House Approves Apollo 1 Memorial At Arlington
Keith’s note: Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) submitted an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 that sets aside $50,000 stating “The Secretary of the Army shall, in consultation with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, construct at an appropriate place in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, a memorial marker honoring the three members of the crew of the Apollo I crew who died during a launch rehearsal test on January 27, 1967, in Cape Canaveral, Florida.”
Ranking Member Johnson’s Statement on House Vote to Establish Apollo 1 Memorial
“Today, the House of Representatives voted to establish a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the crew of the Apollo 1 mission, who perished in a spacecraft fire 50 years ago. It was included as an amendment by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) in H.R. 2810, the “National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2018″ (NDAA). The House approved NDAA this morning by a vote of 344-81.”
This is a neat idea but there are MANY memorials to them already. Why could not someone start a GoFundMe or similar effort and pay for it – the government could just allocate the location? Why not allow the many many space enthusiasts to contribute?? I would contribute.
And this is not a stand alone bill because? These are the kind of amendments that have ZERO merit as amendments.
These men SHOULD be honored, but NOT as part of the DoD budget!
You clearly do not know how legislation works. The memorial is to be built on property owned and operated by the Department of Defense. It is therefore wholly appropriate that this item be included here. NASA cannot tell the DoD to do this but Congress can. That is how it works. Oh yes – the crew of Apollo 1 were all military pilots – two of them are already buried at Arlington.
I suspect that was a comment about how things should work, not how they do work. Putting anything related to the DoD into an amendment to the DoD budget is well within the range of current practices. Whether or not the current practices are a good idea is a matter of opinion.
Nice to see a memorial, and in a good location. However, the sum authorised is just about enough for a small lump of bronze and a lump of marble. Gus’s crew deserve better!
I am more or less certain that the Apollo 1 memorial will be placed next to the ones for Columbia and Challenger. $50K is enough to make a monument of similar size and design.
Excellent!
This is long overdue. As a boy growing up in Indiana, I always enjoyed the Gus Grissom memorial and museum in Mitchel, IN.