[decimon]

I remember working graveyard at North American in Downey on the Command Module and going to school in the day

You lived off of tax dollars.

I remember the single minded commitment to beat Russia to the moon

We sure did. The Soviets weren't able.

I remember an America with a 'can-do' mentality where we Americans could do anything

Yeah, that 'throw enough tax money at it' mentality. The Adlai Stevenson/JFK political ploy of claiming we were trailing the Soviets. And all the while the conservatives of that era were futilely attempting to interject some reality into the debate.

[Rooivalk]

I don't know what you are getting at but it was the gritty determination of EVERY worker to make it happen

We were determined to win and everybody in my section was onboard

America was going to plant our flag on the moon FIRST and that was the driving force.
And nothing was going to stop us. We will get back to that spirit.