Come Up and Get Me: An Autobiography of Colonel Joe Kittinger

by Joe W. Kittinger, Craig Ryan

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.
In this long-awaited autobiography, Kittinger joins author Craig Ryan to document an astonishing career.
Selected by Popular Mechanics as a Top Book of 2010

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Aviation, Military Fiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 16, 2010

Reviews

[Thom]

I really liked this book, from the personality of the man, through the early history of space adventure and his experience in Vietnam, to his years as a barnstormer and balloon racer.

The history was concise and clear, the personal recollections interesting, and the pictures added just enough to have me digging for more. Colonel Kittinger has three life stories in here at least, all of them interesting, and he's not done yet. Well done!

[Ames36]

This is not a book I would have chosen on my own but I enjoyed it. It is a field that is a mystery to me so I liked learning more about it. Brings to light the time and dedication needed to excel in ones' field. Loved learning the historical aspects of the time.

[Randy]

I’m disappointed that I never actually met Col. Joe Kittinger. Almost did. I arrived at Nakon Phenom AFB in Thailand the week he was leaving. He’d been there six months or so flying A-26s over Laos on night missions. In one harrowing mission his plane got shot up and they lost all navigation aids, radios and electrics and had to land at an unfamiliar airfield. Joe Kittinger was already a legend before he joined the Air Commandos in Thailand. My colleagues in the Intelligence shop there had lots of Kittinger stories, the most famous of which he details in his memoir. He would take the base’s weekly supply of empty beer bottles and drop them out the bomb bay his aircraft over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Before he was in our unit he was already famous as the guy who held the high altitude free fall parachute jump from 103,000 feet and had been on the cover of Life and featured in National Geographic. He was friends with the Mercury 7 astronauts and met with the President. Kittinger was not only famous in the Air Force, he was a hero in the ballooning community, a fact I learned when having dinner many years later with a prominent balloonist. I didn’t have much to talk about but I brought up the fact that Kittinger and I had been in the same Air Force unit (for one week) and that’s all it took to keep the dinner conversation going. Joe Kittinger had an adventure/military resume that a fiction writer couldn’t imagine. This book, apparently ghost written, is a page turner. His experiences were beyond amazing. For example, he says he flew 93 different types of aircraft. He even informally learned to fly a Huey helicopter when he worked with the Army in Vietnam. While in Vietnam he was told to take a week off for R and R (Rest and Relaxation). Most people went to Bangkok or Hong Kong. Kittinger instead arranged to go on a mission with an ARVN unit and was in a firefight with the Viet Cong and was nearly shot. On his third Vietnam tour he went as an F-4 commander flying Mig cap over Hanoi. He got a Mig. But later on a Mig got him and he had to eject and was captured. Fortunately, this was late in the war (1972) and the prisoners were released in 1973. I know something of the POW experience because I was called to active duty to debrief one of the returnees. My guy had been there 6 and a half years. Once again I just missed Kittinger as he did come through the base where we were debriefing on his way to his final destination. In Hanoi Kittinger was tortured but happily his stay was very short compared to many of the pilots who had been there for years. He opted for Air Command and Staff College on his return. The POWs were pretty much able to pick their own assignment. ACSC was a prerequisite to become a general officer. I’m appalled that he never became a general. Later he became an F-4 vice wing commander in England but when he failed to get his own wing, he retired from active duty. In his acknowledgments he mentions Heinie Aderholt who followed him into NKP and Robin Olds who commanded the F-4 wing at Ubon while Kittinger was at NKP. I’ve reviewed books about both on Goodreads. It’s too bad these three guys weren't running the Air Force during the war.
In the years after the Air Force Col. Kittinger was a balloon racer and set the long distance record for ballooning by flying from the East Coast of the US to Italy. He also delivered a Cessna 180 to Africa leapfrogging across the N. Atlantic and Europe and into Central Africa. Later he took to barnstorming in a bi-plane with his new young wife who also partnered with him in a couple of balloon race victories.
So here’s a guy who flew nearly 100 different aircraft and spent 17,000 hours (two full years worth of hours) in the air. He had almost 500 combat missions, set the high altitude parachuting record that stood for 50 years, ejected twice from jets, successfully landed a severely disabled A-26, flew a balloon across the Atlantic to Italy, shot down a Mig 21, spent 11 months in a North Vietnamese prison camp, won a chest full of medals and a page full of civilian honors and lived to 94 with only a few broken bones and a small shrapnel wound as his injuries. In Orlando there’s a park named after him that features and F-4 on a pedestal—a specific F-4. Kissinger flew this plane on four mission in SEA and flew the same bird later in England. Amazing life!

[Dillon Danforth]

This was a book given to me by my grandfather. It took me awhile to open it up and read it; I wish I had t waited so long. Even now, it’s been 6 months since I’ve completed it, and I still feel bad about leaving it closed so long.

I can’t remember all that much, but I do remember enjoying this story of a man who starts in the military and works his way to his biggest dreams and facing some big fears. A jump from a height unknown to 99% of mankind leaves me speechless. I want to do that! Only after reading this can I understand how much hard work and dedication is needed to make it happen. I hope to one day reread this book.

[Neil]

Joe Kittinger has probably led one of the most interesting lives of someone in recent times. The only reason why I give it 4 instead of 5 stars is that sometimes it seems a bit simplistic. The book is essentially the following three parts; Flight Testing, Vietnam, Post Vietnam/“retirement.” Each part could easily be a book bigger than this one and I truly wish that was the case

[Rod]

I'd recommend this book based solely on the many different facets of this man's life. It is amazing the many things he's done and experiences he's had.. Some of them are particularly unique and beyond the experience of the average person -- for example, skydiving from 102,000 feet.

[Gavin Ransom]

Best autobiography I've read.

[Brent Mckay]

Lean-mean overview of his many careers

[John]

Very interesting life Joe has had. He did some very significant work for the jet and space age early in his career.

[Alphonse]

A very interesting book about Joe Kittinger

[Soren]

It reads like a memoir of a man I would have loved to have as a grandfather or great-uncle. The stories are interesting and vivid, the narrative is well-edited and concise, and the tone is folksy (in a good way). I really hope that Col. Kittinger does a second edition with a chapter about the Red Bull Stratos project.