posted 10-09-2021 07:49 PM               

In 1966, my father Phil Waters... was invited to the International Geophysical Year, that was held in the Bend/Redmond Oregon area... The IGY was held in the Bend/Redmond area because at the time, scientists believed that the geology most resembled the lunar surface...

At the IGY gathering that week, they met world-renowned scientists and astronauts. Among the astronauts were Charlie Duke, Joe Engle and Stuart Roosa. That introduction led to a life-long friendship... many salmon fishing trips, countless duck/goose hunts, a bobcat hunt and... a spectacular elk hunt. The story of the elk hunt with my father... on the Weyerhaeuser tree farm was even published in the August 1969 Field & Stream magazine.

From then on, my dad [was] always invited... to each Apollo Saturn V launch... It was decided between my father and Roosa (and explicitly approved by NASA) that on the Apollo XIV mission, astronaut Roosa could bring this small Weyerhaeuser insignia flag to the moon. Roosa carried this logo on Apollo Mission XIV from January 31, 1971 through February 9, 1971. As a special bonus, Roosa confirmed to my family... that his fellow astronauts... took the flag to the lunar surface... safely stored in one of the personal memento kits that was kept inside the Lunar Module.