Met an American Hero!
Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 4:46 pmMy son gave me a book to read this past summer - "Failure is Not an Option" by Gene Kranz. It was part of a book series on leadership he has to read while at AFIT. He knew I would love it as it is not only a great read, but my family has ties to it. My father worked as a computer programmer for Univac during the Apollo and Skylab missions. He directly worked on missions 8-17 and attended several launches. During this time he was given a tour by Mr. Kranz himself of the VAB at Canaveral and even wore the man's hard hat while on the tour!
Well, I loved the book and passed it on to my dad knowing he'd love it. At a Halloween party this past month, dad was talking with a young Sgt. in the Army National Guard that mentioned Mr. Kranz would be giving an address at their upcoming Dining Out event. He invited my dad and I to attend last night.
We were honored to be part of the 5/19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) event and we met numerous fantastic young men and women that any parent would be proud to claim. Sadly, there were only about 20 of us old enough to have been around during this time in the space program...crap am I getting old LOL.
Mr. Kranz spoke for over an hour about his experiences as a fighter pilot, then a test pilot, and finally as a Flight Director for NASA. He had many pictures that have never been seen publicly and spend the bulk of the time talking about Apollo 13. I had goosebumps the entire time he spoke. What has always impressed me most is that he uses "we" and individually names those that deserve credit. He was and is a true leader and it was an honor getting to meet and speak with him.
My dad and he spoke at length about the job they did at the time and my dad was, forgive the pun; over the moon.
Here's dad and Mr. Kranz looking over some of the original pictures dad brought with us:
I managed to get the young Lt. Reinecke's book signed for him. Mr. Kranz wrote: "To Christopher - Aim High!" and signed it with his name and below that "Flight".
It was truly a fantastic evening.
Well, I loved the book and passed it on to my dad knowing he'd love it. At a Halloween party this past month, dad was talking with a young Sgt. in the Army National Guard that mentioned Mr. Kranz would be giving an address at their upcoming Dining Out event. He invited my dad and I to attend last night.
We were honored to be part of the 5/19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) event and we met numerous fantastic young men and women that any parent would be proud to claim. Sadly, there were only about 20 of us old enough to have been around during this time in the space program...crap am I getting old LOL.
Mr. Kranz spoke for over an hour about his experiences as a fighter pilot, then a test pilot, and finally as a Flight Director for NASA. He had many pictures that have never been seen publicly and spend the bulk of the time talking about Apollo 13. I had goosebumps the entire time he spoke. What has always impressed me most is that he uses "we" and individually names those that deserve credit. He was and is a true leader and it was an honor getting to meet and speak with him.
My dad and he spoke at length about the job they did at the time and my dad was, forgive the pun; over the moon.
Here's dad and Mr. Kranz looking over some of the original pictures dad brought with us:
I managed to get the young Lt. Reinecke's book signed for him. Mr. Kranz wrote: "To Christopher - Aim High!" and signed it with his name and below that "Flight".
It was truly a fantastic evening.