Come Up and Get Me

An Autobiography of Colonel Joe Kittinger

By: Joe Kittinger, Craig Ryan

Narrated by: Christian Rummel

A few years after his release from a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp, in 1973, Colonel Joseph Kittinger retired from the Air Force. Restless and unchallenged, he turned to ballooning, a lifelong passion as well as a constant diversion for his imagination during his imprisonment. His primary goal was a solitary circumnavigation of the globe, and in its pursuit he set several ballooning distance records, including the first solo crossing of the Atlantic in 1984. But the aeronautical feats that first made him an American hero had occurred a quarter of a century earlier.

By the time Kittinger was shot down in Vietnam, in 1972, his Air Force career was already legendary. He had made a name for himself at Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo, New Mexico, as a test pilot who helped demonstrate that egress survival for pilots at high altitudes was possible in emergency situations. Ironically, Kittinger and his pre-astronaut colleagues would help propel Americans into space using the world's oldest flying machine - the balloon. Kittinger's work on Project Excelsior - which involved daring high-altitude bailout tests - earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross long before he earned a collection of medals in Vietnam. Despite the many accolades, Kittinger's proudest moment remains his free fall from 102,800 feet during which he achieved a speed of 614 miles per hour.

©2011 Joe Kittinger (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Great History

Loved this book. What an exciting adventurer. Loved America and not afraid of anything. Highly recommended..

Wow! Much more than a sky dive!

A life full of adventure wonderfully written. Test pilot, spaceman, fighter pilot, POW, Kittenger is a real hero!

Great book I love it I really Loved iogt

I have 2000 skydivers and have been jumping out of airplanes for 40+ years and I love all the history this book gave. I still am amazed at what was done in a time before the digital age. and the courage it took to get it done.

A rewarding read

In my youth I read of Crossfield, Yeager, Grissom, Glenn, Shepard, Kittinger and the others who had "the right stuff". The "mission" related stories are all great, but this book gave me some depth and breadth across one of these characters, and it is a very enjoyable read. I'd like to see similar books from the other heros of this era.

Some may not like Joe's free and frank patriotic expression. For me Joe tells it like it was in that era. Ours it not to judge, but to appreciate what they lived through.

I really liked and recommend the later chapters. Joe and his wife keeps on giving. This book will not disappoint a historian, an adventurer, or any flyboy or flygirl.

What a life!

POW, balloon record holder, pilot extraordinaire. Enjoyed the listen on this one. Every man wishes he could leave a legacy such as he did.