With the recent deaths of the astronauts John Glenn and Eugene A. Cernan and the sea changes in Washington, the gathering felt like a memorial for an era as well as for three men. There's no other way to explain it. rugby nova scotia university league . The crew of Apollo 1, Virgil I (Gus) Grissom, Edward H. White, II, and Roger B. Chaffee, pose for a photo during training in Florida. . They also suffered thermal burns. Roger B. Chaffee's family during the January 31, 1967 burial services at Arlington National Cemetery. A bagpiper stood ready and Ms. Grissom sat front and center. Those watching on a video feed saw White appear to reach for the handle of the hatch. It was a lesson NASA would have to learn again after the space shuttle Challenger disaster. (Video: MSNBC), ABC's Jules Bergman reports about the deadly fire that claimed the lives of astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger Chaffee on January 27, 1967. The two talked in a bedroom of the Chaffee home. Scott McIntyre for The New York Times. She was previously married to William Chase Canfield and Roger B. Chaffee. Death was always on the horizon for the wives. Martha Chaffee was born on March 28, 1939 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. You gonna barf on the way to the Moon, too, Geno? he asked, all while demonstrating the iron-clad nature of his own stomach by chomping a banana-sized jalapeno pepper in two bites. -Roger Chaffee (The New York Times, January 29, 1967, p. Chaffee, along with astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Ed White II, died on Jan. 27, 1967, when a blaze erupted in their command module during preflight testing. , his wife, Blanche was told that she would not be allowed to deliver her baby at the local hospital; officials simply could not risk exposing other patients to the illness. . The day that it happened is pretty vivid, Sheryl Chaffee said. It has been 50 years since the Apollo 1 fire killed Roger Chaffee at Cape Kennedys Launch Complex 34 in Florida. 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After taking a long walk on the beaches of Lake Michigan that night, Chaffee returned the next morning and passed the vision test with flying colors, according to his NASA biography. The day it happened, the crew was going through what's called a plugs out test, a sort of dress rehearsal for flight. All rights reserved (About Us). Many years after the accident, two space buffs, Bob Castro and Mark Pinchell, started going out to the site of the fire, which is on Air Force property, in their own private tribute. Mr. Grissom was initially blamed, and the sunken capsule cost the astronaut couple a visit to the Kennedy White House. Footage of Grand Rapids astronaut Roger Chaffee at NASA during preparation for Apollo 1. The Apollo 1 tragedy created a new national awareness of the dangers of the nation's space program, according to Glen Swanson, a visiting professor at Grand Valley State University and a former historian at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Roger B. Chaffee with his parents, Donald and Blanche Chaffee, in front of an Air Force jet. Chaffee had a successful career as a Navy flyer, most notably flying planes that identified Soviet installations in Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis. He admiringly described Chaffee as a workaholic and noted that the two men frequently went hunting together. NASA concluded that the Apollo I deaths of Grissom, as well as astronauts Edward H. White and Roger Chafee, were the result of an explosive fire that burst from the pure oxygen atmosphere of the space capsule. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Paul Scott Anderson In 1956, he got the opportunity to pursue his dream of coaching football at the University of Oklahoma, where he would be assistant coach under Bud Wilkinson, then the highest-paid coach in the country, Canfield said. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. It was not like earlier rocket launches where Americans huddled around their television screens and counted down with mission control. Mark Grissom was out playing that night when another child came to fetch him. Roger B. Chaffee takes a break prior to an altitude chamber test at KSC on October 18, 1966. Technology by Samsung. He was selected as an astronaut after flying an F-86 Sabre on over a hundred combat missions in Korea. Like the Challenger accident in which all seven crew members were killed, the Apollo 1 fire was shocking not only because of the deaths, but because the accident followed 16 consecutive successful flights of the Mercury and Gemini series. The Apollo 1 crew crosses an access arm to the command module on Jan. 27, 1967, the day of the fatal fire. He's just hiding from us., Read More:Annie Glenn: When I called John, he cried. The president delivers the eulogy. The graves of Chaffee and Grissom can be found at Arlington National Cemetery. Theres no other way to explain it. Astronauts Virgil I. At 6:31 p.m., cries began: We have a fire in the cockpit! That's also captured on the recording, along with a scream. He is not boring. After the fire, Sieck said, personnel did speak up more. He undertook tours during the remainder of his undergraduate period, visiting Scandinavia and embarking on flight training aboard a Cessna 172. With astronaut training as the ultimate career goal, Chaffee joined a pool of 1,800 applicants for the second NASA intake in September 1962. She graduated from Classen High School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1955. She never wavered, Krist said. Betty never doubted that she was doing the right thing. Fearless. During the summer of 1954, he was scheduled for an eight-week duty aboard the battleship U.S.S. Sheryl Chaffee remembers the January evening when astronaut Mike Collins came to the door and asked to speak with her mother. A launch pad fire during Apollo program tests at Cape Canaveral, Florida, kills astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee. Chaffee would often spend his free time fishing when at the base. In each case, Krist went after the company responsible for the accident. "'I see what's here, I hear what you're saying, but tell me more. Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, 10 days before they were killed in the 1967 fire. He wasn't having much luck., Five decades after his father's death, Grissom's son Scott said thefire should be reinvestigated, and called the Apollo families mistreated.. That mission was a very big eye-opener.". (Photo courtesy of the Grand. Ben Evans university that attracted many promising engineers - and is regarded as the cradle of astronauts. It was impossible to attend a meeting with Roger and not be aware of his presence. I was born February 15, 1935. Wreathes were laid in memory of the men and women who lost their lives in the quest for space exploration. Indeed, had he flown Apollo 1, Chaffees accomplishment would have made him the youngest-ever U.S. spacefarer to ride a U.S. spacecraft in historya record he may have continued to hold until this very day. People just couldnt believe that I could really talk.. Ms. Grissom eventually settled for $350,000. There was a lot more questioning of, 'well, please explain this to me,'" Sieck said. He was certainly keen to participate in a lunar landing, although space historian Dave Shayler noted in his book Apollo: The Lost and Forgotten Missions that Deke Slayton, then-head of the Flight Crew Operations Directorate (FCOD), intended to transfer Chaffee to the Apollo Applications Program (AAP), which eventually morphed into the Skylab space station. This article was published more than6 years ago. Canfield's first wife, Vera, died at age 37 of breast cancer in 1963, leaving him to raise five children, ages 3 to 13. January 13, 2017, 4:09 pm, by He attended Safety and Reliability School in California, which provided him with the necessary training to serve as a safety and quality control officer at the Heavy Photographic Squadron 62 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Fla. Ever since I was old enough to know what electricity does, it has fascinated me. He said only of that time that it was difficult, but made easier with the help of friends and relatives. February 2, 2017, 9:19 pm, by Lt. Cdr Roger B Chaffee Birth: 15 February 1935 Grand Rapids, Ottawa County, Michigan, United States Death: 27 January 1967 Cape Canaveral, Brevard County, Florida, United States Remains: Section 3, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington County, Virginia Father: Donald Lynn Chaffee (1910-1998) Mother: Blanche May Mosher (1912-1996) Skills: Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee pictured on Sept. 10, 1964. Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed White died in a flash fire that engulfed their capsule atop a Saturn 1B rocket during a routine training operation on Jan. 27, 1967. Bill. Astronauts for the first Apollo Mission (L-R) Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee. ROGER B. CHAFFEE (LIEUTENANT COMMANDER, USN) NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED) PERSONAL DATA: Born February 15, 1935 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Koppel. Roger spent part of the long night walking along the shores of Lake Michigan. And once they could get inside, they could barely see anything at all. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. This 1967 file photo shows the charred interior of the Apollo I spacecraft after a fire which killed astronauts Ed White, Roger Chaffee, and Virgil Grissom on Jan. 27, 1967. This is the families memorial, said Sonny Witt, the 45th Space Wing director of operations for Division 1 at Patrick Air Force Base, who helps provide the access. He has a sparkle to him. The Apollo spacecraft were the next step, designed to carry two astronauts to the surface on a lunar landing craft while the third astronaut orbited the moon, fulfilling the bold dream the late President John F. Kennedy had cast before the nation in 1961. His eye examinations, this time, showed no concerns, although physical testing highlighted a very small lung capacity, but this did not prevent Chaffees selection in October. Chaffee died in a fire during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission in 1967. For Project Apollo, almost two years would elapse before three astronauts would board the spacecraft in October 1968 and complete its first piloted flight in low-Earth orbit. She said she remembers walking through the buildings of the Space Center, thinking, I know I'm going to see him out here. He was the first astronaut to win a post on a "prime" crew without first serving on a backup crew. People just couldnt believe that I could really talk., John Glenn and the courage of the Mercury Seven, Astronaut Gene Cernan was the last man on the moon and he wasnt happy about that, Three astronauts lost their lives in the Apollo 1 accident when a flash fire occurred in the command module during a launch pad test. Roger B. Chaffee, 5, is pictured in a family photo with a plane build by his dad, Donald Chaffee. Born in Grand Rapids, Mich., on 15 February 1935, the son of Don and Blanche Chaffee, his interest in aviation began at an early age. February 15, 2015, 12:00 pm To me, it's an emotional thing, said Bill Barry, NASA's chief historian, who was 9 years old when the fire occurred. She was previously married to William Chase Canfield and Roger B. Chaffee. The president attends your husbands funeral. This years event drew around 150 people, one of the largest crowds ever for a memorial that few people knew of unless they were related to an astronaut or were a die-hard space fan. In 1945, William "Bill" Canfield had a standout year in football. Definitely not retired, he continues to manage property. This is what the children of Apollo 1 remember: Gus Grissom was gone frequently, said his son Mark, but when he did get to come home, they'd catch a game or go hunting. At every turn in his career, Michigan proved to be a touchstone for the young astronaut. It took me four years to learn how little I knew, he was quoted by Chrysler. Five years later, Canfield married Martha Chaffee, the widow of astronaut Roger Chaffee, who died in 1967 in the Apollo fire during a launch pad test, and mother of two children. Fifty years ago this week, America's exuberant chase to land a person on the moon was caught horribly off-guard when a launch pad fire killed three astronauts, including West Michigan native Lt. Roger B. Chaffee. Although the overall death toll stood at three, no lives had been lost in accidents directly related . Roger Chaffee holds a barracuda that he caught while at the American base in Guantanamo Bay during his time in the U.S. Navy. Afterward, Martha Chaffee, then 27, returned home with Stephen and her 8-year-old daughter, Sheryl. When Martha asked her husband to build a tiny water fountain in the backyard, she wound up with a carefully engineered waterfall crafted from tons of gravel and hours of backbreaking work, wrote Mary C. White in her biography of Chaffee. I never quit, Ms. Grissom agreed, in the kind of taciturn response her astronaut husband might have offered. They are the ones that lost the husbands and brothers and fathers. ", (Courtesy of the Grand Rapids Public Museum). One of the more prominent debunkers of the "we-never-went-to-the-moon" crowd has published his "disgust" that Bill Kaysing would suggest that Gus Grissom was murdered in order to silence him. MLB legend makes surprise appearance at Astros' Spring Training, This is what Houston looks like from space, Astros GM Dana Brown has more praise team's top prospect, Hiker takes 'once-in-a-lifetime' photo at Brazos Bend State Park, Oops! Representatives from the Navy, the Air Force and NASA spoke, and a Navy bugler performed taps after the sun went down. (Source: AP Wirephotos courtesy of the Chaffee family and the Grand Rapids Public Museum Archives Roger B. Chaffee Collection). View Full Article in Timesmachine , See the article in its original context from. Born in Grand Rapids on Feb. 15, 1935, Chaffee developed an early interest in aviation from his father, Don Chaffee, a "barnstorming pilot" whose day job involving working as chief inspector for local defense contractor, Doehler-Jarvis. Lt. Roger B. Chaffee has his U.S. Navy wings pinned onto his uniform jacket by his wife, Martha, in this 1959 photo. The test simulates flight conditions, so the craft was running on its own power. "It was one of those days when everything we did went right," he said. Cernan, his neighbor and fellow astronaut, comforted Chaffee's 5-year son, Stephen, during the military funeral. The fire occurred on a Friday at 6:31 p.m. after a long day of testing in which the systems in the Apollo 1 capsule were being tested for a future launch. Congressional hearings, too. He went to the door, and found the wife of another astronaut. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). On occasion, Chaffee flew as many as three missions per day, photographing Soviet missiles in transit to Cuba, during the period which brought the world within a hairs breadth of possible nuclear conflict. Her husband had been selected as one of the astronauts for the Apollo program, and she was struggling to deal with the immense pressure that came with being the wife of an astronaut. https://www.nytimes.com/1968/03/01/archives/astronauts-widow-is-wed.html. Astronauts Gus Grissom (left), Ed White (middle), and Roger Chaffee (right), died on Jan. 27, 1967, during a flash fire inside the Apollo 1 crew capsule during a launch test rehearsal. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Her life always revolved around him. This week, their families gathered in Florida for the Astronauts Memorial Foundation's annual day of remembrance, which honored Apollo 1, as well as Challenger and Columbia crews. Sheryl's father, Roger was an Apollo astronaut. The crew entered the command module at around 1 p.m. Attend a memorial at the now-crumbling launch site where 50 years ago a fire took the lives of the astronauts Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed White. I want to be an electronics engineer or a radio technician. Chaffee worked on the A-3D Skywarrior photographic reconnaissance aircraft, but was in Africa flying when his son, Stephen, was born in July 1961. And thats how that cookie crumbles.. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! There is an extensive exhibit about the Apollo 1 tragedy at the Michigan Science Center here in Detroit (as a matter of fact I just visited it yesterday) featuring the Apollo Egress Trainer and the re-designed hatch developed as a result of the disaster. He had a fighter pilots attitude, even though his flying background was in multi-engine photo-reconnaissance aircraft. A NASA official. He remembers just where he was when the fire occurred. They kind of ignored the Apollo 1 fire for 50 years. December 15, 2016, 8:00 am. The cabin atmosphere during prelaunch testing was no longer 100 percent oxygen, but rather a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. One eye was so weak that he nearly was failed on the spot, wrote Mary C. White in a biography of Chaffee for the NASA History Office. "That was the last thing that was closest to him, and it was a comfort," she said. Later, when I returned from the Cape, recalled Kelly, I was able to tell her that Rogers face was untouched by the fire.. The Grand Rapids native is being . Roger's wife Martha and their daughter Sheryl and son Stephen are pictured at left. January 24, 2017, 8:31 pm, by May 13, 2018, 7:25 pm, by Early on, car headlights provided the only illumination. As an undergraduate at Purdue University, Chaffee met his wife, Martha, while teaching a mathematics class. During this period, Chaffee developed a keen love of guns and hunting from his grandfather and, whilst in the fifth grade, became interested in music and played the French horn, later the cornet, and eventually the trumpet. Martha Horn hailed from Oklahoma City and, according to C. Donald Chrysler in his 1968 biography, On Course to the Stars: The Roger B. Chaffee Story, reportedly described Chaffee as a handsome, but smart-alec upperclassman. Nevertheless, the couple were married in August 1957. I feel that I can succeed because I like the subject, and I think that if you like the subject enough and if you try hard enough that you can succeed, and I certainly will try. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. NASA investigators could not identify what caused the spark, but wrote the catastrophe off as an accident. I also very much admire a good sport.I chose electronics as I have said before, because I have always liked to play with motors. Betty pioneered the way, and the wake created made it comfortable for the others to follow, Krist said. 2 Comments. I have the rank of Star Scout and I am a patrol leader.For friends I like to have kids who will stick up for their own rights. His story is a fascinating epic of a rising star, cut down in his prime, and the nature and timing of his death is a mournful reflection upon a career tragically shortened and a life losttoo soon. Astronaut Roger Chaffee practices moving on the Reduced Gravity Walking Simulator located at the Lunar Landing Facility. Family (1) Spouse William Chase Canfield ( 24 February 1968 - 9 April 1981) (divorced) Roger B. Chaffee ( 24 August 1957 - 27 January 1967) (his death) (2 children) See also We have a fire in the cockpit! The Apollo 1 disaster 50 years later. Gus Grissom, Roger B. Chaffee and Edward H. White II were killed in an electrical fire, trapped inside the Apollo 1 capsule at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. I have been there many times, and often have seen boisterous young people become quiet and still in front of the crew compartment, perhaps imagining what it must have been like . They are inside Apollo Mock-up No. "He was the usher," Pauline Canfield said. I was kind of expecting him not to go, Mark said. When he starts talking to engineers about their systems, he can just tear those damn guys apart. In the early days, some tended to underestimate Roger, perhaps because of his small stature, reflected fellow astronaut Walt Cunningham in his memoir, The All-American Boys, but he had the capacity to fill a roomany room. Apollo 1 was originally designated AS-204 but following the fatal fire, the astronauts' widows requested that the mission be remembered as Apollo 1 and following missions would be numbered subsequent to the flight that never made it into space. When the three Apollo 1 astronauts were trapped in their burning capsule on Pad 34, a cry for help, believed to be from Mr. Chaffee, a rookie astronaut, came over the communications system: Hey, were burning up. Mr. White tried opening the hatch, but caught within the highly combustible pure oxygen atmosphere, the crew suffocated. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Just two space geeks who were going to Pad 34 and doing their own separate ceremonies, said Mark Grissom, 63, who was 13 when his father died. Roger had the first swimming pool on the block and I built a walk-in bar in my family room, so we became a gathering place for many parties.. These anniversaries are difficult for Sheryl Chaffee. I've never seen anyone like him.". In March 1966, Chaffee was named to the first Apollo mission. (Courtesy of the Grand Rapids Public Museum) The mission,. The command module ruptured, according to a NASA summary, and flames and gas spilled out. Roger's mother, Blanche, covers her face while his father, Don, and President Lyndon B. Johnson bow their heads in grief. And that they were all killed. Canfield's first wife, Vera, died at age 37 of breast cancer in 1963, leaving him to raise five children, ages 3 to 13. Most Read . Houston pitmaster goes viral after hilarious TV interview, Principal fired for reading 'I Need a New Butt!' I also think that it would be a fascinating subject to study in college. 1 most stressful city for U.S. workers, Willie Nelson's new album is a lovely tribute to a fellow country legend, Two ocelots were photographed crossing a road in rare South Texas sighting, Turner: TEA is giving Houston ISD two optionsclose school or be taken over. From that flight on, the boy was hooked on space. Key to the City of Grand Rapids awarded Roger B. Chaffee in 1965 by Mayor Chris Sonneveldt. Paul Scott Anderson He became a Boy Scout in 1948 and earned 10badges within the year, gaining the accolade of Order of the Arrow. As an adult, Chaffee eventually went to work for NASA herself, starting in a temp position and recently retiring after more than 30 years. "He is a real giver of himself and of his means," Pauline Canfield said. Mr. Grissom, often seen as an underdog, was a favorite astronaut of many Americans. Four other Challenger families accepted settlements from the government, reportedly about $1 million each, in 1987. In 1963, while on a hunting trip in Michigan, Chaffee learned he was being admitted to the prestigious space program. Sheryl grew up in Houston, Texas during the Apollo space race, moved to Florida in 1979 and began her career at NASA in 1983. . The nation's Moon landing program suffered a shocking setback on Jan. 27, 1967, with the deaths of Apollo 1 astronauts Virgil I. Commemorative plaque left on moon honoring the memory of 14 NASA astronauts and USSR cosmonauts who died in the advancement of space exploration. President Lyndon B. Johnson sat with the family in the front row as television cameras recorded the service. It coincided with a NASA tribute exhibit about Apollo 1 at the Kennedy Space Center, which she, like many, thought was long overdue. I am now building a short wave radio and helping a friend with one.At school I am best in arithmetic, for I like to work with figures.I'm in the scouts and am a member of Troop 15. In November 1958, he reported for aircraft carrier training, a task whose complexity he likened to landing on a postage stamp, and won his wings early the following year. However, the attending physician gave him a break and told him that he would be allowed to retake the test the next morning. Graduating in the top fifth of his class from Central High School in Grand Rapids in 1953, he applied for scholarships at the U.S. Perhaps the single greatest tragedy to hit the space programme was when Apollo I exploded on the launchpad in 1967, killing three astronauts - Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. As of now, I am pretty much interested in radio for I am reading a few radio books and making a radio.I can work with electricity and radio best because I like it; if I don't like something, I can't do it. Further, . It culminated in his scoring three touchdowns for Purdue University in a 35-13 win over Ohio State University, the No. Back in the car and about to be driven to a celebratory dinner for friends and family at a hotel in nearby Cocoa Beach, she turned to her son and said, The stars are out tonight., Earlier, she spoke of how her husbands sacrifice helped pave the way for the missions to come like the Apollo 11 moonwalk her husband never got to see. Hes just a damn good engineer. I don't like girls and boys who are intolerant, I don't care for the ones that go home if they can't have their own way.I admire a person with a clean mind, one that has ambition to make something of himself, that does his work without crabbing. Pauline Canfield, a professional storyteller and singer known professionally as Pauline Scudday, described her husband as "kind, considerate and generous.". "Roger was one of the smartest boys I've ever run into," Grissom told The New York Times. Its not the distance its in here, he said, pointing to his heart. I s Gus Grissom's widow herself about to "abandon in place" the memorial vigil she has maintained over the last 48 years since the fiery death suffered by her husband, Astronaut Commander Virgil "Gus" Grissom and fellow astronauts Roger Chaffee and Ed White back in 1967 at Pad 34 Cape Canaveral Air Force . He photographed the launch facilities at Cape Canaveralthe very place where his life would close, a few years henceand participated in U.S. reconnaissance flights during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. daughter, and supported her application to Purdue University in Indiana; a Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. They started dating, and he proposed to her on October 12, 1956. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., the Rhodes Scholarship, and the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC). Credit: Julian Leek / JNN. Unfortunately, his impact was most felt through his untimely death. Here she is as a sophomore, from the 1953 yearbook (", Martha, a stand-out beauty at just 15, was a "Classettes" cheerleader at Classen High School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1953. On October 1, 1978, then United States President Jimmy Carter posthumously awarded him the Congressional Space Medal of Honor; he was one of the first six . Since he was not yet sure of a military career, he turned down the Naval Academy, and the Rhodes option did not provide for an engineering degree, which led Chaffee down the NROTC path. In August, 1968, Apollo 7 flew, completing the low earth orbit tests the Apollo 1 mission was supposed to perform. The crew's spacesuits were changed from nylon to beta cloth, which is nonflammable. Roger died in the Apollo 1 fire along with Gus Grissom and Ed White on . December 28, 2016, 6:08 pm, by Paul Scott Anderson Fellow astronauts escorted Mr. Grissoms body to Arlington National Cemetery. The Grand Rapids native was 31 years old. Fast Facts: Roger B. Chaffee Name: Roger Bruce Chaffee Born: February 15, 1935 in Grand Rapids, MI Died: January 27, 1967, in the Apollo 1 fire at Kennedy Space Center Parents: Donald Lynn Chaffee, Blanche May Chaffee Spouse: Martha L. Horn Children: Sheryl Lyn and Stephen. Mr. Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed White died in a flash fire that engulfed their capsule atop a Saturn 1B rocket during a routine training operation on Jan. 27, 1967. A view of the interior of the command module after the flash fire which killed the Apollo 1 astronauts Virgil I. EDUCATION: Chaffee graduated from Central High School, Grand Rapids, Chaffee was killed along with fellow astronauts Edward H. White II and Virgil I. {left, below}. Praise from Gus was hard to come by, Kelly wrote. Those involved in NASA and the Apollo program remember that night, too. He thought he was destined to remain single until he met Pauline in October 2002 at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, where they both attend. On Jan. 31, Chaffee was buried in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery. Before dropping off to sleep, he offered numerous prayers for successful test results. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Back in his days as a test pilot at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, Gus Grissom had a message for his wife, Betty.