the first moon landing as a part of the american dream???

It was 1969 and I was in Connecticut and sleeping in a barn (long story). July came in as it usually did in those day and rumor had it that some guy named Neil Armstrong was in an aircraft named the Apollo-11 along with 2 other men, Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin and Michael Collins and that they were headed for the moon. I was in my later teen years and should have been more interested but I wasn't. Then the big night came and along with a few other people I crowded into a bar (yes, I was under age...it was a special occasion). A large television set was soon showing images, it was about 2 in the morning Connecticut time and I was somewhat groggy (may have been the beer...again, it was a special occasion). I heard Walter Cronkite going on and on...he seemed quite impressed. I have to admit, for whatever reason, I was not.


So, there you have it. Man landed on the moon and I saw it on television while in a bar and I was not amazed or impressed. I seem to recall most people were extremely excited about it and went on and on about it for weeks before and after the event. Maybe it had to do with my age at the time and the fact that things were starting to spin out of control for me, so moon landings seemed rather inconsequential and keep in mind that at the time Vietnam was an even more important concern of many late teen males who were edging into the draft. What would a moon landing matter to me if I was about to get my head blown off?

Other things I remember about it were:
1)Wishing Buzz Aldrin had gotten to be the first man on the moon (I had some antipathy towards Armstrong...don't know why).
2)I had gone to school with a kid named Michael Collins.
3)A day or so after the moon landing there was a light misty early evening rain in Connecticut which a few of us joked about as being moon dust.
4)I smoked some hash the following day and lost the rest of the summer as things took off, In September I went back to New York (the family was on Satan's Island by then) and I finished off high school while being guardianed by a science teacher (which may explain why I became a science teacher).
5)I was saddened that Kennedy (President John F.) had not lived to see his dream. I guess that was what it was to me...it had been Kennedy's dream, not mine.

Thought I'm not American, I was in front of the TV set when Armstrong put the foot on the moon.

Wow, that was a scientific dream for the teenager I was!

I was 6 years old and my brother and I had been out somewhere, it wasn't school because it was the summer - maybe it was summer day camp? I dunno.

My maternal grandparents had come over for a visit. And I remember walking in the door, and seeing them, and also seeing that suddenly we had a color TV (we had had b/w up until then). Went over and said hello and then we all watched TV. The picture was lousy - these were the days of antennas and all that - but I do recall seeing the landing and the moonwalk and thinking it was cool.

But as for any deeper meaning, I didn't see it at the time because I was so little. Now, yes, I think it was an amazing achievement. But at the time I suspect I was more impressed with the fact that the picture was in color and that my grandparents had come over for a visit and that was neat.

Man's first, tentative steps out into the universe. Yes, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins are heroes.

Thousands of other men and women around the world have dreams like this one, without being heroes.
Had I the opportunity to do so, though I'm not a hero, I would go...

Man On The Moon
I was 13 when my family and I gathered around the TV and watched the astronauts walking on the moon and undoubtably amased of the accomplishment. I remember that we were in a race with Russia to see which country could put a man on the moon first and I always thought that it would become the "next frontier" (still waiting after all those years). Watching Neil Armstrong jumping up and down on the moon and placing the American Flag on its surface made me very proud to be an American that day.

I was 11 and like has been said, it was the summer.

I was always facinated by stars, so I remember being really excited in the days before.

I remember trying to stay up and just couldn't (I've never been one for late hours) I remember someone telling me to go lie down, and they'd get me before he stepped out.

Then I laid awake in bed afraid they would forget.

When I got back up, I couldn't understand what was taking so long. Every little thing seemed to be taking hours. I do remember going outside then and looking at the moon, and being amazed they were up there right then.

American dream? I don't remember connecting it with America at all. But then again, I'm not now and wasn't then very politically minded. I just thought how one day we'd be able to travel around like that.

OH! and I do remember being mad that they had to do it in the middle of the night!
Francis, what was it, about 7am there?

Much more reasonable hour I must say.

I saw this doco on TV that claimed that the whole moon landing was a farce, it showed the American flag flapping in the wind when there was'nt any wind on the moon, and rock shadows in the same photo frame all shadowing in opposite directions and other things as well.....hard to believe whats the truth and what is'nt these days

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Those hoax rumours are urban legends that have all been debunked, i.e. scientifically explained a long time ago, but the entertainment value of the hoax story makes that unscrupulous TV stations (like FOX) keep on repeating it.

Check out for instance: Snopes on Moon landing hoax and related links.