By Jacque Dorazio
October, to most, indicates cider and Halloween. October is also the 243rd
birthday of the Navy. Friday the 13th, October 1775, the Second Continental
Congress and newly established Naval Committee began this military
branch with two ships. Today the Navy is not only about ships. Aircraft was
introduced in their plan of defense in the early 1920’s, with dirigibles and
carrier aviation that began when a bi-plane successfully landed on a ship’s
wood deck. By the 1950’s they became players in the missile and space
programs.
The Navy was instrumental in the space program in retrieving the
space capsules. Recently, Hollywood released “Last Man,” astronaut Neil
Armstrong’s story. Now imagine being on the ship’s crew retrieving capsules
in the early days of space travel. Listen in on my conversation with Chuck
Chirozzi, Pittsburgh PA., sharing his moment in history retrieving Apollo 14 on
February 9, 1971, in the South Pacific aboard the USS New Orleans, LPH11.
“The ship was on duty in Vietnam, a quarter mile off the coast of DaNang. It
was home to 38 choppers and 450 personnel. I was the ship’s electrician and
carried out river runs delivering supplies in country. In January, 1971, came
an interesting new order. High tail it to the South Pacific Ocean, ronde with
NASA and CBS to retrieve the Apollo 14 capsule! The days leading up to the
capsule’s landing entailed numerous practice runs with a dummy capsule.
We were not overly excited, just focused on the success of the mission.
The mess cook baked a cake for the astronauts decorated with the USS
New Orleans and “Glad You Came Back!” That morning we awaited the first
indicator, the landing was starting with a sonic boom - a really loud boom!
It would take a long time before we finally got a visual on it. Finally, we saw
the red and white parachutes open and then the hard crash into the water.
It totally submerged then bobbled up like a stopper. The choppers hovered
above while the Underwater Demo Team placed flotation devices around the
capsule before opening the hatch. Otherwise, the capsule would submerge
into the watery depths.”
“Astronauts Stuart Roosa, Edgar Mitchell and Alan Shepard were assisted
out of the capsule and placed in the chopper’s lift chair. The interior of the
capsule was so small that the middle astronaut’s head hit the hatch! Like
being in a sardine can? I ask. Heck, a sardine has it better - they lay down!
The chopper lowered them to the deck where they were quarantined in an
Airstream trailer in the hanger bay. Cranes grabbed the capsule and we
guided it on deck. On the right side of the hatch I left my fingerprint! Ha! See
it when you visit NASA! The hatch is sealed up containing moon rocks and
Roosa’s plant experiment. As we headed to port we could ask the astronauts
questions via an intercom system. Remember, back then it was an issue
with disease from space possibly infecting us. I asked about the lunar dust
- was it that fine and hard to get traction? Yes and yes. This was the mission
Shepard “golfed” on the moon - the “greens” were not so manicured.”
“The astronauts and Airstream were eventually loaded in a C141 and
headed for Houston. We carried the capsule to Hawaii. We ate the cake
and headed back to the Vietnam Yacht Club... All received a patch for the
successful mission. What a day!”
Please visit tybeeislandamericanlegion.org website for more on the Navy’s
history, my connection to dirigibles, Chuck continued, and pics. Semper
Fortis!
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The Navy and Apollo 14
12 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | OCT 2018
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