2008 AVC Conference: Brig. Gen. Steve Ritchie - Part 1

Ritchie is the only ace fighter pilot of the Vietnam War. He shared his story at the 2008 American Veterans Center's conference. In this video he shares tidbits about his life and his experiences as a pilot.

[@dougmyers6013]

A friend of my Dad's, he was always gracious when he talked according to Dad. B/G Robin Olds said he was the most arrogant man he ever talked with but was hands down the best fighter pilot he ever knew and B/G Olds was a triple Ace as well as a star in Vietnam with an official total of 17 kills. Some say when told if he gets 3 more in Vietnam they were sending him home, so he quit logging his missions, did he get 3 more? Some say yes, some won't talk about it. These were the men that I grew up around, friends of my Dad who did the same things they did, he always said "I can't believe they pay me to do this, supply great 12 yr old scotch & the women are Beautiful" Rest in peace Dad 3 wars later you earned it.

[@1glopz]

How sad that this short has hardly any views this is a measure of the lack of interest in our history and maybe the reason we are in such a sad state of existence

[@johnlongfellow6497]

It was a great sar and Ron Smith had a little to do in that rescue

[@speardeeply]

Wrong. Ritchie was NOT the only ace fighter pilot, although there were only two flying fighter pilots who made ace in Vietnam. The other was Lt. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who now sits in jail for a host of crimes he committed later while a congressman.

[@InTubeTheFuture]

Guam Vet I guess if the uploader's only counting American frontseaters from the Air Force... should have added that to the title.Cunningham was from the Navy, the other American aces were backseaters (WSOs DeBellevue and Feinstein from the Air Force and RIO Driscoll from the Navy), and North Vietnam had a few aces too such as Nguyen Van Coc.