This letter from Alan Shepard to my father (Lt. Col. Joe R. Johnson, USAF Ret.) is framed and hanging in my office. It is referring to the October 1967 T-38 crash near Tallahassee, FL that killed astronaut Clifton "C.C." Williams. My father was the flight safety officer at Moody Air Force Base in nearby Valdosta, GA. He was the Air Force liaison to NASA and was in charge of the site excavation and careful removal of the remains of the aircraft from what he refers to as, "the crater." The crater was about 15 feet deep and 25 - 30 feet across. Williams and the ejection seat had just separated from the aircraft when they both struck the ground at about 600 miles per hour.
Gary Johnson
