- The following images show McDonnell Douglas contractors at KSC at a “Thank You” ceremony after the ASTP launch. Although there is a small amount of overlap between the two pictures (the right side of the top picture overlaps with the left side of the bottom picture), each person has been numbered once and only once. Following the picture is a list of the numbers with the corresponding individual’s name. You will note some of the individuals have not been identified.
If you know the name of any of the people in the picture, please contact us, either by email (see the floating tab on the left side of the page) or by the online comments (see the bottom of the page). When identifying an individual, specify both row and number before specifying the name. For instance, in the middle row, the man on the left with the darker shirt and tie would be “Middle Row No. 1, Joe Blow.” If you are using email, please also state the page title, “McDonnell Douglas”.
McDonnell Douglas Contractors, left side of picture
McDonnell Douglas Contractors, right side of picture
| Number | Front Row | Middle Row | Back Row |
| 1 | Lloyd Bertsch | Royce English | ? |
| 2 | Nelson Nuez | Harvey Lanier | John Lathrow |
| 3 | Marion Durant | ? | Larry Rowe |
| 4 | Charlie Townsend | Charlie Faulkner | Dick Bauman |
| 5 | Barney Brown | Delores Weaver | R. J. Stewart |
| 6 | Gerry Teague | Aileen Lott | Jerry Schmidt |
| 7 | Earl Snyder | ? | Gene Dunn |
| 8 | Burt Adams | Dr. Hans Gruene, NASA | Vince Stranese |
| 9 | Mel Hastings | ? (Directly behind Dr. Gruene) | Hank Dias |
| 10 | Bud Bietel | Paul Johnson | C. Kleinschmidt |
| 11 | Frank Mohme | Isom “Ike” Rigell, NASA | Ed Bradley |
| 12 | John Crane | Eileen Herman | ? |
| 13 | Ed Deserio | Russ Leonard | Dean Chrisman |
| 14 | Jim Falscroft | George Faenza | Walt Posey |
| 15 | ? | ? | |
| 16 | ? | ? | |
| 17 | Ross Cooper | John Jeffries | |
| 18 | Ralph Marlett | Bob Culpepper | |
| 19 | Walt Kapyran, NASA | Ralph Griffin | |
| 20 | ? | Duane Johnson | |
| 21 | Bud Blankenship | Bobby Webber | |
| 22 | Bob Butler | ? | |
| 23 | ? | Jerry Mook | |
| 24 | Paul Donnelly, NASA | ? | |
| 25 | Al Loupe | Jerry Soloman | |
| 26 | George Thurn | ? | |
| 27 | Hank Groth | ? | |
| 28 | Woody Brecken | ||
| 29 | Bill Tyler | ||
| 30 | Bill Schutte | ||
| 31 | ? | ||
| 32 | Ed Scully | ||
| 33 | Don Ceasar | ||
| 34 | Becky Faenza | ||
| 35 | ? | ||
| 36 | ? | ||
| 37 | George Frogner | ||
| 38 | Hamp Moran | ||
| 39 | ? | ||
| 40 | ? | ||
| 41 | Bob Gunn | ||
| 42 | ? | ||
| 43 | Elmer Yoemans |
# 9 back row- Hank Dias- mech tech from A45
My apologies! When I looked through the rest of the pictures on your site, I saw the newspaper article with the same pictures dated 1975, and realized this was following the last Saturn mission. I originally thought I was looking at Apollo 11 pictures. My dad was no longer with McDonnell Douglas in 1975. But his resemblance to Dr. Gruene is incredible! My husband was also convinced the picture was of my dad! With the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 approaching, I have been doing some research, trying to fill in some blanks, finding answers to questions I didn’t think to ask as a kid growing up with the Aplollo missions.
No problem! They really did look a lot alike! Anyway, we are so happy that you were interested enough to update our pictures, even though this one didn’t work out. Accuracy is so important! We have had an instance where we did need to update the picture because relatives and co-workers spoke up. One of the reasons we put these out was so that people could see their family members and friends—if the labeling is inaccurate, what is the good of it?
In the top picture, middle row, # 8 – this is definitely my dad, Jack Fussell. He is mislabeled as Dr. Hans Gruene. I did a Google image search for Dr. Gruene and can see a resemblance, but Dr. Gruene seems a bit older than my dad in these pictures, and has a somewhat different hairline. You have a picture of Dr. Gruene in the SA-8 Launch photo, labelled #3. Compare closely and you will see that these are different men. My dad was an engineer in Douglas Aircraft’s Nike missile program before coming to the Cape to work on the 3rd stage of the Saturn V. I can send pictures of him if you like. I also have some memorabilia, including a computer print-out of a test firing that dad brought home.
Thanks for your feedback! In this instance, though, we still think this is Dr. Gruene, even though he looks a lot like your father. It’s a different angle than the other LVO pictures, so he looks a bit different.
But, in all the LVO pictures (all done on the same day), he is wearing the same clothes (e.g., light-colored leisure pants with a white belt), and is standing more or less in the same spot in relationship to Ike Rigell. It’s a big brass position—in this picture, he is standing *in front of* a woman; you can only see part of the top of her head right behind his neck (that’s the floating 9 you referred to). A McDonald Douglas employee would not be doing that—the contractors were arranged to be side-to-side. See the Boeing picture, for instance—the woman behind him is having to contort herself so that she can be seen.
Not to mention, he’s been identified by a number of folks as Dr. Gruene.
But thank you for your interest! We appreciate your taking the time and interest to make this as accurate as it can be. I’m very sorry it’s not your dad.
I believe that #8 in the second row from the bottom in the top picture is my dad, Jack Fussell. He has dark glasses and white hair, and the ever-present glasses case and pens in the shirt pocket! Another name is listed for number 8, but I think that is a mistake. There is a “9” floating over his right shoulder but not on anyone, so perhaps the numbers are off here. I would love learning more about this picture and events that followed.
This NASA Alumni League site shows many of the names:
https://www.nalfl.com/?page_id=2561
Hello,
I am the grandson of Barney Brown, who the picture positively identified. I still have his hard-hat from those days!
We lost nearly all of our family pictures in a flood in 2010, and if at all possible I would love copies this shot, or any pictures of my grandad that you might be able to provide.
We Will need to get back to you in a week or so.
Yes, we’ll be getting you a higher-resolution, unnumbered copy of the picture, at the email address that you supplied. We’re looking now to see if we have other pictures of your father in our archives.
Hello, I am the daughter of Larry Rowe, who is in the picture and properly identified. He passed away in 1993. Is it possible to get a copy of this picture? Are there other team photos that may include my father? Respectfully, Cynthia Rowe Smith
After enlarging the picture of the McDonnell Douglas Team, I’m able to positively identify my-self in the back row as number 23 – Jerry Mook (that is not Charlie Wofford)
Could #31 be Charlie Wofford? Or someone else?
Thanks Jerry. I’ve made your changes.
I believe that’s me in the back row – #31
Eileen Herman should be Middle row #12 (not back row #12)