After Black Thursday, which was one of the major causes of The Great Depression, the nation needed heroes, or someone to simply lift the peoples spirits and thats exactly what Charles Lindbergh did. The “Spirit of the St. Louis” caught the world by surprise and Charles became one of Americas first celebrities. Every aspect of his life was written in newspapers and magazines or broadcast over the radio, this is why it is so easy for me to tell you that Charles Lindbergh is a true hero. Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born on February 4th, 1902 in Detroit. He grew up on a farm near Little Falls, Minn.

When Charles was only a child he showed exceptional mechanical ability. At age 18 he entered the University of Wisconsin to study engineering but he became more interested in the aviation field than school, so after only two years he dropped out of school to become a barnstormer, a pilot who performed daredevil stunts at fairs. Lindbergh enlisted in the United States army in 1924 so that he could be trained as an Army Air Service Reserve Pilot. He graduated the best pilot in his class from the armys flight training school in 1925.

He soon was working for the Robertson Aircraft Corporation of St. Louis, flying mail between St. Louis and Chicago. By 1927 Lindbergh felt very confident in his flying skills and he thought he could win the Orteig prize. The Orteig prize was a prize of $25,00 awarded to the first person to fly non-stop from New York to Paris. Several pilots who attempted were killed or injured. Alls Lindbergh though he needed was the right airplane. He persuaded nine St. Louis businessmen to help him pay for the cost of a plane. He chose Ryan Aeronautical Company of San Diego to build a plane in which Lindbergh himself helped to design. He names the plane “The Spirit of St. Louis”. This monoplane was small and a silver gray color.

On May 20th, at 7:52 a. m. Lindbergh left Roosevelt field near New York and landed at Le Bourget field, near Paris, on May 21st, 10:21p. m. (5:21 p. m. New York time) he had flown more than 3,600 miles in 33. 5 hours. Overnight he became a hero on both sides of the Atlantic. Lindbergh was honored with awards, celebrations and parades. Lindbergh was given the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Flying Cross from President Calvin Coolidge. Lindbergh did a number of favors for the United States Government, flying to various Latin-American countries in December of 1927 as a symbol of American good fortune.

While on one of these flights, he mat Anne Spencer Morrow, the daughter of Dwight W. Morrow in Mexico. Dwight was the American Ambassador there. Charles and Anne got married in 1929. He taught her to fly and she served as copilot and navigator for him on many flights, and together they flew to many places all over the world. On June 22nd, 1930 Charles Lindbergh Jr. Was born. On March 1st, 1932 young Charles jr. At 20 months was kidnapped from their new home near Hopewell, New Jersey. About 10 weeks later on May 12th, 1932 the childs body was found in a shallow grave in the woods off the Hopewell-Princeton road.

After much searching the police arrested Bruno Hauptmann, a carpenter, in 1934. Hauptmann was charged and convicted of murder. He was executed in 1936. The kidnapping of Charles Lindberghs son led congress to pass the “Lindbergh Law”. This law makes kidnapping a federal offense if the victim is taken across state lines or if the mail service is used for ransom demands. After the Hauptmann trial in 1935, Charles, Anne and their 3 year old son Jon moved to Europe for privacy and safety. In 1938, a high Nazi official, Herman Goering presented Lindbergh with a German medal of honor.

The people of the United States were not happy with Lindberghs acceptance of the medal. Some Americans accused Lindbergh of being a Nazi sympathizer because he refused to return the medal. Throughout the next couple of years, Lindbergh spoke about his feelings on voluntary American entry into WWII. He served as a technical advisor and test pilot for the Ford Motor Company and United Aircraft Corporation. Lindbergh ended up flying about 50 combat missions in WWII. After the war, Lindbergh stayed out of the public eye for a while.

He worked as a consultant to the chief of staff of the United States Air Force and he was a brigadier general in the Air Force in 1954. He advised the airline on its purchase of jet transports and helped to design the Boeing 747 jet. Lindberghs achievements didnt all have to do with flying or planes. He wrote The Spirit of St. Louis in 1952 and received the Pulitzer Prize. He wrote We in 1927, Of Flight and Life in 1948 and he co-wrote The Culture of Organs in 1938. Lindbergh invented the first “artificial heart” between 1931 and 1935. He also developed cruise control techniques for American fighter planes.

He spoke out for the Conservation Movement, campaigning especially for the protection of humpback and blue whales. He also opposed the development of supersonic transport planes because he felt the effects the plane might have on the atmosphere of the Earth would not be good. As you can see, Charles Lindbergh was an extraordinary man and he lived his life to the fullest. He is a hero and a role model for all. He had his share of ups and downs but he had dreams and he fulfilled all of the to the best he could. Charles Lindbergh is a true hero.

One of the greatest heroes the world has ever known Charles Augustus Lindbergh. He is most famous for his transatlantic flight from New York to Paris. Lindbergh acquired great fame for doing good will tours in Latin America. Other than politicians and war heroes no one has yet quite matched his fame. He was a genus when it came to aviation and mechanics. He advised the making and design of several planes from ones made of wood and wire to supersonic jets. He helped several countries and airlines by giving them advise on their air fleets.

He wrote several documents of his journeys and of his life. Charles Lindbergh entered this world on February 4, 1902 in Detroit, Michigan. He grew up in Rapid Falls, Minnesota on a family farm. His fathers name was Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Sr. He was a lawyer and a congressman for the state of Minnesota between the years of 1907 and 1917. His mothers name was Evangeling Land Lodge. As a child Lindbergh showed that he had a great deal of mechanical ability. When he was eighteen years old he began attending the University of Wisconsin. While at Wisconsin he majored in mechanical engineering.

During his time at the university he paid more attention to the growing field of avaion than he did to his studies. In 1924 Charles Lindbergh enlisted in the United States Army so he could begin studying on how to be a fighter pilot. One year later he graduated from the Army flight training school that was held on both Brooks field and Kellys field. He graduated as the number one pilot in his class. After that he bought his own airplane and for the next six years of his life he spent flying an airplane for Robertson Aircraft Corporation. The planes filled with mail he flew from St.

Louis, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois. During this time he was also a barnstormer which is a stunt pilot that does stunts over fairs and other public gatherings. During this time he received a reputation of not only being a cautions pilot but a quite capable pilot as well. A New York City hotel owner named Raymond Orteig started the Orteig Prize. The Orteig Prize was a twenty five thousand dollars for the first man to fly across the Atlantic Ocean solo and without stopping in between. Many pilots were injured or even killed trying to win the Orteig Prize.

Raymond Orteig started the competition in 1919 and Charles Lindbergh had begun to take interest in it in the year 1926. In 1927 when somebody had yet to win the Orteig Prize Lindbergh found nine St. Louis businessmen to sponsor him because he thought with the right plane he would have no problem flying across the Atlantic Ocean. The businessmen began to promote the flight. That right plane was known as the Sprit of St. Louis. Ryan Aircraft Company in San Diego built the Sprit of St. Louis. He gave the Spirit of St. Louis a test drive from San Diego, California to New York, New York making one stop in St. Louis.

That flight took twenty hours and twenty-one minutes setting a new transcontinieal record. Charles Lindbergh started his transatlantic flight in Roosevelt Field on Long Island; the time was seven fifty two a. m. He flew from Roosevelt Field to Le Bourget Airport in Paris. He landed at ten twenty two P. M. on May 21. It took him thirty-three and half-hours to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. He traveled three thousand six hundred miles until he finally reached Paris. At the airport one hundred thousand people gathered after hearing that he was sighted flying over Ireland. A few days later he flew to Croydon Airport in London.

It was dark when he landed and there were not many people there to witness the landing. As a result of having few people there, there were no photographs taken. When he returned to America there were several photographers waiting to get a picture of him. The press began to give him nicknames such as Lucky Lindy and the Lone Eagle. The world instantly made him a hero and an international celebrity. Lindbergh was a shy, slim young man that was showered with honors. The President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge presented Charles Lindbergh with the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

In 1927 Charles Lindbergh published a book called We it is about his transatlantic flight. We refers to Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis. After he published the book he flew all around the United States promoting airmindedness on behalf of Daniel Guggenheim. While doing this he learned about research that Robert Goddard was doing on rockets. Lindbergh persuaded Daniel Guggenheim to support Robert Goddards experiments on rockets. Robert Goddards experiments led to the early development of missiles, satellites and space travel.

After flying around the United States, Charles Lindbergh began to fly to Latin American countries to promote good will. On his good will tour he made a total of eighty-two stops and traveled twenty two thousand miles in two hundred sixty hours and forty-five minutes. He did this on behalf of the United States government. While doing this he met his wife in 1929. Her name was Anne Spencer Morrow. Anne was the daughter of Dwight Morrow, a United States ambassador to Mexico. After their marriage Lindbergh taught his wife to fly an airplane. Then him and his wife went on several flying expeditions all around the world.

His wife became famous not just because she was married to Charles Lindbergh but because she wrote excellent poetry and other writings. On June 22, 1930 Charles and Anne Lindbergh had their first child and his name was Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. Then on February 23, 1932 their son was kidnapped. This was just after they had moved to a new home in Hopewell, New Jersey. The newspapers followed the case closely. The public demanded daily updates. Then on May 12, 1932 the body of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. was found in a shallow grave. The grave was just of the Hopewell-Princeton Road.

Bruno Richard Hauptmann was convicted of the crime and executed for it. The publicity of the ordeal caused the Lindberghs with their other son Jon Lindbergh to move to Europe for safety and privacy. Hauptmann could not actually be executed for kidnapping and the childs death was said to be accidental. He could not even be executed under the felony murder doctrine because kidnapping was not a felony in New Jersey. However the public and prosecutors wanted the death penltity so Hauptmann was convicted of breaking an entry and stealing pajamas, which is a felony in New Jersey. This allowed him to be executed under the felony murder doctrine.

This cased caused a new federal law to come into effect and it is called the Lindbergh Law making kidnapping a federal offence if the victim is taken across state lines or the United States Postal Service was used to mail a ransom letter. In June 1936 Charles Lindbergh was invited to see the Germans air force establishment and give his opinion about it. While he was visiting he was treated with a great deal of respect and admiration. Upon leaving the establishment he said that Germany had the finest air force in all of Europe and that it could defeat Russian, British and French air forces combined.

He not only admired Germany for their outstanding air fleet but he also admired them as people. He shared many believes with the Nazis such as their disliking of Jews. On October 18,1838 Goring, a German general presented Lindbergh with the Verdienstkreus der Deutscher Aldler for his service to Germany. They also gave him the medal for being the first man to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo. Since he accepted the and kept the medal even after German Storm Troopers rounded up the Jews and smashed their shops, it ruined his hero like image.

After inspecting the German air fleet, the French wanted him to examine theirs but much to their disappointment they found out the Germans were far superior. In 1939 Charles Lindbergh and his family returned to the United States of America. In 1940 Lindbergh began to speak out against the United States of America joining World War II. The American people did not look down upon him for this because many Americans did not want to send our soldiers to die. The American people did not support his anti-Semitism and the statements he made about would come back to haunt him later in his life.

Then when President Theodore Roosevelt denounced his statements in public, Charles Lindbergh resigned from the Air Corps reserve in 1941. The United States entered the war after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. At this time Charles Lindbergh requested that be allowed to serve in the military again. When both President Theodore Roosevelt and Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson denied his request he gave up. However he did serve as an aircraft consultant for Ford Motor Company and United Aircraft Corporation during the war. He served mainly as a test pilot for Ford Motor Company.

While he worked for United Aircraft Corporation he flew fifty missions and logged one hundred seventy nine combat hours. All of his combat hours were against the Japanese because he supported the Germans. Charles Lindbergh made many advances in aviation among them is cruise control for American fighter planes. The cruise control technique improved the capabilities of the planes. After the invention of cruise control he was appointed Chief of Staff for the United States Air Force. Shortly after that the Pan American Airlines hired him as a consultant and he advised Pan American Airlines to purchase jet transporters.

This lead to Charles Lindbergh assists in the design of the Boeing 747. After being a consultant for Pan American Airlines. Charles Lindbergh wrote The Spirit of St. Louis in 1953 which was an expanded version of the book We. The book won him a Pulitzer Prize in 1954. Following the publishing of his book he was appointed brigadier general in the United States Air Force reserve. President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed him in 1954. After serving as the brigadier general Charles Lindbergh began to travel all over the world. He visited Africa and the Philippines and became fascinated with their cultures.

In the 1960s Lindbergh began to speak out for the conservation movement. He tried to save species such as the Humpback Whale and the Blue Whale both of which were on the endanger species list. He also opposed the development of supersonic transport planes because they might have been poetically dangerous to the earths atmosphere. During his life a friend had introduced Charles Lindbergh to Maui, Hawaii. He thought it was one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen. Later in his life that same friend asked Lindbergh if he wanted to buy several acres on the island.

The land was filled with forest, cliffs, several natural swimming pools and plenty of seashore. He immediately accepted his friends offer. Then he and his wife moved to Hawaii and built a simple home because they wanted to get back to nature. In 1974 Lindbergh had been placed in a New York hospital to treat his cancer from which he was dying but he flew a plane from New York to Hana, Maui to spend his final days in solitude with his family. In knowing he was going to die he planned a simple funeral for himself. He had a pick up truck for a hearse. Charles Augustus Lindbergh died on August 26, 1974 in Maui, Hawaii.

He is buried in a small church graveyard in Kipahulu, Hawaii. After his death a collection of his writings were published in 1978 and the book was entitled Autobiography of Values. Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an explorer and pioneer in the field of aviation. His story showed great triumph of the human spirit. When Charles Lindberghs son had been kidnapped it shocked and fascinated the entire world. He was not only one of the finest pilots of his time but he was an excellent public speaker. In the 1920s and 1930s English teachers used his writings and even more often his wifes writings in their English lessons.

English and History teachers still use Charles Lindberghs and his wifes works in their lessons. Even though Lindbergh was most famous for his transatlantic flight and winning the Orieg Prize he is also honored for his expertise in aviation and promoting good will throughout the Latin American countries. He is also given partial credit for such creations as the Boeing 747. Lindbergh was also a great combat pilot in World War II when fighting against the Japanese as a civilian. That is how Charles Lindbergh became one of the worlds greatest heroes.