His career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army, assigned to the Army Air Forces in 1941. Yeager was raised in Hamlin, West Virginia. Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ( / ˈ j eɪ ɡ ər/ YAY-gər, February 13, 1923 – December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight.
