posted 07-04-2006 10:50 AM               

• American Flag that draped his casket
  
• Space Congressional Medal of Honor
  
• GT-3 Medallion that went up with Gus
  
• Apollo I Medallion that was to go up on Apollo I
  
• Autographed photo personalized to Gus from LBJ watching the GT-3 flight
  
• Gus's Gemini access badge

posted 07-05-2006 01:15 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by spgrissom:
This information is not out to the media just yet... I have posted it here because of the reputation this group has for honoring those who have served and the honesty of those who post.

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posted 08-03-2006 10:53 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Obviousman:
Would someone post some pics or link to a website with pics when available?

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This shows the small roadside marker welcoming people to the downtown Gus Grissom Monument. The girl in the photo is my daughter Miranda.

This is of the limestone Gemini rocket. I was surprised at how large this rocket is. The Monument is big. The stand that the Gemini sets on has 8 panels detailing some highlights of Gus's career.

These are of these panels.

This is of a brick wall that was made from the bricks from the elementary school that Gus attended. The brick wall is behind the Gemini rocket.

posted 08-03-2006 10:55 AM               

These show the Gemini 3 spaceship and Gus's Gemini spacesuit.

posted 07-20-2008 06:11 PM               

A year ago -- July 30, 2007 -- the park received a $150,000 Museum of America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The money is to be spent renovating the park's Virgil "Gus" Grissom Memorial Center.

The grant would pay for an addition to the facility as well as improvements to the existing exhibits to better preserve the collections and clarify their importance.

The grant required that the $150,000 be matched before plans could be made to remodel the existing center.

According to Jill Vance, interpretive naturalist, the matching money for the grant is coming from the state. Park officials are working from conceptual designs developed by ICON, a Fort Wayne firm, for the exhibit design.

Vance said specific design will not be completed until after a signed contract is in place, which she expects by the end of August. The renovation timeline is still in flux, but park officials are looking at a likely completion date in the spring.

Current exhibits will be replaced with new ones that will incorporate existing artifacts, such as the Molly Brown, with items recently received from Grissom's wife, Betty.

Included in the remodeling will be an expansion of the exhibit area. Final details on the exhibit space and design will be available after the contract is signed and the conceptual design has been reworked.

posted 07-21-2008 05:15 PM               

It looks like the memorial hasn't changed much (if any) since mdmyer posted the pictures above. But, I hadn't visited in over 5 years, so there were some changes (to me).

There were two fellows in front of the memorial with a good-sized (maybe 8- or 10-inch) telescope with a solar filter. The sun had just risen over the tree line when we got there, and they were in the final process of getting things set up. They had several books and some pictures they've taken over the years of sunspots and other solar phenomena.

There was a guy in a blue NASA flight suit inside greeting people with "Happy Moon Day!" After we were there a short while, he brought out some items which he said were recently donated. These included a Marshall-built Mercury-Redstone model, some sort of stainless steel-looking Gemini-Titan model, an Air Force flight jacket, the cowboy hat given to Gus by LBJ, and several items given to Gus on his post-flight tour.

posted 08-03-2008 12:43 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by astro-nut:
Could someone list the correct address for the museum, etc. and the hours they are open and a phone number as well.

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posted 09-12-2008 07:26 PM               

Beginning Sept. 29, the Grissom Memorial at Spring Mill State Park will close for renovations. The work will nearly double the space available for exhibits. The Gemini 3 capsule and spacesuit will still be a part of the memorial. However, the renovations will allow the park to showcase a variety of new items on loan from Betty Grissom, widow of the famed astronaut killed during a NASA training exercise Jan. 27, 1967.

"We've received more than 200 new items from Betty Grissom, including personal artifacts from Gus' boyhood and college days," said Jill Vance, Spring Mill's interpretive naturalist. "One of my personal favorite is a corned beef sandwich preserved in resin. During the Gemini flight, John Young snuck up a corned beef sandwich from his favorite deli and shared it with Gus mid-flight."

The Grissom Memorial will reopen in April. The renovated memorial will be officially rededicated July 18 during the park's annual Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom Day celebration. For now, however, the memorial is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily through Sept. 28.

posted 11-21-2008 01:30 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by pokey:
Does any other US county has as many hometown astronauts?

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posted 06-02-2011 08:41 PM               

Vandals spray painted gang symbols on a limestone memorial to astronaut Gus Grissom in his southern Indiana hometown.

The vandalism at the Grissom Memorial in the city of Mitchell was spotted by mowers last week. Mayor Dan Terrell said that even if workers can remove the black paint the monument will be discolored.

City officials are offering a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest. Similar symbols have also been painted in a city park, a church and a shelter house near City Hall.