Gus Grissom was born on April 3, 1926, in Mitchell, Indiana. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces on November 9, 1943, and went on active duty on August 8, 1944. World War II ended before he could enter pilot training, and he received an honorable discharge from active duty on November 3, 1945, but remained in the Air Force Reserve. Grissom entered the Aviation Cadet Program on February 28, 1950, and was commissioned a 2Lt in the U.S. Air Force and awarded his pilot wings on March 24, 1951. During the Korean War, Lt Grissom flew 100 combat missions with the 334th Fighter Interceptor Squadron from November 1951 to June 1952. He next flew as an instructor pilot at Bryan AFB, Texas, before becoming an Air Force Test Pilot in April 1957. In April 1959, Grissom was selected as one of the Mercury 7 astronauts. He became the 2nd American to go into space on July 21, 1961. Grissom served as command pilot on the first manned Gemini flight on March 23, 1965, and he was backup command pilot for Gemini 6. Gus Grissom was killed on January 27, 1967, when a flash fire swept through the Apollo Command Module during a launch pad test at Kennedy Space Center. He was survived by his wife Betty and two sons, Scotty and Mark. Gus Grissom is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.