JetHead Live! with Fighter Pilot & Author Ed Rasimus
Ed Rasimus, author and a fighter pilot
with 250 combat missions over North Vietnam
discusses his role as co-author of “Fighter Pilot.”
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March 7, 2012 at 9:14 am
Had trouble downloading Fighter Pilot. When I clicked on the “click here” to download it said, “URL Not Found”. What’s up??
March 7, 2012 at 10:06 am
I just tried it–worked for me. Or, on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast//id496859195
March 8, 2012 at 10:04 am
Nice interview with Ed Rasimus. In summer ’68 I was face down in the Jack’s Valley dirt during USAFA BCT when Olds showed up in an F-4 for an impromptu airshow. Our upperclassmen torturers let everyone stand up for about 20 minutes and we all watched in awe. So he was “my” Commandant.
A couple of years ago I made a stop at the AFA cemetery. I hadn’t been able to make his memorial service, but wanted to pay my respects. All the markers are flush with the ground, but it’s easy to find Robin Olds’. His is the one with 2-3 bottles of Jack Daniels and Wild Turkey on it, along with a bunch of quarters and nickels. The quarters were the standard flight bet for bombing accuracy, and the nickels represent the ditty “Throw a nickel on the grass, save a fighter pilot’s ass.”
March 8, 2012 at 10:06 am
LMAO–I’ll bet that somewhere, in some dimension, the General is too.
March 8, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Excellent interview. I read Fighter Pilot when it first came out and this interview actually helped clarify the Big Picture regarding Olds–going to go back and reread a couple sections. Interesting that Rasimus notes Olds didn’t experience fear in the same way as average guys, and that he came to appreciate the courage of those who were afraid but overcame their own fear.
I’ll get the other two (names?) if you think you can get Rasimus back. Would be great to get a similar overview from him on those as well.
March 8, 2012 at 12:45 pm
The other two books by Ed Rasimus are “When Thunder Rolled” and “Palace Cobra.” They’re in trade paperback, so they’re really economical–B&N ordered them for me and had them in-store within a week.
He said he’d come back and discuss them, so I figure he will.
March 8, 2012 at 6:31 pm
More of this stuff, interviews with real aviators like Rasimus.
Keep ‘em coming.
March 8, 2012 at 7:40 pm
I can’t decide if I wish I’d been born 40 years earlier, or Col. Rasimus had been born 40 years later. He’d probably fly the hell out of a Viper.
Anyway, nice break from the airline crap you normally feature.
March 8, 2012 at 8:37 pm
Thanks. And ef you too.
March 9, 2012 at 11:14 am
If Olds was such a great leader, why did he only attain one star?
March 9, 2012 at 11:33 am
“Only” one star? YGTBSM.
As to why, that’s a question for those who served with him, those who knew him, and those who were in that command structure at that time.
January 30, 2013 at 6:11 pm
It’s because Olds was a *fighter*, first. That’s why.
January 30, 2013 at 6:38 pm
“Only” one star? WTFO?
March 16, 2013 at 1:04 am
It was good to hear his voice…miss his writing. But he and Robin are surely throwing a few back, and throttling a few forward together, now. (Ed passed Jan 30, 2013 and I thought it proper to note that here.) I really appreciate your housing these files. Quite valuable.
Lastly, in case you are near…”Ed’s funeral service is set for 1300 on Wednesday, 1 May 2013. Attendees will meet at the Arlington National Cemetery Admin Building, around 1230, and go from there.”
March 16, 2013 at 8:20 am
I’ve listened to the interviews over again myself–I’m grateful to have known Ed. The audio will remain here permanently and along with his captivating books (When Thunder Rolled, Palace Cobra, Fighter Pilot) will stand as a tribute to a patriot, a thinker and a good man.
March 17, 2012 at 7:08 pm
Agreed. Wish he’d write more.