A Man Has Passed On
Neil Armstrong is with us no longer.
Fair winds and following seas.
A quiet man who eschewed publicity, he was a hero of mine. Somewhere there is a place for those that have been there, done that. It doesn’t welcome many, but I’d sure like to hear those stories.
Category: Geezer Alert!
President Nixon gave everyone in government and all non-essential military personnel that July day off to see the televised moon landing. There was nothing like it, nothing that gave people so much hope for the future.
He was a “man” indeed although I think the headline should have said “a hero has passed on”.
Jonp #2: Thought about using “Hero”, but he did not exploit that, so I opted not to as well.
R.I.P. Neil Armstrong, you were one of my fondest Heroes.
Comrades in Arms:
I’m so glad I have that memory, that I was lucky enough to be living on this Earth and watch him step onto the surface of the Moon.
On that eventful day, I was a Private First Class in the United States Army, stationed at Spangdahlem Air Force Base.
My buddies in the Air Force invited me to their microwave radio station to listen to it over the radio.
At the same time, we also had the option of stepping into the next room and watching it on television.
It was neat running back and forth between those two rooms, comparing the experiences.
Also, I’ll always remember that scene in the movie, “HANOI HILTON”, when the POWs received their mail at a Christmas dinner, and they saw that POSTAGE STAMP, which had been ignorantly overlooked by their captors!!!
AND another thing – – – ,
I’m the officially appointed bard of my ancient and honorable Scottish clan, descended from a king of the Picts.
Well, guess what?
“ARMSTRONG” is as Scottish a name as you’ll ever see!
Thank you.
John Robert Mallernee
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Gulfport, Mississippi 39507
Oh, he was a HERO sure enough!
He sacrificed himself to a lifetime of intense discipline, denial, self control, along with enduring the most extreme physical and mental training, and in the end, making the ultimate risk, defying all dangers, to pioneer into the perilous unknown.
That, boys and girls, IS the very definition of a true “hero”.
His passing symbolizes the end of a era for some of us. Sad. But I am grateful to have lived through those wonderful days.
A great American and person has left us.
Rest in peace.
While the landing was breath taking, I remember, as if it were yesterday, the lump in my throat waiting for news that the engine had fired properly for lunar lift off. Still gives me chills.
The eagle has landed – probably THE single most historic moment of 20th century – achieved JFKs ambition to put a man on the moon within the decade. This also gave rise to one of the greatest conspiracy theories ever – unfortunately the “hoax” accusations only helped to keep the Gemini mission legacy alive in people’s conciousness.
Ahhh … that would be Apollo missions, IIRC. I remember watching it live, ” Houston, Tranquility Base. The Eagle has landed.”
Thank you, Congress. Thank you for throwing the stars away for us.
Devtun #10: Someone, or something landed on the moon. Worked for NASA at the tracking station on Kauai well after the last man landed on the moon. Between our routine tracking chores we would swing the dish onto various lunar experiments. Saw the dish slew, saw the data, etc. Dish mounted camera was pointed at the moon as well.
Armstrong embodied American Exceptionalism…he will be missed. The current generation sorely needs men like Neil.
He was also a combat veteran, 70+ missions over Korea in F9F Pantherjets, flying from an aircraft carrier. Takes big brass ones to fly from carriers, especially the old straight-deck carriers (in jets, no less).
On one ground attack mission he had to eject from his aircraft after it was hit by anti-aircraft fire and hitting a pole that took three feet off the tip of one wing (while flying at 20…TWENTY feet above ground level). He managed to fly the aircraft out of the immediate area before ejecting. Bigger brass ones.
Then he went on to fly as a civilian test pilot at Edwards AFB, flying cutting-edge experimental aircraft right up to the edge of space. Bigger brass ones.
If you go to NASA’s website, they have images of the Eagle’s landing site with the flag still there.
Yes, we do need more people like him, people who aren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty or putting their shoulders to wheel and pushing. I want to know where they went.
Oops, meant Apollo 11
I remember that day vividly. My father worked for Thiokol, which made the solid rocket motors for the retro rocket packs and the escape towers on the Mercury & Gemini spacecraft. My mom would always let me stay home from school whenever a mission was being launched and I saw all of them up through Skylab.
It was a heady time to be a young man, and there is a special place in hell for LBJ and all of the Congress critters and presidents who followed him who threw away the stars and spent the money on welfare.
No different, to my mind, then an addict spending his family’s rent & food money on crack. Both are unforgivable.
Here is a link to NASA’s page about him:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/people/features/armstrong_obit.html
The Eagle has landed in heaven. RIP.
#14: did not know all that. I knew he had many combat missions in Korea but your words reinforces the Brass Balls meme. Over the decades I wondered if I would have had the courage to: blast off; separate from the mother ship; be able to land; be able to take off from the moon; be able to hook back up with the mother ship; be able to land back on earth. I would not have. I’d have major shrinkage. How many potential Oh-shit’s are there in all these events (plus the Korea missions). The world lost an amazing man today.
I remember. . seeing, watching, dreaming . . . . . of following in footsteps, literally and figuratively. He will be missed. We need heros like him again.
@20 SJ: right on target. I think my brown eye would have been so permanently puckered after hitting that pole that I’d have never passed a third class flight physical, much less making the grade to become an astronaut. And he went on to much bigger and better things, doing it all with a modest, down-to-earth public persona, instead of the kind of fighter pilot ego that astronauts like Aldrin had.
Armstrong did a bit of commercial stuff like Chrysler ads, but he didn’t take advantage of his fame to make millions, even though he probably could easily have done so. Practically every Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronaut wrote books about their experiences, with varying degrees of success…Armstrong didn’t. He remained the same person that he was before he flew Apollo 11, and he was an example that I wish more famous people (especially politicians) would follow.
A story on another board I regularly read, written by a sailplane/glider enthusiast:
“I learned to fly at Lebanon/Warren Co. airport in Lebanon, Ohio. One fall evening in 1975, while working on my SGS1-26, I was introduced to a “farmer” whose farm bordered the airport. John Lane, the apt. manager, introduced him to me as another teacher, saying he was a science teacher at the University of Cincinnati and a member of the airport board. Over the next 4 years I got to know the gentleman as a fellow glider pilot, supportive parent, and alumni member of the Purdue Band. 3 years later, I was hired to be the band director at LHS and got to know the family better through his son Mark, a talented Senior. Everytime we met in town or at school the teacher/farmer and I talked about nothing more than band, his old Libelle, my new ASW-20, or school…..never about events 10 years ealier when he became the first man to walk on the moon…..Neil Armstrong was a quiet, humble, gracious man who enjoyed the anonymity of our little town where he could just be allowed to be himself, shop, farm, and live. Good person, good pilot, good dad. God speed Mr. Armstrong on your new journey.”
SJ–as the story goes, he spent literally thousands of hours in the LEM simulator doing virtually every possible scenario should he need to take over for the computer.
As you know, the original site was strewn with boulders and he had to take over to land manually. Some people MAKE their own history.
#23 Marine_7002
That is outstanding to know! Thanks for sharing it.
We are definitely poorer without him …
Growing up, I has a huge space nerd and wanted to be an astronaut. I used to stay home sick to watch the Shuttle launches.
Even though I grew out of my astronaut phase, I’ve always thought of men like Neil Armstrong as my heroes.
One of the best days of my life was being able to meet Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Gene Cernan last fall in Afghanistan. Over 40 years later and they were still traveling and inspiring another generation with the stories of their accomplishments.
After the big meet and greet, I was able to talk one of the escorts into bringing them over to our BN TOC to meet the guys on duty. By chance I happened to be the senior guy in the TOC when they came in. I gave them a quick tour of the TOC and was trying to explain everything that we were doing and what all the various computers and equipment was for. I thought I was doing ok, then Neil Armstrong asked me a question. I still don’t remember what the question was. I just remember geeking out and just standing there with a goofy look on my face because OH My God, Neil Armstrong was talking to ME! They posed for a few photos and left and I was so embaressed that one my biggest heroes talked to em and all I could do was stand there like a moron.
One of our nations greatest heroes has left us and we are much poorer for the loss. But even more honored and inspired by his time and achievements.
Here’s a pic that someone snapped that day. I’m the guy with the brainlocked moronic smile, 2nd from the right.
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o15/slick556/293112_10150258475670916_511950915_8000230_8190775_n.jpg
J.M.
You’re lucky to have that……and I’m jealous!
I can tell you this.
A few years ago I was at Church in Houston, and my ex-wife and I made friends with a nice lady who’s name I can’t remember. We were talking about the space program, and she mentioned that her Dad had been an engineer, I think he was in St. Louis with McDonnell aircraft. In any case, the astronauts were all engineers, and they all worked closely with different departments on the design of the spacecraft. In any case, Neal Armstrong and her dad became friends, and he often came over to their house for dinner.
Well, one day, long before the landing, my friend was in second or third grade and she had show and tell at school the next day. Well she didn’t have anything really cool to bring to show and tell and this was making her unhappy. This subject came up at dinner… and long story short, the next day Gemini Astronaut Neal Armstrong took time out of his schedule to be her show and tell.
It was September of 2011, I had just arrived at Camp Phoenix for a year in Afghanistan, and Neil Armstrong was on tour with Gene Cernan and Jim Lovell, meeting the troops and doing great PR with the Afghan Air Force. Listening to this man speak so nonchalantly about one of the greatest accomplishments of our time was simply amazing.
“We didn’t see it as anything spectacular; it was our job”
As the speeches ended and we filed out, I had the opportunity to shake the hand of one of my childhood heroes. I told Neil I had wanted to shake his hand and say thanks ever since July of 1969. He took my hand in a firm grip, looked me in the eye and replied “you’re welcome”. None of the empty platitudes that are too common today. Because he that everyone in the room shared that same sense of duty he and his team held that day. A helluva guy. Even though the years have passed, and his step was a bit slower, the spark was still in his eye; I can only hope to keep up with his stride.