There are more than a few stories in this blog that need to be finished but how/why THIS ONE hasn’t been is known only to…
…me. And for a while yet, it’ll stay that way.
Nevertheless, “The Obstinate Owl II” is above, and finished, fulfilling the promise made in October 27, 2021 when I last posted progress the artwork. I had my plans, my next-steps all sorted out...
Suddenly (as it always seems to happen when dealing with projects that demand so much time,) a year later, her pilot, Gemini 4 and Apollo 9 astronaut, James “Jim” McDivitt ‘Flew West’ at 93 years of age. This was an extraordinary bummer because I really grew to appreciate the man, so much so that I continued to work around a schedule that ended up being a complete phantom of optimism.
As it sits now, I have not decided what to do with my 95%-complete interview(s). Suffice it to state, they’re remarkable assets to American and Space Race history.
However, I’ll share this little glimpse; the first few times I got to talk with him, they were purely conversational and didn’t last much more than 20, 30 minutes. Yet, in those brief conversations, it was apparent “McDivitt” was burnt-out on telling rocket stories. Same with being on The Brady Bunch. Same with the hubbub made about the apparent “UFO photos” he took during the Gemini 4 mission. As interesting as the prior were/are, my focus was on the man’s Korean War service and THIS was the main reason he afforded me extraordinary access to his memories.
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Jim McDivitt (middle in grey sport coat) with the cast of The Brady Bunch and two aliens from the planet Keplutus. Photographer unknown. |
*Break break*
As much as I loath celebrity culture, I have a measure of sympathy to the singer, artist, politician, actor, entrepreneur, astronaut, warrior… who signed up for a measure of one thing and ended up with a heaping helping of another. Some can handle it, some can’t… but bottom line, there’s an extraordinary price to pay when one’s being is perceived to be public property.
Being an astronaut, especially ‘back then’ in the 1950s and 60s, was a flashbulb-fueled launch into the celebrity universe. Maybe at one time, McDivitt appreciated the notoriety, maybe not, but by the time I got to meet him, it was pretty apparent, the camera, the spotlight, the moon…were all things he’d rather look away from.
Life is like that though - based on what I’ve learned interviewing ‘old guys,’ the days, months, years of life tends to refine the dross from the precious.
How Jim expressed this to me sounded something like this:
Me: So what are you most proud of?
(He instantly glanced at two paintings that were on opposite walls in his dining room)
Jim: My Korean War days.
Me: Not NASA?!
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Jim McDivitt had a fun sense of humor - here, he goofs around with a model of the Titan II rocket used to launch his Gemini 4 mission, which resulted in mankind's first spacewalk! Photo: NASA |
Jim: (snorts) No… no. My Korean War flying. Those times. (He pointed at the extraordinary artwork depicting him flying his 35th Fighter Bomber Squadron F-86 and F-80.)
Me: Why's that?
Jim: (NASA) was a corporation. It was a job. But then, there... (he looked again at his F-86 and for a split second or two, faded from the room into some long lost memory) That's when I believe I was doing the most good. Flying jets in the squadron.
Me: Was it the camaraderie? You had that at NASA didn't you?
Jim: (Shakes his head). No, no... not like then. (In my Korean service) we were a group, a team.
For a while afterwards, he went into greater detail about the nuances of leadership, business, publicity, warfare, politics... and it became obvious that, Jim McDivitt — obviously brilliant, super-competent, highly skilled — was just an aviator, happy to play a small part in something bigger. NASA, with its inherent (and mostly necessary) need for choreographed publicity and public acclaim, may have fed his family and fulfilled his professional obligations, it didn't feed his soul. Even if the organization took him farther than 99.99999% of people have ever been. Even if a day at the office meant taking pictures like the one below.
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Jim was the commander of Gemini 4 and also its savior. Jim took this picture of #2 Ed White doing the unfathomable. Notice the hatch at right - that it opened to let Ed out is Jim's genius with mechanical things. That it CLOSED is also Jim's genius with mechanical things. And to think the man really just wanted to fly jets... Photo Jim McDivitt, NASA |
Instead, the military and the experiences within its cloistered fraternity were the memories he wanted in his dining room and ultimately (I believe) were the ones he took into Eternity.
Please, have another look at "The Obstinate Owl II." Jim was pleased with the title; today, the original hangs in a place of honor at Tucson's beautiful Hacienda Del Sol resort, the site where he and fellow military aviators gathered (still do, in fact) every Friday for lunch.
"We remember where we came from," indeed.
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Jim in front of another 35th FBS F-model Sabre, "The Dirty Old Man." Photo: Jim McDivitt |
