God bless you for your service (and those others on this thread who likewise served). As to your comment, you were there and I wasn't, but....
Korean War veteran and Moon walker.
Maybe less of a contrast than it seems.
Posted on 07/20/2019 7:06:19 AM PDT by Skooz
My dad was USAF, stationed at Minot AFB, ND.
I was a 9 year-old space nerd. Most of my friends were also space nerds and we followed the Apollo program closely.
During the summer, the housing area was crawling with kids all day until the sun set about 10:00 pm. Every house had at least one kid, and most had 2 or 4. The winters were harsh, so we took full advantage of the summers and stayed outside as much as possible. GREAT place to grow up. The best.
The evening of July 20, 1969, I was playing with some friends and one by one they headed home to watch the moon walk. I walked home and sat on my dad's Ford Falcon, head down and listening to the news cast on a transistor radio my grandma had given me.
After 30 minutes or so I looked up and was amazed. The neighborhood that a few minutes before had been overflowing with people -- kids playing, moms gathered in groups chatting, dads washing cars--- was a ghost town. Empty. Not a soul. Not even a cat. Nothing. It was still and void. I had never seen it like that. I felt like the last person on earth.
That was when I went inside and sat down in front of the TV with my family. And like everyone else, watched Aldrin and Armstrong walk on the moon.
I was at home with my family, back when all of us were still living. We watched the landing together, and were ecstatic.
I was 6, and like most kids in the UK, I was tucked up in my bed (with teddy).
Wouldn’t have watched it anyway, as we didn’t have a telly till 1970.
Watched moon landing with my grandfather, who vividly recalled his excitement as the news of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk had spread.
He also had been a friend of pioneering aviator Elling Weeks.
Camp Tien-Sha, RVN.
It was a Sunday evening as I recall
I had just purchased a reel to reel tape recorder and the seller was helping me with how to use it, clean it etc
We stopped long enough to watch the proceedings
I vividly recall Old Man Cronkite orgasming as man first stepped on the Moon
That must’ve been the 1% patriotism in him leaking out
I was a stock boy at K-Mart watching the tv’s in the appliance department. The next month I was drafted.
I was on the Mass Pike headed up for a vacation in Derry, NH with my family. I seem to remember it was raining. I was 12 at the time.
At my rented house between college years, watching with roommates.
BTW, not to say I’m a geezer or anything, but on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC I was on my dual T-38 cross country (eastbound at FL370, directly over Salt Lake City) when ARTCC keyed the mike and said “They’re on the moon!” High fives were impossible - a couple of aileron rolls did just fine.
That was the day of my mother’s funeral. Afterwards, several family members went to a tavern with a TV and we all watched the moon landing. I remember someone commenting that my mother had a ringside seat to watch it now.
The one and only Apollo memory my brain held on to is watching our black-and-white TV when Apollo 17 splashed down at the end of its mission.
As my dad actually worked on Apollo, I'm quite sure I watched even more of all the missions, but I just never stored away those times away into my memory banks.
I was at the Sandwich Illinois municipal airport seeing Bob Hope in person, who stopped over to give us a few chuckles.
https://www.dekalbcountylife.com/6-5-12.htm
I didn’t care if they fired me, I wasn’t going to miss this momentous and magical event.
So, I repeatedly abandoned the dirty dishes and ran home to catch the first steps on the lunar surface.
It was quite frustrating, because the actual “first step” occurred HOURS after it was reported that it would happen.
I did manage to get to the TV for the big event, however
I was 6.
Location: Lime Lake, NY.
Bkmrk
Celebrating my 15th birthday. We had a houseful of company. I watched the landing on a 12” b&w Admiral tv.
I was working as a timer and handicap starter at a local drag strip watching the landing on a small TV between rounds of modified production dragsters
God bless you for your service (and those others on this thread who likewise served). As to your comment, you were there and I wasn't, but....
Korean War veteran and Moon walker.
Maybe less of a contrast than it seems.
I grew up on a farm 20 miles from Minot AFB.
Yup, 9 year old space nerd like you as well.
Growing up in an idyllic neighborhood in Bridgewater, NJ.
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