PROGRAMS:

COMPANIES:

• Boeing
• Pratt & Whitney

LOCATIONS:

Kennedy Space Center, Florida

POSITIONS:

Rocket Launch & Captive Firing (Tech SP)

COMMENTS:

John served with the Air Force from 1954 to 1958 and then worked at Pratt & Whitney as a Jet Engine Mechanic until 1966.  From 1966 to 1973, John worked at Boeing on the Apollo Program.  His years at Boeing spanned the Space program from Apollo 4 through Skylab.  When the Apollo Program ended, he transferred to the Minuteman Program as a Mechanic Minuteman Weapon Systems B and traveled to several states including Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana and  Missouri.  After the Minuteman Program, he settled in Wichita, Kansas working for Boeing as an Inspector and retired in 1995.

Job responsibilities on the Apollo Program included: Activate, checkout, operate and maintain Saturn V Systems; Install all major and minor components and accessories; and Perform launch preps and pad close out of the Saturn V System.

For the Apollo 14 launch, he created a poster for his co-workers to sign and had the astronauts sign it when they returned.

He collected autographs on dollar bills from the astronauts.  He also collected autographs from celebrities attending the launches.