Since I Was Out Of Town And Couldn’t Make A Post On The 2nd, Here’s A Happy Belated Birthday To Charles “Pete”

Since I was out of town and couldn’t make a post on the 2nd, here’s a happy belated birthday to Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr. (June 2, 1930 – July 8, 1999), one of my absolute favorite people in the entire world. Pete was a brilliant engineer, a naval aviator, test pilot, part of the second group of NASA astronauts, and the third human to walk on the moon.

He worked harder than most people can imagine to overcome the obstacles that stood in the way of his dreams, though you’d hardly notice because he did it all with a gap-toothed smile. I’ll never forget the sound of him laughing all the way into orbit during Apollo 12. I still miss him like hell and I wish I had had the chance to tell him in person that he’s my hero, but I take comfort in the fact that Petey had more fun in his short 69 years than most people could have in 100.

Happy birthday, Tweety. Love ya more than you know.