ChockFull

George "Jim" Ogle
Jim Ogle proudly wears his Apollo 11 Firing Room access badge (inset).
Born	August 3, 1937 Lake Worth, FL
Nationality	American
Education	BEE, Georgia Institute of Technology
Occupation	Engineer
Spouse	Barbara H. Ogle
Children	James Ogle, Jason Ogle & Kathryn (Ogle) Ruiz
Parent	Arthur James Ogle & Thelma Ogle
Engineering career
Discipline	Aerospace Technology & Space Exploration
Projects	Apollo/Saturn Moon Project (1960's and 70's)
Significant design	Communications & Tracking GSE for Space Shuttle program
Significant advance	Troubleshooting using Time Domain Reflectometry during Apollo era
Awards	NASA Group Achievement Award in 1972 presented by James Fletcher, NASA Administrator

Early Years

George “Jim” Anthony Ogle was born on August 3, 1937 in Lake Worth FL. He grew up with very rigid parents. His father (Arthur James Ogle) was a sort of Hollywood mogul back in the 1930s and used to socialize with many of the elite movie stars (e.g. Will Rogers, Tom Mix, etc.) of that day at high profile events where his name was always on the guest list. His father was also a closet alcoholic who married a schoolteacher (Thelma Ogle) who was a teetotaler and a very strict disciplinarian. She had no tolerance for her husband's drinking, which sometimes lead to his loss of employment adding further stress and burden to the family. There was a lot of dysfunction that eventually took its toll on all family members.

His Father was a savvy businessman and as a result, started his own construction business. In those days, being raised in a family business as a son meant you were expected to contribute. Jim lost many of the joys of his childhood as a result of the business and his father’s strict demands that he work through his summers when school was out.

During his childhood years, he can remember one summer that he was allowed to be a child out of school and to enjoy his summer vacation. He had broken his wrist and was therefore, unable to start working for his dad that summer. It was an amazing summer that he was able to enjoy being a carefree child. He spent the summer fishing and exploring the beautiful Banana and Indian Rivers from his home in South Merritt Island, Florida. He loved the endless summer days he spent alone with God and His creation casting his net into the water and bringing in an abundance of fish. This would easily become the most amazing summer he would ever experience in his childhood years.

Shattered Dreams

Deprived of the perfect game.

He had dreams of becoming a Major League Baseball pitcher and he was well on his way after an enviable pitching record his senior year in high school. This record included a near perfect no-hit game. Another of his dreams was to serve his great country in the military as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. Sadly, a tragic accident at the age of eight would shatter both of his greatest dreams and careen him into a life of hardship and uncertainty.

The Accident

On the way home from school one sunny Wednesday morning (April 24th, 1946), a taxi running a red light slammed into the side of the '37 Packard Woody station wagon that his Catholic school (Sacred Heart) was using as a school bus. The bus was hit so hard that it rolled over three times disintegrating and ejecting Jim and other kids in the process. Thankfully, there were no fatalities, but sadly there were two seriously injured children. One was a little boy who had his skull fractured from ear-to-ear, and the other was Jim. The impact was so intense that Jim’s right leg was severely mangled from a compound fracture and his shoe (with his right foot still in it) wound up in his lap. In addition to this, his left leg was broken at the hip and jammed up two inches into his hip area. Realignment of the bone in his left leg required traction with a 20-pound weight. At this time, penicillin had been used successfully in treating infections in WWII soldiers, and mega-doses of it may have been what aided in the miraculous saving of his right leg. His advanced team of doctors managed to reattach the leg and cosmetically repair some of the grim appearance with a seven hour skin graft operation. However, the damage was far too great to ever be able to give it a normal appearance because of the enormous loss of flesh and muscle tissue that could not be salvaged. As a result, he was the subject of ridicule and mockery by his childhood peers growing up. Imaginably, gym class and the locker room were very difficult for him. He learned how to fight at a young age and has always had a very rough exterior (and interior) as a result of his upbringing. Imaginably, the effects of the verbal abuse from his peers coupled with a dysfunctional upbringing transitioned into his teenage and adult years.

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  The '37 Packard Woody station wagon (school bus) Jimmy was riding in.
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  The taxi that collided with Jimmy's school bus.
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  Jimmy (8) in Good Samaritan's Hospital surrounded by model airplanes. The biggest was given to him by his Father.
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  Jimmy's recovery room in Good Samaritan Hospital. Also pictured, Michael Stone (severe head injury).

Defying the Odds

Jim still has his Apollo 11 firing room access badge.

In the forties when this accident occurred, the doctors predicted he would only have 10 years of use on his right leg before surrendering the remainder of his life to the confinement of a wheelchair. He's in his early 70's now [at the time of this publishing] and still walking without assistance! Talk about a miracle–he battled the odds and didn't become a victim of his circumstances. In addition to surviving abusive nuns in Catholic school, he went on to graduate from Georgia Tech with a degree in electrical engineering. He has been instrumental in initiating engineering technologies during the Apollo moon program and creating documentation that has been critical to the success of many of our space exploration missions. He was also in the Launch Control Room for all of the Apollo moon missions, including Apollo 13. After 50 years in the space industry, he is still working for Boeing on the Space Shuttle program at a shuttle parts repair facility.

Marriage and Family

Jim met his wife Barbara H. Ogle at a McDonnell/Douglas launch party on January 31, 1971. The party was being held in celebration of the successful launch of the Apollo 14 mission (which was the fourth out of six moon landings). They began dating shortly after and were married on August 14, 1971. Jim & Barbara have three children (James Ogle, Jason Ogle & Kathryn (Ogle) Ruiz).