Edward Galen Givens, Jr.
Major, Astronaut, U.S. Air Force

Edward Galen Givens, Jr. was born on 5 January 1930 in Quanah, TX. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second highest rank, Life Scout.

Givens was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force upon graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1952 and received his flight training as a student pilot at the U.S. Air Force Air Training Command. In 1954, he was a flight commander and fighter pilot with the 35th Fighter Interceptor Group on duty in Japan. He served as an Instructor at the Air Force Interceptor Weapons School from January 1956 to March 1958 and subsequently attended the U.S. Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, CA. Upon graduation he became an instructor in the Stability and Control Section.

His next assignment took him to the Naval Air Station at Point Mugu, CA, where he was a Project Pilot with Air Development Squadron 4. While there, he not only conducted operational evaluations but also was responsible for compiling and developing the operation procedures and tactics for fleet operation of the F8U-2N.

He served as Assistant to the Commandant at the USAF Experimental Flight Test Pilot School from November 1961 to September 1962 and then attended the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School, from which he graduated in 1963. When informed of his selection for astronaut training in 1966, he was assigned as Project Officer with USAF SSD Detachment 2 at the Manned Spacecraft Center.

He logged more than 3,500 hours flight time; 2,800 hours in jet craft.

NASA Career

Givens was one of the 'original 19' astronauts, the fifth group selected by NASA, in April 1966. After completing astronaut training, he briefly served on the Apollo 7 support crew before being killed in an automobile accident while driving his Volkswagen home from a meeting of the Quiet Birdmen fraternal organization. Givens was at the wheel with two other officers in the car when he missed a sharp, unmarked turn and crashed into a ditch in Pearland, TX, near Johnson Space Center. Givens died on the way to the hospital.

Death and Burial

Major Edward Galen Givens, Jr. died on 6 June 1967 in Houston, TX. He is buried at Quanah Memorial Park in Quanah, TX.

He was survived by his wife, Ada, and their three children.