And with this, I believe we’ve lost the last living Old School American Hero.
Chuck Yeager, World War II ace, daring test pilot and legendary West Virginian, has died.
His place in history was secured in 1947 when he became the first pilot in history to blow past the speed of sound in level flight. Yeager’s daring and understated swagger personified “The Right Stuff” associated with the test pilots who followed in his footsteps to become the first astronauts in the American space program.
He thrilled West Virginians by buzzing under Charleston’s South Side Bridge in a Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star in 1948.
“General Chuck Yeager was an American hero. West Virginia’s native son was larger than life and an inspiration for generations of Americans,” U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., stated.
Echoing President Reagan’s tribute to the space shuttle Challenger crew, Senator Shelley Moore Capito said Yeager had “slipped the surly bonds of earth and touched the face of God.”
“What an amazing life,” said Capito, R-W.Va.
Yeager’s wife, Victoria, announced his death on Twitter and highlighted his “legacy of strength, adventure and patriotism.” Victoria, who Yeager married in 2003, did not state a cause of death. Yeager was 97.
Yeager was an obvious figure to tell children to look up to.
When I was 9, my dad gave me his autobiography.
It had as big of an impact on me as anything I read in my childhood, and played an important role in the development of my understanding of masculinity.
I recommend that any of you read it. And give it to your young boys, when you have them.
The number one takeaway is that this man was willing to take serious risks for the sake of personal glory and the glory of his nation.
Taking risks is at the core of any kind of success, and the sort of person who does not ever take risks is always a loser, and ultimately their lives are failures.
Q: What about the Israelis,always heard they were DA best warpilots in the world… A: Arrogant. Didn't listen. Lost half their a/c in war.
— Chuck Yeager (@GenChuckYeager) November 17, 2017
Who that is alive now would be in the same category as this man?
Is there any living man you can point a boy to and say, “you should be like him when you grow up”?
The closest I can think of is Donald Trump, and there are a good number of issues with that (Trump is obviously a hero, and he’s obviously very masculine and very brave, but he is also kind of immature in a lot of ways).
What exactly is wrong with our society that we are failing to produce role models for children?
What’s more: if we’ve stopped producing role models for children, then how can we expect to produce children who grow up to themselves be worthy of being role models?
This is an issue that frankly needs to be discussed a lot more. Our children are as lost as they possibly could be, and there is not really any way to direct them towards what they should be. The best thing anyone can do is say: “don’t be a tranny or a faggot of any kind, kid.”
— I,Hypocrite (@lporiginalg) November 22, 2020
The rest, the kids are required to figure out on their own.
A society that has stopped caring about the future of children is a doomed society, and we’ve been a doomed society for a rather long time.
The good news is: our society is going to hell rapidly now, and various chickens are finally coming home to roost.
These roosting chickens are going to create challenges, which will provide an opportunity for great men to rise to meet them.
RIP Chuck.
Here’s to hoping that men as great as you will some day grace us with their presence.