FREE ESSAY ON CHARLES LINDBERGH

CHARLES LINDBERGH

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 father's 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 mother's 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 Brook's field and Kelly's 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 Goddard's experiments on
rockets. Robert Goddard's 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 Lindbergh's with their other son
Jon Lindbergh to move to Europe for safety and privacy. Hauptmann could not actually be
executed for kidnapping and the child's 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 1960's 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 earth's 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 friend's 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 Lindbergh's 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 1920's and 1930's
English teachers used his writings and even more often his wife's writings in their
English lessons. English and History teachers still use Charles Lindbergh's and his
wife's 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 world's greatest heroes. 
Bibliography
Bibliography:
http://www.geocities.com.athens/ithaca/4434/lindbergh/webquest.html
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/hangar/5460/lindbergh.html
http://www.ang.af.mil/ngh/paih/lindbergh.htm
http://ice.ucdavis.edu/~robyn/lindbergh.html
Schonewald-Cox, C.M. 1988. Boundaries in the protection of nature reserves. Bioscience
38:480-486
Lindbergh, C.A. 1976. Autobiography of Values. Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. New York
Berg, A. Scott 1998. Lindbergh. G.P. Putman's. New York
Mosley, Leonard 1976. Lindbergh: a Biography. Doubleday. Garden City, New York