The Eagle landed 45 years ago
But it seems like yesterday
I was at summer camp in New Hampshire.
They brought us into the rec hall where a couple hundred of us stared, bleary-eyed, at a single black and white monitor. They said we would remember this all our lives.
And I do. It’s as if it happened yesterday.
Today in 1969, the Eagle landed on the moon. (h/t Instapundit)
Here are three versions depending on your 2014 attention span, which anecdotally I believe to be much shorter than 1969 attention spans: Really short, medium and long.
Short (2 minutes)
Medium (9 minutes)
Long (42 minutes)
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I was in Madrid Spain in the home of a local family watching it on a little black & white TV. They were so excited – you would have thought it was the Spanish flag that got planted. They spoke little English and I spoke little Spanish but we all thought it was a tremendous advance for mankind.
The images of people from around the world anxiously watching and then cheering are extremely moving. Yes it was Americans they were watching, and an American flag that was planted, but many millions who watched were simply in awe of what human beings — people like themselves — had accomplished. A unifying moment if ever there was one.
My mother woke me up so I could see it. We had a little B&W TV sitting on top of my mother’s upright piano, so I remember looking up at it.
I remember that I did not appreciate the historic nature of the event. I had always loved science fiction, so to me it was a foregone conclusion that a moon landing would be accomplished.
Now if we could just do it again …
I was at Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia. They brought a TV into the squad bay and let us stay up past normal lights out. I was moved.
I watched it at school. My class watched it with one of the junior classes. (my school went from K-12). It was a very big moment.
My dad seldom went to movies, but we went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and came back to watch the landing in black and white on our new color TV. Later that night, mom woke us to watch the moon walk. Years later, I was absolutely astounded when watching the same movie on video with our son I knew every word to every song despite not having seen the movie in the intervening years. Apparently the eventful day extended itself to the lyrics as well. I remember the newspaper the next day with the headline “Man On Moon” taking up the entire space above the fold.
My husband’s aunt lived in Cocoa Beach and he was visiting. They went down to the beach and watched the rocket lift off ten miles away.
I still get weepy at the thought of it all.
I remember when, as kids, we first heard that the Russians had launched Sputnik and how disappointed we were because the United States was supposed to be first in everything. 12 years later as an adult I waited anxiously like millions of other Americans to watch man walk on the moon. Sputnik was a wake up call and we continued to advance as the Russians remained relatively stagnant. One wonders what this generation will have to remember that is great.
I had just turned 19, and questioned a lot of things.
Funny tho, I don’t remember having any question about the meaning of the ghostly black & white images I was watching.
America is the best!
Oh, BTW, I had absolutely no doubt what I was watching was the real thing.
45 years ago TODAY an American walked on the moon. And TODAY, millions of illegal aliens walk on US soil. Sad indeed that we could venture to the moon and back, yet we are clueless how to secure our border, sovereignty, language, and culture.
I was working in my uncle’s pro shop at a major east coast country club. We all gathered around the black & white TV, about a 12″ screen, right there in the work area behind the sales counter. Things were slow that afternoon as most preferred to stay home and watch the coverage.
Then that night, no one in the family had any doubt we would watch the walk, it was a given.
It remains mankind’s greatest scientific achievement.
That moment in 1969 could very well be the highest point in American history. Have you noticed that everything after that is downhill?
I wasn’t born until the 1980s, but everyday I am in awe of what we accomplished that long ago. We didn’t just do it once either. To make six successful landings and explore for multiple days in a row is fascinating. If we ever take the initiative to go back, sign me up!