We asked readers of the Daily Reporter to share their thoughts about the moon landing and the impressions it has left over the last half-century. Here is what they wrote.
The earth shook, and a rocket roared into the sky
The most important single moment in the history of mankind is the Apollo 11 moon landing.
When the dust settles from our time here as a country, that will be the memory. I love the fact that it is an achievement of exploration and science, not war. I love that its goal was to assist all of mankind.
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My father was part of that team. He and his colleagues strove for the common good. I realize that most of their day-to-day was caught up in the pandemonium of creation, but the solid base of their achievement benefited all of mankind.
Dad worked at Cape Kennedy during the Apollo missions. Launches were the most exciting time. We knew we would have a ringside seat, while Dad escorted dignitaries and got to be by the VIP grandstand. Mom and I and my baby brother would head over to the J.C. Penney’s parking lot by Cape Canaveral Sound with all the other families and watch the liftoff. We could feel the earth shake, and I have distinct memories of watching that amazing rocket streak toward outer space. To know that three tiny astronauts were at the tip of that huge roman candle was breathtaking.
Funny story from my Dad about Apollo 11: My dad’s job on launch days was to escort dignitaries, and for Apollo 11 he had three senators, one of whom was John Tower of Texas. Dad remembers dropping them by their motel, and them handing him a huge list of alcohol to go buy, with a government credit card! Dad was worried they would not make the launch the next day, but they were right on time. Those were hard-drinking men back in those days.
Kurt Vetters
When the world was mesmerized
I remember standing in front of our Zenith console black-and-white TV watching the blurry image of Neil Armstrong stepping off the lunar module onto the moon. The words spoken by him would become etched in history. I will always remember “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
It was very exciting to watch Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in action especially when they placed the American flag on the surface of the moon. The weightlessness of the astronauts made it seem like watching a movie in slow motion. It was all quite spectacular.
I didn’t really appreciate the contributions and all the time and effort that it took to make the mission of Apollo 11 a success until I was older. I look back in awe as I watched history unfold in July 1969. For those few days in July, the world was mesmerized by Apollo 11.
Chris Knox
A moment in a grand adventure of youth
It was the beginning of a whole new adventure. I didn’t realize it, but I was about to embark on my “hippie years.” My friend Adele and I decided to go to Europe. Armed with “Arthur Frommer’s Europe On Five Dollars A Day” and a Eurail Pass, we boarded a flight at JFK. (I’m a New Yorker).
When a man landed on the moon, I was listening to it on a street in Paris with a woman holding a transistor radio up to her ear. I was a French major, so language was no problem.
My life has always been about experiences and building memories. I continued the “hippie” life for years at The Isle of Wight Rock Festival in England in 1970; living on a kibbutz (a commune) a half-mile from Gaza; traveling across the United States and on and on. Music Industry. Publishing Industry. All stories to pass on to my grandkids (that they will find boring unless I can make them show up on an iPad. LOL)
Susan Cohen Strange
Tests rocked Alabama for miles around
I was drafted into the Army in January 1967 and ended up at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. Upon completing testing and training, I was fortunate to be an instructor in the Land Combat Missile Systems branch.
While stationed at Redstone, Wernher von Braun and his team of scientists were developing Saturn rocket sections for the Apollo program. They were in a highly secured area of Marshall Space Flight Center.
They would periodically static test the booster sections for the Saturn/Apollo for future missions.
Ample warning was given as to when tests would be conducted. Those living within a 25- to 30-mile range would take china out of cabinets and remove anything hanging on the walls. The sky would be a bright reddish orange, and the ground would shake as if there was an earthquake.
We would go down to the Tennessee River as they transported these sections or stages of the rocket on barges to Cape Canaveral/Kennedy.
On July 20, we listened to a secured broadcast of Mission Control in between classes, concerned for the astronauts’ safety, knowing they would be landing on the moon later that night. That night, we watched on black-and-white TVs, as all Americans did. The town of Huntsville was celebrating as if they won the Super Bowl. Fireworks, parties up and down the streets. Crowds downtown celebrating.
Although I had no part in the moon landing, being there was a historic experience few individuals could have had.
Kerry Steeno
A treasured memento is now proudly displayed
My grandfather went to school in Lima, Ohio, where he was a classmate of Stephen Armstrong, Neil Armstrong’s father. When Neil walked on the moon on July 20, 1969, Granddad went outside and took a picture of the moon and sent it to Neil’s parents, Stephen and Viola. In August of 1970, my grandparents received a manila envelope from the Armstrongs, and inside was an 8-by-10 autographed picture of Neil in his spacesuit and a very nice letter. In the letter Viola Armstrong thanked him for the “most beautiful” photo, and she wrote, “Just to think that our boys were up there!” They were so involved in the moment at the time, they did not think of taking a picture of the moon while the astronauts were there. They were most appreciative of his gesture.
When my grandparents died, I got the photo album with the photo in it. I looked at it, and put it in my closet. I kept thinking that I would like to get that out and have it framed. Finally, over Labor Day weekend in 2017, I did get it out of the closet and found, not only the autographed photo, but a copy of the picture my Granddad took of the moon, along with the letter from the Armstrongs and the cancelled envelope from Wapakoneta, Ohio. I did get it framed, and now it proudly hangs in my home.
Greg Warner
