This film presents American ace of aces Eddie Rickenbacker. It details his early youth, career as a race car driver and his service in WWI. The film opens and concludes on the story of his 24 day ordeal, stranded at sea story during WWII after his plane crashed while on a mission to deliver a secret message to General Douglas MacArthur. The film opens with a shot of the White House in DC (:08) in December of 1942 just after Rickenbacker’s rescue. He tells the tale of a seagull landing on his head and how he and the other stranded men were able to use it as fishing bait for survival (:43). Former Secretary of State, Henry Stimson is seen shaking hands with Eddie (:52). Eddie was born Columbus, Ohio (1:14) to a poor family. After his father passed, Eddie began working at an automobile shop (1:43) where he learned of the Wright Brothers. Eddie took to automobile racing and he is seen at the 1911 Indianapolis race track (2:05). A 21-year-old Eddie participated in the first Indianpolis 500 mile race, the first such race in history (2:17). Race cars collide with wooden barriers (2:34). Eddie was able to make it to the finish line. Headlines follow reading ‘Rickenbacker breaks mile a minute record’ (2:38) and ‘Rickenbacker cheats death as race car crashes’ (2:45). Enlisted men and sailors board transport vessels in 1917 bound for Europe as WW1 began (2:54). Eddie enlisted in hopes of transferring to the Air Corps (2:59). Shots of ruined buildings from WW1 follow (3:04). General Pershing and his staff (3:11). Eddie’s transfer was rejected and he became Pershing and his staff’s driver until meeting General Billy Mitchell (3:31). Mitchell was an early advocate of air power in the war and he aided Eddie in his transfer (3:37). Eddie and the 94th Squadron are seen preparing for take-off in SPAD S.XIII model crafts (3:42). In April of 1918, the men saw their first combat with German fighter planes (4:12). A downed German plane (4:20) is inspected (4:24). Rickenbacker was made captain and decorated for bravery (4:27). He then became commander of his squadron (4:26). Bombs drop from the early fighter crafts (4:46). A German pilot sits on the ground among US soldiers (5:02). Rickenbacker received more decorations for himself and his squadron (5:09). Liberation celebration scenes follow as the war ended (5:19) and troops returned home (5:28). Detroit is shown in 1919 (5:37) as Eddie received financial backing and became an automobile manufacturer (5:45). Rickenbacker developed the first American stockcar to use four-wheel brakes (5:58) though his company failed. He and his wife, Adelaide Durant are pictured (6:02). Herbert Hoover watched as Rickenbacker received the Congressional Medal of Honor (6:24). GM model vehicles are shown in a show room as Eddie became a car salesman (6:40). In 1933 GM bought Eastern Airlines (6:50). Eddie is seen stepping into one of their passenger planes as he took over and reorganized the airline (6:53). In 1938, when Eastern went up for sale, Eddie went to Wall Street (7:28) to purchase the airline. A new plane is christened by a man whom had to replace Mrs. Roosevelt as she was comically unable to break the bottle of champagne herself (7:54). In 1941, one of the airliners crashed as Eddie had been flying near Atlanta, Georgia (8:07). The mangled plane is seen (8:15). Eddie is shown in a hospital bed after the incident (8:39). Headline’s read ‘US at War with Axis Powers’ as the US got involved in WWII in 1942 (8:42). Eddie visited new troops of the 94th (8:54). Commander of the Army Air Force, General Henry Arnold (9:04) had a mission for Eddie in the Pacific theater of the war. At Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii (9:13) Eddie chats with GI’s prior to his take off for the mission (9:17). He was to fly an older B-17D Flying Fortress which went off course as they were trying to make a stop off for refueling (9:34). Once the fuel tanks were empty, the pilot and crew crash landed in the ocean (9:59). Eight men were adrift in three rafts (10:06) for 24 days as the Army and Navy were about to give up the search. One of the men died from drinking saltwater and a rescue plane is seen landing in the ocean (10:28). Eddie and his men are seen arriving to an Air Force base (10:40). Two weeks after, Eddie completed his mission (10:54). He is then pictured with his wife and sons as he returned home (11:06). The film concludes with various shots of him over the years over fighter planes (11:23).

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com