Walter Schirra, the only man to fly all three of NASA's first-generation spaceships, died Thursday from a heart attack in La Jolla, Calif. He was 84.
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A highly skilled pilot and ebullient practical joker, Schirra commanded the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spacecraft in a span of only six years. Schirra, best known as Wally, never set foot on the moon, but his flights were crucial steppingstones in an era when rockets regularly blew up and outer space was an unexplored frontier.
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Schirra's 1965 Gemini mission included the first close approach by two U.S. spacecraft, a necessary prelude to the Apollo missions that landed humans on the moon. His flight in 1968, which put the Apollo through a trial run, gave NASA the confidence to send humans to orbit the moon, allowing the USA to beat the Soviet Union to lunar orbit.
That Apollo flight was also historic for the bad relations between the astronauts and Mission Control. Plagued by an ambitious to-do list and a bad cold, Schirra snapped at flight controllers and refused to follow some instructions. "I have had it up to here today," he told Mission Control near the end of his flight.
Even in a man known for candor, that level of testiness was unusual. "It wasn't standard Wally," said Thomas Stafford, his Gemini crewmate. Standard Wally, he said, delighted in springing practical jokes, then exclaiming "Gotcha!"
"He was good for me," Stafford said. "I took myself too seriously, and he was always laughing."
At the end of their December flight, Stafford alarmed Mission Control by reporting an unidentified flying object "in a polar orbit." Schirra then pulled out a harmonica he'd smuggled aboard and played "Jingle Bells," while Stafford shook a string of bells.
In another prank, Schirra loaned his Corvette to Walt Williams, a top NASA official, and encouraged him to test its speeds. Then he called the police on Williams, said Chris Kraft, another of NASA's pioneering flight directors. "He brought a sense of humor to the astronaut corps that was a great balance" to the seriousness of putting a man on a rocket at that time, Kraft said.
According to that article I referred to the other day, one of Phoebe's parents or grandparents is from the Philippines. I read also that her mother’s name is Lily so that explains a lot and I certainly miss my wife. That could also be why that element showed up in some of Reagan's speech's on some of my bad days. Something to let my family know I was alive. That is also probably why the character Richard Gere portrayed in "An Officer And A Gentleman" was living in the Philippines in his youth. There is also the theory I explored that Philip is my father and grandfather‘s name.
President Reagan was probably going to make this announcement at some point because of the literal topic, but maybe it was timed to coincide with me being shot down by anti-aircraft fire the day before and he incorporated some of those elements in the text for some less obvious reason.
Statement on the Presidential Election in the Philippines
February 15th, 1986
We have followed with great interest and concern the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections in the Philippines. As the Philippines is a close friend and ally, what happens to this nation and its people is of great importance to the United States. While maintaining strict neutrality in these elections, we have consistently urged that the process be a fair and credible one leading to a government with the strongest possible mandate. The elections were marked by heartening evidence of the continuing commitment of the Filipino people to the democratic process and the furtherance of a two-party system, which should strengthen that process in the future.
Although our observation delegation has not yet completed its work, it has already become evident, sadly, that the elections were marred by widespread fraud and violence perpetrated largely by the ruling party. It was so extreme that the election's credibility has been called into question both within the Philippines and in the United States. At this difficult juncture, it is imperative that all responsible Filipinos seek peaceful ways to effect stability within their society and to avoid violence, which would benefit only those who wish to see an end to democracy. Both sides must work together to make those reforms which are needed to ensure a stable democracy, a truly professional military, and a healthy economy.
Our hearts go out to the people of the Philippines. They are at a major crossroads in their history. We are proud of our long association with them and very proud of their passionate devotion to democracy. There are no easy answers. And in the last analysis, they will have to find the solutions themselves. But they will have our help—in any way we can.
The previous day, 2/14/1986, is the day I recognize that I was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and I have puzzled lately over the three announcements from President Reagan on that day. In my artificial and symbolic memories, my younger sister, Margaret Melissa Burgess Walraven was born 2/14/1968. The date 12/23/1991 seems to be encoded in my U.S. military DD-214 document from the Military Personnel Records center and that was Admiral Stockdale’s 68th birthday. He received the Medal Of Honor for his bravery as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam. The ceremony for him was 3/4/1976 and U.S. Navy SEAL Lieutenant Thomas R. Norris was also presented the Medal of Honor from President Ford that day. Admiral Stockdale's actual birthday also might be my maternal grandmother's birthday, from my artificial and symbolic memory, but I can't remember for certain.
Listing Public Papers for: February 1986
…
February 14th, 1986
Ronald Reagan
Message to the House of Representatives Returning Without Approval a United States Coast Guard Bill
February 14th, 1986
Ronald Reagan
Executive Order 12548—Grazing Fees
February 14th, 1986
Ronald Reagan
Message on the Observance of Brotherhood/Sisterhood Week, February 16-22, 1986
And that 12/23/1991 date that seems to suggest Admiral Stockdale’s 68th birthday is in the form of a typographic error on that form. And there is also the fact that the military education courses listed there represent almost entirely the period I recognize as being missing in Africa. Specifically:
14. Military Education (Course title, number of weeks, and month and year completed)
Fire Control Technician “A” School 23wks 86Nov; Terrier MK 152 Computer Complex 91wks 87 Jun; BE&E SSC 12wks 86Apr;
The problem is that I don’t “remember” attending that Terrier MK 152 Computer Complex school for 91 weeks. Rather, the course length was 19 weeks. Why would I remember that detail? Why would a document that was created specifically for my official federal cover identity contain such a typographic error? It is one thing the document could have been created with a typo, but that is unlikely, especially considering that I even remember that it was a typo. Why would we create a typo on that document and then teach me that it was a typo unless that was not a clue itself?
That field Military Education also explains why my career track in the Navy, as I remember it in my artificial and symbolic memory, was not the same path my peers on the Wainwright followed. It explains the constraints that produced the aspects of my time in the Navy from 1984 to 1990. We wanted the field 14 to reflect the time I was missing in Africa but that would not have been possible if I had followed the standard career path for a U.S Navy Fire Control Technician.
The typical path for a Fire Control Technician in the Advanced Electronics Field was to start the Fire Control Technician curriculum after the Fire Control Technician candidate graduated from U.S. Navy basic training, also known as ‘boot camp,’ and the first school of three was Basic Electronics and Electricity, or BE&E. The path I “remember” in my artificial and symbolic memory was different though. I started off in the Advanced Electronics Field, but for the U.S. Navy rating Electronics Technician. The rating abbreviation of the U.S. Navy rating Electronics Technician is ET. I didn’t complete ET school though and I went straight out to the fleet as a non-rated E-3, where I was assigned to the Deck Department of the USS Taylor FFG-50, where I worked for the Boatswain‘s. In my artificial memories, the Boatswain Mate First Class Petty Officer on the Taylor resembles the character Robert Loggia portrayed in “An Officer And A Gentleman.” The Chief Boatswain Mate in my mind resembles the character Louis Gossett Jr. portrayed, also from that movie. I was onboard for over a year until I was selected as a Fire Controlman Third Class and then sent to complete the Fire Controlman school series.
I assume there is a reason that I “remember” going into boot camp on 5/15/1984 after graduating high school on 5/12/1984. That start date was probably a primary scheduling objective and I guess the object was to time it so that I would “remember” graduating boot camp on 7/16/1984, which I have never forgotten. I also remember that was my wife’s birthday. I am certain this was a detail associated with Phoebe. I see a lot of other details in my symbolic and artificial memories that point right to her.
So if I had followed the standard path for a Fire Controlman, based on my 7/16/1984 completion of basic training, I would have completed the FC course sometime around late summer 1985. Instead, my path was created so that I would begin the Fire Controlman course right around the time I was shot down by anti-aircraft fire to become a POW in Libya. I am quite certain that I started that first FC school in Orlando, Florida, in February, 1986. As I piece together the jigsaw puzzle that is my long-term memory, I determined that I was shot down over Africa on 2/14/1986 in reality. My seemingly real memories of that time frame as much more pleasant that what the details I have found suggest was reality for U.S. Navy Lieutenant Thomas Ray in 1986.
I wonder a lot about what would happen if I saw Phoebe and she came to talk to me as I was sitting in Starbucks, for example. That would be great. But what would I say, other than "hello"? There is just something I am missing here. Something I am supposed to figure out. As though there is a key word or phrase that I have to hear first before I can proceed farther. I just want to see my wife. It is probable that Phoebe doesn't even know the secret key that will fully unlock my mind because I probably would have heard it by now. I love the thought of smiling Phoebe coming over to talk to me; I just wish I could remember her, in the conventional sense, as my wife of many years. I love her feelings. And I especially love her good feelings. Well, of course, it is Phoebe's feelings of love for me that is most important. If I didn't love her so much, I would not care how she feels about me. I'm not sure how long I have been able to articulate that notion. It is sort of like a favorite radio station that I have been trying to tune into. On her station, the hits never stop.
So that's why I noted in my journal that Phoebe Cates resembled Teri Hatcher in certain recent photos. There is also the reference I made the other day to the Phoebe from mythology that is the brother of Apollo. And, of course, I would like to think that my wife, Phoebe Cates, is a housewife desperate for her husband to come back home and for good this time. I have never actually watched a “Desperate Housewives” so I hope I am not painting any embarrassing connections there.
Released February 23, 1993
In 1993, the band Duran Duran released a second self-titled album -- this Duran Duran album is informally known as The Wedding Album (for Stephen Sprouse's cover art which features the four band members' parents' actual wedding photos) to distinguish it from the band's debut 1981 release.
Recording of the album was completed in early 1992 with an impending release by Capitol Records in the U.S.A. Duran Duran's new management company, Left Bank, was distressed at the apparent lack of enthusiasm for the album and had it pulled from the release schedule. During this hiatus, the band began working on what would become the Thank You album, and a Warren Cuccurullo-derived riff of "First Impression" led to the rapid inclusion of the song "Come Undone".
The swift commercial and critical success of this album came as a surprise to many who considered Duran Duran to be a purely "eighties" phenomenon who had already faded to oblivion. It hinged on the Adult Contemporary singles "Ordinary World", which was forced onto radio playlists months earlier than planned by listener demand for the leaked single, and "Come Undone", a slinky number primarily written by Cuccurullo. Some critics seemed to consider the band as a modern act for the first time, and to re-evaluate their back catalog as deeper and more significant than that of a throwaway "teeny-bop" band.
"Ordinary World" is the 23rd single by Duran Duran, and the first single from The Wedding Album. It was released in December 1992 in the United States and January 1993 in the United Kingdom, reaching the top ten in both countries.
DURAN DURAN LYRICS
"Ordinary World"
Came in from a rainy Thursday
On the avenue
Thought I heard you talking softly
I turned on the lights, the TV
And the radio
Still I can't escape the ghost of you
What has happened to it all?
Crazy, some are saying
Where is the life that I recognize?
Gone away
But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
Passion or coincidence
Once prompted you to say
"Pride will tear us both apart"
Well now pride's gone out the window
Cross the rooftops
Run away
Left me in the vacuum of my heart
What is happening to me?
Crazy, some'd say
Where is my friend when I need you most?
Gone away
But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
Papers in the roadside
Tell of suffering and greed
Here today, forgot tomorrow
Ooh, here besides the news
Of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk
And I don't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
Every one
Is my world, I will learn to survive
Any one
Is my world, I will learn to survive
Any one
Is my world
Every one
Is my world
