“It’s a great honor and privilege for us to be here representing not only the United States but men of peace of all nations, men with interests and a curiosity and men with a vision for the future.” – Neil Armstrong, speaking from the lunar surface to President Richard Nixon on July 20, 1969.
A tired, elated and proud Neil Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012). The first man to walk on the moon, after his moonwalk on July 20, 1969. Credit: Buzz Aldrin / NASA
A little part of my childhood died today. It seems to be happening often lately, a sign of age and fading youth, I guess.
“Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job,” his family said in a statement tonight. “He served his nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot and astronaut.”
They forgot to include that he also served as an inspiration to a generation growing up in a tumultuous decade in America. We seem to be suffering a shortage of men and women of peace today – men and women with interests and a curiosity and a vision for the future. We need more reluctant American heroes like Neil Armstrong.
I first saw news of Neil Armstrong’s passing today on my Twitter feed, which rapidly flooded with tribute Tweets (I follow a lot of geeks). A tweet by Neil deGrasse Tyson quickly triggered childhood memories: “‘Men Walk On Moon’ – The only positive event in the last 50 yrs for which everyone remembers where they were when it happened.”
I remember where I was that night like it happened yesterday, not over 43 years ago.
It was a warm summer night in Downers Grove, Illinois. I was eleven years old and captivated by the space program. My two younger brothers and I had a three-foot tall Saturn V rocket model, complete with Command Module and LEM. We sat glued to our then huge 19-inch TV and watched the action in Mission Control as Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon’s surface in early evening. We were ready and eager to soak up any bit of information that the network anchors would dish out.
But even Walter Cronkite couldn’t hold an eleven year old’s attention for three hours, and behind our home on Midhurst Road was a huge field that was flickering with fireflies that night. (The field is now the northbound lanes of Highway 355 – Veteran’s Memorial Tollway.) I remember chasing fireflies all over that field with my brothers, looking up at the moon and marveling that in a moment, two very cool astronauts who had completed a long journey were about to beam back images to my TV from that tiny glowing disk. Groovy.
My Dad called us back into the house – they were getting ready to walk on the moon! After what seemed like forever (and there were no complaints from any of us – it was already past bedtime) a blurred black and white image began accompanying the voices crackling over the tiny speaker on the TV.
Just before 10 P.M. Central Time on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong descends the ladder on the LEM and prepares to take that famous first step.
Then it happened. Armstrong’s first step on the moon came at 9:56 P.M. Central Time.
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
And with those words and that one step, the size of our world – along with the possibilities of our dreams – grew a whole lot bigger.
Yeah, I’ll always remember the night of July 20, 1969, when a fuzzy black & white TV image ignited the dreams and the imagination of a generation.
Thanks for the memory and the inspiration.
Godspeed, Neil Armstrong.