Red Baron vs. Rickenbacker?

There is some speculation on Hitler's name(dunno if still going on), that it
was actually Alois Hiedler, but was written, because of some misstyping etc,
it was written closer to the pronunciation in Austrian, Hitler.
Then again if I had to choose between Chanting Hitler, Hiedler or
Schicklegruber....Well for some weird reason id prefer the first two...

Cub Driver wrote:

So Adolf was born a Hitler. Imagine how different the 20th century
might have been, had he been a Shickelgruber!

Yeah just imagine; instead of Volkswagens....FAHRVERGNUGENS!

He adopted "Stalin" because it means "steel."

Man of steel. Luckily, 'Reagan' means "kryptonite".

Gordon wrote:


He adopted "Stalin" because it means "steel."

Man of steel. Luckily, 'Reagan' means "kryptonite".

*snicker*

Yeah, Stalin & Molotov = "The Steel" & "The Hammer".

What a pair.

-Marc
--
Marc Reeve
actual email address after removal of 4s & spaces is
c4m4r4a4m4a4n a4t c4r4u4z4i4o d4o4t c4o4m

Also, is it true that Rickenbacker's parents (or one of them) were
German?

Rickenbaker was a fascinating case. A 7th-grade dropout from the
sticks, he had to make his way in a group dominated by Yalies, and
this at a time when class was much more important in the U.S. than any
of us remember.

His father was a construction worker; he started out in life as a
teen-aged automobile mechanic, and by 1916 was an auto-racing
superstar. At 25 he was regarded as too old to become a pilot, so he
enlisted in the army and became a chauffeur on Pershing's staff.

You'll have to ask somebody else about his parentage, but the spelling
of his name suggests that his father wasn't an immigrant. More likely
it was a couple generations back.

(During World War II, we used to hear the same thing about Eisenhower.
The Germans, meanwhile, wondered if he wasn't a Jew.)


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: www.danford.net/letters.htm#9

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...

Also, is it true that Rickenbacker's parents (or one of them) were
German?

Rickenbaker was a fascinating case. A 7th-grade dropout from the
sticks, he had to make his way in a group dominated by Yalies, and
this at a time when class was much more important in the U.S. than any
of us remember.

His father was a construction worker; he started out in life as a
teen-aged automobile mechanic, and by 1916 was an auto-racing
superstar. At 25 he was regarded as too old to become a pilot, so he
enlisted in the army and became a chauffeur on Pershing's staff.

You'll have to ask somebody else about his parentage, but the spelling
of his name suggests that his father wasn't an immigrant. More likely
it was a couple generations back.

(During World War II, we used to hear the same thing about Eisenhower.
The Germans, meanwhile, wondered if he wasn't a Jew.)

The Germans may have wondered if they wanted to, but I never confused his name
with names like Levy, Garfinkle or Goldberg. AAMOF, I vaguely recall some
discussions along the same lines about Josef Goebbels.

George Z.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: www.danford.net/letters.htm#9

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

Cub Driver wrote:
Gregorso wrote:
Also, is it true that Rickenbacker's parents (or one of them) were
German?


You'll have to ask somebody else about his parentage, but the spelling
of his name suggests that his father wasn't an immigrant. More likely
it was a couple generations back.

He changed the spelling of his name when he joined the Army. It was
originally Rickenbacher.

Various websites indicate that he was, in fact, Swiss-German by descent,
and that his father, at least, was an immigrant. (Possibly his mother as
well, but that is unclear.)

(And possibly a distant relative through my paternal grandmother - I'll
have to re-check that with my uncle Jim, who does all the family
genealogy stuff.)

-Marc
--
Marc Reeve
actual email address after removal of 4s & spaces is
c4m4r4a4m4a4n a4t c4r4u4z4i4o d4o4t c4o4m

Thanks for the interesting facts, but what I'm really looking for now
is a legitimate reference source that says where Rickenbacker's
parents were from. (Specifically if it provides an alternative story
to his dad being Swiss.)

Failing that, does anyone know of an e-mail address for one of
Rickenbacker's biographers?

Thanks,
Greg