July 20, 1969 was the day man first landed, and then walked, on the moon. The actual moonwalk was loosely scheduled to happen at about 10:30 or 11:00pm. I was somewhat into technology at the time but even so, going into this event the coolest things for me was - getting to stay up late.We went over to our friends the Selbys' home in Bay Ridge (Bob Selby, Peggy Selby and daughters Donna Selby and Judy Selby) in the afternoon to watch the entire event unfold. Sometime around 4:00 or 4:30pm the astronauts started their descent to the surface of the moon. Suddenly drama began unfolding on the TV and us kids found ourselves lying on the pile carpet, the palms of our hands helping to form tripods under our chins.
Walter Cronkite was explaining that, due to the fact that the descent was taking longer than anticipated, there was a possibility that the astronauts might run out of fuel before they landed. As Uncle Walter put it, "There are no gas stations on the moon".
Uh oh! I was into science enough to know that there was no atmosphere on the moon and that the astronauts would not be able to glide down to make their landing. The craft they were descending in didn't even have wings. It was obvious that if they didn't land soon, they were going to drop like a rock. We were glued to the screen.
After what seemed like hours - but was only 15-20 minutes - we finally heard Neil Armstrong's comforting words, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Everyone in 'Houston', as well as all occupants of the Selby's living room, burst into applause.
Then came the 6 hour wait for the 'moon-walk' - created by Neil Armstrong, made popular by Michael Jackson. With the excitement we just experienced you couldn't tear us away from the TV with a crowbar. During this interval was when I first learned of JFK's vow to get a man to the moon "...returning him safely to the Earth..." by the end of the decade.
We were all deeply moved by JFK's assassination 5 1/2 years earlier. Walter Cronkite took us through that ordeal with grace, and he was one of us. I remember him choking up at one point on the afternoon of the assassination, when he had to deliver the news that "President Kennedy has died". Now the effects of hard work, strength of will and ingenuity were allowing Americans to fulfill the goal of their fallen leader. Cronkite brought that through time and again in his message. I couldn't imagine having more pride in anything else in all my long 12 years. Even now, 40 years later, there are only 4 or 5 things that can top that moment for me.
Finally, at about 11:00pm, Neil Armstrong climbed down the ladder on the Lunar Module and made that "One Small Step." According to 'Buzz' Aldrin, the part of JFK's vow that was most important to him was the part about "...returning him safely to the Earth". They did that and more.
Looking back on the last 40 years, I cannot think of many more triumphant moments than that. Imagine. Humans walking on another celestial body 221,000 miles away...
...from Brooklyn.
