CHAPTER VI 



Gemini and Apollo 



The night before Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins 

 blasted off on their trip to the Moon, NASA arranged a large dinner 

 party at the Cocoa Beach, Fla., Country Club. As a prelude to the 

 highly successful Moon flight on July 16, 1969, the dinner was a memo- 

 rable affair because it brought together once again many of those who 

 had worked for years toward the goal about to be realized. House 

 Majority Leader— later Speaker — Carl Albert recalls the occasion 

 vividly. 



NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine was at the microphone 

 introducing the leading Members of the House and Senate who had 

 played a big part in the program, as well as those NASA officials who 

 could spare some time away from the blockhouse or control room. 

 Warm applause greeted some of the congressional leaders and their 

 wives. Then something very unusual happened, according to Carl 

 Albert. When Tiger Teague came in, Tom Paine raised his voice to 

 proclaim, 'And now, Mr. Manned Space himself, the guy who really 

 put this show on the road * * * Tiger Teague!" The crowd went wild 

 with sustained applause. It was basically a tribute by those who worked 

 on Project Apollo, who were expressing their appreciation not only 

 for the unflagging support and leadership given to the program, but 

 for the man himself who had done so much to put Apollo across in 

 Congress and the Nation. 



As chairman of the Manned Space Flight Subcommittee, Teague 

 was in a position of leadership where he and his subcommittee could 

 make or break the manned lunar landing program, not only so far as 

 NASA was concerned, but even more important in the rest of the 

 Congress and the Nation. 



Dr. Wernher von Braun, who always measured his words carefully 

 when assessing a contemporary, put it this way: "Without 'Tiger' 

 Teague's unwavering support our Apollo astronauts would never have 

 landed on the Moon." 



One of Teague's most important achievements as chairman of the 

 Manned Space Flight Subcommittee was his ability to educate other 

 Members of Congress so they would understand and vote for funding 

 the space program. His leadership, strategy, and tactics closely re- 

 sembled the pattern he had developed as a battalion commander in 



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