An American hero and a West Virginia legend, General Chuck Yeager was the first man to break the sound barrier. Immortalized in Tom Wolfe's book (and the resulting movie) "The Right Stuff," Chuck Yeager is one of those people America just can't produce anymore. One of the greatest pilots in American history, he defied death countless times, set the foundation for the American conquest of space, and was still writing books about outdoor adventures at an age when most other men have retired to the couch. 

For those of us of a certain generation, we first learned about Chuck Yeager playing the old computer game "Chuck Yeager's Air Combat." Of course, it looks absolutely primitive now, but I still smile when I think of myself as a child, shooting down Communist fighter jets over Vietnam with a pixelated Chuck Yeager telling me to "fire chaff!" (Zoomers will never understand.) 



When I think of the archetypal American, I think of Chuck Yeager. I encourage all those out there to not only read and watch The Right Stuff, but to check out Yeager's books about his adventures in the sky and in the wild. They don't make him like this anymore. 

And, of course, it's doubly tragic because American wouldn't allow a man like Yeager today. Politically incorrect, physically brave, the complete opposite of a victim, he (like Charles Lindbergh) was the new American ideal after the West was won. The new frontier was air, and then space. Yeager was America at its best. 

Today, America doesn't dream such dreams. The hostile and foreign ruling class that has its boot on our neck only seeks to tear down, not build up. The closest we have to someone who is conquering space today is Elon Musk, who, it should be noted, is an expatriate from South Africa. Perhaps it is fitting that SpaceX is scheduled for a launch today. 

And General Yeager certainly represented that noble, pioneering spirt that defines VDARE.com's new home in wild, wonderful West Virginia .

Godspeed, General. America, and the world, is lesser without you.