Retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Steve Ritchie excelled at every level in the Air Force, from the gridiron at the Air Force Academy to flight training to the skies over Vietnam. Fifty years after his second tour of duty in Vietnam, Gen. Ritchie remains the most recent ace among American fighter pilots.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Gen. Ritchie tells us why football taught him the most valuable lesson at the Air Force Academy and what propelled him to the very top of his class during training. He also explains why he loved the F-4 and the advantages and disadvantages it presented against the Soviet MiGs.

He also takes us inside his strategy and maneuvers that led to his five aerial kills. Yet none of those were the mission that give him the most pride. Ritchie also tells us the story of how the Air Force briefly put a war effort on pause to save Roger Locker after he was forced to eject behind enemy lines.