CNN iReport

Like so many other Long Islanders of the era, my grandfather worked at the Grumman facilities. Grumman, better known today as Northrop Grumman Aerospace Industries, has historically become known not only for their development of the F-14 fighter jet but also for NASA’s Apollo Lunar Module, the capsule in which astronauts like Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in.

During his time at the factory, my grandfather, Edmund Brierton, became a part of history working on the Lunar Module program. “I know he was extremely proud to be a part of the program,” recalls my Aunt Joan, daughter of the late Ed Brierton.

“What I didn't know then, is that my dad was not one of the big ol'
important engineers,” my Aunt Laura tells me. “He only had a high school technical degree; reading and writing were difficult for him.  He was a ‘tester’ of electronic equipment - making sure it worked and had power as it was supposed to. But he was really proud to be a part of it.  He had a career at a time when a little skill could enable you to buy a house and raise eight kids.”

Ed and my grandmother Patricia had eight children and lived in Kings Park, New York. My father, James, was the fifth child and the only boy.

“I worked in Grumman's ‘Summer Employee’ program the summer he died,” Laura says recalling her time in 1982 participating in a program for college aged children with parents working at Grumman.

“Technically I was no longer eligible for the program, but I did my 10 weeks. I was the only summer employee with a dead parent. That took some getting used to because I got more condolences than work the first week.  But it showed how Grumman
took care of their own.”

“He loved that lunar module picture that is signed by everyone who worked on it.  I used to take it in for show and tell every year,” says Laura, who know lives in Virginia with her husband Michael Granruth and daughters Emily and Kate.

Joan Brierton now lives in the nation’s capital working for the United States Government.

Ed passed away in 1982 after a battle with cancer.

Attached are images of that poster and his signature; along with images of more of Ed’s belongings including an “official” moon map, Apollo 11 mission brochure, Apollo 11 patch and samplings of the protective skin of the Lunar Module.