Apollo 11 Frogmen to Meet at The Washington, D.C. Air & Space Museum For 55th Anniversary

PR Newswire

Meet and Greet, organized by John Wolfram Ministries at Museum From 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. July 4, 2024

POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. , July 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On July 24, 1969 four Navy frogmen, Clancy Hatleberg , Wes Chesser , Mike Mallory and John Wolfram made history while assisting NASA in the recovery of the Apollo 11 Columbia capsule after it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

Inside the space capsule was Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the first two men to walk on the Moon and Columbia pilot, Michael Collins .

Wolfram, the first human the astronauts saw had pasted flowers on his wetsuit.

"Remember it was the 1960s," said Wolfram. "Flower power represented peace and love. It was my statement to the world to give peace a chance during turbulent times and the controversial Vietnam war.

"As the sea anchor man, I had to leap into the ocean alone to catch the capsule and attach the small parachute-anchor before the others could join me in the water. My teammates referred to me as "shark bait" because we had encountered numerous sharks during rehearsals and I'd be the first to know", said Wolfram.

After the capsule was stabilized, Clancy Hatleberg , the senior UDT officer, joined the other three frogmen in the ocean. He was NASA trained to conduct the decontamination procedures. He donned a Biological Isolation Garment, (BIG suit) and handed the astronauts their BIGs before assisting them into the raft to start their decontamination.

"NASA was concerned about the possibility of Lunar pathogens," said Hatleberg. "My instructions were to wash everything, including the astronauts with a disinfectant and they in turn were to wash me."

Wolfram will also be in Washington, D.C. working on a documentary of his book, Splashdown, The Rescue of a Navy Frogman with Emmy award–winning filmmaker, Dave Macintosh based in the capital city.

Rescuing astronauts was not the only adventure of Wolfram's short navy career. He was deployed twice to Vietnam , where he received a Purple Heart from a leg wound received during a firefight with the Viet Cong.

"Losing eight close friends was traumatic," said Wolfram, "I was one of the fortunate ones. I was able to return to the United States and pick up where I left off."

Wolfram's Christian journey has led him back to Vietnam , among those whom he once fought, in order to lead them to Jesus Christ . "One of my ministry highlights was baptizing a former Vietnamese General in the name of Jesus Christ , said Wolfram.

"I recently built a Bible school in central Vietnam , a memorial in honor of my five SEAL teammates and three high school friends who died during the war," said Wolfram.

When asked if he got into trouble for his flowers during the recovery, Wolfram said, "No. They gave me a medal."

Splashdown, The Rescue of a Navy Frogman can be purchased online at johnwolfram.com .

To arrange an interview, contact John Wolfram: 678-654-1487

Related Links – http://johnwolfram.com

SOURCE John Wolfram Ministries