Seven Came Through: Rickenbacker’s Full Story Including His Message to America.

RICKENBACKER, Captain Edward V. Introduction by W.L. White.

$650.00

Item Number: 143617

Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc, 1943.

First edition of Rickenbacker’s account of 24 days adrift in a life raft. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “With my every best wish to Gertrude Moellering Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker.” Very good in a good dust jacket.

Eddie Rickenbacker (1890-1973) was one of the most famous American heroes to emerge from World War I. The leader of the 94th Aero (“Hat in the Ring”) Squadron, Rickenbacker became the country’s “ace of aces” with 26 aerial victories. He was awarded the Medal of Honor and a record ten Distinguished Service Crosses. On October 21, 1942, Rickenbacker, together with his aide Col. Hans Adamson and Sgt. Alexander Kaczmarczyk, took off from Hawaii for Canton Island, an atoll about 1,600 miles southwest of Hawaii. Unable to locate their destination an hour after taking off, Cherry was able to belly land the B-17 in the water. It remained afloat long enough for the seven men to scramble out and get into three small life rafts. What happened next was a 24-day epic of survival. Jammed into rafts barely large enough to hold them, the men suffered extremes of hot days and freezing nights, with only six oranges and no fresh water among them. On the afternoon of their 24th day at sea, Kingfishers found Rickenbacker’s life raft. Rickenbacker completed his assignment and delivered his message to General MacArthur. Rickenbacker wrote this book about this experience, Seven Came Through, the following year.