[96], Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia, is named in his honor. You do it because its duty. He began his military time as an aircraft mechanic before attending flight school. The Marshall University community is remembering Brig. Bob van der Linden of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington says Yeager stood out. His father was an oil and gas driller and a farmer. Chuck Yeager, the first person to break the sound barrier and a subject of the book and film "The Right Stuff," has died.He was 97. In December 1953, General Yeager flew the X-1A plane at nearly two and a half times the speed of sound after barely surviving a spin, setting a world speed record. [60][61][62][f], In 1966, Yeager took command of the 405th Tactical Fighter Wing at Clark Air Base, the Philippines, whose squadrons were deployed on rotational temporary duty (TDY) in South Vietnam and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. [98] On August 25, 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announced that Yeager would be one of 13 California Hall of Fame inductees in The California Museum's yearlong exhibit. From 1954 to 1957, he commanded the F-86H Sabre-equipped 417th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (50th Fighter-Bomber Wing) at Hahn AB, West Germany, and Toul-Rosieres Air Base, France; and from 1957 to 1960 the F-100D Super Sabre-equipped 1st Fighter Day Squadron at George Air Force Base, California, and Morn Air Base, Spain. Sixty-five years later to the minute, on Oct. 14, 2012, Yeager commemorated the feat, flying in the back seat of an F-15 Eagle as it broke the sound barrier at more than 30,000 feet (9,144 meters . ", "Pilot Chuck Yeager's resolve to break the sound barrier was made of the right stuff", "This day in history: Yeager breaks the sound barrier", "Harmon Prizes go for 2 Air "Firsts"; Vertical-Flight Test Pilot and Airship Endurance Captain Are 1955 Winners", "BRIGADIER GENERAL CHARLES E. "CHUCK" YEAGER", "Yeager (n.d.). The trick is to enjoy the years remaining, he said in Yeager: An Autobiography., I havent yet done everything, but by the time Im finished, I wont have missed much, he wrote. [48] During 1952, he attended the Air Command and Staff College. Chuck Yeager (@GenChuckYeager) . On 14 October 1947, Yeager's plane - nicknamed Glamorous Glennis, in honour of his first wife - was dropped from the bomb bay of a B-29 aircraft above the Mojave Desert in the south-western US. During the ejection, the seat straps released normally, but the seat base slammed into Yeager, with the still-hot rocket motor breaking his helmet's plastic faceplate and causing his emergency oxygen supply to catch fire. General Yeager broke the sound barrier again in an F-15D on the 50th anniversary of his historic flight in 1997. Yeager married 45-year-old Victoria Scott DAngelo in 2003. December 8, 2020. Yeagers pioneering and innovative spirit advanced Americas abilities in the sky and set our nations dreams soaring into the jet age and the space age. His exploits were told in Tom Wolfes book The Right Stuff, and the 1983 film it inspired. Yeager's wife,. I thought he was going to take me off the roof. 1 of 5 Legendary airman Chuck Yeager the first pilot in history confirmed to break the sound barrier died Monday, his wife announced. He was 97. He was 97. Early life and education. For that same series, executive producer Rick Berman said that he envisaged the lead character, Captain Jonathan Archer, as being "halfway between Chuck Yeager and Han Solo. (Photo by Jason Merritt . [119], Yeager appeared in a Texas advertisement for George H. W. Bush's 1988 presidential campaign. It's your job. [65][76], On March 1, 1975, following assignments in West Germany and Pakistan, Yeager retired from the Air Force at Norton Air Force Base, California. [6], Yeager's participation in the test pilot training program for NASA included controversial behavior. But life continued much the same at Muroc. Gen. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager died Dec. 7. Feb. 13, 2023. His wife, Victoria, announced . [25][26], In his 1986 memoirs, Yeager recalled with disgust that "atrocities were committed by both sides", and said he went on a mission with orders from the Eighth Air Force to "strafe anything that moved". He later regretted that his lack of a college education prevented him from becoming an astronaut. Three of his kids doubt his new wife, who's half his age, is made of the right stuff. "[116] Yeager and Glennis moved to Grass Valley, California, after his retirement from the Air Force in 1975. Gen. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager died, Dec. 7, 2020. Yeager was also the chairman of Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s Young Eagle Program from 1994 to 2004, and was named the program's chairman emeritus. [12] He received his pilot wings and a promotion to flight officer at Luke Field, Arizona, where he graduated from Class 43C on March 10, 1943. By the time Chuck was five, the family were among the 600 inhabitants of nearby Hamlin. And was just such a superb pilot.". It was a feat of considerable courage, as nobody was certain at the time whether an aircraft could survive the shockwaves of a sonic boom. Yeager's death was announced on his official. The first time I ever saw a jet, he said, I shot it down. It was a Messerschmitt Me 262, and he was the first in the 363rd to do so. An incredible life well lived, America's greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever.". This story has been shared 135,794 times. A World War II fighter pilot, Yeager was propelled into history by breaking the sound barrier in the experimental Bell X-1 research aircraft in October 1947 over Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. (AP) - Retired Air Force Brig. The locals in the nearby village of Yoxford, he recalled, resented having 7,000 Yanks descend on them, their pubs and their women, and were rude and nasty.. This was the sound barrier, which no aviator had crossed and lived to tell the tale. Sure, I was apprehensive, he said in 1968. NASAs administrator, Jim Bridenstine, described General Yeagers death in a statement as a tremendous loss to our nation. The astronaut Scott Kelly, writing on Twitter, called him a true legend.. In 1950, General Yeagers X-1 plane, which he christened Glamorous Glennis, honoring his wife, went on display at the SmithsonianInstitution in Washington. General Yeager's 14-minute sprint over the Mojave Desert on Oct. 14, 1947, is considered the most important airplane flight since Orville Wright swept over the sands of Kitty Hawk for 40 yards . ", Yeager never considered himself to be courageous or a hero. Gen. Charles "Chuck" Yeager, the World War II fighter pilot ace and quintessential test pilot who showed he had the "right stuff" when in 1947 he became the first person. The games include Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer, Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer 2.0, and Chuck Yeager's Air Combat. [100], Army of the United States(Army Air Forces), Yeager named his plane after his wife, Glennis, as a good-luck charm: "You're my good-luck charm, hon. Gen. On the day of the flight, Yeager was in such pain that he could not seal the X-1's hatch by himself. In April 1962, Yeager made his only flight with Neil Armstrong. [30], Yeager was commissioned a second lieutenant while at Leiston, and was promoted to captain before the end of his tour. Yeager had been cheap, sneered some, and thus expendable. It wasnt a matter of not having airplanes that would fly at speeds like this. 2023 BBC. -. He said, You dont concentrate on risks. General Yeager came out of the West Virginia hills with only a high school education and with a drawl that left many a fellow pilot bewildered. Yeager was raised in Hamlin, West Virginia. He served, in 1986, on President Ronald Reagans Rogers commission into the space shuttle Challenger tragedy. Yeager shot down 13 German planes on 64 missions during World War II, including five on a single mission. He left Muroc in 1954 and in that decade and the 1960s, he held commands in Germany, France, Spain and the US. "Chuck's bravery and accomplishments are a testament to the enduring strength that made him a true American original, and NASA's Aeronautics work owes much to his brilliant contributions to aerospace science. Gen. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager prepares to board an F-15D Eagle from the 65th Aggressor Squadron at . He started off as an aircraft mechanic and, despite becoming severely airsick during his first airplane ride, signed up for a program that allowed enlisted men to become pilots. Chuck's devoted spouse died in 1990 after a long battle with cancer. The documentary was screened at film festivals, aired on public television in the United States, and won an Emmy Award. Yeager ended his tour credited with shooting down 13 planes, including five victories in one mission. He played "Fred", a bartender at "Pancho's Place", which was most appropriate, as Yeager said, "if all the hours were ever totaled, I reckon I spent more time at her place than in a cockpit over those years". Gen. Charles "Chuck" Yeager, the World War II fighter pilot ace and quintessential test pilot who showed he had the "right stuff" when in 1947 he became the first person. But the guy who broke the sound barrier was the kid who swam the Mud River with a swiped watermelon or shot the head off a squirrel before going to school.. They had four children: Donald, Michael, Sharon and Susan. Mr. Wolfe wrote about a nonchalance affected by pilots in the face of an emergency in a voice specifically Appalachian in origin, one that was first heard in military circles but ultimately emanated from the cockpits of commercial airliners. Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer was Electronic Art's top-selling game for 1987. On the evening of Sunday 12 October 1947, Yeager, a 24-year-old US air force test pilot based at Muroc army air field in California, dined with his wife, Glennis, at Panchos bar and restaurant in the Mojave desert. Wearing a model of his hero Chuck Yeager's Bell X1A airplane on his lapel, Luke Strange-Paylor, 9, of Millstone, Calhoun County, waits for Yeager's memorial service to begin Friday at the . Born on February 13th, 1923, General Chuck Yeager with the Bell X-1 team, made world history breaking the sound barrier on Oct. 14th, 1947. In March 1944, when Yeager was based in England, he survived being shot down behind enemy lines in France. WASHINGTON - Chuck Yeager, a World War II fighter ace who was the first human to travel faster than sound and whose gutsy test pilot exploits were immortalised in the bestselling book "The. Ridley sawed 10 inches off a broomstick and wedged it in the lock, so that Yeager would be able to operate it with his left hand. In addition to his flying skills, Yeager also had "better than perfect" vision: 20/10. In this Sept. 4, 1985, file photo, Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier in 1947, poses at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in front of the rocket-powered Bell X-IE plane that he . Yeagers feat was kept top secret for about a year when the world thought the British had broken the sound barrier first. Yeager reportedly did not believe that Ed Dwight, the first African American pilot admitted into the program, should be a part of it. James was perhaps best known in the gun . Yeagers death is a tremendous loss to our nation, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. Published: December 8, 2020. It's more than that, though. until her death on Dec. 22, 1990. American World War II flying ace and test pilot, Yeager had not been in an airplane prior to January 1942, when his Engineering Officer invited him on a test flight after maintenance of an. [29] He also expressed bitterness at his treatment in England during World War II, describing the British as "arrogant" and "nasty". He even lobbied to change one of the plane's control surfaces so that it could safely exceed Mach 1. But he became a fighter ace in World War II, shooting down five German planes in a single day and 13 over all. Such was the difficulty of this task that the answer to many of the inherent challenges was along the lines of "Yeager better have paid-up insurance". One day I climbed up on my roof with my 8 mm camera when he flew overhead. One of Yeager's jobs during this time was to assist Pakistani technicians in installing AIM-9 Sidewinders on PAF's Shenyang F-6 fighters. General Yeager became a familiar face in commercials and made numerous public appearances. An incredible life well lived, America's greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever. Missions featured several of Yeager's accomplishments and let players attempt to top his records. His career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army, assigned to the Army Air Forces in 1941. In 1945, after earning ace status for downing 13 German warplanes in World War II, including five Me-109 fighters in one day, Yeager was posted as a maintenance officer at the Air Force's Flight Test Division at Wright Field, Ohio. [89] In December 1975, the U.S. Congress awarded Yeager a silver medal "equivalent to a noncombat Medal of Honor for contributing immeasurably to aerospace science by risking his life in piloting the X-1 research airplane faster than the speed of sound on October 14, 1947". It might sound funny, but Ive never owned an airplane in my life. The pain took his breath away. Supersonic pioneer Chuck Yeager passes away at 97 | News | Flight Global Aviation pioneer Charles 'Chuck' Yeager passed away on 7 December at the age of 97. rules against Chuck Yeager's daughter in dispute with stepmother", "Chuck Yeager, who made history for breaking the sound barrier, dies at 97", "Chuck Yeager, pilot who broke the sound barrier, dies at 97", Biography in the National Aviation Hall of Fame, General Chuck Yeager, USAF, Biography and Interview, "Chuck Yeager & the Sound Barrier" in Aerospaceweb.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chuck_Yeager&oldid=1142035779, United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War, People from Lincoln County, West Virginia, Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States), Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army), Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents, United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II, Pages using cite court with unknown parameters, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Yeager, Chuck, Bob Cardenas, Bob Hoover, Jack Russell and James Young, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 04:40. President Harry S. Truman awarded him the Collier air trophy in December 1948 for his breaking the sound barrier. He reportedly could see enemy fighters from 50 miles away and ended up fighting in several wars. Controversy still reverberates around those days in October 1947. One of the world's most famous aviators has died: Chuck Yeager best known as the first to break the sound barrier died at the age of 97. [83], On October 14, 1997, on the 50th anniversary of his historic flight past Mach 1, he flew a new Glamorous Glennis III, an F-15D Eagle, past Mach 1. Renowned test pilot Chuck Yeager dies Published Dec. 9, 2020 By 412th Test Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- Famed test pilot, retired Brig. But he was hidden by members of the French underground, made it to neutral Spain by climbing the snowy Pyrenees, carrying a severely wounded flier with him, and returned to his base in England. You do it because it's duty. He had reached a speed of 700 miles an hour, breaking the sound barrier and dispelling the long-held fear that any plane flying at or beyond the speed of sound would be torn apart by shock waves. When Armstrong did touch down, the wheels became stuck in the mud, bringing the plane to a sudden stop and provoking Yeager to fits of laughter. Yeager went into the history books after his flight in the Bell X-1 experimental rocket plane in 1947. Gen. Charles "Chuck" Yeager, the World War II fighter pilot ace and quintessential test pilot who showed he had the "right stuff" when in. He said the ride was nice, just like riding fast in a car.. He was 97. He said he had gotten up at dawn that day and went hunting, bagging a goose before his flight. Ive flown 341 types of military planes in every country in the world and logged about 18,000 hours, he said in an interview in the January 2009 issue of Mens Journal. A movie of the same name followed in 1983, with Sam Shepard as Yeager. He'd been fighting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease) for some time and that is believed to be the cause of his death, although no official statement has been released. No risk is too great to prevent the necessary job from getting done, Bridenstine said. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, a military test pilot who was the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound and live to tell about it, died Dec. 7 in Los Angeles. His life was famously portrayed in Tom Wolfes 1979 book The Right Stuff which was later adapted into an Oscar-winning movie chronicling the postwar research in high-speed aircraft that led to NASAs Project Mercury. He was 97. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Woman kicked off flight for refusing to wear face mask, Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, What's next for Buster Murdaugh after dad's murder conviction, life sentence, Sick trolls leak gruesome Maggie Murdaugh autopsy photo after it was accidentally shown on livestream, Madonna watches new boyfriend Joshua Poppers fight in New York City, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dead at 61 after brain aneurysm, How Ariana Madix discovered Tom Sandoval was cheating on her with Raquel Leviss, Max Scherzer's first look at the new pitch clock, Chris Rock Jokes About Watching Emancipation to See Will Smith Getting Whipped In Advance of Netflix Special: Report, Kellyanne Conway and George Conway to divorce. After they were bested, Ridley and Yeager decided to beat rival Crossfield's speed record in a series of test flights that they dubbed "Operation NACA Weep". After all the anticipation to achieve this moment, it really was a letdown, General Yeager wrote in his best-selling memoir Yeager (1985, with Leo Janos). ", The Spitfires that nearly broke the sound barrier, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Alex Murdaugh jailed for life for double murder, Mother who killed her five children euthanised, Zoom boss Greg Tomb fired without cause, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, Biden had skin cancer lesion removed - White House. The society is the premier academic scholarship that . This is apparently a unique award, as the law that created it states it is equivalent to a noncombat Medal of Honor. Legendary test pilot and World War II fighter ace Gen. Charles E. Yeager died Monday night, according to a tweet released by his wife Victoria. To learn more about ChatGPT and how we can inspire students, we sat down with BestReviews book expert, Ciera Pasturel. [59], Between December 1963 and January 1964, Yeager completed five flights in the NASA M2-F1 lifting body. I was just a lucky kid who caught the right ride, he said. Xi Jinping is unveiling a new deputy - why it matters, Bakhmut attacks still being repelled, says Ukraine, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. Just over a year ago, December 7, 2020, an aviation icon, U.S. Air Force Brig. She was 82. He was once shot down over German-held France but escaped with the help of French partisans. [82], In 2009, Yeager participated in the documentary The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club, a profile of his friend Pancho Barnes. I was just a lucky kid who caught the right ride, he said. When Yeager left Hamlin, he was already known as a daredevil. [50][51] Returning to Muroc, during the latter half of 1953, Yeager was involved with the USAF team that was working on the X-1A, an aircraft designed to surpass Mach 2 in level flight. [88], In 1973, Yeager was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, arguably aviation's highest honor. The young Yeager was a hunter with superb eyesight a sportsman, and not much of a scholar, but he did read Jack London. But you dont let that affect your job., The modest Yeager said in 1947 he could have gone even faster had the plane carried more fuel. Sixty-five years later to the minute, on Oct. 14, 2012, Yeager commemorated the feat, flying in the back seat of an F-15 Eagle as it broke the sound barrier at more than 30,000 feet above Californias Mojave Desert. [18] He was awarded the Bronze Star for helping a navigator, Omar M. "Pat" Patterson, Jr., to cross the Pyrenees. He helped pave the way for the American space program by flying at Mach 1.05 roughly 805 mph at an altitude of 45,000 feet. Yeager grew up in the mountains of West Virginia, an average student who never attended college. Chuck Yeager, a former U.S. Air Force officer who became the first pilot to break the speed of sound, died Monday. He was 97. My accomplishments as a test pilot tell more about luck, happenstance and a persons destiny. "Gen. Yeager's pioneering and innovative spirit advanced America's abilities in the sky and set our nation's dreams soaring into the jet age and the space age," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement late Monday. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian award, from President Ronald Reagan in 1985. I live just down the street from his mother, said Gene Brewer, retired publisher of the weekly Lincoln Journal. BY STEVEN MAYER smayer@bakersfield.com. He later broke several other speed and altitude records, helping to pave the way for the US space programme. Dec 8, 2020 08:46 Chuck Yeager, first pilot to break sound barrier, has died at age 97 The World War II Air Force fighter pilot ace showed he had the "right stuff" when in 1947 he became the. [32] After Bell Aircraft test pilot Chalmers "Slick" Goodlin demanded US$150,000 (equivalent to $1,820,000 in 2021) to break the sound "barrier", the USAAF selected the 24-year-old Yeager to fly the rocket-powered Bell XS-1 in a NACA program to research high-speed flight. He had joined another evader, fellow P-51 pilot 1st Lt Fred Glover,[20] in speaking directly to the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, on June 12, 1944. Ive flown 341 types of military planes in every country in the world and logged about 18,000 hours, he said in an interview in the January 2009 issue of Mens Journal. Yeager was not present in the aircraft. When he left home his father advised him never to gamble or buy a pick-up truck that was not built by General Motors. He ended up flying more than 360 types of aircraft and retired from the Air Force as a brigadier general. There is anecdotal evidence that American pilot, Yeager received the DSM in the Army design, since the. Chuck Yeager, the most famous test pilot of his generation, who was the first to break the sound barrier and, thanks to Tom Wolfe, came to personify the death-defying aviator who possessed the elusive yet unmistakable right stuff, died on Monday in Los Angeles. What's the least exercise we can get away with? Chuck Yeager, standing next to the "Glamorous Glennis," the Bell X-1 experimental plane with which he first broke the sound barrier. In February 1968, Yeager was assigned command of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, and led the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II wing in South Korea during the Pueblo crisis. [8], His cousin, Steve Yeager, was a professional baseball catcher. On Oct. 12, 1944, leading three fighter squadrons escorting bombers over Bremen, Germany, he downed five German planes, becoming an ace in a day. Yeager remained in the U.S. Army Air Forces after the war, becoming a test pilot at Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base), following graduation from Air Materiel Command Flight Performance School (Class 46C). A message posted to his Twitter account says, "Fr @VictoriaYeage11 It is w/ profound sorrow, I must tell you that my life love General Chuck Yeager passed just before 9pm ET. In recognition of his achievements and the outstanding performance ratings of those units, he was promoted to brigadier general in 1969 and inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973, retiring on March 1, 1975. It's not, you know, you don't do it for the to get your damn picture on the front page of the newspaper. An incredible life well lived, Americas greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever. A World War II fighter ace and Air Force general, he was, according to Tom Wolfe, the most righteous of all the possessors of the right stuff.. His wife,. The secret to my success was that somehow I always managed to live to fly another day.. In an age of media-made heroes, he is the real deal, Edwards Air Force Base historian Jim Young said in August 2006 at the unveiling of a bronze statue of Yeager. His decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Bronze Star. The public was only told about the mission in June 1948. The pilots and their families had quarters little better than shacks, the days were scorching and the nights frigid, and the landscape was barren. Yeager never forgot his roots and West Virginia named bridges, schools and Charlestons airport after him. The children contended that D'Angelo, at least 35 years Yeager's junior, had married him for his fortune. Yeager was the first confirmed to break the sound barrier, and the first by any measure to do it in level flight. His high number of flight hours and maintenance experience qualified him to become a functional test pilot of repaired aircraft, which brought him under the command of Colonel Albert Boyd, head of the Aeronautical Systems Flight Test Division.[31]. The family later moved to Hamlin, the county seat. Chuck Yeager's history, legacy still live in Kern County and beyond. Chuck Yeager with Glamorous Glennis, the plane in which he broke the sound barrier in 1947. [27][28] Yeager said, "I'm certainly not proud of that particular strafing mission against civilians. The induction ceremony was on December 1, 2009, in Sacramento, California. She died of ovarian cancer in December 1990. Yeager was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal and the Purple Heart. Yeager was born Feb. 23, 1923, in Myra, a tiny community on the Mud River deep in an Appalachian hollow about 40 miles southwest of Charleston. In December 1949, Muroc was renamed Edwards Air Force Base, and it became a center for advanced aviation research leading to the space program. Brig. Chuck Yeager, the historic test pilot portrayed in the movie " The Right Stuff ," is dead at the age of 97, according to a tweet posted on his account late Monday. Among the flights he made after breaking the sound barrier was one on Dec. 12. Marc Cook. There he flew 127 missions. Master Sgt. The Luftwaffe pilot Hans Guido Mutke, with rivets bursting from his Me 262 jets wings, may have accidentally broken the sound barrier over Austria in April 1945. Glennis Yeager died in 1990, predeceasing her husband by 30 years. "I was at the right place at the right time. And in this 1985 NPR interview, he said it was really no big deal: "Well, sure, because I'd spun airplanes all my life and that's exactly what I did. In a tweet, Victoria Yeager wrote: "It is w/ profound sorrow, I must tell you that my. General Chuck Yeager, first man to break the sound barrier, passed away on Monday night at 97. How much does Vegas believe in Dubs to repeat?