Michigan Military Preservation Society

Filmmaker Daniel Joel Deal and sculptor J. Brett Grill talk about the documentary “Roger B. Chaffee: Aviator Ad Astra,” which airs on WKTV Channel 25 at Oct. 16 and 18. (Photo credit: WKTV)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

When constructing a statute like the one of former astronaut Roger B. Chaffee on the corner of Sheldon Boulevard and Fulton Street in downtown Grand Rapids, the most difficult part is trying to figure out what the person looked like from behind.

“When you think about it, people never take pictures of people from behind, it is always from the the front,” said filmmaker Daniel Joel Deal, whose documentary, “Roger B. Chaffee: Aviator Ad Astra” will premiere on WKTV Channel 25 Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 4 p.m., and Friday, Oct. 18, at noon. The film follows the story of Chaffee’s life and the construction of the statue in his honor.

Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee (Photo supplied by NASA)

Sculputor J. Brett Grill, who was commissioned to create the Roger B. Chaffee sculpture, agreed.

“Figuring out how the [astronaut’s] suit is going to lay, where the folds should be to create the movement, it’s all important to the piece,” Grill said during a recent Locally Entertaining podcast.

The Michigan Military Preservation Society (MMPS), together with the Lowell American Legion Post #152, raised the funds for the statue. The statute was the swan song for the MMPS, a non-profit organization of veterans whose vision was to honor historical contributions made by West Michigan vets. The group officially disbanded after the statute of Chaffee was installed by the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum in May.

The Locally Entertaining podcast with Daniel Joel Deal and J. Brett Grill.

As part of the project, the MMPS hired Deals to create a documentary about Chaffee and the construction of the statute. Chaffee was a NASA astronaut who was part of the Apollo 1 crew. The crew, which included Gus Grissom and Ed White, all died in a flash fire during a launch pad test at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.

Chaffee was from the Grand Rapids area, having graduated from Central High School in 1953. His parents moved to the Wyoming area after his death. The City of Wyoming’s Roger B. Chaffee Boulevard is named after Chaffee and is the former landing strip of the Kent County Airport which became the Gerald R. Ford International Airport.

“He was definitely up and coming,” said Deal of Chaffee. Deal spent about 18 months researching Chaffee’s life, visiting the National Archives and other sources for video. Through that process, Deals said he was able to find quite a bit of video on Chaffee including funeral footage and video of Chaffee talking about his life and career.

“So Chaffee narrates his own story, which was important to me because I wanted people to know who he is and leave some mystery as to what was going to happen,” Deal said.

Deal said having access to a facility like WKTV is vital to a person like himself who pretty much handles all the aspects of film producing.

“I am just a single producer, director, photographer and editor, so you know to have lights, cameras, and even some of the post-production stuff in the editing suites for mixing sound effects and stuff like that is important,” Deal said.

“All the rocket sounds are silent, so we added that,” he said, adding with a laugh, “I think we shook the building and someone came and told us that that rocket is too loud.”

For both Deal and Grill, the reason they wanted to work on this project was the opportunity to preserve a piece of history that was starting to fade.

“I like projects that I can keep the story alive,” Grill said. “This was one of those stories which was what drew me to being a part of this project.”

Other showings of the documentary “Roger B. Chaffee: Aviator Ad Astra” are planned, so check out the WKTV schedule on the wktvjournal.org and on wktv.org.

On the far right is Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee with his crew. Photo courtesy of NASA

By David Thompson

A full-sized bronze statue of Apollo Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee will be unveiled in his hometown of Grand Rapids at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 19. Chaffee’s widow Martha and daughter Sheryl Lyn plan to attend the event, taking place at the corner of East Fulton Street and Sheldon Avenue NE, near the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum.

Chaffee was born and raised in Grand Rapids, where he was a 1953 graduate of Grand Rapids Central High School. He went on to become a U.S. naval aviator who flew missions during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1961.

In 1963, NASA selected Chaffee for its third group of astronauts. In 1966, he joined the crew of AS-204 (Apollo 1), which was to be NASA’s first three-man flight. Chaffee, along with his crewmates Virgil “Gus” Grissom and Ed White, died on January 27, 1967, in flash fire during a launch pad test at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

His parents, Donald and Blanche Chaffee, had moved to the City of Wyoming where the former Kent County Airport landing strip was renamed the Roger B. Chaffee Boulevard. Also the American Legion Roger B. Chaffee Post 154 is located in City of Wyoming.

The Michigan Military Preservation Society (MMPS), together with the Lowell American Legion Post #152, raised the funds for the statue. MMPS is a non-profit organization of veterans whose vision is to honor historical contributions made by West Michigan vets.

CMDR David L. Thompson, USN (Ret.) chaired the project, with MMPS board members Dan Pfeiffer and Bud Vierson. This group chose respected sculptor and Grand Rapids native J. Brett Grill to undertake the project.

“We conducted a nationwide search to find the absolute finest possible sculptor to handle this commission,” said Thompson. “We wanted an artist who worked in bronze, and who could create a lifelike work of art. To our delight, we found Brett Grill, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the final product.”

Roger B. Chaffee Photo courtesy of the Grand Rapids Public Museum

Grill has become a highly sought-after sculptor, who recently returned to his hometown to open a Grand Rapids studio. In recent years, Grill has sculpted several likenesses of President Gerald R. Ford, on display in Grand Rapids and distinguished locations around the country.

Additional commissions, including Amway co-founder Jay Van Andel, Michigan Football Coach Glenn E. “Bo” Schembechler, L. William Seidman and others are displayed in well-known locations in Grand Rapids and around the state.

“I was deeply humbled to receive this commission,” said Grill. “Roger Chaffee is a hometown hero whose sacrifice helped ensure that mankind successfully reached the Moon. While a street and a building in Grand Rapids bear his name, his story may be less well known. For these reasons I’m immensely proud to be a part of its telling.”

The bronze statue alone stands over seven feet tall. Sitting atop a stone base adds another 36 inches. “Roger Chaffee will stand tall over this high traffic intersection in the heart of Grand Rapids for generations to come,” added Thompson.

The MMPS has also commissioned a documentary produced by West Michigan filmmaker Daniel Joel Deal. The program will track the arc of the project, starting with selecting Grill as the artist. It includes Grill’s detailed research of Chaffee and his lifelong passion for flight, visiting the NASA archives, creating the initial clay sculptures, right through to the foundry casting and installing the final bronze work.

MMPS plans to make the film available to schools, and talks are underway to air this fascinating story on television.

“For a statue of this caliber, it was critically important to me that every detail is accurate,” added Grill. “For a space suit that never flew on a mission, that meant doing some serious digging to learn some of the details needed to recreate Roger in his pressure suit and holding his helmet.”

This accuracy can only add value to a statue that will reside on the NW corner of East Fulton Street and Sheldon Avenue in downtown Grand Rapids, near the entrance of the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum. Beginning on May 19, children and adults alike will have a chance to see the man from Grand Rapids who played an important role in achieving humanity’s goal of walking on the moon.