Ex-Astronaut Pete Conrad Buried
By JANELLE CARTER
Associated Press Writer

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP)   Pete Conrad, who endeared himself to Americans by stepping onto the moon with a shout of ``Whoopee!'' 30 years ago, was buried Monday surrounded by many of the pioneering astronauts who ventured into space with him.

Conrad, the third man to walk on the moon, was killed July 8 when he crashed his Harley-Davidson motorcycle along a winding road in Southern California. He was 69.

His burial at Arlington National Cemetery brought together some of the nation's space giants, including Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk the moon; former Sen. John Glenn, who last year made a return trip to space; Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean, Apollo 7 astronaut Walter Cunningham and Apollo 8 astronaut James Lovell.

Conrad, an Apollo 12 astronaut, stepped onto the moon on Nov. 19, 1969 _ four months after Armstrong's historic moonwalk and his ``one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.'' Tuesday is the 30th anniversary of Armstrong's feat.

Besides the ``Whoopee'' remark, the fun-loving Conrad declared, ``Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me.''

At his burial, a horse-drawn carriage carried Conrad's casket from a nearby military chapel as his widow, Nancy, sons and other mourners walked behind. A group of F-14 Tomcat aircraft flew over the service and a U.S. Navy firing party fired three shots. A Navy band played ``Eternal Father'' as the casket was loaded from the caisson.

Several of the former astronauts eulogized Conrad during the earlier funeral service.

``I'm not sure what he's doing right now but I suspect he's telling some stories of the old days,'' said Armstrong, fighting back tears.

Armstrong said he spent several days with Conrad three weeks ago and commented, ``God, he looks great, he'll live another 20 years. He never made another 20 days,'' said Armstrong, who said he was moved to visit the accident site last week to see where Conrad died. ``Pete was the best man I ever knew. He treated me like a brother,'' Armstrong said.

NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin described Conrad as ``a man who had his feet planted firmly on the moon but always kept reaching for the stars.'' Conrad, Goldin said, is probably somewhere now with Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard, who died last year.

``Pete's star now joins Alan's and others in that very special constellation,'' he said.

---

(The following is from an article I wrote entitiled "From the Keystone State to Milestones in Space")

"Charles Conrad was born on June 2, 1930, in Philadelphia, PA. With encouragement from his father, he developed a propensity for flying at a young age. He learned to fly when he was barely out of his teens. At the time, the only astronaut to have graduated from an Ivy League College, Conrad attended Princeton University. He received a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1953."

"Conrad went on to enlist in the Navy and to obtain his wings. He attended the Navy Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland. When he had completed his training there, he served as a test pilot with the Armaments Division of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, where he conducted experimental flights on newly engaged naval aircraft."

"From 1959-1961, he was a flight instructor and engineer at Patuxent River. He went on to become an F4H flight instructor at the Naval Air Station at Miramar, California. Charles Conrad was an experienced naval aviator and an instructor. He would use his knowledge and expertise to see the world in an entirely new way."

"On September 17, 1962, NASA selected Charles Conrad, Jr., to become an astronaut, along with eight others. He had a total of three-thousand hours of flying time to his credit, with twenty-one-hundred of those hours in flying jets."

© B F Malone 1994

---

Conrad Photo Courtesy of NASA

Read more about the former astronauts who served in the Armed Forces at:
Moonwalkers

---

Click on POW/MIA graphic to return to the July issue