413th Fighter Wing at George AFB, California, from September 1957 to April 1958, followed by service as commander of the 1st Tactical Fighter Squadron at George AFB from April 1958 to March 1959. During this time the squadron served at Moron AB, Spain, from July to November 1958. He was commander of the 306th Tactical Fighter Squadron, also at George AFB, from March 1959 to June 1960, and then served as Operations and Training Officer for the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing from June to August 1960. Yeager attended the Air War College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, from August 1960 to June 1961, and then became Deputy Director of Flight Testing at Edwards AFB from June 1961 to February 1964, when he became Commandant of the Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards. He served as an advisor to Vietnam from February to March 1965, and became commander of the 405th Fighter Wing at Clark AB in the Philippines in July 1966, serving until February 1968. During this time, Col Yeager flew 127 combat missions in Southeast Asia in support of the Vietnam War. He next became commander of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing at Seymour-Johnson AFB, North Carolina, where he served from February 1968 to June 1969, including a deployment to South Korea during the Pueblo crisis. He was Vice Commander of 17th Air Force at Ramstein AB, West Germany, from June 1969 to January 1971, and then served as U.S. Defense Representative to Pakistan from January 1971 to March 1973. Gen Yeager transferred to the Air Force Inspection and Safety Center at Norton AFB, California, in March 1973 and became the director of the center in June 1973. He served in this position until his retirement from the Air Force on March 1, 1975. Chuck Yeager Flew West on December 7, 2020.