When I was a boy growing up, I had 8 heroes: Roy Rogers and the seven Mercury Astronauts. Roy died on July 6, 1998. Col. John Glenn was the last of the Mercury Seven to pass away on December 8, 2016. I sincerely hope kids today have heroes; I think we need them. Assuming they do, their heroes will have to go some to match mine.



Roy and Trigger



The Mercury Seven



The Mercury Seven

Alan B. Shepard, Jr.
The first American to journey into space, Shepard launched on May 5, 1961, aboard the Freedom 7 spacecraft. His flight was suborbital, rising to an altitude of 116 statute miles (186 kilometers) before landing back on Earth.
He later commanded the Apollo 14 in 1971—the third lunar landing—and became the fifth person to walk on the Moon.
Shepard died in 1998 at the age of 74 from leukemia.

John H. Glenn, Jr.
The first American to orbit the Earth, Glenn is best known for making his three tours around the planet on February 20, 1962.
He was also elected US senator in Ohio and served as a lawmaker from 1974 to 1999.
In 1998, at the age of 77, Glenn became the oldest person to fly in space when he journeyed aboard the space shuttle Discovery.
Glenn died Thursday at the age of 95. He had been in declining health since undergoing heart valve surgery in 2014.

Virgil I. 'Gus' Grissom
Grissom was the first person to be launched into space twice.
He flew on the second suborbital Mercury flight in 1961, and in 1965 piloted the first Gemini mission, which was also the first spaceflight to change its orbital plane.
He and two others were killed in 1967 in a fire during a launch pad test ahead of the planned Apollo 1 mission, which he was slated to command.

Scott Carpenter
Carpenter radioed the now famous phrase, "Godspeed, John Glenn" as his colleague was about to embark on the first US orbital flight in 1962.
Later that year, Carpenter became the second American to orbit the Earth.
After circling the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 capsule, he overshot his landing target by about 250 miles (400 kilometers).
Carpenter took a leave of absence from NASA and served as an aquanaut in the Navy's Man-in-the-Sea program in 1965.
He died in 2013 at the age of 88 after suffering a stroke.

L. Gordon Cooper, Jr.
In 1963, Cooper flew on the final Mercury mission and became the last US astronaut to fly alone in space.
His Faith 7 capsule circled the Earth 22 times and the mission lasted more than a day.
His second trip to space—aboard Gemini 5 in 1965—lasted eight days and set a new space endurance record for that era.
Cooper was said to be the first American to sleep in space. He reported having no dreams during his orbital slumber.
He died in 2004 of heart failure at the age of 77.

Walter M. Schirra, Jr.
Schirra became the first man to fly aboard all three of the United States' first three human space projects—the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions.
He was command pilot on Gemini 6 in 1965 when he led the first spacecraft rendezvous by flying within one foot of the already orbiting Gemini 7.
He also commanded the first piloted Apollo mission, Apollo 7, in 1968.
Schirra died of a heart attack while being treated for abdominal cancer in 2007 at the age of 84.

Donald K. 'Deke' Slayton.
Slayton was chosen to be part of the original Mercury missions but was unable to fly in 1962 because of an erratic heart rate.
He became NASA's director of Flight Crew Operations, and was eventually cleared for spaceflight a decade later.
In 1975, he flew aboard the first joint American-Soviet space mission, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, which marked the first docking of an American and Russian spacecraft in space.
Slayton died of a brain tumor in 1993, at the age of 69.

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I was fortunate to meet Wally Schirra on a couple of occasions. When I lived and worked in the Wickenburg, AZ area, he used to attend a men's ride from town up into the Bradshaw Mountains. I worked as a trail wrangler on the ride. I met several men with incredible achievements.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TMats,

What about Mickey Mantle? Whitey Ford? Stan Musial? David Crockett? Wild Bill Hickok?

Were you hero limited as a child or something?

Yup, Roy was mine too as a kid.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
When I was a boy growing up, I had 8 heroes: Roy Rogers

Hey Ho, Silver! No wait.
 

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
What about Mickey Mantle? Whitey Ford? Stan Musial? David Crockett? Wild Bill Hickok?

Were you hero limited as a child or something?

At some point you have to make a decision. Baseball was certainly king when I was a kid. My dad was a Cardinals fan, so I was too. I have memories of sitting out in the car on a summer evening listing to Cardinals baseball games with him (the "skip" came in better to pick up St Louis radio in the car). I could name a bunch of players from the era and remember that Musial played left field. Sports guys just weren't hero material to me.

Yippee ki-yay

I was raised by cowboys, and so was a little more cynical about Roy.

Quoting dad, circa 1958: "Anybody who tucks his pants into his boots ain't a cowboy."

Dad dragged me and my brother out of our beds on the morning that they launched Glenn into orbit, and made us watch the TV report from the launch through all three orbits to the splash-down. He truly admired Glenn, and the rest of the astronauts, too. So they were my boyhood heroes, too.

Roy Rogers for getting Trigger housebroken.

I was supposed to be a girl when I was born.
Thus the folks had a girl name picked out for me.

So when I was born they asked my brother who was 5 ½ what should we name your brother.

He said Roy so I can play Roy Rogers with him.

Thus I am Roy

When he died he wanted to be stuffed and mounted on top of the original Trigger. His wife Dale Evens nixed that idea.

I was at a scrap and non scrap metal yard once, and in the aluminum area there was a Mercury space capsule. It was the real thing, but fully stripped. This was 30 miles from a big NASA/Lockheed sight. I had no space at the time to store it, and so had to let it go. I am sure it ended up being scrapped, as the facility had no interest in it.

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
I was at a scrap and non scrap metal yard once, and in the aluminum area there was a Mercury space capsule.

Wouldn't that be cool, having a space capsule in the side yard. Sure beats the hell out of the cheap plastic "barns" folks keep their lawn stuff in. I already have a concrete donkey in my yard. And by the driveway I have a concrete dalmatian and a genuine scrap fire hydrant, for his relief. Don't believe for a minute I wouldn't buy a space capsule and install it here. Then fight the stoopid city over keeping it in place.

I have seen photos of Roy and Dale's house. It is a very nice house and was on the market at the time. I believe they are buried about three miles from the house.

PC

quote:

Originally posted by ontmark:
...they asked my brother who was 5 ½ what should we name your brother.

He said Roy so I can play Roy Rogers with him.

Best Big Brother ever, I'm willing to bet!

Roy, Dale, Trigger, Buttermilk, Nellybelle and Bullet all bring fond memories.

I spent many a Saturday afternoon at the local Movie Theater watching his movies along with Gene Autry, Lash Laraue, Hopalong Cassidy, Wild Bill Elliot,etc.

Yeah, Roy was a hero of mine growing up. I even had one of his lunch pails. Hopalong Cassidy was just as much of a hero though as were a few others. Oh, Mickey Mantle was most definitely a hero.

I admired the astronauts but never had them as heroes.

Clayton Moore aka the Lone Ranger, Chuck Connors
aka the Rifleman, and John Wayne were my child hood heroes.


James

I had the honor of visiting his museum in Branson shortly before it closed. The security guards wore levis and cowboy hats. They had Roy's guns there. The handgun with the most holster wear was a S&W Model 27 6-inch barrel. I saw all the artifacts. Wow.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
When I was a boy growing up, I had 8 heroes: Roy Rogers

Hey Ho, Silver! No wait.
 

In Germany, that's "Achtung, Silber! Fahrt!"

Roy was one of my heroes, too, but the Mercury 7 were after my childhood. I included Tom Mix, Gene Autry, The Lone Ranger (of course!), and Sunset Carson in my stable of heroes (and others I can't think of right now).

flashguy