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GrandmaPoses t1_j6bys95 wrote

Jesus Christ he did so much fucking living. I got like halfway through the article and had to take a break.

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Waffleman75 t1_j6c6e2p wrote

Right? I would totally watch a movie about this dudes life.

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InspectorPipes t1_j6bubxs wrote

And he had the record for longest “survival at sea in a life raft” record. 23 days on a few oranges, a seagull and fish caught with the nasty bits of seagull. ( I’m not sure if there are any good bits of seagull). This is a very interesting person.

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Sdog1981 t1_j6c30mv wrote

I like how he wrote a book about being lost at sea for 21 days then had to update it with the correct number of 24 days lost at sea.

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howdylee_original t1_j6cwl38 wrote

Assuming he's the namesake of the Rickenbacker airport near Columbus Oh?

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RookieMonster2 t1_j6es2cc wrote

It used to be the Lockbourne Air Force Base. They renamed it in 1974 after him.

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TWSREDDIT t1_j6bvc8q wrote

Donny, you're exactly in your element.

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TeRRiDly t1_j6czgkf wrote

He also invented the first electric guitar and pickup.... /lh

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Factotumm t1_j6f8o72 wrote

His autobiography is a great read. Hard to find in print these days though.

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Pattons3rd t1_j6ge22s wrote

What he was doing, how he worked like he did at such a young, young age.

They just don't make 'em like that anymore.

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ElonBodyOdor t1_j6h06xq wrote

I have a brake light from a Rickenbacker Automobile. He was my dads hero.

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Landlubber77 t1_j6ct57j wrote

WW1 was 1914-1918, the dude was 82 when he died lol. I'm not saying his story isn't worth reading about but someone who fought in WW1 surviving until 1973 isn't exactly setting any longevity records. When do people think WW1 took place lol

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DAT_DROP OP t1_j6gxiid wrote

older redditors may be shocked to know he was still alive when they were young, WW1 was a long time ago

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Landlubber77 t1_j6himhb wrote

We can chop this up however we want but it always goes back to the fact that the guy lived until he was 82. That's not "shocking." Yes of course WW1 was a long time ago, but 1973 when this guy died was 50 years ago itself. It would be like us hearing someone died today who was born in 1941. That's not shocking lol.

Anyway, like I said to the other guy I was discussing this with, this isn't a big deal and you posted an interesting TIL, I just found the wording sorta funny. He lived "well into the 1970s." First of all, not sure making it to '73 constitutes making it well into the decade, but fine. Secondly, a great number of people who fought in and survived WW1 made it to 1973. You talked about how older Redditors would view this story, my whole thing is how young ones view it. They hear WW1 and think we're talking about a bunch of cavemen riding into battle on the back of an ankylosaurs.

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[deleted] t1_j6d9er2 wrote

[deleted]

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Landlubber77 t1_j6dad8m wrote

Chill as Lauryn Hill in a Brazil Goodwill, I'm just saying a guy living to 82 isn't particularly remarkable. Even the way you're characterizing it lol, WW1 was over by 1918, he didn't have to survive the war from 1914 to the 1970s. It's not an international incident here, I just found the wording funny. He "survived well into the 1970s" as if that's at all remarkable for someone who fought in WW1.

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