As November rolled in, Kraft found himself facing a new problem: Even if Apollo 8 went perfectly, there would be no one in the Pacific to pick up the crew after splashdown, since the Navy’s Pacific Fleet had already been given a reprieve for Christmas. Someone had to appeal directly to Admiral John McCain, commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, to ask for special dispensation. The timing wasn’t ideal; McCain’s son, John McCain III, a Navy pilot, had been shot down over Hanoi and was being held as a prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese.
