ACE OFTEN AFRAID
By ROBERT T. SMALL
(Special Correspondent of The Fresno Bee)
(By the Consolidated Press Association)
Eddie Rickenbacker, American ace of aces and witness before the Mitchell court martial, asked upon one occasion if he ever was afraid, replied frankly in the affirmative and added that whenever he felt that way he would return to his airdrome and jog along on foot to the front line trenches to spend a few days with the infantry. After his experiences there, he said, the air would hold no terrors for him.
On the occasion of one of these visits to the front line, Eddie was accosted by a colored cook named Sam, who allowed that some day before he got "bumped off" he would like to take a ride in an airplane. Eddie arranged with the company captain to let Sam off a few days later and then followed the great ceremony of strapping the colored soldier into [a] two-seater. A big crowd of doughboys gathered around to see the fun. Eddie fixed a phone to his passenger's ears so they could talk while aloft. During the forty-five minutes which followed the American ace did all the stunts he knew. Finally he nose-dived right at the crowd of on-lookers and, barely missing their heads, zoomed up into the air again.
"Sam," said the pilot through the telephone. "10 per cent of those fellows down there thought we were going to crash."
"Hump," said Sam. "50 per cent of us up here thought we was."
The Fresno Bee (Fresno, California) - Sunday, November 22, 1925
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