You Too Are MAKING HISTORY

[snaquin]

My father was filing and going through some old papers in his files recently and ran across a couple of interesting bits of space memorabilia that he brought to me last time we met to chat. I was floored that he passed these on to me and I had no idea he had such items in his possession.

1969 was the year my father introduced me to model rocketry with a Centuri Astro-1 starter set purchased for me for my eighth birthday. Dad enjoyed helping me build and fly my model rockets and we would always watch the Saturn V missions on TV. He often reminded me of his job with The Boeing Company working on the S-IC first stage booster at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. He was proud of his involvement in the program.

I scanned the front and back of a medallion that he gave me from the Apollo 8 mission. That mission carried metal in this medallion on mans first flight to the moon. I hope the attached image scanned clear enough to read the text.

I also scanned the envelope and a letter from the launch vehicle branch general manager at The Boeing Company thanking him that his work contributed significantly to the successful launching of the first men to the Moon. There is a July 20th 1969 cancellation added to the envelope and also stamped first day of issue turning it into a collectors item. It also lists future planned missions and the stamp was printed from a die actually carried to the Moon on the first flight. Pretty exciting stuff!

I'm thinking of having these framed for my office to display as well as preserve them. I hope you guys find this interesting and enjoy the images!

.

[JRThro]

Steve,

That's wonderful stuff! It's great that your dad passed those on to you.

[rocketguy101]

That is fantastic! You should build a Sheri's Sat V in honor of your dad ;)

[Rocketflyer]

That is fantastic! You should build a Sheri's Sat V in honor of your dad ;)

Hehe, good suggestion :D

Steve, that is so cool. Good that your Dad passed that on to you. Both of you should be proud. That's when the country hung together for the space race.

[snaquin]

I've been really stoked the past few days thinking about these items and I finally got in touch with my father and spoke to him for a while about the short time he worked for Boeing at Michoud. Seems the budget cuts were already surfacing and he told me he was laid off in 1969 after S-IC-6 was already finished and shipped to the Cape, actually just a very short time prior to the July 16th Apollo 11 launch. He didn't think much about saving the envelope and the letter other than it was a cool little item and said some of the guys even threw them away. The covers were different in the image and the Boeing cover is somewhat unique. I found others in internet searches with the three astronauts on the cover, and another with the LM but the one with the Saturn V and "You Too Are Making History" must have been the unique printing for Boeing employees. I found a website the other day that sells one cover version for around $55 to $60 mounted in a frame.

I was interested and searched for a few images of the Michoud plant and found a few nice images on the NASA NTRS {NASA Technical Report Server} and I copied him an email with the images to see what he would say.

He described working on the boosters laid horizontal after the five F1 engines were installed. I found images on NASA of just that.

I wish I could walk into work and see that!

Enough dreaming ..... I need to get back to building some rockets!

.

[Ltvscout]

He described working on the boosters laid horizontal after the five F1 engines were installed. I found images on NASA of just that.

I wish I could walk into work and see that!
These pics are awesome! Man, I'd give Bill's right nut to be able to walk through that plant, "in the day." :D

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

These pics are awesome! Man, I'd give Bill's right nut to be able to walk through that plant, "in the day." :D

Let me know if you need it. I had them disconnected a few years ago anyway. Now they just hang around and look good. :eek: :eek: :eek: :D

[snaquin]

These pics are awesome! Man, I'd give Bill's right nut to be able to walk through that plant, "in the day." :D

I found a lot of images of the Saturn S-IB and Saturn S-IC in various stages of assembly. The link to the NASA Technical Reports Server is here:

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp


Let me know if you need it. I had them disconnected a few years ago anyway. Now they just hang around and look good. :eek: :eek: :eek: :D

I think Scott may have confused Lance Armstrong with Neil Armstrong ..... :rolleyes:

.

[Rocketaholic]

I love the pictures. It would be something to see the plant making an Apollo size rocket now.

[snaquin]

Well I was reading this post from Dlazarus6660 about 45 years ago today and decided Wednesday to email the link to my father to check out the awesome pictures

http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=14163

I called him yesterday and after a short conversation and just before ending our call asked him if he had read the article at the link I sent him the night before. He said he did and it brought back great memories of working at the Michoud facility and he enjoyed the article.

He passed away this afternoon at the age of 75 and although I am completely saddened to lose him, I am very proud of his accomplishments.

Thanks for sharing that link. It gave me a fine last conversation with my father that truly loved rockets and got me into this hobby when I was a kid.

Godspeed Dad.

.

[jeffyjeep]

Just a wonderful thread you started! I thank you for it.

[bernomatic]

I hadn't noticed the date on the initial posts and was reading this great thread about a father and his son, when I got to the last post on the first page and it caught me completely off guard. so off guard that even though I think of myself as a wordsmith, I was completely at a loss for any words to respond.

Men such as your father were a blessing to this country and somewhat rare to find in their time, let alone in ours. I would offer up this, along with my prayer for you and your family. Reflect on how he shared with you his achievement and as the say now "paid forward" by bringing you into this hobby.


Thank you for sharing.

[ghrocketman]

So sorry for your loss, Steve.

[Doug Sams]

Godspeed Dad.My eyes are welling up.

So sorry for your loss.

Doug

.

[Earl]

Steve-

Words alone can't sufficiently convey my condolences to you and your family. Though you and I have never met, all of us here on YORF I guess share a special connection through the passion for our hobby. As such, when one of us hurts or suffers loss, we all, in a way, feel that loss as well.

Your story of your dad's involvement in your hobby and certainly his work for Boeing on the SI-C stage is wonderfully uplifting. Wow, what a legacy he has left you. Being an extreme Apollo history fanatic (I've drooled over those Boeing 'shop floor' photos many times before....I had each of those two as desktop backgrounds over the years), I am truly impressed and envious of your dad's work history and contribution to the success of the Apollo program. That is something that you can truly be proud of, but I'm sure is only a very small part in the grand scheme of things of why you loved him.

Tomorrow, July 20th, will mark the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing. We'll all be reminded once again of the incredible work and talent that people like your father put forth those many years ago to make that dream of man walking on the surface of the Moon come true.

I pray the Lord's strength and grace will embrace you and your family these coming days as you go through this time. And know too that your YORF brothers (and I think a 'sister' or two as well here) will have you and your family in our thoughts and prayers.


God Bless,

Earl

[rocketguy101]

^^^ well said Earl, I can't add anymore except my prayers for Steve and your loss.

[dlazarus6660]

Steve,

My condolence on your loss.

Daniel

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

It's been a rough year. Sorry for you loss.

[jeffyjeep]

Very sorry. I pray for a peaceful rest for your father.

[Jerry Irvine]

The preservation of history was the thing not the other stuff.

[J Blatz]

Steve-

Very sorry to hear about your father.

On the other side of that, it is so good that you guys were on good terms.

Jason

[naoto]

My sincerest condolences on your loss

[snaquin]

Thanks for all the kind words my friends here at YORF posted to this thread.

[Earl]

Thanks for all the kind words my friends here at YORF posted to this thread.

Good to see you back here Steve. Hope all is going as well as can be expected.

Earl

[snaquin]

This timeline of this thread doesn't flow very well ..... ;)

I started this thread July 6th 2007 as the July 20th anniversary was approaching which always lead to discussions with my dad about his involvement with the Apollo projects when he worked at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans with The Boeing Company working on the S-IC and also a summer when we lived near the Saturn V S-IC Static Test Facility at Marshall Space Flight Center.
He gave me some of his memorabilia in 2007 that we was very proud of.

I didn't post again to this thread until 7-18-2014 the day he passed away. :( As the July 20th anniversary was approaching the 45 year mark we again had discussions about how he contributed to making history.

Now today five years later, I post again on this most special day ..... :)
When my brother and sister and law were cleaning out my dads house after his passing a few more items were found in the old house that I posted images for below. There was a letter that accompanied that commemorative medallion in my first post when that medallion was given to him. I scanned a picture of that letter last night with the medallion and posted it here.

Also, there is an Apollo 11 sticker still stuck to a page signed by the general manager of the launch vehicle branch at Boeing. Hard to get a good scan of it with my iPad and the edges have yellowed over the years and don't look that bad in person. The sticker is pristine.

There was also a thick sheet with sketches of the Apollo 11 astronauts and their signatures also found with the two other items pictured.

I am sure he would have shared this with me in 2007 and probably lost track over the years as to where he put these things. As Jerry mentioned in post #20 the preservation of history is the most important thing and the reason for my post today. I had never seen these things before and preserving them on Scott's forum, well ..... what better place to put something like this!

Five years later and I still really miss my dad and thank all of you for your condolences in 2014. He was a really special guy. I still remember 50 years ago sitting on the sofa with him as an 8 year old kid waiting to see the excitement of the Apollo 11 mission as it unfolded. Those of us that were old enough to remember the mission and experience it first hand know it really was something special, something to remember, and most of all something to be proud of as human beings and most certainly as Americans to have accomplished this.

HULU just added the NASA channel to my line up so I have some specials I have set on my DVR for later today.

I hope all of my friends on the forum have a great day today and share in the excitement of this wonderful anniversary! :D

[Earl]

Steve-

Thanks for posting these very special momentos from your father for all of us to see. Bitter sweet times for you, I'm sure. But you have some wonderful memories of him and of those days.

It is also good to see you post here again...it seems as if it has been some time since I've seen you post here.

Today is a very memorable day for all of us who can remember this day 50 years ago. I was just shy of my seventh birthday at the time, but recall the night of July 20, 1969 very vividly. It, and the events surrounding Apollo 11, is what got me started in all this 'space and rocket stuff' and I haven't lost interest since.

One of my very vivid memories that night 50 years ago as we gathered around the TV waiting (and waiting...and waiting, so it seemed) for the astronauts to appear was asking my Mom over and over again "Is THIS it??!!", only to be told "No, it's still just a simulation". And not really knowing completely what a 'simulation' was, but understanding that the real thing was not yet happening. Finally, I recall that black and white image appearing on TV and that for the first few seconds or so the image was upside down.

I lost my Mom a little over two years ago after a long battle with Lewy Body Dementia (the same Robin Williams had) and watched what it did to her. It tore my heart out.

But today I think of her and other dear family and friends who were around 50 years ago and even just five years ago during the 45th anniversary, and try to smile and rejoice in the achievement all those many years ago. I know they would want me to remember the good times. The times when we all soared.

Your Dad's work and achievements helped us all soar that day 50 years ago, and today we salute all who made it possible.

Earl