A Cold War Ace, Brig. Gen. Steve Ritchie

Recently, several of the directors of the Cold War Air Museum had the pleasure of attending a meeting with General Steve Ritchie. General Ritchie was one of only two American pilots to become an "Ace" during the Vietnam conflict.

The presentation included stories about his experience.

And his Wikipedia article is linked here.

An F4 Phantom, like this one, was flown by Ritchie when he destroyed five MiG-21's in air to air combat between May and July, 1972.

Director Jon Boede took this opportunity to thank General Ritchie for his service and invite him to the Cold War Air Museum

Although American pilots in conflicts from World War One through Vietnam earned the distinction of "Flying Ace", the changing nature of warfare has decreased the number of Pilot v Pilot conflicts and added weapons operators firing missiles to the combat mix.

Regardless of the nature of the combat, we wish to take this opportunity to thank and salute all of the brave men and women of the armed services who place themselves in harm's way to protect and defend our nation.