Leland Kirkemo

Leland Erwin Kirkemo (28 May 1920 – 23 September 2010) was a United States Navy captain. As the skipper of the amphibious assault ship in 1970, he was responsible for the recovery of the Apollo 13 spacecraft and crew.

Early life Leland Erwin Kirkemo was born in Wahena Township, Cass County, Minnesota, on 28 May 1920, the son of Thorleif Kirkemo and his wife Lena ( Lone). His father was an immigrant from Norway who had arrived in the United States in 1903 with his family. Kirkemo grew up in Itasca County, Minnesota, where his father was a mailman and his mother was a schoolteacher who taught at the small, one-room local school. He went to Deer River High School, from which he graduated in 1936.

Naval career In February 1942, not long after the United States entered World War II, Kirkemo enlisted in the United States Navy. He was initially trained as a radio operator, but was then selected for flight training in Jacksonville, Florida. During a furlough to visit his parents in Minnesota, After the war ended, Kirkemo decided to remain in the Navy, and to marry Louise. They were married in Knapp, Dunn County, Wisconsin, on 25 August 1946. They had a daughter and two sons. He attended the Navy General Line School in Monterey, California, and was posted to a heavy attack squadron at NAS Moffett Field in California that trained to deliver nuclear weapons. He served with the Heavy Attack Squadron 7 (VAH-7) at Sandia Base in New Mexico and on the staff of Heavy Attack Wing One in Norfolk, Virginia. When the story of Apollo 13 was made into a film, Apollo 13 (1995), the real Jim Lovell, the skipper of Apollo 13, had a cameo scene as Kirkemo, saluting and shaking hands with "Jim Lovell" (played by Tom Hanks).

Later life In his last assignment, as chief of staff of the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Kirkemo lived in Oak Harbor, Washington. He and his wife liked the area so much that after he retired from the Navy in July 1975, they elected to stay there. He was a member of the Oak Harbor Rotary Club, and he served as its president from 1983 to 1984. He was also involved in the Navy League, the Deception Pass Power Squadron, and the Oak Harbor Yacht Club. He died on 23 September 2010 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease, and was buried in Tahoma National Cemetery in King County, Washington.