Watch: 1967 CBS News special report on Apollo 1 tragedy

Friday marks 50 years since the Apollo 1 tragedy, where three astronauts were killed in a fire on the launch pad. Watch the full 1967 CBS News special report here.

[jimmyb]

I was 11 years old when this happened. There was a snowstorm in Chicago so our whole family was home digging out from 23 inches of snow. We watched the news that day and the following. few days all day long since we were snowed in. Still remember the sadness we all felt as we silently watched. The sixties were filled with tragic events.

[johnrockett]

I love old style news you actually want to listen to them

[centerice]

Turns out there was indeed communication from the astronauts, and it was horrible. My father was on the investigation team and heard the uncensored tape which he described as absolutely heartrending. He knew those men personally and had wished he didn't have to listen to it, but that it was his responsibility. And so he listened, in order to try and prevent such a tragedy from ever happing again. He said that he would carry the screams of his friends in his mind for the rest of his life. That complete recording, with all of the astronauts' voice transmissions, has never been released to the public. But back at this time in our country, our society was more dignified and civilized. Even the media was mostly honorable and interested in the fundamental principles of ethical journalism and fair, impartial reporting. Out of respect to the families and for the greater good of the space program and our country, the media cooperated with the story that the astronauts had died "silently, and swiftly." Had this tragedy occurred now, it would be a much different story. Our present day media, motivated by power, greed, and furthering a political agenda, would race to see who could be the first outlet to get that awful tape onto the air, caring not what suffering or damage they would be causing in the process, and at the end of the airing, would blame the whole thing on a President who hasn't been in office for the better part of a year.

[TheLeadSled]

Those three men were heros, not because they died but because they pursued the ultimate goal in man's history, space exploration. They will never be forgotten, Virgil I. Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Ed White.

[benjaminhanke]

I'd never seen these interviews and reports in full length.
Thanks CBS

[Stephanie-wpth]

Poor Gus... I can't imagine making it out of the capsule in 61 with the risk of drowning but dying after this tragedy only 6 years later...

[silvereagle]

Hearing the audio and Chaffee's last scream, this wasn't them going peacefully into the night.

[jdurham]

I was 9 yrs old when this happened. Brave men were adored and plentiful in 1967. As was their courage.

[coopa_troopa]

My grandpa was 27 and he worked for NASA. He actually was there when it happened, and made friends with some of the pilots before launch. Apollo stopped their missions for a while and my grandpa got bored, quit, and moved back to Mississippi where he met my grandmother.

[brianarbenz]

This was a profoundly painful night. I was 8. My sister was 10. She cried and ran into our Mom's room to tell her. I was stunned. I remember being hushed and disbelieving of this.

[jawoody]

I was only 6 years old when this occurred, but I remember the pure horror of it. We lost 3 outstanding astronauts and it set us back for quite some time.

[MrLyosea]

That's some pretty damn good quality for 1967. Even for CBS.

[TheJttv]

This news report is so elegant and honorable. What has gone wrong with news special reporting today....

[arthurweems]

Hard to believe 19 years and one day later, another major space accident. The Challenger Disaster.

[ilovebeinagirl]

Gus Grisson had a very pleasant voice. I could really seem him as having become an expert commentator for CBS or one of the other networks with that voice after he was done flying in space if he had lived

[effend]

A little off topic, but (regardless whether or not it was digitally remastered, ) the audio and video quality for 1967 is pretty good.

[dmmchugh]

This event is out of the memory of many of us, but I remember this tragedy being discussed by my parents years after it happened. Getting to the moon in the decade of the 1960's was our national goal. These men paved the way for others to get to space; their deaths were a national tragedy.
I can only wonder why we do not have similar national unity and goals today. In the 1960's, we certainly had problems: poverty, racism, war. Yet according to my parents, the space race was a unifying activity.
Can we ever return to a time of national cooperation? Today we seem to be devolving into an era of political bitterness, squabbling and vengeance. When I reflect on the Apollo1 tragedy, I am sad not only for that horrible loss of life, but also for seeing how far our political and national integrity have fallen.
Today 1/30/2021 is the anniversary of their funerals.
Heroes: rest in peace.
NEVER FORGOTTEN.

[marksimon]

27 January 1967; the day we lost three American heroes...
...and the day I cried for their loss.

[hazepennington]

I was 12 years old at the time, I can remember this so well when it came on CBS, I was watching TV and when this special bulletin interrupt TV programming, came on I can remember even as a kid the sorrow that I felt when I heard this,

[ronaldtartaglia]

Two disasters shown here.
1) Apollo 1
2) the death of real broadcasting. Today’s news is an embarrassment.