Light This Candle: The Life & Times of Alan Shepard--America's First Spaceman
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page 96, “You goofed off a little bit”: Allen, Yankee.
page 97, “That kind of complacency is so insidious”: Ibid.
page 97, “Naval aviators were not angels”: Gillcrist, Feet Wet, p. xvii.
page 97, “escorting a fervor as tender”: Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars.
page 98, Pilots would swoop down low for a look: An Oral History of the CorpusChristi Naval Air Station.
page 98, One famous Corpus Christi story involves the trainee: Ibid.
page 99, “She captivated everyone she ran into”: Author interview with Robert Williams.
page 100, “the best-trained men in the world”: An Oral History of the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station.
page 100, “it was difficult to walk without swaggering.”: Gillcrist, Feet Wet, p. 17.
page 100, The crazy notion of using ships as floating runways: Roy Grossnick and William J. Armstrong. United States Naval Aviation: 1910–1995 (Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1997).
page 101, The first LSO was . . . Kenneth Whiting: Alfred M. Pride, oral history interview, U.S. Naval Institute.
page 103, “Absolutely perfect . . . right in the center.”: Allen, “The Disciplined Life,” Yankee.
page 103, “one of the best moments” Ibid.
5: A perfectly charming son of a bitch
page 105, “I earnestly desire to fly fighter-bombers”: Shepard’s flight training records.
page 106, “The air, not the runway, was the Corsair’s element”: Glenn, A Memoir, p. 79; author interview with John Glenn.
page 106, [Lindbergh, World War II, Corsair]: Berg, Lindbergh, p. 448.
page 106, “whistling death”: Glenn, A Memoir, p. 94.
page 107, “for real men only”: Author interview with Robert Williams.
page 107, He was killed in a fireball: Author interview with Dick Hardy.
page 107, Another peer failed to adjust the mixture control: Author interview with Bill Botts.
page 107, “the bent-wing widowmaker”: Ibid.
page 108, her fragile constitution . . . : Author interview with Dorel Alco Abbot.
page 110, “A rivet or two could pop”: Al Blackburn, Aces Wild: The Race for Mach 1 (Scholarly Resources, 1998), p. 2.
page 111, proceeded to handpick each of his pilots: Author interview with Dick Hardy.
page 111, Abbot chose Shepard to be his wingman: Author interview with James L. “Doc” Abbot.
page 111, Abbot . . . took them down to the naval air station at Pensacola: Author interview with Dick Hardy.
page 112, Abbot . . . explained how his men had accidentally missed the turn: Author interview with Doc Abbot.
page 112, The FDR sailed first to Guantánamo Bay: Ibid.
page 113, Abbot’s boss—had been killed: Author interview with Robert Baldwin.
page 114, One dark, calm night in the Caribbean . . . : Author interview with Doc Abbot.
page 114, Why hang around with the other wives to watch the ship: Louise Shepard, “Just Go Right Ahead,” Life, Vol. 47, No. 12 (September 21, 1959), p. 150.
page 115, Enormous swells lifted and dropped the FDR: Harry D. Felt, oral history interview, U.S. Naval Institute.
page 115, Most of the FDR’s airplanes were tied down [entire scene]: Author interview with Doc Abbot.
page 117, continued military spending cuts . . . : Author interviews with Dick Hardy and Robert Baldwin.
page 117, “If they lay off too long, you’re asking for trouble”: Felt, oral history.
page 118, Abbot decided to give Shepard command: Author interview with Doc Abbot.
pages 118–119, “bodacious” . . . and it turned some colleagues off: Author interview with Bill Botts.
page 120, “Baldwin, with you sucking on one end of this ship . . .”: Author interviews with Robert Baldwin and Warren O’Neil.
page 121, Many Navy marriages were battered: Felt, oral history.
page 121, “Why not?” Shepard said: Author interview with Bill Chaires.
page 123, Caldwell often walked down from his office: Author interview with DickHardy.
page 124, ironically, his successor was killed in a Corsair: Author interview with Robert Baldwin.
6: Shepard should be court-martialed
page 125, “aviation plan 65” . . . “outstanding flying proficiency”: United States Naval Test Pilot School: Historical Narrative and Class Date, 1945–1983, (Annapolis, Maryland: Fishergate Publishing, 1984), p. 7.
page 126, “may not have extra talent”: Shepard, Academy of Achievement interview.
page 127, “drank cheap booze . . . and almost ended up in jail”: Steve Vogel, “In Patuxent, Past Flies Home to Roost: Naval Pilots Return to Celebrate the Glory Days,” The Washington Post (April 19, 1998).
page 127, “There wasn’t much to do”: Author interview with Robert Elder
page 128, “Training was very informal, to put it politely”: Matt Bortz, “Memories of WWII Training,” unpublished memoir.
page 128, they raised the requirements for new test pilots: United States Naval Test Pilot School.
page 128, Just barely avoiding slamming into the tail [entire scene]: John Hyland, oral history, U.S. Naval Institute.
page 129, “He could fly anything”: Author interview with Robert Baldwin.
page 129, One of Shepard’s projects was to fly . . . : Author interview with Bill Chaires.
page 130, “If it sucked, he’d say so”: Author interview with Robert Elder.
page 130, “some of the best reports we had”: Hyland, oral history.
page 131, could “roll a plane a little better”: Shepard, Academy of Achievement.
page 131, “fly the best test flight that anybody had ever flown”: Ibid.
page 132, he couldn’t condone such flights or every yahoo: Author interview with Robert Baldwin.
page 132, He gave Shepard a stern lecture: John Lacouture, “You Can Be Good and Be Colorful,” Naval History (June, 2001).
page 132, He flew down low and screamed across the beach: Ibid.
page 133, As Shepard took off, he radioed the air traffic: Author interview with George Whisler.
pages 133, “Get that pilot’s name”: Ibid.
page 133–134, thought his career was over: Hyland, oral history.
page 134, “Were you just over Chincoteague?”: Entire scene based on author interviews with Robert Elder, H. Y. Davidson, George Whisler; Hyland, oral history.
page 134, Shepard should be court-martialed: Lacouture, Naval History; Hyland, oral history.
page 134, “I want to straighten this kid out”: Hyland, oral history.
page 135, “He [Pride] was furious”: Author interview with Robert Elder.
page 136, He also grounded Shepard for two weeks: Lacouture, Naval History.
page 136, “Now look, Shep, if you want to fly low . . .”: Hyland, oral history.
page 136, “I thought he was a little indulgent”: Author interview with Robert Elder.
page 136, when Shepard was allowed to fly again . . . [entire scene]: Author interview with Doc Abbot.
page 137, “It was a remarkable piece of work . . .”: Ibid.
page 138, Miss America’s impressive cleavage: Lacouture, Naval History.
page 138, “Let’s show them how to do it”: Author interview with Robert Elder.
page 138, He painted pubic hair: Author interview with Robert Williams.
page 139, “ . . . it was blowing the airplane apart” [entire scene]: Author interviews with Robert Elder; Mike Machat, “Bob Elder: Naval Aviator,” Wings, Vol. 31, No. 6 (December, 2001).
page 140, “I don’t know what a genius IQ is, but he had it”: Hyland oral history.
page 141, Shepard compiled an extensive report . . . : Ibid.
page 141, friends . . . “are going to run right over you on the way to the same target”: Shepard, Academy of Achievement.
page 142, “Maybe you are a little bit
better”: Ibid.
page 142, “I was the best graduate . . .”: Allen, “The Disciplined Life,” Yankee.
7: “Do you wish to declare an emergency?”
page 144, waiters thought they were all drunk: Author interview with Charles Spangler.
page 144, “Mommy, how come Daddy is so rich . . . ?”: Shepard, Academy of Achievement.
page 145, “a pretty good return on the investment”: “Two Aces in Korean Air War,” Naval Aviation News (September, 1953).
page 145, a two-foot hole in Glenn’s tail: Glenn, A Memoir, p. 134.
page 146, Shepard . . . “slow-roll”: Author interview with Jig Dog Ramage.
page 146, “I was lying, cheating, and stealing”: Ramage, oral history, U.S. Naval Institute.
page 146, “At that time, friendships were strong”: Author interview with Jig Dog Ramage.
page 148, “Stop damaging the flight deck”: Ibid; Ramage, oral history.
page 148, That decision would ultimately save Jig Dog’s life: Ibid.
page 149, “there are no old, bold test pilots”: Pam Platt, “Shepard Detailed ‘Real Stuff’ in Florida Today Interview,” Florida Today (July 22, 1998).
page 150, Captain Griffin later summoned . . . Lawrence: Author interview with William Lawrence.
page 152, Frank Repp came up a few inches short: Author interviews Frank Repp and Jig Dog Ramage; Ramage, oral history.
page 153, “Pretty colorful, wasn’t I?”: Ibid.
page 153, Shepard’s colleague John Mitchell once . . . : Author interview with John Mitchell.
page 154, “MiG Mad Marine”: Glenn, A Memoir, p. 141.
page 154, “irrepressible spirit”: Author interview with William Lawrence.
page 155, Shepard was put in hack: Ibid.
page 155, “LT Shepard is a very fine Naval Aviator, but . . .”: William Lawrence, “Reminiscences of Alan Shepard,” Foundation, journal of the National Museum of Naval Aviation (Spring, 1990).
page 155, “You are not aiding the individual or the Navy”: Ramage, oral history.
page 156, Once, during a change-of-command ceremony . . . : Author interview with Jig Dog Ramage.
page 156, “He always had a lot of protection”: Ibid.
page 157, A winter night over the Sea of Japan: Barbree et al., Moonshot, p. 57.
page 157, I might be in real trouble [entire scene]: Ibid; We Seven, p. 84.
page 158, “the vast tribunal of the tempestuous sky”: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars.
page 158, burning fuel at a horrendous rate: Barbree et al., Moonshot, p. 57–60.
page 159, He roared to himself: Ibid.
page 159, “normal carrier landing”: Ibid.
page 159, “separates the men from the boys”: Ted Wilbur, “Once a Fighter Pilot,” Naval Aviation News (1970).
page 160, “He always wanted to be one of them”: Author interview with Frank Repp.
page 161, “we took a few liberties”: Author interview with Robert Elder.
page 161, They’d fly straight at each other: Author interviews with Robert Elder and William Lawrence.
page 161, “The star of the show was Alan Shepard”: Charles D. Griffin, oral history interview, U.S. Naval Institute.
page 161, the Mangy Angels made plans to get a photograph: Author interview with William Lawrence.
page 162, “Guys would go there like flies”: Walt Radosevich, oral history interview with Thomas Saylor, Oral History Project of the World War II Years.
page 163, “short-arm” inspection: Author interview with Jig Dog Ramage.
page 163, Friends called him a . . . “liberty hound”: Author interview with Ralph Stell.
page 163, “Shep never revealed . . . who he screwed”: Author interview with John Mitchell.
page 164, nearly a million men subscribed to Playboy David Halberstam, The Fifties (New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1994), p. 573.
page 164, wondered why she stayed with him: Author interview with Betty Whisler.
page 165, still managed to reach Mach .93: Author interview with John Mitchell.
page 166, Rooney . . . “a little stinker first class”: Griffin, oral history.
page 167, unauthorized happy hour: Author interview with Bill Geiger.
page 167, “Shake the hand that held the tit of Ava Gardner”: Ibid.
page 167, attack on the battleship USS Iowa: Author interview with Jig Dog Ramage; Ramage, oral history.
page 169, “Shep, I owe you one” [entire scene]: Ibid.
8: “That little rascal”
page 170, “He didn’t like to be needled”: Author interview with John Mitchell.
page 175, four planes flying in the same direction: Barbree et al., Moonshot, p. 56.
page 175, falling “like a Steinway piano”: Ibid.
page 176, aviators . . . killed as a result of . . . : Gillcrist, Feet Wet, p. 69.
page 176, “using up the sky in a terrible hurry”: Barbree et al., Moonshot, p. 55.
page 176, Shepard left the Tiger on the tarmac [entire scene]: Ibid.
page 176, “an unforgiving, unreliable airplane”: Test pilot John Moore, written for the National Museum of Naval Aviation’s Web site (www. naval-air.org/AircraftCollection).
page 177, watched the plane . . . bloom into a fireball: Author interview with Larry Richardson.
page 177, “This isn’t what we want”: Author interview with John Mitchell.
page 178, At first the poor girl was in shock . . . : Author interviews with Denni Seibert, Betty Whisler, and Alice Wackermann.
page 179, Louise . . . knew she had done something right: Author interview with Betty Whisler.
page 179, “brush up on some academic subjects”: We Seven, p. 84.
page 180, “I thought I had a very good chance”: Ibid.
page 180, The change of routine was not, however, an easy one: Author interview with Dorel Alco Abbot.
page 183, “the embodiment of the sheer animal force of the Soviet Union”: Halberstam, The Fifties, p. 702.
page 183, “Kaputnik . . . Flopnik . . . Stayputnik”: Ibid, p. 627.
page 185, “That little rascal”: Barbree et al., Moonshot, p. 43.
page 185, “gnawed at his insides”: Ibid.
PART II /// INTO SPACE
9: “We made them heroes, the first day they were picked”
page 190, “Not . . . those who would be enamored”: Thomas, Men of Space, p. 185.
page 190, a “miserable weekend”: Shepard, Academy of Achievement interview.
page 190, “kicked the dog, spanked the children”: Platt, Florida Today.
page 190, “ ‘Just go right ahead’ ”: Louise Shepard, “Just Go Right Ahead,” Life, Vol. 47, No. 12 (September 21, 1959), p. 150.
page 191, “Why are you asking me?”: We Seven, p. 85.
page 191, “stay alive under tough and dangerous assignments”: Thomas, Men of Space, p. 185.
page 191, “space was the new turning point . . . something new and important”: We Seven, p. 85.
page 191, To Voas’ surprise . . . : Author interview with Robert Voas.
page 192, he already knew she was “all for it”: Shepard, Academy of Achievement.
page 192, Secretly Louise hoped . . . “he’s only one out of a hundred”: Smaus and Spangler, America’s First Spaceman, p. 123.
page 193, “We were trying to drive them crazy”: Caidin, Man into Space, p. 132.
page 193, “sick doctors working on well patients”: Walter M. Schirra, Schirra’s Space (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press/Bluejacket Books, 1995), p. 60.
page 193, “sadists”: Gordon Cooper, Leap of Faith: An Astronaut’s Journey into the Unknown (New York: HarperCollins, 2000), p. 13.
page 194, he even had to squat over the camera: James Schefter, The Race: The Uncensored Story of How America Beat Russia to the Moon (New York: Doubleday/Random House, 1999), p. 57.
page 194, “Nothing is s
acred anymore”: Loyd S. Swenson Jr. et al., This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury (Houston: NASA History Series, 1989).
page 194, reviewing . . . each candidate’s adolescence: Caidin, Man into Space. p. 134.
page 194, “We looked for real men”: Swenson et al., This New Ocean.
page 194, Those who seemed to exhibit “emotional stability”: Author interview with Robert Voas.
page 195, “We wanted perfect . . . specimens”: Ibid.
page 195, Glenn started scribbling . . . : Glenn, A Memoir, p. 189.
page 195, “difficult for me to analyze my own feelings”: Shepard, We Seven, p. 86.
page 195, “Al thought it was a bunch of nonsense”: Author interview with John Glenn.
page 196, “motivated”: Author interview with Robert Voas.
page 196, “these would probably be famous people”: Ibid.
page 196, couldn’t decide which of two competing candidates should be the sixth: Charles Berry, oral history interview, NASA archives, University of Houston, Clear Lake.
page 196, Shepard let out a whoop: We Seven, p. 86.
page 197, “Louise and I just held each other”: Ibid, p. 87.
page 197, Renza said she was “delighted”: Jim Watson, “Shepard Sky High on NASA,” The Washington Times (August 6, 1986).
page 197, “Someday . . . you may be an admiral”: Allen, Yankee.
page 198, “splitting up the family”: Watson, The Washington Times.
page 198, a splotch of “guck” on his bow tie: Barbree et al., Moonshot, pg. 62.
page198, “cold and standoffish” . . . “trying to be nice”: Donald K. “Deke” Slayton, Michael Cassut, DEKE! U.S. Manned Space: From Mercury to the Shuttle (New York: Forge Books/A Tom Doherty Associates Book, 1994), p. 73.
page 200, “the worst stress test I’ve ever been through”: We Seven, p. 17.
page 201, “These people are nuts”: Barbree et al., Moonshot, p. 63.
page 201, “I have no problems at home”: James M. Grimwood, ed., Project Mercury: A Chronology (press conference transcript, NASA, 1963).
page 201, “disadvantage to have to speak loud”: Ibid.
page 201, “This is the worst, here”: Ibid.
page 202, “waiting for the religion question all along”: Cooper, Leap of Faith, p. 18.
page 202, Glenn “ate this stuff up”: Slayton and Cassut, DEKE! p. 74.