Although Edward H. White II, the first American astronaut to walk in space, left San Antonio with his family when he was only a baby, he always considered the city his hometown, according to his son.
“My grandfather was in the Army, so the family moved around a lot,” said Edward White III, 63, who lives outside of Houston. “But my dad loved being born in San Antonio and he loved being a Texan. He also loved that he was the first Texan in space.”
Only 18 months after his historic spacewalk aboard Gemini 4, White, along with Virgil “Gus” Grissom and Roger B. Chaffee, died in a flash fire that ignited in the Apollo 1 space craft during a “plugs out” launch simulation to test if the spacecraft could operate on internal power only. He was 37.
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The three were the first NASA-designated astronauts to die in the line of duty, according to Thad Altman, president and CEO of the Astronaut Memorial Foundation. In addition to paying tribute to fallen astronauts, the foundation, located at the Kennedy Space Center, also promotes space flight.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that had he lived, Ed White would have been a crew member in one of those early flights to the moon,” Altman said.
White’s affection for the Alamo City was on full display during a visit he and his family — wife Pat, son Eddie, 11 at the time, and daughter Bonnie Lynn, 9 — made to San Antonio in June 1965. According to contemporary news reports, more than 168,000 people turned out to honor the hometown boy during the whirlwind, daylong visit less than two weeks after he and shipmate James McDivitt completed their four-day mission circling the Earth 62 times. At the time, it was the longest manned space mission in history.
During a parade down Broadway from the airport to the Alamo (the visit predated construction of U.S. 281), White was greeted with signs reading, among other things, “Viva Blanco” on one side and “Viva White” on the other, and “Welcome Back to Earth and City of Birth,” according to a front-page story in the June 17, 1965, San Antonio Express.
Later, White joked to a crowd in front of the Alamo that he was “launched” from his birthplace at Fort Sam Houston. “It was you who made everything possible,” he said.
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Recounting his walk in space, White said, “I walked from Hawaii, over the Cuban islands and over part of Florida.”
But, he added with a grin, “I stepped lightly over Texas.”
City leaders showered their celebrity visitor with several honors while he was in town. He was made an alcalde of La Villita, an official ambassador for the upcoming HemisFair ‘68, and an admiral in the Texas Navy. There were gifts, too. White and his son were given cufflinks embossed with the Alamo, and his wife and daughter received charm bracelets.
Addressing a sold-out Villita Assembly Hall during a $5-a-plate dinner hosted by then Chamber of Commerce president B.J. “Red” McCombs, White provided narration for what Express reporter James McCrory described as an “eerily beautiful color film depicting his 5,922-mile walk in the outer reaches.”
For example, in addition to taking the first American spacewalk, White also was the first astronaut to use a “jet gun” that provided the propulsion needed for his maneuvers in zero gravity. Leavening his deliberate, “Right Stuff” delivery with flashes of dry wit, White matter-of-factly explained that the jet gun ran out of fuel during a scheduled 12-minute walk that ended up lasting 20 because “I was thoroughly enjoying my work.”
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Forced to pull himself back to the ship using the cord that tethered him to the capsule, he had to pass only a foot or two from the capsule’s thrusters. When used to stabilize the spacecraft, these shoot out flames several feet. So, White told the crowd, he requested that McDivitt please refrain from firing them.
“He didn’t, for which I am grateful,” White added wryly.
Ed White III remembers the San Antonio visit fondly, especially the parade down Broadway from the airport.
“We were in the car with Mayor (W.W.) McAllister, and he was real friendly,” recalled White, now retired from the telecom industry. At one point, he recalled, the crowds grew thick and the parade was forced to stop so his father could spend several minutes shaking hands.
“My dad liked to do stuff like that,” he said.
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Following quick visits to Fort Sam Houston and Brooks AFB, where he made a “hurried” inspection of the School of Aerospace medicine, White and his family flew to Langley AFB and from there to Washington, D.C., and the White House, where they were guests of the President Lyndon B. Johnson, according to the news report.
rmarini@express-news.net
Twitter: @RichardMarini
COMING FRIDAY: The Alamo Experience at the Shops at Rivercenter.