“Not too many American men around nowadays with real cajones like that.”
Chuck broke multiple ribs the previous day (horse accident) and had to have His flight engineer help make a tool to close the door - NO ONE was to know about it.
It ended up being the handle from a broom that they cut-down and he hid in his uniform. Chuck used the broom handle to decrease the force he needed to exert to close the door.
Tough guy.