In recent weeks, I've been confronted several times with a quote from
Gus that I believe bears addressing. People have asked me if Gus would
have wanted all of this attention on Apollo One, given his statement
that if he died, he wanted people to accept it. While well-intended,
the question is misplaced. Gus was two distinct individuals. The
first was a down-home Indiana boy, who would certainly be laughing
himself silly at all this attention. He would not understand why
anyone was worrying about how he died four decades ago--that's because
he was a very unassuming man. But, let's look at the OTHER Gus...Air
Force Lt. Colonel, fighter pilot, test pilot, engineer, and astronaut.
He would DEMAND NASA be held accountable for the SLOP that led to his
and his crews' deaths. Gus Grissom was NOTHING if not a perfectionist.
He would want that fire gone over with a fine-toothed comb, and
everyone responsible held ACCOUNTABLE. He would have demanded NOTHING
LESS...in fact, if he were here, he would be leading the charge.
If you don't know THAT about Gus, you don't know him at all.