William J. O'Donnell, a NASA Public Affairs Officer who served in a number of different capacities from 1962 to 1981 including NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, died April 6, 2011 after a long illness. He was 86.
After service in World War II including the Battle of Huertgen Forest, O'Donnell worked as a newspaper editor before joining the publication staff at Boeing Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas followed by a stint with North American Aviation. O'Donnell's first day with NASA coincided with Wally Schirra's Mercury flight in October 1962.
During his tenure with NASA he was an outspoken proponent of providing news outlets with real-time unedited transmissions during missions. This was severely tested during the Apollo 13 flight. O'Donnell later accompanied that crew on the overseas tour on their return to Earth. He would remain with the space agency through the first few flights of the space shuttle.