Photograph of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, America's Ace of Aces, the frontispiece from his memoir Fighting the Flying Circus.
Signed:Capt. Eddie RickenbackerCopyrighted by N. Lazarick 1919
A race car driver before the war, Eddie Rickenbacker raced against airplanes as well as cars. He became the greatest American ace of the First World War with 26 victories, four of them observation balloons.Rickenbacker's first victory was on April 29, 1918 and he became an ace, with five victories on May 30.Rickenbacker developed an ear abscess to kept him from flying for much of July. It returned in August and he was operated on in Paris, leaving the hospital on September 3 so he could fly again in the St. Mihiel Offensive.Rickenbacker's sixth victory was on September 14, his twenty-sixth on October 30. He was given command of the 94th Aero Squadron, the Hat-in-the-Ring Squadron, called so for its Uncle Sam top hat within a red ring, on September 24.
National Affiliation: United States
