My hero Wally Schirra, astronaut, dies

by Thelma Jesselman | May 3, 2007 at 10:10 am

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I know you may have a hard time believing that this old gal might have had a teenage crush on Wally Schirra, especially since I have grown up in this part of Nevada (Pahrump Valley) but I am sorely misty-eyed today. My friends thought it was weird that I had his poster up in my bedroom but I did. I am sure he was a very nice man. He looked very nice, nice big jaw and kind eyes.

Schirra was the only astronaut to fly on Mercury, Gemini and Apollo flights. His Apollo 7 mission in October 1968 was a 10-day testflight for procedures and equipment used on later flights to the moon.

It was the first flight after the Apollo 1 tragedy in January 1967 in which three astronauts burned to death in their space capsule during a launchpad practice session.