Intrepid Plaques

Gemini 3 was the first manned mission of the Gemini program and was launched on Tuesday, March 23, 1965. Designed to check out the spacecraft, the mission was planned for and lasted three orbits before reentering, splashing down in the in the Atlantic Ocean near Grand Turk Island, and being recovered by the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid. After receiving a medical checkup and taking a call from President Johnson on-board the carrier, the astronauts were flown to Kennedy Space Center the next day for debriefing and a press conference.

The spacecraft remained on-board the carrier until Thursday, March 25, when it was off-loaded at Naval Station Mayport, located in Jacksonville FL. Astronauts Grissom and Young returned to the Intrepid for a ceremony where the ship's crew presented them with plaques commemorating the flight and recovery of Gemini 3.

Virgil I Gus Grissom and John Young receiving plaques from the crew of the USS Intrepid

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From an eBay auction.
Collection and cleanup by heroicrelics.

Grissom's plaque is today located in the Grissom Memorial in his home town of Mitchell, IN.