I was a still a kid in ‘68. We lived in Brindisi, Italy (Dad was stationed at San Vito Air Base 68-71 - probably the BEST posting in the USAF as far as I am concerned). We would watch all of the NASA TV coverage on an Italian TV station and get the audio via a HAM radio link-up with other USAF personnel stateside.
I remember Apollo 8 better than any other - even 11. Hearing them read from Genesis and seeing Earth rise still gives me chills.
RIP Col Borman.
Dad asked me that winter what I wanted for Christmas and I told him I wanted to go to Cape Kennedy (as it was known back then) to watch Apollo 8 launch. So we literally pacjed our grips, hopped in the Chevy, drove down to Cape Kennedy stayed with some friends of his at Patrick AFB, observed the launch (it was magnificent), hopped back in the car drove back up to Virginia in time for Christmas Day, and the telecast.
The girls didn’t want to go for a quick trip down to FL. I still think about that trip and that quality time pops and I spent together. To this day, I still think that trip was the coolest Christmas present I ever got.