In Memoriam: NASA's Frank Borman 1928-2023

Never in a million years could I have imagined that I would become the first U.S. journalist permitted to interview former NASA astronaut Colonel Frank Borman on Thursday August 9, 2001. I wish I could say that it was my dazzling personality that led to my interview (now available on CD at The National Air & Space Museum's Permanent Oral Lecture Series). In truth, what led me to get my proverbial foot in the door was the fact that both Frank and I knew and admired Marty Shugrue. Marty spearheaded efforts to save Pan Am and Eastern Airlines; the latter airline was where Borman devoted 16 years of his professional life. My late friend, Southwest Airlines Historian (and my colleague at Airways Magazine), Brian Lusk, arranged my air travel on Southwest to El Paso. Once I landed, I picked up a red Chevrolet Cobalt rental car and sped onto Las Cruces International Airport. Once I arrived to a non descript hangar with a second floor office and gained entry after identifying myself to an administrative assistant, Frank stood at the top of the stairs and said "Michael?" When I reached the second floor, Frank, greeted me, casually dressed in khakis slacks, and a short sleeve pocket shirt that held his reading glasses. He shook my hand firmly with a smile and said, "Michael, Frank Borman." I remember hoping that my dad was watching this encounter from Heaven.

The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on the passing of the last of my original four mentors in life, former NASA astronaut Col. (ret.) Frank Borman. Frank passed away from a stroke on Nov. 7, in Billings, Montana, at the age of 95.?

“Today we remember one of NASA’s best. Astronaut Frank Borman was a true American hero. Among his many accomplishments, he served as the commander of the Apollo 8 mission, humanity’s first mission around the Moon in 1968.

“His lifelong love for aviation and exploration was only surpassed by his love for his wife Susan.

“Frank began his career as an officer with the U.S. Air Force. His love of flying proved essential through his positions as a fighter pilot, operational pilot, test pilot, and assistant professor. His exceptional experience and expertise led him to be chosen by NASA to join the second group of astronauts.

“In addition to his critical role as commander of the Apollo 8 mission, he is a veteran of Gemini 7, spending 14 days in low-Earth orbit and conducting the first rendezvous in space, coming within a few feet of the Gemini 6 spacecraft.

“Frank continued his passion for aviation after his time with NASA as the CEO of Eastern Airlines.

“Frank knew the power exploration held in uniting humanity when he said, ‘Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit.’ His service to NASA and our nation will undoubtedly fuel the Artemis Generation to reach new cosmic shores.”

Message from NASA: "A hero of the American Space Odyssey, Frank Borman led the first team of American astronauts to circle the moon, extending man's horizons into space. He is internationally known as Commander of the 1968 Apollo 8 Mission. A romance with airplanes that began when he was 15 years old, took Frank Borman to the Air Force and then to NASA. A career Air Force officer from 1950, his assignments included service as a fighter pilot, an operational pilot and instructor, an experimental test pilot and an assistant professor of Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics at West Point. When selected by NASA, Frank Borman was instructor at the Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. In 1967 he served as a member of the Apollo 204 Fire Investigation Board, investigating the causes of the fire which killed three astronauts aboard an Apollo spacecraft, reminiscent of the Challenger tragedy. Later he became the Apollo Program Resident Manager, heading the team that reengineered the Apollo spacecraft. He also served as Field Director of NASA's Space Station Task Force. Frank Borman retired from the air Force in 1970, but is well remembered as a part of this nation's history, a pioneer in the exploration of space and a veteran of both the Gemini 7, 1965 Space Orbital Rendezvous with Gemini 6 and the first manned lunar orbital mission, Apollo 8, in 1968.

Borman's retirement from the Air Force in 1970 did not end his aviation career. He became a special advisor to Eastern Airlines in early 1969 and in December 1970 was named Sr. Vice President-Operations Group. He was promoted to Executive Vice President-Genera Operations Manager and was elected to Eastern's Board of Directors in July 1974. In May 1975 he was elected President and Chief Operating Officer. He was named Chief Executive Officer in December 1975 and became Chairman of the Board in December 1976. During his tenure as Chief Executive Officer of Eastern, the airline industry went through an enormous change caused by deregulation.

During this period Eastern originated several unique programs including profit sharing and wages tied to company profitability. These programs produced the four most profitable years in the company's history. Frank Borman retired from Eastern Airlines in June of 1986. He served as Special Presidential Ambassador on trips throughout the Far East and Europe, including a worldwide tour to seek support for the release of American Prisoners of War held by North Vietnam.

He received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor from the President of the United States. Colonel Borman also was awarded the Harmon International Aviation Trophy, the Robert J. Collier Trophy, the Tony Jannus Award and the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Medal--in addition to many honorary degrees, special honors and service decorations. In September of 1990, Colonel Borman along with fellow Apollo 8 astronauts, Lovell and Anders, was inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame. And in October of 1990 received the Airport Operators Council International Downes Award. In March 1993, he was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Frank Borman was born in Gary, Indiana, and was raised in Tucson, Arizona. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, in 1950 and a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1957. He completed the Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program in 1970."

He wrote an autobiography entitled Countdown: An Autobiography with Robert J. Serling.

Frank Borman was married to his high school sweetheart, the former Susan Bugbee of Tucson, Arizona. They had two sons, Frederick and Edwin, and four grandchildren. In recent years, Frank and Susan relocated to their 4,000 acre working livestock ranch in Billings, Montana.

You'd never imagine that a man of Frank's magnitude worked in an unassuming hangar office with only an executive assistant handling his calls. This was classic Frank Borman -- running a very flat organization. He disdained bringing attention to himself, and brushed off appearing on the covers of Look, Time and Newsweek magazines.

After returning as Special Envoy to Vietnam at the behest of U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, Frank delivered a scathing report of badly treated U.S. Prisoners of War to the president at his home in San Clemente, California.

Next, Frank Borman was recruited from NASA by Floyd Hall, then-president of Eastern Airlines, to serve as a Special Advisor. Eastern was then the fourth-largest airline in the United States.

On July 1, 1970, Frank Borman, his wife Susan and their two sons relocated to Miami, Florida near Eastern's towering headquarters at the massive Building 9, located on 36th Avenue on the outskirts of Miami International Airport. By December of that year, he became senior vice president for operations.

According to biographer Robert J. Serling, "When Frank was appointed president of Eastern Airlines in May 1975, he assumed responsibility for a $1 billion deficit, a competitive short haul route system, executive deadwood, and a fleet that was fuel inefficient and mostly obsolete. Borman brought the powers of his intellect and a dose of sheer true grit to the job. As employee morale blossomed, so did performance. Between 1976 and 1980 Borman established good relations with the unions and achieved record level profits and management stability."

In February 1986, Eastern Airlines was sold to Texas Air Corporation.

Frank Borman retired from the airline industry and relocated to Las Cruces, New Mexico. He held a majority interest in a car dealership (Borman Ford), restored and sold World War II fighter aircraft, and became CEO of Patlex Corporation, a small company that enforced laser light patents until 2003.

I asked Frank about his friendship with celebrated aviator Charles Lindbergh and he recalled the duo taking the inaugural ride on San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART) before it was open to the public. Afterwards, a crowd sought autographs from Frank as the two men emerged from the BART station. Lindbergh quickly walked away. He later told Frank, "You know, I really admire you being able to do that. I just can't bring myself to do it". Recalling this, Frank told me, "He was, I think, a very shy person. Very, very nice guy. And I don't think that he was being reclusive in not signing autographs, he just wasn't comfortable in that kind of a situation."

My impression of Frank was that he disliked ego and becoming the focus of media. His single-minded discipline of "completing the mission" was forged at West Point. A perforated eardrum resulting from combat flight training for the Korean War, relegated him to serving as a test pilot of combat jet aircraft including the Lockheed P-80 and the F-104 Starfighter.

Frank and Susan Borman welcomed their first child Fred in 1951 after being assigned to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. Transferring to Clark Air Base in the Philippines, The Bormans welcomed their second son, Edwin in 1953. Like their father, Fred and Edwin also graduated from The U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

When I asked Frank what his proudest achievement was, he replied:

"I think the proudest achievement while I was at NASA was that I played a role in helping us beat the the Soviets to the Moon. That was very important. We had a mission there and everything was oriented to doing the mission. It was a wonderful place to be because we had talented people. We had Chris Kraft [NASA's director of flight operations], (Dr. Werner) von Braun (acknowledged 'father of space travel') , (Robert) Gilruth (director of the Manned Spacecraft Center) who were talented and completely oriented to this.

"At Eastern, I was really proud of the fact that we were able to resurrect what was a dying airline and make a go of it. It was a severe disappointment when we had to sell out. But I still think that we gave it the very best that we could, and arrogant enough to think that nobody, no management team could have done any better. And since then, I've been a happy grandfather.

Frank Borman delivered the commencement address to The University of Arizona on May 17, 2008.

I will miss Frank Borman, and I was extremely blessed to have spent some time with him. He was a generous and extraordinary man of goodwill. After our interview, he asked if I would like to walk downstairs and look at his hangar on the ground level of his office. We walked in and I was treated to the breathtaking site of a rare North American Aviation P-51 Mustang Trainer, one of only 6 left in the world. Frank smiled and asked me, "Do you collect airplane models?" I replied, "I sure do". "Really, what do you have?", he asked. I told him that I had 1/100 scale resin models of the Eastern fleet at the time of his retirement. Frank then asked, "Would you like to see mine? They're all here and some of them are quite dusty." He showed me a prototype of the Boeing 757 -- surprisingly a three-engine configuration that Frank rejected in favor of the twin engine design that emerged worldwide beginning with Eastern as the launch customer.

After returning home, I shipped Frank my large model of an Eastern Airlines Lockheed L-1011 Tri-Star for his collection to express my gratitude.

Sadly, Susan Borman died on September 7, 2021. The Bormans will be interred in New York at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. My condolences go out to Frank and Susan's sons, Fred and Edwin, along with their four grandchildren, family and friends.

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