Saluting A Genuine American Hero

What is it about Ohio and NASA astronauts? The Buckeye State has spawned its share of great aerospace pioneers – super heroes who’ve left the surly bonds of Earth and ventured into the heavens while those of us void of courage have sat on the sofa in front of our televisions and marveled at the testosterone.

Ohio really is the heart of it all – with a plethora of hard-core aviators who’ve wanted to venture into space – John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Judy Resnick, Gregory H. Johnson, Donald A. Thompson, Mary Ellen Weber, Nancy J. Currie-Gregg, Sunita Williams, Terrence T. Henricks, Donn F. Eisele, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Robert F. Overmyer, Thomas J, Hennen, Robert M. Sega, Michael T. Good, Michael L. Gernhardt, Mark M. Brown, Kenneth D. Cameron, Ronald Parise, Charles Bassett, Michael Foreman – and astronaut Jim Lovell who commanded Gemini and Apollo missions throughout the 1960s. Lovell was selected in 1962 from a second prestige group of select astronauts who would pilot the Gemini and Apollo missions.

Jim Lovell was chosen from a second grouping of astronauts who entered the qualification process to be among the first astronauts to go into space. A three-person panel of Mercury Seven astronauts, Alan Shepard, Deke Slayton, and one NASA test pilot, Warren J. North scaled the group down to 32 astronauts who were recruited for extensive medical exams that would determine who made the cut. Lovell was one of them. He would go on to pilot Gemini and Apollo missions on our journey to the lunar surface. It was a lofty goal that had to be met.

Who can forget Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve 1968 with astronauts Jim Lovell, Frank Borman, and Bill Anders. Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft ever to leave the Earth’s gravitational pull – the first to leave Earth orbit. With that journey was the risk they might never return to Earth. It was time for a bit of reflection.

A very real moment began with Anders with words from the Book of Genesis:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.“

Lovell ran with:

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Lovell handed it off to Borman:

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.

Billions watched in awe around the world because it was something that had never been done before – and Lovell was there to live the experience…in space. Ohio-born Jim Lovell was admired by millions for his accomplishments in the U.S. Navy and with NASA away from the Earth. He passed on August 7, 2025 at age 97 and will forever be missed and long recognized for what he did for the space program, the United States, and humanity.