ALAMEDA — It was 50 years ago on July 24 that Apollo 11 splashed down into the Pacific Ocean after its historic lunar landing. The astronauts and their spacecraft were retrieved by the U.S.S. Hornet aircraft carrier, now stationed in Alameda.
The first Navy frogman who helped fish Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins out of the water talked to KCBS Radio about his recollections from the splashdown.
"I've shared it for the last 50 years and it never gets old," said John Wolfram during a recent visit to the Hornet.
However, he shared some details that he rarely discusses about his role, including the political message he quietly conveyed with his uniform.
The story starts with Wolfram jumping from a helicopter into the rising swells of the Pacific. That may have been the easy part of the Apollo 11 recovery for Wolfram.
"The first thing that I always did when I jumped into the water, because I was in the water myself, was to take a quick look around to see if there were any sharks," he said.
Kidding aside, on that day, Wolfram had attached hippie flowers to his wetsuit, sending a subtle message about his political views.
"It was kind of a statement, I guess," he said. "Peace in the midst of the controversial Vietnam War."
He also admitted that he took a souvenir from the event in the form of gold foil on the capsule's exterior.
"There were strips of it still hanging there and that's where we took our samples," he said.
To learn more, look for Wolfram's book about his experience, "Splashdown, The Rescue of a Navy Frogman."