NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal

 Civic leader, Huntsville Facility Manager for IBM's NASA contract

Born:

December 18, 1924, Juniata, Blair Co., PA

Died:

August 6, 1999, Bethesda, MD

Notes:

•  Son of James Clinton "Clint" GRACE b: 3 Jul 1901 in Hopewell, Bedford Co., PA and Leila Gladys Clark b: 5 Nov 1904 in Mattie, Bedford Co., PA - RootsWeb

•  Married 1.) Jean Butts 2.) Grace Wright. - RootsWeb

•  Married Grace Wright Grace June 25, 1947 in Six Mile Run, Bedford Bo., PA. - Obituary for his wife

•  Separated from Active Service December 7, 1945, Marine Corps Base, San Diego, California. - WWII

•  "President, UGF 1960; Chairman, U. S. Savings Bond Campaign, 1968; President, Tennessee Valley Association U. S. Army, 1971; Director Tennessee Valley Chapter, American Ordnance Association; Director, Huntsville Industrial Expansion Committee, 1969-1971; Director, Chamber of Commerce, 1968-1971; President, Association of Huntsville Area Companies, 1968; Director, Huntsville Achievement School. 1968-1971." - Record

•  NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal awarded in 1973. "It is an award similar to the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, but awarded to non-government personnel. This is the highest honor NASA awards to anyone who was not a government employee when the service was performed." - Wikipedia

•  "The rocket went from a Redstone to a Jupiter, then the Saturn. When the decision was made to go to the moon, and IBM won the contract for the instrument package, they decided to do the manufacturing in Huntsville. The major role of IBM as the principal manufacturer for the instrument unit began in February 1964. Clinton H. Grace was the facility manager at Huntsville." - Graham Hancock

•  Unlike most major launch vehicle components, which were manufactured elsewhere around the country, the instrument unit was produced in Huntsville. IBM made a major commitment in setting up complete research and development facilities, engineering offices, and production facilities in the city's Research Park. Although the company started with only a sales office building in Huntsville in 1962 and originally assumed most of its work would be done in New York, the scope of work implied a need for new facilities, and IBM decided on a complex in Huntsville. By 1964, IBM completed a manufacturing building in Huntsville's Research Park, and the company site included four major buildings, representing a $14 million investment with a work force of 2000. Clinton H. Grace, the facility manager at Huntsville, was a dynamic force in both the organization and buildup of the IBM complex and won high praise from Wernher von Braun. Speaking at the dedication of the IBM facility in 1965, von Braun commented, "In this project, a saying has developed at Marshall Center, 'When you're in trouble, say 'Grace'--and Grace will take care of your problems.'" - Bilstein


Related Links:

•  Ancestry.com - Page owned by TerryWBruggeman and can be viewed only with an Ancestry.com paid subscription. (Originally found at http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/14057803/person/54134787.)

•  Bilstein - Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicle by Roger E. Bilstein, 1999, pages 245 & 247.

•  Graham Hancock - Message Board (Originally found at http://www.grahamhancock.com/phorum/read.php?f=3&i=32934&t=32934.)

•  NYT - Article by Dennis Hevesi in New York Times, December 17, 2010 with a photo of Grace with Haeussermann and von Braun. The picture was published when Walter Haeussermann died. (Originally found at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/18/us/18haeussermann.html?_r=0.)

•  Obituary for his wife - Washington Post Jan. 19, 2009. (Originally found at http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=rrrose2&id=I193425.)

•  Record - A Dream Come True: The Story of Madison County and Incidentially of Alabama and the United States, Volume II, by James Record, 1978, page 676.

•  RootsWeb - Genealogical information

•  Wikipedia - NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal.

•  WWII - Pennsylvania, Veteran compensation Applications, WWII, 1950 as viewed through an Ancestry.com paid subscription.

The Following Pages Link to this Page:
•  Record