The Crew
Edward H. White II, was selected to be the first American to walk in space, he made the first EVA on Gemini 4 and was selected for the Apollo One crew and deemed the most athletic astronaut by many of his fellows.
Roger B. Chaffee was a rookie astronaut, but though youngest his work in the Navy during the 1962 missile crisis flying reconnaissance aircraft helped avert nuclear war. He was selected to fly Apollo One and contributed to the lunar primary life support system or PLSS worn by all astronauts who explored the Moon and space during Apollo missions.
Virgil I. Grissom was a test pilot and Mercury Original 7 Astronaut, two spaceflights, Liberty Bell 7 the second suborbital Mercury flight and GT-3 the first Gemini flight paired with John Young. He was assigned Commander of Apollo One.
Memorial
Today, pad 34 launch ring sits as silent memorial to the crew. But from this pad Apollo 7 pushed onto achieve Apollo 1's mission due to their sacrifice, the spacecraft was redesigned to be safer for all.
The Apollo One Memorial foundation strives to keep the memory of these three men who gave all their tomorrows in pursuit of exploration of the Moon, and reinvigorated a program that achieved the national goal. They inspire us still today with their tenacity, loyalty to country and family, and vision for a better tomorrow.