Date in History: 1969
As NASA renews its space exploration, it’s a good time to recall a mission from its past. In the summer of 1969, the Apollo 11 mission sent into space the first men to walk on the moon. Fort Atkinson was represented at the spaceship’s splashdown by 1967 Fort Atkinson High School graduate, John Wolfgram.
John was part of the Navy diving team that was in charge of recovering the Apollo astronauts from the ocean. His job was more dangerous than the others by the fact that he was first in the water, sent ahead to scout for sharks which had been particularly numerous during training the week before. After three to five minutes alone in the water, he signaled the all clear to the other divers before they jumped the 20 feet from their helicopter transport.
This historic document aired on the radio as an Historic Minute on 08/01/2005.