Never Panic Early: Happy Birthday, Fred

First off, Happy Friday the 13th! Today, just five (5) of the 24 astronauts who flew to the Moon during NASA’s Apollo program are still with us. One such enduring spacefarer is Fred Wallace Haise Jr., born on 14 November 1933 in Biloxi, who will turn 93 years young on Saturday. Too young for World War II (his pops, Fred Haise, Sr., was a waterlogged mine man who survived USS YMS-84 when she was sunk at Balikpapan in 1945), Fred Jr. had just picked up his Associate’s degree at Perkinston Junior College (on a journalism scholarship!) when he was accepted into the Naval Aviation Cadet Program during Korea. Cutting his teeth on the humble SNJ, Beech SNB Navigator, WWII-leftover F6F Hellcat, and TV-2 (T-33) jet trainer, Fred earned his wings of gold and served as a Marine fighter pilot, first with the “Hawks” of VMF-533 (F2H-4 Banshees), then with the famed “Death Dealers” of VMF-114 (F9F-8 Cougars), under MAG-24 out of MCAS Cherry Point from March 1954 to September 1956. He then finished…

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