Acknowledgments

Bob Fish - Author of Hornet Plus Three

Acknowledgments

< Pictured on Hornet's bridge during the recovery of Apollo 11 in 1969, Captain Carl Seiberlich was the Navy's mastermind behind this successful operation. A WWII combat veteran, Seiberlich was a superb leader and skilled shiphandler.

Retiring as a Rear Admiral, he provided a great deal of insight about the special issues and circumstances that added great complexity to the Apollo 11 recovery.

< Retired Navy Captain Richard Gordon graciously wrote the Foreword for this book. Dick is a former naval aviator, with assignments as both a fighter pilot and a flight test pilot. He was the Pilot of Gemini XI in 1966 and performed two EVA's during the 3-day mission.

As the Command Module Pilot of Apollo 12, Dick shared details about flying the Apollo command module to the moon and back.

< Neil Armstrong was a naval aviator during the Korean War. He joined NASA as a civilian and was a test pilot for many aircraft, including the X-15. As the command pilot of Gemini VIII, his quick decision-making saved the mission from potential disaster. He was commander of the Apollo 11 mission and is the first human to walk on the moon.

Neil provided generous support in the writing of the book and contributed one of the "cover blurbs."

< Retired Navy Captain Charles Smiley was XO of Helicopter Squadron 4 in July, 1969. Based at NAS Imperial Beach, the Black Knights of HS-4 owns the spacecraft recovery record by plucking astronauts from Apollo 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13 out of the water. Chuck was the pilot of the astronaut recovery helicopter (Seaking #66) for Apollo 10 and Apollo 13.

Chuck provided substantial technical assistance about the roles, responsibilites and capabilities of the helicopter group.

< During the 1960's space program, NASA personnel accompanied the Navy recovery task force on each mission. John Stonesifer was the Team Leader for twenty-one spacecraft recovery missions from the Mercury and Gemini series to the Apollo 8, 11, 12 manned lunar missions.

John was the Quarantine Manager for Apollo 11 and patiently guided me through the complexities of protecting the earth from possible moon germ contamination.

< Retired Navy Commander Clancy Hatleberg was a Lieutenant with UDT Team 11 at Coronado (near San Diego) in mid-1969. He was assigned to be the Officer-in-Charge of the Apollo 11 UDT recovery team as well as the "decontamination swimmer. Clancy was the only person to join the astronauts in Houston for water egress training.

Clancy provided significant insight into the decontamination process used at the splashdown site.