Joe Kittinger, the only supersonic human, served three tours of Combat in Vietnam, downed one Mig 21, spent a year as a POW after being shot down himself. Prior to that, he was known for being the first and only human being to go supersonic without being in an aircraft or using an ejection seat to escape from an aircraft which was travelling above Mach 1.
He did this by doing a free fall parachute jump from over 102,000 feet.
The link takes you to a short video of the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n2AICdVv3g
The one fingered salute was rendered to those who said it could not be done....which I consider indicative of how things get done when pushing the envelope. Is that not the essence of progress in aviation. Doing what is said to be impossible.