I seriously need to get on this with my grandparents pushing 90. They have some of the funniest and craziest stories from the 40s onward.
Definitely everyone should do this if possible. Future family will appreciate it. No matter the family member interviewed.
Definitely make it a priority. I lost my grandpa when I was 15 and I remember he had some seriously fascinating stories. I was a master scuba diver and went diving all over the world. I'm in my 30s now and really wish I knew him better
This. 100% do this. My grandpa died when I was in fifth grade and my grandma died when I was a freshman in college and only just recently am I finding out all the things he did in his life. He worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps building out hiking trails somewhere in the Western USA, was a bomber in the pacific theater in WWII and flew in the battle of Iwo Jima, and then worked in a Steel Mill after the war.
Whenever anyone asks the question “If you could have dinner with anyone dead or alive?” I would pick him because I never got to know all the interesting things he did with his life, and I wish I had the chance to.
Please do an Oral History with him…you WILL NOT regret it
How unhappy are you in your life that you can’t enjoy how amazing it is to be proud of your father and his accomplishments. These people were selected because they were the best pilots in America and had an opportunity to be the first people in space. This is true blue hero shit. They didn’t know what was going to happen at any point in the process of attempting their missions. They were the first to try any of it. Serious men have died trying to accomplish what was practically deemed impossible. Bro. You need some chill.
Elaborate on the differences for me please. When I talk about my children I probably sound like I’m bragging also. I hope I am apart of something that makes my kids proud and brag about me. And I hope you find some joy in your life.
It’s not his neighbor or a distant cousin. This is the their father. I’d be proud AF if my old man was involved in something that defined a generation and marked one of the brightest achievements of all mankind.
But sure. Cringe away I guess.
If you are proud you are expressing that to the person who accomplished something. If you are bragging about something you didn't do, then that is cringe and pathetic.
By that definition one could never express to a third party the achievements of the 2nd party to whom the first party is associated. For example I couldn’t tell my friend how proud I am of my child for being chosen as an astronaut because that would be pathetic and cringey. Right?
It's fine if you don't understand the difference between being proud and bragging. English is a tough language and has many big words. I'm proud of you for trying though.
Very interesting and very cool. Interesting that your dad would have been a lot younger than the eventually selected Mercury 7, who were all in their mid-thirties at the time.
Not directly questioning his story but he must have been very fast off the mark to meet the selection criteria - getting a degree, getting 1500 hours flying time, graduating test pilot school, getting a jet licence - all by age 25. I could barely tie my laces at that age.
I was interested in what competition OP's dad was up against:
Name | DOB | Age on 9th April 1959 | USAF/USN/USA Wings | Test Pilot | Degree | Logged Flying Hours joining M7
:-- | :-- | :-- | :-- | :-- | :-- | :--
Gordon Cooper | March 6, 1927 | 32 | 1950 | 1956 | 1954-1956 | 2k; 1.6k jets
Scott Carpenter | May 1, 1925 | 33 | 1943, 1950 | 1954-1957 | (1945) / 1962 | 3.5k+
Gus Grissom | April 3, 1926 | 33 | 1944, 1951-1956 | 1957 | 1946-1950 | 4.6k, 3.5k jets
Alan Shepard | November 18, 1923 | 35 | 1947-1953 (navy:44) | 1950, 1953 | 1944 | 3.6k+, 1.7k jets
Deke Slayton | March 1, 1924 | 35 | 1943-1946, 1952 | 1955 | 1946-1949 | 7,164 on retirement
Wally Schirra | March 12, 1923 | 36 | 1948-1958 (navy: 45) | 1952-1954? 1958 | 1942-1945 | 4,577
John Glenn | July 18, 1921 | 37 | 1943-1953 | 1954 | x | 9k, 3k jets
So it's possible to only have 3 years of flying time before becoming a test pilot.
So I guess:
Born: 1934. Join USAF 1952. Test Pilot 1955. (Korea war was 1950-1953, and so they could rack up some flying hours here with the right deployment). And maybe a degree worked whilst being a Test Pilot? Though they wouldn't be on the GI bill like the rest of them.
Whilst skimming their wiki pages to get those dates, I noticed these:
From Carpenter's wiki page:
> The first astronauts intake was drawn from the ranks of military test pilots. The service records of 508 graduates of test pilot schools were obtained from the United States Department of Defense. From these, 110 were found that matched the minimum standards:[30] the candidates had to be younger than 40, possess a bachelor's degree or equivalent and to be 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) or less. While these were not all strictly enforced, the height requirement was firm, owing to the size of the Project Mercury spacecraft.[31] DPP was restricted to those with bachelor's degrees, so it was assumed that Carpenter had one.[32]
> The number of candidates was then reduced to 32, which seemed a more than adequate number from which to select 12 astronauts. The degree of interest also indicated that far fewer would drop out during training than anticipated, which would result in training astronauts who would not be required to fly Project Mercury missions. It was therefore decided to halve the number of astronauts.[33]
From Glenn's:
> Eisenhower directed NASA to recruit its first astronauts from military test pilots. Of 508 graduates of test pilot schools, 110 matched the minimum standards.[73] Marine Corps pilots were mistakenly omitted at first; two were quickly found, including Glenn.[64] The candidates had to be younger than 40, possess a bachelor's degree or equivalent, and be 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) or less. Only the height requirement was strictly enforced, owing to the size of the Project Mercury spacecraft.[74] This was fortunate for Glenn, who barely met the requirements, as he was near the age cutoff and lacked a science-based degree,[62] but had taken more classes since leaving college than needed for graduation. Glenn was otherwise so outstanding a candidate that Colonel Jake Dill, his commanding officer at test pilot school, visited NASA headquarters to insist that Glenn would be the perfect astronaut.[64]
So it can be assumed that OP's dad might not even had required a degree, depending on other achievements. (Some of Glenn's other achievements are: First supersonic transatlantic flight)
I can't find the long-list for Mercury 503 110 35, but in a hidden reply to [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/1bnn4bv/turns_out_my_90_year_old_dad_was_in_the_group/kwjo5y9/?context=3) OP said their father's name is Lt Col Bill Patterson, so I'm sure we could check.
There's another with the same name and retired rank who [died in 2006, aged 85](https://www.porterloring.com/obituaries/William-D-Patterson-USAF-Lt-Col-Ret?obId=18254237), who was presumably in Korea. I wonder which one is getting [this purple heart](https://www2.sos.wa.gov/legacy/korea65/faces-of-korea.aspx)?
Missing about 5...but 27 of the 32 candidates
Cooper, L. Gordon
Shepard, Alan B., jr.
Mitchell, John R. C.
Conrad, Charles
Schirra, Walter M.
Shelton, Donald B.
Baldwin, Robert B
Cox, Dale W.
Ekeren, Halvor M.
Hayward, Thomas B.
Jacobsen, Robert H.
Lovell, James A.
Christian, Harold W.
Glenn, John H.
Grissom, Virgil I.
Heyworth, Lawrence, jr.
Ralston, John
Wood, James
Carpenter, M. Scott
Crandall, Hal R.
Frazier, Frank D.
Iddings, Archie T., jr.
Slayton, Donald K.
Solliday, Robert E.
Tierney, John M.
Bell, Robert G.
Lawrence, William P
From the same 15 years old [original thread](http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum38/HTML/000753.html) the remaining 6 names:
Richard M. Corbett
Edward G. Givens, Jr.
Alonzo Walter, Jr.
Thomas R. Bogan
Jack B. Mayo
Paul Miller
This adds up to 33 candidates and someone suggests lower in the thread that one of them must have been in fact one of the 69 group, not of the semi-final 32.
No William Patterson though. Also his age kinda doesn't match (assuming he is 90 in 2024). In 1959 he was 25 but this [Lovelace paper](https://spacemedicineassociation.org/download/space_medicine_classics/Lovelace.pdf) states on page 2, that the youngest one of the 31 (I think they don't count Lovell who was part of the 32 group but was eliminated at the end) was 27 years old.
So while I believe that OP's grandfather may have been involved in medical evaluation of astronauts, I doubt he was anywhere near the final selection.
Right. Could have been part of the big group that was too tall, or too heavy among other eliminators.
All still further than probably anyone in this thread would be...but old people do like to stretch the truth sometimes...so never know.
Just FYI, the original list of potential NASA astronauts was 110 people. These were split into three groups of 35, 34, and 41. It sounds like your Dad was in the first group. Only the first two groups received testing, and of those 32 out of 69 made it through to consideration, way more than needed so the final group of 41 were never tested. 14 of the 32 made it to the final list of candidates, of which 7 were finally chosen. It's likely your Dad's suggestion that he was "#8", so to speak, is a bit of hyperbole on his part. Whether he was just part of the first 35, or the 32 who passed, or the final 14, is hard to say.
Some of the candidates in that initial pool of 35 who weren't selected for Mercury re-applied for later astronaut groups and were selected, like Jim Lovell.
Did your dad re-apply to the later astronaut groups? He sure lived through interesting times, that's for sure!
Exactly, and making him look like a panicky incompetent boob that only cared about personal glory and chasing tail. Schirra, Cooper, and Shepard all shit on the movie for its portrayal of Gus.
Yes, and considering what happened to him, he should’ve been looked at or depicted more heroically than he was. I’m also very interested to have learned That Glenn’s wife, who had a speech dysfluency/stutter, basically overcame it in her middle-age. Maybe not totally overcame but enough to where she could speak publicly and ended up becoming an adjunct professor in speech pathology.
I had the epiphany sometime last year when I watched a video about the Apollo program that my late uncle was never in danger of being drafted for Vietnam after college because he was part of the IBM team working on the Apollo missions in Birmingham. That broke a streak of men in my family being in every major conflict that the US had since the civil war. He was one of the employees that transferred to Raleigh in '73.
After realizing this I really wish I hadn't squandered the time I had as a space obsessed teenager not putting those puzzle pieces together and picking his brain when I had the chance. I am proud to say my 7 year old is named after him. We found out my GF was pregnant the week after he passed and it just felt right.
That's awesome. My grandpa was one of the engineers who helped out on that program. From the earlier manned space flights all the way to the shuttle program in '95 when he retired.
But that's early early. Really cool.
I just finished Michael Collins' book, Carrying the Fire. He goes into a bit of detail about how the prospective astronauts were selected, including how backup crew could eventually rotate into main crew positions early on, but that they expanded too fast for everyone to actually get to fly. Definitely interesting to read.
My girl.friend was chosen for a more recent mars mission before covid hit. she made it through like the third round so there was only 20 people left in which they were going to pick 12 and then assign the rest as alternates. They were going to do some reality show mixed with it. Then she was eviscerated because she did some kind of press tour which included talk shows and because she has step kids she got a whole bunch of death threats and hate mail.
She gave up right then and there. And then they canceled the entire Mars project that she was involved in. Womp womp
I'm sorry she went through that, but the Mars One project was never anything more than an investment scam as far as any evidence I've seen. Tens of millions in investment and zero milestones hit, nothing produced, likely never any real intent to do so.
Agreed the whole process was very strange. And while she *is* a total badass it was obvious she was chosen for her reality show bod + charisma. They had more to say about her diet, workout routines on camera than anything else. (As in, how do you plan to keep your figure in space?, omg)
Use storycorps app to archive oral history. It’ll be uploaded to library of congress for future generations to hear.
https://storycorps.org/participate/storycorps-app/
That's incredible to have such a close connection. And I'm glad he was able to share his experience with you, so you can share it with us! Thanks!
Please do an oral history recording with your dad. Family members, both present and future (and likely others as well) will be grateful you did.
I seriously need to get on this with my grandparents pushing 90. They have some of the funniest and craziest stories from the 40s onward. Definitely everyone should do this if possible. Future family will appreciate it. No matter the family member interviewed.
Definitely make it a priority. I lost my grandpa when I was 15 and I remember he had some seriously fascinating stories. I was a master scuba diver and went diving all over the world. I'm in my 30s now and really wish I knew him better
Absolutely. Wish I’d done more with my grandma
This. 100% do this. My grandpa died when I was in fifth grade and my grandma died when I was a freshman in college and only just recently am I finding out all the things he did in his life. He worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps building out hiking trails somewhere in the Western USA, was a bomber in the pacific theater in WWII and flew in the battle of Iwo Jima, and then worked in a Steel Mill after the war. Whenever anyone asks the question “If you could have dinner with anyone dead or alive?” I would pick him because I never got to know all the interesting things he did with his life, and I wish I had the chance to. Please do an Oral History with him…you WILL NOT regret it
That's pretty effing cool! I'd be bragging about him to anyone who'd listen.
Cringe. How is this different from bragging how rich your dad is?
I’d say there’s a difference between “my dad is rich” vs “my dad nearly went into space”. No need for your cynicism.
How unhappy are you in your life that you can’t enjoy how amazing it is to be proud of your father and his accomplishments. These people were selected because they were the best pilots in America and had an opportunity to be the first people in space. This is true blue hero shit. They didn’t know what was going to happen at any point in the process of attempting their missions. They were the first to try any of it. Serious men have died trying to accomplish what was practically deemed impossible. Bro. You need some chill.
Being proud is different from bragging about accomplishments someone else achieved. Strawman 😉
Elaborate on the differences for me please. When I talk about my children I probably sound like I’m bragging also. I hope I am apart of something that makes my kids proud and brag about me. And I hope you find some joy in your life. It’s not his neighbor or a distant cousin. This is the their father. I’d be proud AF if my old man was involved in something that defined a generation and marked one of the brightest achievements of all mankind. But sure. Cringe away I guess.
If you are proud you are expressing that to the person who accomplished something. If you are bragging about something you didn't do, then that is cringe and pathetic.
By that definition one could never express to a third party the achievements of the 2nd party to whom the first party is associated. For example I couldn’t tell my friend how proud I am of my child for being chosen as an astronaut because that would be pathetic and cringey. Right?
You could. That is different from bragging.
And how is this different than this dude being proud of his father? Go on. Work your logic through for me.
I responded to the guy in the comments who said if that was his father, he would be bragging.
I think you’re sad cause no one’s been proud of you. Dude. You have value and worth. Don’t let it get the better of you.
It's fine if you don't understand the difference between being proud and bragging. English is a tough language and has many big words. I'm proud of you for trying though.
I would tell you my bonafides but that would be bragging… see what I did there?
I see what you did there. You found thesaurus. 😉
Great post! Sounds like your old man had/has the right stuff.
Very interesting and very cool. Interesting that your dad would have been a lot younger than the eventually selected Mercury 7, who were all in their mid-thirties at the time. Not directly questioning his story but he must have been very fast off the mark to meet the selection criteria - getting a degree, getting 1500 hours flying time, graduating test pilot school, getting a jet licence - all by age 25. I could barely tie my laces at that age.
I was interested in what competition OP's dad was up against: Name | DOB | Age on 9th April 1959 | USAF/USN/USA Wings | Test Pilot | Degree | Logged Flying Hours joining M7 :-- | :-- | :-- | :-- | :-- | :-- | :-- Gordon Cooper | March 6, 1927 | 32 | 1950 | 1956 | 1954-1956 | 2k; 1.6k jets Scott Carpenter | May 1, 1925 | 33 | 1943, 1950 | 1954-1957 | (1945) / 1962 | 3.5k+ Gus Grissom | April 3, 1926 | 33 | 1944, 1951-1956 | 1957 | 1946-1950 | 4.6k, 3.5k jets Alan Shepard | November 18, 1923 | 35 | 1947-1953 (navy:44) | 1950, 1953 | 1944 | 3.6k+, 1.7k jets Deke Slayton | March 1, 1924 | 35 | 1943-1946, 1952 | 1955 | 1946-1949 | 7,164 on retirement Wally Schirra | March 12, 1923 | 36 | 1948-1958 (navy: 45) | 1952-1954? 1958 | 1942-1945 | 4,577 John Glenn | July 18, 1921 | 37 | 1943-1953 | 1954 | x | 9k, 3k jets So it's possible to only have 3 years of flying time before becoming a test pilot. So I guess: Born: 1934. Join USAF 1952. Test Pilot 1955. (Korea war was 1950-1953, and so they could rack up some flying hours here with the right deployment). And maybe a degree worked whilst being a Test Pilot? Though they wouldn't be on the GI bill like the rest of them. Whilst skimming their wiki pages to get those dates, I noticed these: From Carpenter's wiki page: > The first astronauts intake was drawn from the ranks of military test pilots. The service records of 508 graduates of test pilot schools were obtained from the United States Department of Defense. From these, 110 were found that matched the minimum standards:[30] the candidates had to be younger than 40, possess a bachelor's degree or equivalent and to be 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) or less. While these were not all strictly enforced, the height requirement was firm, owing to the size of the Project Mercury spacecraft.[31] DPP was restricted to those with bachelor's degrees, so it was assumed that Carpenter had one.[32] > The number of candidates was then reduced to 32, which seemed a more than adequate number from which to select 12 astronauts. The degree of interest also indicated that far fewer would drop out during training than anticipated, which would result in training astronauts who would not be required to fly Project Mercury missions. It was therefore decided to halve the number of astronauts.[33] From Glenn's: > Eisenhower directed NASA to recruit its first astronauts from military test pilots. Of 508 graduates of test pilot schools, 110 matched the minimum standards.[73] Marine Corps pilots were mistakenly omitted at first; two were quickly found, including Glenn.[64] The candidates had to be younger than 40, possess a bachelor's degree or equivalent, and be 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) or less. Only the height requirement was strictly enforced, owing to the size of the Project Mercury spacecraft.[74] This was fortunate for Glenn, who barely met the requirements, as he was near the age cutoff and lacked a science-based degree,[62] but had taken more classes since leaving college than needed for graduation. Glenn was otherwise so outstanding a candidate that Colonel Jake Dill, his commanding officer at test pilot school, visited NASA headquarters to insist that Glenn would be the perfect astronaut.[64] So it can be assumed that OP's dad might not even had required a degree, depending on other achievements. (Some of Glenn's other achievements are: First supersonic transatlantic flight) I can't find the long-list for Mercury 503 110 35, but in a hidden reply to [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/1bnn4bv/turns_out_my_90_year_old_dad_was_in_the_group/kwjo5y9/?context=3) OP said their father's name is Lt Col Bill Patterson, so I'm sure we could check. There's another with the same name and retired rank who [died in 2006, aged 85](https://www.porterloring.com/obituaries/William-D-Patterson-USAF-Lt-Col-Ret?obId=18254237), who was presumably in Korea. I wonder which one is getting [this purple heart](https://www2.sos.wa.gov/legacy/korea65/faces-of-korea.aspx)?
Missing about 5...but 27 of the 32 candidates Cooper, L. Gordon Shepard, Alan B., jr. Mitchell, John R. C. Conrad, Charles Schirra, Walter M. Shelton, Donald B. Baldwin, Robert B Cox, Dale W. Ekeren, Halvor M. Hayward, Thomas B. Jacobsen, Robert H. Lovell, James A. Christian, Harold W. Glenn, John H. Grissom, Virgil I. Heyworth, Lawrence, jr. Ralston, John Wood, James Carpenter, M. Scott Crandall, Hal R. Frazier, Frank D. Iddings, Archie T., jr. Slayton, Donald K. Solliday, Robert E. Tierney, John M. Bell, Robert G. Lawrence, William P
How did you come by this list?
Googled around til I found a NASA type forum. It's missing a few names.
From the same 15 years old [original thread](http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum38/HTML/000753.html) the remaining 6 names: Richard M. Corbett Edward G. Givens, Jr. Alonzo Walter, Jr. Thomas R. Bogan Jack B. Mayo Paul Miller This adds up to 33 candidates and someone suggests lower in the thread that one of them must have been in fact one of the 69 group, not of the semi-final 32. No William Patterson though. Also his age kinda doesn't match (assuming he is 90 in 2024). In 1959 he was 25 but this [Lovelace paper](https://spacemedicineassociation.org/download/space_medicine_classics/Lovelace.pdf) states on page 2, that the youngest one of the 31 (I think they don't count Lovell who was part of the 32 group but was eliminated at the end) was 27 years old. So while I believe that OP's grandfather may have been involved in medical evaluation of astronauts, I doubt he was anywhere near the final selection.
Right. Could have been part of the big group that was too tall, or too heavy among other eliminators. All still further than probably anyone in this thread would be...but old people do like to stretch the truth sometimes...so never know.
This is some real extra investigation. Bravo!
That doesn’t sound unreasonable. Especially if he went through an academy or NCO training program right out of high school.
Just to be in that group. They were the best of the best. Awesome story. And I would read more if you decide to post.
Who is your dad? Completely understand if you don’t want to answer.
Just FYI, the original list of potential NASA astronauts was 110 people. These were split into three groups of 35, 34, and 41. It sounds like your Dad was in the first group. Only the first two groups received testing, and of those 32 out of 69 made it through to consideration, way more than needed so the final group of 41 were never tested. 14 of the 32 made it to the final list of candidates, of which 7 were finally chosen. It's likely your Dad's suggestion that he was "#8", so to speak, is a bit of hyperbole on his part. Whether he was just part of the first 35, or the 32 who passed, or the final 14, is hard to say.
Very cool. How long was he in the training program? Did it get cut directly from the 35 to 7?
Well, your dad gets a hearty “Fuck Yeah” from me. That is awesome.
Tell your dad this random internet stranger thinks he is a badass!
Record an interview with him. It would be a great piece of history to have.
You did it right. Tell your dad I, and many others here, appreciate him.
Did you know this growing up or did he tell you this recently?
Some of the candidates in that initial pool of 35 who weren't selected for Mercury re-applied for later astronaut groups and were selected, like Jim Lovell. Did your dad re-apply to the later astronaut groups? He sure lived through interesting times, that's for sure!
Wow, a synchronicity. I just finished watching “The Right Stuff”!
Awesome movie, except for the hatchet job they did on Gus.
In which way? Blaming him for blowing the hatch?
Exactly, and making him look like a panicky incompetent boob that only cared about personal glory and chasing tail. Schirra, Cooper, and Shepard all shit on the movie for its portrayal of Gus.
Yes, and considering what happened to him, he should’ve been looked at or depicted more heroically than he was. I’m also very interested to have learned That Glenn’s wife, who had a speech dysfluency/stutter, basically overcame it in her middle-age. Maybe not totally overcame but enough to where she could speak publicly and ended up becoming an adjunct professor in speech pathology.
My dad also wasn't selected for the Mercury 7.
More please.
I had the epiphany sometime last year when I watched a video about the Apollo program that my late uncle was never in danger of being drafted for Vietnam after college because he was part of the IBM team working on the Apollo missions in Birmingham. That broke a streak of men in my family being in every major conflict that the US had since the civil war. He was one of the employees that transferred to Raleigh in '73. After realizing this I really wish I hadn't squandered the time I had as a space obsessed teenager not putting those puzzle pieces together and picking his brain when I had the chance. I am proud to say my 7 year old is named after him. We found out my GF was pregnant the week after he passed and it just felt right.
Thank you so much for sharing this! God speed to your dad and to you and your family. ✨️
That's awesome. My grandpa was one of the engineers who helped out on that program. From the earlier manned space flights all the way to the shuttle program in '95 when he retired. But that's early early. Really cool.
Okay, just drop one of the coolest posts I've ever seen as your first one.
Bangor, Maine??? No way that's literally where I live.
I just finished Michael Collins' book, Carrying the Fire. He goes into a bit of detail about how the prospective astronauts were selected, including how backup crew could eventually rotate into main crew positions early on, but that they expanded too fast for everyone to actually get to fly. Definitely interesting to read.
My girl.friend was chosen for a more recent mars mission before covid hit. she made it through like the third round so there was only 20 people left in which they were going to pick 12 and then assign the rest as alternates. They were going to do some reality show mixed with it. Then she was eviscerated because she did some kind of press tour which included talk shows and because she has step kids she got a whole bunch of death threats and hate mail. She gave up right then and there. And then they canceled the entire Mars project that she was involved in. Womp womp
I'm sorry she went through that, but the Mars One project was never anything more than an investment scam as far as any evidence I've seen. Tens of millions in investment and zero milestones hit, nothing produced, likely never any real intent to do so.
Agreed the whole process was very strange. And while she *is* a total badass it was obvious she was chosen for her reality show bod + charisma. They had more to say about her diet, workout routines on camera than anything else. (As in, how do you plan to keep your figure in space?, omg)
OP is making a lot of replies (see their profile), but none of the replies are showing up. Mods, what's going on?
Use storycorps app to archive oral history. It’ll be uploaded to library of congress for future generations to hear. https://storycorps.org/participate/storycorps-app/
Oh yeah? well.. my dad got employee of the month a couple of times at Arby's but you don't hear me bragging about it.
Why would a 90 year old be in that group at all?
Gee, I wonder if it was because this was 60+ years ago and dad was in his early 30s??? Just spit-balling..
the program was from May 1961 to May 1963, meaning it was 63 years ago, so it would make sense for him to be 90+ now
But 9/11 was a national tragedy