Guenter Wendt

Günter F. Wendt (also spelled Guenter Wendt; August 28, 1923 – May 3, 2010) was a German-born American mechanical engineer noted for his work in the U.S. human spaceflight program. An employee of McDonnell Aircraft and later North American Aviation, he was in charge of the spacecraft close-out crews at the launch pads for the entire Mercury and Gemini programs (1961–1966) and the crewed phases of the Apollo, Skylab, and Apollo–Soyuz programs (1968–1975) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). His official title was Pad Leader.

After the Allied victory, there were few job opportunities for engineers in Germany under the Occupation, so Wendt decided to emigrate to the United States in 1949 and joined his divorced father in St. Louis, Missouri. Defense contractor McDonnell Aircraft was interested in employing Wendt as an engineer, but could not hire a German citizen since the company was working on U.S. Navy contracts. Wendt found a job as a truck mechanic (though he had never worked on trucks) and within one year became shop supervisor. He obtained his U.S. citizenship in 1955 and shortly thereafter was hired by McDonnell.

Later years

Wendt's wife, Herma, died in 1993 after more than 40 years of marriage.

Awards and honors

Wendt is a recipient of NASA's Letter of Appreciation award, the Silver Snoopy award