GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The impact that Roger B. Chaffee made on the "Space Race" is still felt today. It was through his untimely death in 1967 that many changes and inroads were made as the United States continued to pursue the exploration of outer space.
Fifty-one years later, the "Michigan Military Preservation Society" (a non-profit organization of veterans whose vision is to honor historical contributions made by West Michigan vets) decided Chaffee deserved another memorial in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
It was decided that a full-scale bronze statue would be the best way to memorialize Chaffee.
"He lived a short life, but he crammed a tremendous amount into it," said Dave L. Thompson, USN (Ret.). "Everybody liked Roger."
Thompson chaired the statue project, with the help of MMPS board members Dan Pfeiffer and Bud Vierson.
The creation of this memorial was very personal for Thompson, who attended Grand Rapids Central High School with Chaffee.
"I ran track with him a couple of years," said Thompson, who graduated from Central High in 1952. "All of us were surprised when [Roger] ended up in the astronaut program; it gave us reason to puff out our chest and feel proud."
Thompson was a junior at Central High School while Chaffee was a senior. That didn't prevent the two from having some classes together and cultivating a friendship.
Five decades after Chaffee's shocking and untimely death, Thompson decided more needed to be done to memorialize his fallen friend.
"Rarely did you ever hear his name mentioned, and for those of us who knew him, that bothered us," said Thompson.
The idea to have the statue created was brought to the MMPS board in 2015, and was immediately met with unanimous approval.
"We began to look for a sculptor," added Thompson.
The organization ultimately chose respected sculptor and Grand Rapids native J. Brett Grill to undertake the project.
"We conducted a nationwide search to find the absolute finest possible sculptor, and to our delight, one of the most revered sculptors in the country is a Michigan native," said Thompson. "We couldn't be more pleased with the final product and Brett has been an absolute pleasure to work with."
In recent years, Grill has sculpted several likenesses of President Gerald R. Ford, University of Michigan Football Coach Bo Schembechler, Amway co-founder Jay Van Andel and many others, each displayed in high profile locations around Grand Rapids as well as in the United States Capitol Building, on the USS Gerald R. Ford Navy Aircraft Carrier and many other locations.
"There's a special thrill in being able to make a sculpture that will be displayed in my hometown," said Grill, who was approached by the MMPS in the fall of 2016.
Before Grill decided on the pose he wanted Chaffee to be in for the statue, he wanted to make sure his interpretation of the man was 100 percent accurate. He accumulated as many photos as he could find of Chaffee to help get the facial features correct.
"If you don't have the facial expression right; if you don't capture the body right; if you don't feel like there's a living, breathing person inside the metal, then you've failed," said Grill.
The spacesuit Chaffee wore presented the most challenge for Grill. With accuracy always being paramount in his sculpting, photos of Chaffee wearing his spacesuit didn't provide the best possible visual detail needed.
Grill decided a road trip to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama was necessary.
"The spacesuit Chaffee wore wasn't something you encounter everyday," said Grill. "The specific suit he wore during his training mission for Apollo 1 ended up not being used in subsequent missions, so consequently, there aren't many of them out there.
"The museum in Alabama has four of these suits. They allowed us to examine one of these spacesuits up close, take all sorts of measurements and photos to ensure we could be as accurate as possible."
Once Grill gathered all the imagery he needed from the spacesuit, he began sculpting a clay maquette of the Chaffee statue, which he finished in the summer of 2017.
"The maquette is exactly 1/3rd scale and captures all of the details that the full-size sculpture will have," said Grill.
While Grill had begun the sculpture, Thompson and the other members of the MMPS were working with the City of Grand Rapids to locate the best spot where the statue of Chaffee could go.
In early 2018, it was finalized that the Chaffee statue will reside permanently on the northwest corner of East Fulton Street and Sheldon Avenue in downtown Grand Rapids, near the entrance to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum.
"I'm anxious for everybody to see the finished project," added Thompson. "People who knew [Roger B. Chaffee] will be able to reach out and touch the statue and know it's Roger."
After Chaffee graduated from Grand Rapids Central High School in 1953, he went on to become a U.S. Naval aviator who flew missions during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1961.
That's where his love for simply flying transitioned to wanting to fly in space.
In mid-1962, Chaffee was accepted in the initial pool of 1,800 applicants for the third group of NASA astronauts. That pool of candidate dropped to 271 in mid-1963.
On Oct. 14, 1963, Chaffee returned from a hunting trip and found a message from NASA. He called them back and was told that he had been chosen as an astronaut.
In 1966, Chaffee joined the crew of AS-204 (Apollo 1), which was to be NASA's first three-man flight. Chaffee, along with pilots Virgil Grissom and Ed White, were to command the mission.
On Jan. 27, 1967, Chaffee, Grissom and White were participating in a countdown demonstration test at Cape Kennedy in Florida in preparation for the planned February 21 launch.
The astronauts were inside the cabin, maintaining communication with the blockhouse, when a momentary power surge was detected. It's believed that the power surge created an electrical short which ignited a fire.
The fire grew quickly in intensity, preventing the three men from being able to escape the capsule.
Chaffee, Grissom and White all died in the accident.
Shortly after the Apollo 1 tragedy, NASA decided to significantly redesign the capsule. The atmosphere in the cabin was changed from 100 percent oxygen to 60 percent oxygen and 40 percent nitrogen environment at launch.
Also changed were the astronaut's spacesuits, which were made of nylon. NASA changed that material to beta cloth, which is a non-flammable, highly melt-resistant fabric woven from fiberglass and coated with teflon.
Other changes were also implemented, including replacing flammable cabin materials with self extinguishing ones, and covering plumbing and wiring with protective insulation.
Roger B. Chaffee and Virgil Grissom are buried next to each other in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C., while Ed White is buried at West Point Cemetery in West Point, New York.
"This is a story that is kind of on the periphery and is in danger of being lost," said Grill. "The good thing is, bronze is a metal that doesn't degrade over time, so [this statue] will allow the story [of Roger B. Chaffee] to last forever."
The dedication ceremony and official unveiling of the Roger B. Chaffee statue will be Saturday, May 19 at 1 p.m. at the corner of Fulton Street and Sheldon Avenue.
Some astronauts will be on hand, including Grand Rapids native Jack Lousma.
Also attending the dedication will be Roger B. Chaffee's widow Martha Chaffee, along with the couple's two children - daughter Sheryl Lyn and son Mark.
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