What Happened Next?
• The United States awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award, to Eddie Rickenbacker for his 26 victories over German warplanes during World War I.
• Eddie Rickenbacker drove in the first Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 1911. In 1927, he bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for $700,000. During the twenty years that he owned it, he helped to make it the famous racecourse that it is today.
• In 1938, Eddie purchased Eastern Air Lines and remained Chairman of the Board until the company merged with Trans World Airlines in 1963.
• In 1942, while on a secret mission for the government, the plane carrying Eddie and several others crashed into the Pacific Ocean. They were lost at sea for 24 days before the Navy rescued them.
• Eddie Rickenbacker was the father of two sons, David and William.