Plenty of Americans need introductions.

Retired General Chuck Yeager isn’t one of them.

Quite simply, he’s one of the most accomplished military service members in the history of the union, and arguably it’s most renowned pilot.

(By the way, we have plenty of Yeager stories in this archive alone)

No stranger to breaking barriers, he’s busting down stereotypes, tweeting like a fiend in spite of the fact that he’s in his nineties.

On Friday he sent out this mini missive:

The link brings you to his personal account of the event, as told to his current wife, Victoria.

Here’s how it begins:

March 5, 1944: Weather is stinkin’ again. We head to Bordeaux to hit some shipping targets. As we get closer, it is clear we can’t see the targets so we decide to head east to an air base as a target of opportunity.

I call out: Bandits! Six o’clock!

And turn into them – do a head on pass with 3 Me-109s.

I score some hits, but not as many as they do.

I don’t have to bail out – my plane is falling apart around me.

And me and my airplane part company.

I free fall. Safer to wait to pull the chute till after lower than 6000′ so had several 1000′ to go. Several.

It’s awesome, and obviously goes on from there (and only gets better). Highly-recommend digesting it, in its entirety.

It might not read precisely like Palahniuk, but it almost does.