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Edward Vernon Rickenbacker (October 8, 1890 – July 23, 1973) was an American fighter ace in World War I and Medal of Honor recipient. With 26 aerial victories, he was America's most successful fighter ace in the war. He was also a race car driver and automotive designer, a government consultant in military matters and a pioneer in air transportation, particularly as the longtime head of Eastern Air Lines. ==Early life== He was born Edward Rickenbacher (without a middle name) in Columbus, Ohio, to Swiss German-speaking immigrants. From childhood, he loved machines and experimented with them, encouraged by his father's words: "A machine has to have a purpose". In what was to become one of the defining characteristics of Rickenbacker's life, he nearly died many times in events ranging from an early run-in with a horse-drawn carriage, to a botched tonsillectomy, to airplane crashes. His first life-threatening experience occurred when he was in the "Horsehead Gang". He lived near a mine, and they decided to ride a cart down the slope. It tipped over and almost crushed them. According to Rickenbacker's autobiography, at age thirteen, his schooling ended in grade seven after the accidental death of his father on August 26, 1904.〔Rickenbacker 1967, p. 17.〕 However, according to ''Eddie Rickenbacker: An American Hero in the Twentieth Century'', by W. David Lewis, his father died after an altercation with another man in Columbus. Rickenbacker found jobs to help support the family, but driven by an intense admiration for machines, Rickenbacker taught himself as much as he could, including enrolling in a correspondence course in engineering. He aggressively pursued any chance of involvement with automobiles. Rickenbacker went to work at the Columbus Buggy Company, eventually becoming a salesman. Rickenbacker was also an avid golfer, often playing at the Siwanoy Country Club course near his home. He is one of a very select few Club members who were granted honorary lifetime membership at Siwanoy. Rickenbacker became well known as a race car driver, competing in the Indianapolis 500 four times before World War I, and earning the nickname "Fast Eddie". Rickenbacker joined the Maxwell Race Team in 1915 after leaving Peugeot. After the Maxwell team disbanded that same year, he joined the Prest-O-Lite team as manager and continued to race improved Maxwells for Prest-O-Lite.〔(Auburn University Digital Library| accessdate:April 8, 2010 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Eddie Rickenbacker」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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