Retelling the story of his life - rising from meek beginnings to play a key role in NASA's race to save the astronauts on board Apollo 13 in 1970 - is nothing new for Sy Liebergot.
Having to tell that story to nearly 3,000 middle and high school students over the course of four days is what made the former flight controller's time in Harford County so unique.
In May, Liebergot met with students during a speaking tour of eight schools in the Harford County Public Schools system including Edgewood Middle School and Fallston, C. Milton Wright, North Harford, Edgewood, Aberdeen, Havre de Grace and Joppatowne high schools. The visits were part of an educational outreach initiative sponsored by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command and led by one of its subordinate agencies, the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.
For each group of students, Liebergot detailed his experiences working for NASA in the early years of the nation's space program. While his job as the electrical, environmental, communications flight controller was rewarding, one of the most exciting moments of his career came at the end of an eight-hour shift inside Mission Control in Houston while the crewmembers of Apollo 13 - James A. Lovell Jr., Fred W. Haise Jr. and John L. Swigert Jr. - performed routine "housekeeping" chores.
But nothing about Apollo 13, scheduled to become the third mission to land on the moon, would prove to be routine.
According to Lierbergot, one of the everyday jobs performed on the shuttle involved stirring the four cryogenic tanks to prevent a false reading when measuring the system's capacity. On the night of April 13, 1970, just 56 hours after liftoff, he asked the astronauts to perform an extra tank stir before going to sleep because the quantity instrumentation of oxygen tank 2 had failed an earlier test, and he wanted a more current reading.
Two seconds after Swigert, the command module pilot, flipped the switches to turn on fans that would stir the tanks, an undetected electrical short ignited a fire that caused the tank to explode. Shortly after Swigert muttered his infamous words, "Houston we've had a problem here," Liebergot realized that diagnosing the command module's domino effect of system failures and handling the situation was almost exclusively his responsibility.
Students sat in awe listening to Liebergot explain how he and other quick-thinking experts helped to bring the astronauts home safely, how he felt being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his efforts and even how he felt seeing himself depicted in "Apollo 13," the 1995 film directed by Ron Howard.
"It's incredible what a massive situation Mission Control had to deal with yet it ended with such a positive outcome," said Michell Tracey, a student at North Harford High School.
But the students weren't the only ones Liebergot impressed during his programs.
"I felt that it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for students to hear from someone who impacted U.S. history," said Marlene Molter, C. Milton's Wright's principal. "He graciously revealed and shared personal details of his childhood and life to inspire students to achieve their goals."
While his main objective was to help stimulate an interest in science, technology, engineering and math course work among Harford County students, Liebergot said his tales also provide motivation for students to set lofty goals regardless of what adversity they may face.
While sharing memories of a childhood filled with hunger, poverty, abuse and a lack of parental guidance - his father was a gambler and an alcoholic while his mother suffered from mental illness - Liebergot credits his success in life to his ability to set and achieve goals, particularly in his pursuit for a good education.
"Never give up even when all hopes seem to fade," said Liebergot. "Setbacks are just bumps along life's journey and there are ways to get around them."
Dr. Harry Salem, ECBC chief scientist for Life Sciences, and Mary Doak, ECBC program manager for Community and Educational Outreach accompanied Liebergot to each school.
Before using the U.S. Army as a springboard to a career with North American Aviation, Liebergot earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from California State University in 1963. Less than a year later, he transferred to Houston to serve as a member of the Flight Operations Group in support of NASA Mission Operations.
"It was a rare and unique opportunity for us to listen, first hand, to the story of someone involved in such a historical event," said North Harford High School Assistant Principal Gerard Mentz. "He offered some great advice based on his experience for our students."
Despite his humble beginnings, Liebergot enjoyed a successful career as a NASA flight controller, receiving numerous awards in the process. Though he retired from government service in 1986, Liebergot continues to bring motivational presentations to students and adult audiences throughout the country.
Though his four-day tour through Harford County is over, Liebergot seems to have left a lasting impression on many of those who listened to him speak about his life.
"My favorite part about his presentation was that he used the Army for a pathway to a career at NASA's Flight Control Center, and that he always trusted in himself," said Kyle Edwards, a student at C. Milton Wright. "He used goal setting, which is an important strategy for becoming successful, especially when faced with multiple challenges."
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