Author: Unknown
Long ago,
the rockets roared.
from this place,
to Space above.
Now the pad lies empty and still,
"Abandon In Place" stenciled black
upon this place of dreams on high,
the echos still cross the night sky,
the voices heard "Ignition!" "Liftoff!"
although the speakers long left for
the Undiscovered Country,
and reached its shore.
Cold concrete and steel with a soul,
Of triumphs and tragedies long ago.
For Grissom, White, and Chaffee,
who never got to go.
Now the complex silent,
Except for the winds that sigh,
Somewhere the three are together,
Forever heroes on high.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Posted: Jun 2022
About this poem:
On January 27, 1967, NASA astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White, II, and Roger B. Chaffee were aboard an Apollo spacecraft and Saturn IB rocket for what was supposed to be routine ground testing of the systems. America was heading for the Moon, and all-up testing was designed to ensure spacecraft functions, the Launch Control Center, and other critical pieces required to get to the Moon. The test was considered non-hazardous.
A 100% oxygen-fed fire ignited in their Command Module, and all three perished in just a few minutes as launch pad personnel desperately tried to open the multi-layered hatch which was designed to be hard to remove to preserve spacecraft hull integrity. Others tried to fight the fire while rescue crews arrived, but it was to no avail.
Launch Complex 34 was decommissioned after the manned Apollo 7 launch, and the launch platform left as part of a memorial to the astronauts. In honor of their lost lives, NASA also deemed that the astronauts should be forever honored by honoring their crew name of Apollo 1, which would have been the first manned Earth-orbit flight for the Command and Service Modules. Their official mission patch is black-bordered in publicity photos of the men taken before their deaths, rather than do afterwards in memoriam.
Some 55 years after their deaths, the LC-34 platform still stands, with two plaques honoring the men attached to the platform legs, as well as additional memorial information added to the site.
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