Astronauts medal display

[Ricardo]

Thank you my friend. Happy New Year to you down in Brazil. You are from outside the borders, anything particular you have always wanted to see along this line and never could? I would be glad to do my best to show ya.

4starchris

 

Thank you Chris, you are a great friend!!

 

Happy New Year!!

 

Ricardo.

[carbinephalen]

Here is a pretty interesting picture I found. The caption reads:

 

"August, 26, 1971. Alan Shepard is promoted to admiral in a ceremony at the Pentagon. Navy Secretary John H. Chafee does the honors as Shepard, recently returned from the Moon, becomes the first astronaut to achieve star rank. At the time, he was the only one of the original seven astronauts still on flight status with the space program"

 

Keep these great posts coming fellas!

 

[67Rally]

I thought that this would be fitting to post -

 

NORTH ARABIAN SEA (March 10, 2010) Astronaut legend Neil Armstrong is presented with honorary Naval Astronaut Wings by Capt. Dee L. Mewbourne, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) during a two-day visit as part of the Legends of Aerospace Tour sponsored by Morale Entertainment. Armstrong was joined by fellow astronauts Jim Lovell and Gene Cernan during the presentation aboard the ship. Dwight D. Eisenhower is on a six-month deployment as part of the on-going rotation of forward-deployed forces to support maritime security operations.

 

 

Prior to the Ike visit, in a conversation with retired Capt. Edward F. Bronson, Armstrong, who served as a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952, mentioned he never received a pair Naval Astronaut Wings. The wings were not authorized prior to 1961 when they were first presented to Cmdr. Alan Shepard Jr.

 

(Link to full article)

[4STARCHRIS]

Great stuff guys on a rarely talked about subject. great pics and postings as well.

4starchris

[carbinephalen]

These United States Air Force senior pilot wings belonged to USAF Lieutenant Colonel and NASA Astronaut Virgil Ivan “Gus” Grissom (1926-1967). Grissom was the second American to reach outer space and the first American to reach the accepted boundaries of space twice. On January 27, 1967 Grissom was killed with astronauts Roger Chaffee and Ed White when a fire broke out inside the Apollo 1 capsule during a routine test. These wings are part of the Elliot Goldman Collection.

[barker944]

Jack Swigert's Presidential Medal of Freedom and NASA DSM were displayed in the Operations Building at Schiever AFB, CO the last I saw them. Unfortunately, it's a controlled area and not open to the general public.

 

Jim

[roadrunner]

Hello

 

For your information

Sold for $ 92,000

 

Michael

[4STARCHRIS]

Thanks for the posting guys. I will add more this pm and weekend.

4starchris

[carbinephalen]

Roger Chaffee, who also passed away in the Apollo 1 tragedy.

 

Special Honors: Awarded the Navy Air Medal; Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

 

Experience: Lt. Cdr. Chaffee entered the Navy in 1957. He served as safety officer and quality control officer for Heavy Photographic Squadron 62 at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida. In January 1963, he entered the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to work on a master of science degree in reliability engineering. As a pilot, Chaffee flew U-2 photo reconnaissance missions over Cuba.

 

He logged more than 2,300 hours flying time, including more than 2,000 hours in jet aircraft.

 

NASA Experience: Roger Chaffee was selected in the third group of astronauts on 14 October 1963. He was then assigned to the Apollo Group, headed by Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper. In the summer of 1965, Deke Slayton assigned him as pilot of Apollo 1.

 

[carbinephalen]

Roger Chaffee, who also passed away in the Apollo 1 tragedy.

 

Special Honors: Awarded the Navy Air Medal; Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

 

Experience: Lt. Cdr. Chaffee entered the Navy in 1957. He served as safety officer and quality control officer for Heavy Photographic Squadron 62 at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida. In January 1963, he entered the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to work on a master of science degree in reliability engineering. As a pilot, Chaffee flew U-2 photo reconnaissance missions over Cuba.

 

He logged more than 2,300 hours flying time, including more than 2,000 hours in jet aircraft.

 

NASA Experience: Roger Chaffee was selected in the third group of astronauts on 14 October 1963. He was then assigned to the Apollo Group, headed by Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper. In the summer of 1965, Deke Slayton assigned him as pilot of Apollo 1.

 

 

 

A close up of his Space Medal of Honor. This display is at The Michigan Military and Space Museum in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

[4STARCHRIS]

 

Here is McDivitt's uniform from Michigan's Own Museum.

4starchris

[4STARCHRIS]

 

McDivitt's ribbon bar close-up.

4starchris

[4STARCHRIS]

4starchris

[DMD]

Can anyone explain why Stafford and McDivitt have the missile badge? I thought the missile badge was only for tactical and strategic missile crews.

[4STARCHRIS]

Can anyone explain why Stafford and McDivitt have the missile badge? I thought the missile badge was only for tactical and strategic missile crews.

 

DMD

The Missile Badge is a military decoration of the United States Air Force which was first created in the 1960s. The badge recognizes those commissioned officers and enlisted personnel of the US Air Force who have qualified as missile personnel (both Tactical and SAC ICBM) that have been trained in the launching of landbased nuclear weapons under the direction of the National Command Authority. Originally known as the Missileman Badge, the Missile Badge later became known as the Missilier Badge or more informally the Pocket Rocket and is still often referred to by this name.

 

Thanks for the post.

4starchris

[DMD]

Doesn't answer the question. I don't believe either men were involved with launching nuclear weapons during their careers.

[4STARCHRIS]

Doesn't answer the question. I don't believe either men were involved with launching nuclear weapons during their careers.

 

General Officers. Wear the basic badge, representative of the organization’s mission, upon entering a headquarters staff or command position, unless previously qualified for a higher level badge. Wear the next higher level badge after 12 months. Continue to upgrade to next higher level every 12 months

[4STARCHRIS]

Deke Slayton

Here is the leather flight Jacket of Deke.

 

 

EXPERIENCE: Slayton entered the Air Force as an aviation cadet and received his wings in April 1943 after completing flight training at Vernon and Waco, Texas.

 

As a B-25 pilot with the 340th Bombardment Group, he flew 56 combat missions in Europe. He returned to the United States in mid-1944 as a B-25 instructor pilot at Columbia, South Carolina, and later served with a unit responsible for checking pilot proficiency in the A-26. In April 1945, he was sent to Okinawa with the 319th Bombardment Group and flew seven combat missions over Japan. He served as a B-25 instructor for one year following the end of the war and subsequently left the Air Force to enter the University of Minnesota. He became an aeronautical engineer after graduation and worked for two years with the Boeing Aircraft Corporation at Seattle, Washington, before being recalled to active duty in 1951 with the Minnesota Air National Guard.

 

Upon reporting for duty, he was assigned as maintenance flight test officer of an F-51 squadron located in Minneapolis, followed by 18-months as a technical inspector at Headquarters Twelfth Air Force, and a similar tour as fighter pilot and maintenance office with the 36th Fighter Day Wing at Bitburg, Germany. Returning to the United States in June 1955, he attended the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. He was a test pilot there from January 1956 until April 1959 and participated in the testing of fighter aircraft built for the United States Air Force and some foreign countries.

 

He has logged more than 6,600 hours flying time, including 5,100 hours in jet aircraft.

[4STARCHRIS]

 

Close-up of the name tag and patch.

4starchris

[4STARCHRIS]

 

Here is Deke's Air Medal with 3 oak-leaf clusters.

4starchris

[4STARCHRIS]

 

Here is Deke in front of his plane.

4starchris

[barker944]

Doesn't answer the question. I don't believe either men were involved with launching nuclear weapons during their careers.

 

In the early days those AF troops involved in the space program could earn the missle badge. For instance, MG Ord who was the Commander of the Aerospace Medical Div in the 80's had earned his as the Flight Surgeon for some of the early space shots. Later when the Space Badge was created they added a wreath to the missle badge and called it a combat ready designator for those that actually worked in silos. Now the space weenies wear that tacky Buck Rogers gizmo.

 

Jim

[4STARCHRIS]

Great info. Did you find this officially somewhere?

If so can yo tell us or post it. Just for the "Offical" types.

I like to thank everybody who has posted on the tread.

4starchris

[tom2001]

Doesn't answer the question. I don't believe either men were involved with launching nuclear weapons during their careers.

 

Pure speculation on my part, but the early NASA booster rockets, specifically Redstone, Atlas, and Titan rockets, were originally developed as ICBMs before being used as boosters in the Mercury and Gemini launches. Perhaps that qualifies some of the early NASA personnel for the Missleman Badge?

[4STARCHRIS]

Pure speculation on my part, but the early NASA booster rockets, specifically Redstone, Atlas, and Titan rockets, were originally developed as ICBMs before being used as boosters in the Mercury and Gemini launches. Perhaps that qualifies some of the early NASA personnel for the Missleman Badge?

i will ask my old NASA buddies about this and see what they say.

This make pretty good sense though.

4starchris