Theodore C. Freeman was born in Haverford, Pennsylvania on February 18, 1930.
When he was fifteen months old, Ted's family moved to Lewes, Delaware.
As Ted grew up, aviation became his passion. On his 16th birthday, Ted earned his pilot's license with 450 hours of flying time. During his high school years, the young aviator worked as a spotter pilot searching for schools of menhaden for Fish Products Company of Lewes, Delaware.
In 1948, Ted graduated with honors from Lewes High School and that summer earned his commercial pilot's license.
Ted was nominated for the United States Naval Academy by U.S. Senator John J. Williams of Millsboro, Delaware - earning a Bachelor of Science degree from this prestigious institution in 1953.
Honoring his lifelong love of flying, Ted chose to enter the United States Air Force as a Second Lieutenant. After two years of test-flying experience with advanced and high-performance aircraft, Ted was one of 14 candidates to graduate from aerospace school at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
On October 18, 1963, NASA selected him as one of the 14 astronauts for Projects Gemini and Apollo. Freeman was assigned to the Apollo Branch on February 3, 1964 - joining Gordon Cooper, Buzz Aldrin, Gene Cernan and Alan Bean at the Manned Spacecraft Center in
Houston, Texas.
Captain Freeman chose to make up routine flight hours near Ellington Air Force Base in Houston on October 31, 1964. Unexpectedly encountering a flock of snow geese caused both engines of his T-38A Talon jet to fail. Realizing he wouldn't clear military homes - some of which housed fellow astronauts - he desperately banked away from the houses. This unselfish act cost him his life. Capt. Ted Freeman became the first American astronaut to lose his life in the country's quest to get to the moon.
All 28 astronauts were in attendance at the funeral in Houston and burial at Arlington National Cemetery, an extraordinary occurrence in history when all of NASA's astronauts were gathered in the same place at the same time.
The Freeman Highway approach to the Cape May - Lewes Ferry forever recognizes and honors the contributions of local hero, Capt. Theodore C. Freeman, and his service to our country.
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