Apollo 1

When I was a 10 years old, I had two heroes. One was Johnny Unitas, and the other was Ed White. I followed the space program very closely as a kid, and because White was the first man to walk in space, I had a special admiration for him. I could not imagine having the kind of courage it would take to do something like that.

On this date, January 27, 1967, White, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffee were all killed in a flash fire during a test. I remember being incredibly heartbroken for many reasons. I think it was my first cold slap in the face that bad things could happen to good people.

Football players aren't heroes anymore, but astronauts still are. Does anybody else remember this day, or am I just getting old?

I remember the day very well.

I remember it as well as a sad day for the nation. Theirs was the first state funeral I remember watching on TV.

I remember that day too. At Spring Mill State Park near Mitchell, Indiana they have Memorial to Gus Grissom, as he was a native resident of Mitchell, Indiana. Grissom was one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts .The memorial features the spacecraft from Grissom's Gemini 3 space flight, which was nicknamed the "Molly Brown" after the play The Unsinkable Molly Brown. It was nicknamed by Grissom. There are other artifacts such as space suit, helmet and many personal items. There is a short video on Grissom's life. It is nicely done.
Spring Mill Park is a very beautiful Park. They have a Lodge, Campground, Trails, a boat ride through Twin Cave and a restored Settler Village. The Park is located south of Bloomington, Indiana and about 3 miles east of Mitchell on Indiana Highway 60.

We were there a couple of years ago. The Mill was working and bought some corn meal. The Lodge is very nice and has excellent food. But I think Indiana has many wonderful State Parks. One of our favorites is Clifty Falls in Madison, Indiana. We go there often as not that far from where we live in Ky.

Y'all are makin me feel old.. I was a junior in college when the guys died.
I lived in Houston during the late '50's till summer '63 and of course watched all the 'astronaut stuff" that was going on. Houston was an exciting place to be in those days.. Even went to church with some of the astronauts. Including, I believe White.

For all of us who do remember Apollo One and for those of you too young to remember, the Mercury Seven were our Heroes. They were part of the group that was the beginning of our space program. This was the only astronaut group that flew on all classes of NASA manned orbital spacecraft of the 20th century : Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and ending with John Glenn's flight on the STS-95 Space Shuttle mission.

The Group Members:

Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. USN (1923-1998)

Virgil (Gus) Grissom, USAF (1926-1967)

John Glenn, Jr. USMC (born 1921)

Scott Carpenter, USN (born 1925)

Walter (Wally) Schirra, Jr. USN (1923-2007)

Gordon Copper Jr. USAF (1927-2004)

Donald (Deke) Slayton USAF (1924-1993)

God bless them all.
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I can remember vividly listening to the radio in Geometry class when Glenn took his sub orbital ride... 60 or 61 maybe..

I was 17 and my first ever trip out of this north country was that March after the fire. Saw the launchpad where the fire happened. Had not burned into my memory as some things have and I thank you for the posting. Heroes indeed and I agree with you as to WHO are our TRUE heroes. On a lighter note if I may. On that Florida trip, my Dad REFUSED to pay more than $15 a night motel fee for the 4 of us. Times have changed, eh?

Just wanted to bring this up again.

Well, I hate to say it, but I was kind of a little too young to remember much about the space program until the space shuttle came along. I have always been really interested in the space program, however, and I love reading everyone's recollections about it. (Sorry--I really wasn't trying to rub in the age thing!)

I was in 7th grade too but do not recall a lot of it. I was not news conscious at all then. When I read about the era, I was alive, but unaware. Kennedy was my first major recall event, but next few years did not register much with me. Sure my parents talked about it, but I do not recall reading, hearing or doing much in current events in my skrewl.

The astronauts one and all are leigitmate Ameican heroes. Courage beyond the call of duty, in my humble opinion

Mulejack

I wasn't born then but I remember hearing the story as I got older. It greatly saddened me hearing the story.