What an amazing man! The phrase "they broke the mold after he was born" was never truer than in his case. Should by rights have been first to Mach 1 but such was the calibre of the man that there wasn't a trace of bitterness over that sad affair.
He should of course have been decorated, but I don't suppose it bothered him for one moment that he wasn't.
I don't think we'll ever see his like again. I raise a glass....