7/23/2009 10:27:00 AM Tilden brothers witnessed history with Apollo 11
COURTESY PHOTORON GLANDT of Norfolk, who is a native of Tilden, was a sailor aboard the USS Hornet, which picked up the Apollo 11 astronauts in the Pacific Ocean following its splashdown on July 24, 1969. Glandt took this photo from aboard ship, which carried the three astronauts to Hawaii before they were transported to Houston.
Ron Glandt of Norfolk and his brother, Roger, got a front-row view of history 40 years ago.
The fraternal twins were aboard the USS Hornet, which picked up astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins after the Apollo 11 crew became the first men to land and walk on the moon.
"I've always been proud of my service," said Ron Glandt on Wednesday before leaving for a reunion of the Hornet crew in California.
While there, he will meet Roger, who now lives in San Leonardo, Calif. The reunion will be abroad the USS Hornet, which is now a museum in Alameda, Calif.
In 1969, the ship picked up the astronauts from both Apollo 11 and Apollo 12. Both Glandts were on the ship for both missions.
The brothers plan to spend the night on the ship Friday, which is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 splashdown.
Ron Glandt said it will be the first time that he and his brother have slept on the ship since they served, although they have been aboard the ship previously. Ron said his wife, Jo Ann, and Roger's wife, Barbara, whom he met in California while in the Navy, will not spend the night on the ship.
The Glandt twins graduated from Tilden High School in 1966.
Ron said he enlisted in the Navy right after high school and went to boot camp in July. Roger didn't enlist right away.
"He was more of a free spirit," Ron said.
Roger enlisted in the Navy about 11 months later. He subsequently joined the Hornet and the two brothers completed two tours in Vietnam together.
Glandt said the twins sent a Christmas card of themselves to their parents aboard the ship in 1968 next to one of the five-inch diameter guns. Their father brought the photo to the Daily News, which published it, he said.
Glandt said he never saw any action during Vietnam, but aircraft from the ship came back damaged and pilots were lost.
After their second tour, they got assigned to Hawaii where the ship would practice for the Apollo 11 mission.
"They had a fake Apollo that we would practice on that they would be dropping," he said. "We did it over and over again, and certain crew members had specific duties."
About 3,400 sailors were aboard the ship during the Apollo missions. For Apollo 11, President Richard Nixon was on board.
"We had to paint everything so everything looked nice and new," Glandt said. "Even the place where the president walked had to be painted blue like a carpet."
During Apollo 11, crews from NBC-TV were on board the ship. During Apollo 12, crews from CBS-TV were on the ship, he said.
The practices in the Pacific Ocean included a special team of underwater swimmers who would reach the capsule first. Glandt said he and his brother's duties during the splashdowns consisted of being "there to observe."
They were not able to talk to the astronauts.
"They were quarantined," he said. "There were so many people around."
Glandt said he remembers there was concern the astronauts could bring back dangerous germs. Now that fear almost seems funny, he said.
The ship left from Hawaii a couple of days before the Apollo 11 mission began. They wanted to have the ship ready in case the astronauts had to abort the mission, he said.
Glandt said the ship had closed-circuit television, but he can't remember whether he actually saw the men walking on the moon on live television or what he was doing at the time.
"I cannot recall," he said. "It probably was on and I might have seen it, but I know I saw it (several) times later."
When the actual landing occurred, directions were broadcast over a loudspeaker on the ship.
Glandt said the astronauts were 400,000 feet from earth when they started getting reports.
Apollo 11 was so far away, they couldn't see the space capsule enter earth. It splashed down about 10 miles from the ship and took an estimated 30 to 60 minutes to reach, he said.
But Apollo 12 was so close they could hear it break the sound barrier and saw three large red-and-white parachutes as it splashed down.
"It really looked like it was going to come down on top of us," he said.
Glandt said his enlistment ended in 1970. His brother ended up getting sent on another tour of duty before his enlistment ended.
Glandt said looking back, he was proud of all his service, but the Apollo missions might be the most memorable.
