This article was originally written by Jane Shambra under the title "Biloxi's Tribute to Fred Haise" for BNews Monthly, the monthly newsletter of the City of Biloxi. Photographs courtesy of the LHG Image Collection / Local History & Genealogy Department / Harrison County Library System unless otherwise specified.
On February 13, 2022, the City of Biloxi unveiled a statue dedicated to Fred Haise — Biloxi native, astronaut and fighter pilot. Let’s take a look at his years in Biloxi and the honors bestowed on Biloxi’s hero.
Fred Wallace Haise Jr. was born in Biloxi to Lucille and Fred Haise Sr. on Nov. 14, 1933. The 1940 Census confirms that Fred, age 6, was living with his parents on Church Street, and his dad was a mechanic for the U.S. Veterans Facility.
As a youngster, Fred was nicknamed “Pecky,” which he acquired when he became a woodpecker in an elementary school play.
Fred’s schooling began in Biloxi where he attended Sacred Heart Academy, Gorenflo Elementary, Howard I Elementary, and Biloxi Junior and Central High schools. Having excelled academically, Fred was able to graduate early, at age 16. After graduation in 1950, he went to Perkinston Junior College and the University of Oklahoma where he received a Bachelor of Science with honors in Aeronautical Engineering. This accomplished student also received a doctorate of science from Western Michigan University and attended Harvard Business School.
Fred‘s military career included service in the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air National Guard. He accumulated at least 9,300 hours of flying time, including 6,200 hours in jets.
The Early Days
Fred was an accomplished Biloxi Boy Scout, a member of the Wilkes’ Troop 212 group, where he learned the motto “Always Be Prepared.” This training and dedication came in handy during the trials and tribulations of his Apollo 13 voyage.
Write On
Fred’s apparent first calling was to be a journalist. Located in the Biloxi Library, there is a very delicate Biloxi High School Hi-Tide newspaper with our hero’s name clearly printed as the 1948 Sports Editor. He even worked as a paperboy six days a week for the Daily Herald newspaper.
While in high school and on college vacations, Fred continued to work for the newspaper. A little-known fact about his Apollo 13 flight is that he carried along a tiny edition of the Daily Herald in one of his space suit pockets. He specifically chose the July 21, 1969 publication since it reported the first landing on the moon. We wonder where that souvenir is today!
Street Signs
In April 1970, three Biloxi youngsters, Dann and Darel Balius and Stan Dellenger, manufactured their own street sign, Fred Haise St. and hung it below the existing “Church St.” sign”, the street where the Haise family was reared. This inspired many projects.
On May 11, 1970, Biloxi City Council officially changed Fred’s hometown street from Church St. to Haise St. Likewise, the City also honored our beloved astronaut by renaming Central Beach between Main and Porter to Fred Haise Blvd. These street signs stayed in place until the latter 1980s when that section of Hwy. 90 was assigned the designation of West Beach Blvd.
Fred Haise Day
By mid-April 1970, the Biloxi Chamber of Commerce, under the direction of Emile Fallo Jr., Walter Fountain, Jake Mladinich, and Steve Sekul, organized a committee responsible for coordinating all special “Welcome Home” events along the Coast.
Our Biloxi hero arrived from Houston at Keesler Air Force Base on the evening of May 7, 1970 in a special NASA plane.
The City of Biloxi declared Fred Haise Day, which actually lasted two days — May 8 and 9 — with multiple celebrations including a parade, a banquet, special visits to schools, speeches, and meetings with dignitaries.
A special emblem was also designed to commemorate Fred Haise Day.
Then-Mayor Danny Guice joined forces with Keesler AFB officials in a formal ceremony welcoming Fred’s return home. Keesler hosted an official ceremony which included music by their 502nd Air Force Band.
The two-hour parade was held on Saturday, May 9 and began near Central High School and travelled west on Howard to Main, then voyaged to Beach Blvd. where it continued westerly from there. Along the route, Haise stopped at City Hall, for a special celebration hosted by Mayor Guice.
It was televised live and in color by WLOX- TV-13 as well as via WLOX radio station 1490. In those days, the station’s motto was “Be Sure and Stay Tuned.
Our hero also scheduled a special visit to the Keesler Hospital where he visited the bedsides of American service men and women who had been wounded in Vietnam.
The Big Screen
In 1995, the award-winning movie "Apollo 13" was released by Universal City Studios, twenty-five years after Fred’s historic flight into outer space. This 2 hour and 20-minute film was directed by Ron Howard, with Bill Paxton starring as our Biloxi astronaut and accompanied by Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Sinise.
Biloxi’s United Artists Surfside 4 theater offered this PG rated film. Once upon a time, this theater was located between Hunan’s Chinese Restaurant and Eckerd’s Drug Store on Hwy. 90 (then called West Beach). During that year, The Sun Herald newspaper only advertised three general movie theaters within the city limits, not including the Saenger Theatre which had already been designated as a theatrical arts locale.
The movie has left an everlasting quote that we will all remember: “Houston, we have a problem”, uttered by astronaut Jim Lovell. In actuality, the official NASA tape recorded “Ahh, Houston, we’ve had a problem”. There is not much of a difference in the wording, but the scary message remains the same.
Today, this Apollo 13 movie is available for streaming online as well as on DVD (released in 1998) and at many of the Harrison County Libraries.
Upon Apollo 13’s return to the earth, Biloxians weren’t the only ones celebrating. The landing of the Apollo 13 aircraft was certainly a cliffhanger worldwide. People across the globe were glued to their televisions and radio stations awaiting the hopeful news of a safe return to planet earth. Church bells rang everywhere, and even Pope Paul VI in Rome was prayerfully tuned in as he watched Fred’s successful splashdown.
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