Man On The Moon Memories

Eastern Iowan seemed to be everywhere, from Vietnam to South Dakota, from Germany to Alaska, from Nicaragua to Canada, when Apollo 11 landed on the moon July 20, 1969.

For the 40th anniversary of this great achievement, I asked them to send me their recollections of where they were and how they watched Neil Armstrong become the first human to set foot on the moon. Here are their memories:

"The moon landing and moon walk were neighborly events for the Glazas and the Plumbs (on 27th Street Drive SE, Cedar Rapids).  Pictured left to right are Sarah, Susan and Sann Rene Glaza, daughters of Jerry and Jean Glaza, who spent the momentous event camped out on the floor in front of the television set at the home of neighbors Jim and Jewel Plumb.  I'm guessing there was popcorn and Pepsi involved and I remember the voice of Walter Cronkite filling in the gaps when the astronauts weren't talking with Mission Control in Houston.  I remember the pictures from the moon looked like old home movies running in slow motion.  Thanks to Jewel Plumb for the photograph." -- Susan Glaza Gordon, Cedar Rapids

"I was going anyway," says Tom Boyle of Bennett (left) , a veteran of more than 50 space mission launches who secured press credentials for the Tipton Conservative and registered as newsman No. 3,409 of just over 4,000 present at the July 16, 1969 launch of the mission to the moon.

 "I couldn't imagine being as close as I was, where they had the crew walk out," Tom says. "I thought it was great. It was too bad they didn't have more sophisticated camera equipment."

"My husband and I lived in Missouri at the time and after running our TV for a period of time, the TV would go blank. At the time of Neil Armstrong's first step on the moon, I had laid down and my husband woke me up right before. As Neil's foot was in the air to step onto the moon, our TV went blank." -- Francine Daker, Cedar Rapids

 "Along with millions of other viewers, my eyes were glued to the TV screen. I was listening to Walter Cronkite describe the historic moment of the Eagle landing on the Sea of Tranquility and the moon walk. The American Flag was planed and a plaque telling of our peaceful intentions remained on the moon. I felt proud. ... I ate astronaut food, chocolate or peanut butter, Pillsbury food sticks wrapped in foil and drank orange flavored Tang. ... I was one of thousands of people that jammed the crowded beaches annd highways around the Kennedy Space Center. ... All of us were filled with excitment as we patiently waited on the beach for liftoff. ... Finally portable radios blared '10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-liftoff.' The spacecraft just sat there glistening in the sun. My heart began to pound. Why wasn't there liftoff? The spectators were very quiet, wondering what was happening inside the craft. Was something wrong? I could feel the Earth rumbling beneath my feet as I continued to look skyward. I heaved a huge sigh of relief and began to cheer and clap with joy. Tears welled up in my eyes as the spacecraft traveled down the coast. The contrails billowing behind it were visible for miles. The launch was a success! ... Florida restaurants used paper placemats printed with the flight details and the benefits that individual Americans could receive from space research. ... What a day!" -- Maria Shebetka, Cedar Rapids

 "On July 20 I was at Mary Russell's near Prairieburg, Iowa. I was with my son Carl russell while Mary was giving him his FIRST haircut." -- Patsy Russell, Monticello.

"On July 20, 1969, I was serving in t he Navy on the guided missle cruiser, USS Chicago, in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam conducting search and rescue missions for pilots t hat were shot down from their missions of bombing North Vietnam." -- Larry Gale Sanders, Keota

"On July 20, 1969, my late husband, our then two young children and I, plus four of our highh school Camp Fire girls and one sister were tent camping in a park in Chamberlain, S.D. someone from town brought a television set to a camp pavilion for us all to view Neil Armstrong, etc. At the same time, we could see the full moon in the sky bright above a bridge crossing the Missiouri River (slicing the plains of S.D.). The mix of technology and nature was wonderful and beautiful." -- Marilyn Sippy, Marion

"My birthday is 20 July (1947) and on that day I think about where I was when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. I was in Eighth Army Headquarters, Soul South Korea, watching the event with several fellow soldiers.  I was drafted into the Army and have always felt lucky to have been sent to Korea instead of Vietnam.' -- Denny Gilds, Marion

"I was a big fan of the space program as I was growing up; I remember 'live blogging' about John Glenn's three orbits on my second-grade chalkboard at Jackson Elementary (Cedar Rapids), with a transistor radio at my side. ... I remember being disappointed in third grade when I couldn't be an astronaut." -- John Berger, Lakewood, Calif.

"I was in the Black Forest in Germany having lunch on a patio at an inn and the Germans at the next table said 'Well, I bet you Americans are proud today.' We were a little taken aback and then they told us of the moon walk. We were out of the country and out of touch. It was a nice outcome." -- Fran Hanson, Cedar Rapids

"From 1966 to 1974 I was the vocal music instructor at Keota Jr./Sr. High School in Keota, IA. Although it was summer, my Show Choir students and I had been rehearsing off and on through June and July to prepare for a performance at the Washington County Fair in Washington, IA, on July 20, 1969. We did perform at the Washington County Fair on July 20 and adrenaline was running high as we felt we had performed well and enjoyed a positive audience response.  Following our performance, the show choir students (I believe there were 20 of them) and our adult sponsors returned to my home in Keota, IA, where we prepared pizzas and positioned ourselves in front of the TV to view the historic moon walk. There were 23 of us gathered around a 17-inch TV set! The entire group erupted with cheers and applause when the actual moon walk took place. It was a special feeling to see those great young people involved in and appreciative of that historic event! It was a night to remember for all of us." -- Pat McClure (Brown) Anderson, Decorah

"I have traveled a lot and have forgotten much of what happened. But one memory stayed with me: watching Armstrong walk on the moon. I was on a bus tour of Norway and watched the landing at a hotel in Oslo. Also that evening I heard a report on BBC that Ted Kennedy had been involved in a car accident with his secretary. Another American staying at the hotel said that he had worked with the Kennedys and the news did not surprise him. Four days later we went to North Cape (71 degrees north). There was television there and I saw the astronauts return to earth. I don't know which was more amazing - seeing the moon landing or being at North Cape, Norway. The tour was very interesting. It covered Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. When we were going north in Norway, one woman asked the tour guide "When will we see the midnight sun?"Another tourist quote when we were in Sweden,"Those palaces are all the same - full of old-fashioned stuff."  -- Rich Riggleman, Iowa City

"My 7th birthday was two weeks away when I saw the first moon landing. My father worked on Apollo components in the “White Room” at Collins Radio and he bought our first color TV just for the moon landing. The new color TV was stashed away in my parents bedroom so a certain 6 year old couldn't break it before the big event. The moon landing must have been at night because my dad came into my room and woke me up. My parents and I sat on the edge of their bed and watched the moon landing from start to finish. I have to admit at that time I did not appreciate what I was seeing. I was happy when my dad let me go back to sleep." -- Wayne Sproston, Marion

"My mother, father, two brothers and myself were glued to the TV that historic day. My father had just completed building a 27-inch color TV he had ordered from a business called Heathkit. It was the first color TV on the block and had numerous friends over at times to watch programs." -- Stephen Rigoni, Cedar Rapids

"I was a 10 year old girl living in Tempe, Arizona in 1969.  Our family had a cabin at Hawley Lake which is located in the White Mountains in Eastern AZ.  No one had a TV at their cabin, but for this historic event, one of the families brought in a small TV & wired it up with a huge antennae on the roof so we could all see the moonwalk.  Five families gathered around the little TV on July 20, 1969 to watch." -- Elaine Jordan

"On July 20, 1969, I was aboard an overnight ferry from Aalborg, Denmark, to Copenhagen. In the early morning (before 7, I think) many passengers were up on deck as the ferry approached Copenhagen harbor. Some people had transistor radios, and groups gathered around them to follow the breaking news of the moonwalk. Although I spoke almost no Danish, there were enough English speakers that I could keep up on what was happening. It was exciting and quite incredible -- but at the same time, I didn't forget to watch for my first view of the Little Mermaid statue!" -- Karen Taylor, Springville

"My brother and I, and our parents watched the moon walk from the beaches of Daytona Beach.  In other words, we didn't see it at all, but looked up at the moon over Florida while listening to the event on the radio.  I remember thinking, we must be about the only ones in the world that aren't watching this on TV.  But it was a great trade off.  There's nothing like camping on the beach, in our station wagon and trailer, just a few feet from the waves of the Atlantic.  I had learned to belly surf on a Styrofoam boogie board that week, and several days earlier we had witnessed the launch of that moon mission in person, if you can call it that.  We viewed the liftoff from a campground several miles away from Cape Kennedy.  The little speck of the rocket rising from the horizon in the distance was almost invisible but the rocket propulsion stream was very visible.  And then, it seemed like minutes later, the sound waves finally arrived at our campsite and we heard the roar of the rocket engines.  All in all, my favorite vacation ever." -- Brian Franz, Cedar Rapids

"In July of 1969, I was three and a half years old. Watching the moon landing, late at night on TV (at least back then it was), is my oldest memory.  My brother, Jim, would have been less than two years old, so he'd have no memory of it. In my mind, everything I remember happening in my life begins at that point in time. What I remember was watching it on an old black & white console TV our family had at our old house along Highway22 near South English, IA.  We didn't get a color TV until maybe a year later. I remember watching it, knowing it was important because my parents let me stay up to watch it, and being amazed at just the thought that a man was actually on the moon.  It was hard for a little kid like me to comprehend that the two guys were on that big ball of light we saw in the sky. We were channel 2 viewers back then, especially when it came to news, so I'm sure we were listening to Walter Cronkite that night, although I don't actually have memory of his voice from that night. I do remember the voices of the astronauts & the space command people; they sounded calm, but even I could tell there was some nervousness about the whole thing." -- Mike Riddle, Kalona

" I got married in Las Vegas on July 12th 1969.  On the morning of the launch my new bride and I set the alarm so we would wake up in time to watch Apollo 11 takeoff. We arrived back in Cedar Rapids, our honeymoon over, on the 19th. The twentieth was a slow day waiting in anticipation of the landing. I remember going out and mowing the lawn just to pass the time. We watched in amazement every minute of the landing. My new wife had an eight year old daughter who couldn't understand why we were so excited.. 'They did that sort of thing on Star Trek  all the time'. President Nixon declared the next day a national holiday which was an idea I liked so I could stay home from work and watch them take off from the moon. Unfortunately the place I worked didn't honor this holiday and I had to go to work and be satisfied to hear the liftoff on the radio. Walter Cronkite was the newsman we watched. It is hard for me to realize  that had our marraige lasted it would be the fortieth anniversary of that too. Seems like yesterday." -- Mel  Bopp, Marion

"The memory of this event is special to me. I sat with my 2 young sons on the couch of our family room, watching every moment of the take-off to the moon, but very occupied with wondering when my overdue pregnancy would ever end. I watched the moon walk in the UI hospital with my beautiful newly born daughter, Rima, in my arms. Life has its miracles!" -- Myrna Farraj, Iowa City

"I can tell you exactly where I was on July 20, 1969 and who I was with.  I was several thousand miles south of Hawaii aboard the USS Hornet (CVS-12) with several hundred other sailors.  We were waiting for the three astronauts from Apollo 11 to return from the moon so we could pluck them from the sea. Hornet had just returned from a 9-month deployment to Vietnam and the Far East when it was assigned the task of retrieving the astronauts.  There were few complaints from the crew for this honor despite the fact we would be spending another 6 weeks at sea. Most of the time was spent training for the pickup which included the use of a dummy capsule being hoisted aboard and with frogmen placing floatation devices around the capsule. Also waiting for the arrival of the moon landers was President Nixon, a large staff of dignitaries, and numerous national news correspondents. What I remember most, besides seeing Neil Armstrong and his two fellow travelers walk from the helocopter to their quarantened Airstream trailer, was the little man walking behind them with a canister of formaldehyde spraying the area where the astronauts had walked.  This was to prevent unknown germs from contaminating the ship and the men on board.  No one knew for sure if the astronauts had brought back any strange and unpredictable diseases.  Remember, the movie "The Andromeda Strain" had not been out very long and I believe that the authorities were rather concerned. Finally, I remember that the entire crew was provided blue ball caps which read "Hornet + 3" in honor of our new guests.  This event was a great experience and one I will never forget." -- David Ennis, USN, (ret.), Jamesville, VA (formerly Mount Vernon)

"I was leading a dozen Christian teenagers on a canoe trip along the Canadian border, and we did not learn of the successful moon landing until three days later, when we returned to civilization." -- The Rev. John Caughron, Center Point

"In Iceland we stayed with my friend Pall Eiriksson, who had just passed his exams to become a physician, and was a javelin thrower in his spare time. I had bought a Held javelin for him before leaving the U.S., and delivered it to him there. On July 20, Pall drove me to see some sights around the Reykjavik area. During the trip, he stopped the car so we could listen to the broadcast of the moon landing on the car radio. When Neil Armstrong said 'The Eagle has landed,' Pall, with tears in his eyes, shook my hand. Radio was the only way to get instant information at that time in Iceland. The government discontinued the nation's television system two weeks earlier because of the cost." -- Tom Ecker, Cedar Rapids

"My wife Shirley and I were in Ottawa, Canada visiting friends when Armstrong walked on the moon.  We were told we could watch it on TV as late into the night as we wanted to because it was our country, the USA on the moon.  We heard and saw Neil Armstrong's first words from the moon on that visit in Canada.  Several years later when our first son was born, my wife exclaimed: "One small step for mankind, one giant step for our family." -- Don Ratzlaff, Marion

"I was on ambush patrol, Hobo Woods, Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam." -- Jeri Neal

Taking advantage of the summer break before my teaching contract began in Cedar Rapids, I was motorcycle camping across Canada. On that night I was in a campground on Prince Edward Island out of  touch, and for the most part unaware day to day national events. That evening I entered the camp's lodge to find a large group of Canadians huddled around a small black and white TV watching the moon landing. Soon word spread that an American was watching with them. After the landing  you would have thought I had been the one to take the first step on the moon, with all the hands I shook, claps on the back and the congratulations I received in both English and French. I felt tremendous American pride that night." -- Tom Lewers, Marion

"I was 11 years old and living on a farm just outside Wheatland.  The rest of my family had gone to DeWitt to see "The Love Bug".  I didn't go because I'd already seen it with my Sunday School class AND I wanted to watch the first moon walk.  So I was down at Granddad's place with him and his sister, Aunt Ella, in town and getting to watch it on his new big 25" COLOR TV.  I remember that they were having some delays, so I had time to step outside and look up at the moon with just a little bit of haze around it and just be amazed by the fact that there were people on it at that moment.  Then while watching when the walk was beginning, the image was in black and white and extremely difficult to figure out what we were seeing.  Turns out the image was being received upside down.  Still though, I got goosebumps listening to Neil Armstrong's now historic phrase when he first stepped on the moon's surface." -- Clark Ott, Elkader

"When the first men walked on the moon, I was a 2nd grader, living in Endwell, New York with my family.  My grandparents, Eugene and Georgia Patrick, from Iowa City, were out visiting our family.  We took a family trip to visit Niagra Falls.  My grandpa, certain that this would be a historic event that we'd want to remember, took pictures of the television set in our hotel room.  I came across those photos years later and had forgotten about Grandpa's photography, but he was right, it was an historic event that should be remembered for all time. Years later, when my then fiance and I were planning our wedding and we chose 7/20 as our wedding date. My now husband reminded me that it was an important day in history.  This year, we'll celebrate 24 years of marriage on the day the country celebrates 40 years in space." -- Kristin Hale

"That summer I was sixteen and would be a senior at Independence High School come fall.  On July 20, we had company and after they had left, about 10:00 or 10:30pm, we turned on our old black and white TV in the dark basement den.  The timing was just right and we watched Armstrong step onto the moon. I remember wanting to somehow capture this event for myself.  I found my camera (either my box camera or my parent's camera) and took three snapshots.  Much to my satisfaction, when the black and white film was developed I saw that I had captured the TV image on film.  While not sharp, I could see the Lunar Lander with an astronaut standing near by.  The image was dramatically captioned by the words: "LIVE FROM THE MOON". -- Alinda Campbell Wengenroth

"My memory of this awe-inspiring event is tinged with laughter: my Dad, an engineer, wanted the family to have the most incredible experience watching the moon landing, so he surprised us with our first color TV in time for the big event.  It was thrilling to see all the pre-landing interviews and computerized simulations 'Live and in color!' But Dad was chagrined when the big moment came: all the pictures were broadcast in BLACK AND WHITE!  At first he thought the new TV had stopped working properly, but good old Walter Cronkite explained the situation as part of his coverage. When the actual landing occurred, Walter was not the only one with a tear or two of emotion.  We all  were awed and had a good laugh with our parents to boot!" -- Kathleen VanSteenhuyse

"I remember well the moon landing.  I was in Puerto Rico for Peace Corps training and we stayed up all night so we could see it.  It was a very proud moment.  In September I was sent to myPeace Corps country, Nicaragua.  There I dated and married a girl from Managua.  Until the day he died, her grandfather would not believe that a man had landed on the moon.  He said it was just a movie that the Americans portrayed as a real event.  That the Americans tricked the whole world.  I also had the experience of telling about the landing to a family that lived in the jungle of Nicaragua.  They did not know about it until I visited them.  They sat spellbound while I told about it in my broken Spanish.  I had the chance to visit them because I was looking for a mule that had been stolen from me.  It was a four day horseback ride into the jungle to their place and of course they had no modern day amenities." -- Dale Brandt, Garnavillo

"When the moon landing happened, I was on temoprary duty at the Navy Atlantic Fleet Weapons Range at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. There were missle firing exercises at the time. Watched the landing broadcast on a black & white TV in a barracks with my friends. Felt  a real sense of pride at the time. Too bad there never was a moonbase." -- Bob King

"In June 1969 I was posted to Ft. Wainwright in Alaska's interior. A few days later my wife, Barbara, quit her job as a teacher in Cedar Falls and bought a one-way plane ticket to Fairbanks. It was the summer of the North Slope oil discovery, housing was scarce and rents were inflated.  However, we did find a one bedroom apartment in town for exactly $10 less per month than my PFC pay. We were flat broke but too much in love to care. Fortunately, Barbara receive two job offers within weeks of our arrival. To celebrate we walked into town and bought a 19" portable black and white TV. As we still could not afford a car, we took turns carrying  it the two miles home. The moon landing was scheduled for the coming Sunday. There was high excitement throughout Alaska because this was to be an historical event of added significance in the state.  All television programs that were not locally produced had to be taped in Seattle and then flown in for broadcast on a delayed basis. In Fairbanks we saw network news on a one day delay and evening programs three weeks after they were aired in the lower 48. For the moon landing a live feed was set up so that the event could be seen throughout Alaska in real time. This was a first and foreshadowed changes coming to the state. We set up our new TV with its rabbit ears skewed for maximum reception. In those days the difference between Alaska and Central time was four hours, so I believe the broadcast came on in the late afternoon.  The images were blurred and at times indistinct and the audio was marginal at best. At times even Walter Cronkite's commentary faded in and out. But ultimately the experience was unforgettable. It was not just a stunning technical achievement. In a time of turmoil and uncertainty it expanded Americans' horizons and engaged us in something larger than ourselves. I fervently hope that my children and grandchildren witness our return to the moon and beyond in their lifetimes. Barbara and I are retired teachers.  Both of us taught in the Linn Mar District for over 20 years." -- Ron Ritchie, Robins

"My husband just mustered out of the Army April 1st.  Along with our month old baby and 2 dachshunds, we had just moved back to the Cedar Rapids area not long before this historic event.  On that particular day/night one of our beloved pets  had decided to give birth to her 5 puppies.  We stayed up all night watching the moon landing on television, and assisting our beloved pet deliver her babies.  What a night!" -- Lori Strasburger, Marion

"My memory of that historic day is probably different than most who have written.  I was in the U S Air Force stationed at Nha Trang AB South Viet Nam.  I got a letter from a friend and the text went something like this.  Well, it's 3 a.m. and we're watching the astronauts who have just landed on the moon.  They have just stepped out of the space craft onto the moons surface....   WHAT, I had no idea the United States was sending people to the moon, as a 20 year old G.I. who was stationed in a war zone I wasn't up on current events other than what was going on around me, but something like that would have certainly caught my attention.  I read the Stars & Stripes daily and watched AFVN the news and entertainment channel operated by the U S military.  I certainly don't recall ever hear about what was happening 'back home.' Needless to say, our sending men to the moon was indeed a surprise for me." -- Wayne Kreutner

"My family of four, including a seven and a ten year old, were among the thousands who were able to get a parking place on Cocoa Beach the day before the Apollo 11 mission.  The cars were fairly close together, but everyone was so interested in what was going on that there wasn't any trouble.  We were surrounded by other young families.  The kids played in the sand and napped in the car.  I don't remember any "porta-potties", but there was a nearby gas station that allowed people to use their facilities, and there was always a long line.  On the morning of the liftoff the children were sitting on top of the car and it was a truly spectacular sight!  You could hear a big "ooooooh" from the crowd. Of course, traffic was truly terrible to get off the beach afterwards, but I recall only pride and pleasantness and "road-sharing" as we left the area.  We went north a bit and then straight west across the state to a little motel called the "Ricky-Lynn", where we stayed until the landing.  There was a little pool that lost our interest as soon as the small black and white TV in our room began coverage of the moon walk. It was truly a "once in a lifetime" experience, and none of us will ever forget it." -- Nancy Forbes, Mount Vernon

"I lived in Denver, Colorado, at the time and had invited a group of friends to my apartment to watch as I had the largest TV (which I might add wasn't nearly as large as today's models).  We were all very excited to be watching such a historic moment in our country's history.  We became pretty impatient, though, when it was not happening as quickly as we thought it should so we went to our local hang out to enjoy a few drinks and watch it there with more friends.  Everyone was very excited when the walk finally occurred.  The normally teeming bar was unusually quiet as all watched together.  I think part of the reason was the historical significance, but we also weren't certain what fate would await the astronauts.  Personally, I was very afraid they wouldn't survive the moon landing and being outside their space capsule so their success was that much more moving for me.  If one word were used to describe everyone that night it would be “awestruck.”  The moonwalk was the center of conversation for many weeks to come." -- Chris Galligan

"I was a Ltjg in the nurse corp stationed at Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida.  A group of friends including naval aviators in the apartment complex were planning a get together to watch Neil Armstrong walk on the moon the night of July 20, 1969.  A new intern at the hospital, Lt. Robert (Bob) Smith had arrived in Jacksonville the first of July after graduating from U of Iowa Medical School in June.  I asked him if he would like to come to the party.  I always refer to this as our “first date”.  We were married Dec. 30,1969 at the Naval Air Station Chapel and will celebrate our 40

^th

wedding anniversary this year.    It always makes an interesting story how an upstate New Yorker (north of Syracuse) met a young man from Iowa and married in Florida.  We have four children (2 boys and 2 girls) and four grandchildren (2 boys and 2 girls)." -- Cindy Smith, Iowa City

"We were on our honeymoon on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands at the time of the moonwalk. We spent the better part of the day trying unsuccessfully to find a TV to watch the event.  What was memorable was the concern NASA had over the possibility of an unknown bacteria or virus that might be brought back to earth.   The husband of a Swiss couple we met had the hope that there was such a "bug" and that it would compel all politicians to tell the truth.  Clearly this wasn't the case." -- Janet & Dick Marett

"We were at St. Lukes  hospital  awaiting the birth of our daughter, Christine, I was in labor and everyone was watching the TV for the  moon  landing. I kind  of missed the actual landing,  as I was some  what busy  my husband got to see the landing as it was a time before the fathers were allowed in the delivery room  when babies were  born.  It was a great event not only for America but for us having our daughter she was born few minutes past midnight  so her birthday is 7/21/1969 . Hard to believe  it has been 40 years and our daughter will celebrate her 40th Birthday this year." -- Minnie Boxwell, Cedar Rapids

"I grew up in St. Charles, Missouri, twenty miles west of St. Louis, St. Louis the home of McDonnell aircraft, the aerospace company that built the first space capsules.  It seemed every other one of my friends dads' worked there.  So 50 years ago in 1959 when the “We Seven” first American astronauts were announced, the space program was big news in the St. Louis area.  The future astronauts would visit St. Louis and they'd be on TV and in the newspapers.  President John F. Kennedy toured McDonnell and I saw Air Force One fly over my town as we lived in the flight path of Lambert Field. My little brother Jeff, who was 10 in 1969, like so many boys of that day was fascinated by the space program and made model missles and space capsules. By 1969, I was 21 and half way through my Navy enlistment.  I was a Navy journalist (JO3) (imagine that) at Miramar Naval Air Station (North San Diego), home of the “Top Gun” school later made famous by Tom Cruise.  I was assigned to VFP-63 (Light Photographic Squadron) that had F-4 Phantom planes assigned to aircraft carriers and took aerial reconnaissance photos…at that time…primarily over Vietnam. As an enlisted man, you lived out of a locker and didn't have much in the way of personal possessions with you.  To watch television, you had to go to an activities room in the barracks and had to go with the general consensus as to what to watch.  On Monday nights it was “Laugh in” verses “Gunsmoke”…and I stayed if they chose “Laugh In” (one of the most popular shows at the time) which was most of the time and it was in COLOR!  Color TV was still something fairly new in 1969.  But sometimes the guys would vote for something I didn't want to see.  So to solve that problem I had my parents ship my little beige plastic ten inch black and white Philco TV from my home town.  The TV was just small enough to fit in the bottom of my locker during the day. At the end of the work day, I'd haul out my little TV…park it near the window…put out the antenna…and pull in San Diego TV and some Los Angeles stations.  That's where I first saw a young Tom Brokaw who was an LA TV anchor.  (Eight months earlier, in December 1968 I issued a press pass to the air station to him and other news people who came to cover the homecoming of the crewmembers of the USS Pueblo, who came home after 11 months in captivity in North Korea.) With my little TV, I was ready for the moon landing.  The night of July 20, 1969 several of my fellow sailors joined me in my cubicle and we watched like everybody else, enthralled by what we saw, even in glorious black and white. You had only three channels to choose from:  ABC, CBS or NBC.  I watched Walter Cronkite on CBS, just six years after I watched him deliver the news that JFK had died.  Cronkite was a self-described “space nut” and all of us exhaled when he did when Armstrong and company made the landing and the first steps down that ladder.  I had watched “Uncle Walt” since the beginning of the space program so it was only natural to watch him.  It was all exciting.  We thought it was a doorway to the future, space travel.  And though things haven't quite turned out like “Star Trek”…yet….so many of the things developed for and through space exploration impact on us today.  One of the most:  communications.  Satellites now bring us hundred of television broadcasts, radio from around the world and the internet." -- Cary J. Hahn, Cedar Rapids

"I recall it was a Sunday evening and as a single father in July of 1969, just after laying my boys to sleep, I began watching CBS upon hearing that a "moon landing" might happen tonight.  I was living in my parents home in Milwaukee, WI at the time. As the landing occurred I'll never forget the black and white TV picture as Neil Armstrong's words of "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" came across.  I couldn't help by feel an immediate and overwhelming pride of being an American that late evening as well as relief of the safe landing. It overwhelmed me even more when I realized my joy was being shared from peoples of the entire world.  Unbelievable! Taking my children to day care the next morning I saw the large bold headlines of the Milwaukee Sentinel's (newspaper) shouting the pride and joy of the event.  There were pictures from space as well as those of people from around the world,  looking up toward the moon as if they could actually see our flag staked on it or perhaps maybe even "seeing" the astronauts walking around. My boys were excited too when I told them the next morning what had happened, but I am sure they didn't feel the same as us adults did. That came later for them. Sharing the delight of co-workers the next morning, as well those whom I had to speak with by phone lasted for days.  The pride of being an American has never ceased for me either before or since." -- Bob "Bobert" Bembenek, Cedar Rapids

"At the time of the moon walk, I had just graduated from North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City and was ready to transfer to the University of Iowa to get my BA.  During my first two years of college I had worked at the Coast to Coast store to pay my way through school.  On July 20, I went to the store in the evening when the store was closed to get some work done and to watch the events on tv.  When the time neared, I turned on one of the big color tvs, positioned myself in one of our new recliners, and turned off the store lights.  I was so comfortable that I soon fell asleep......Later, I awoke at the exact moment that Neil Armstrong was coming down the ladder to set foot on the moon!  My timing was perfect and it was amazing!!!" -- Mike Ellingson, Clarence

"I watched the Apollo 11 moonlanding from a friend's backyard in Cedar Falls.  I was in grad school at UNI and part of the summer theatre production company at the university.  After rehearsal for a classical French farce, the company moved from the theatre to the backyard of a company member.  There, Roger Meeker and his parents had moved a TV set into their backyard.  As the thespians gathered around the TV, our faces illuminated by the light from the television screen, we sat enraptured watching the unfolding events leading to the landing of the Eagle.  At the announcement that "the Eagle has landed," this small audience in an Iowa backyard stood and cheered along with the global audience.  No standing ovation could ever have been stronger and more heart-felt. Later, bathed in bright moonlight on a clear summer night, our gazes shifted alternately from the TV screen to the moon while watching Neil Armstrong take man's first step on the moon.  No spotlight could compare with the glow of pride and joy we felt as we applauded this great feat accomplished by the U.S. space program and shared, this  night, with all of mankind. The event and it's impact, still come to mind periodically--especially on clear summer nights." -- Robert Assink

 "Forty years ago I was kind of busy digging foxholes so that I would stand a better chance of being alive in the morning. A guy that I would get to know, in fact our story was written up in the Omaha World Herald a few years ago, we knew each other for the first six years of our lives until I moved away to Iowa, said that when he came in country he told other Marines that we had landed people on the moon, but no one would believe him. As I said, we were pretty busy hunting and being hunted by other humans. But, thanks for asking." -- Bob Watson, Decorah

 "I think I have a unique perspective of the moon walk, landing and recovery of the astronauts.  My father, Marvin Beezley, an Air Force officer and our family were stationed at Hickam AFB in Hawaii at the time. While I don't remember much talk or hoopla preceding the event I can, like many remember where I was when I watched the landing.  You have to remember satellite TV transmissions were unusual and unique at the time.  Our TV shows were all a week behind so to see it in actual time was really neat.  I did not set out that day thinking or waiting for the event but was going about my normal routine.  I was at the pool (not beach) swimming that afternoon. A lifeguard had brought a little black and white TV and called us over when the landing occurred.  That was where I was.  I remember the excitement of it then and how great an event it was. However, my experience does not stop there. The astronauts were picked up in the ocean and transferred to Hickam for transportation back to the mainland.  Along with lots of others we watched them being loaded onto the plane.  They were quarantined in an air stream camper.  I believe they were quarantined in case they came home with any harmful  ‘Moon” substances.  I remember seeing the faces of the astronauts pressed to the windows as we waved and cheered them on. I also have a newspaper from that day that my parents had saved. It was laminated by one of my daughter's teachers who used it for a writing exercise. I wish I had some pictures of the event to look at but I do have pictures in my memory maybe that is good enough for now." -- Lori Meyer, Cedar Rapids

"My memories of July 20,1969 harken back to a place still engrained in the fabric of a Cedar Rapids summer but capture a time and encapsulate an outlook very different from today.  I was twelve years old at the time and spent every chance I could get at Noelridge Park swimming pool, as most children did and still do in the heat of an Iowa summer.  Sometime that afternoon, in a moment that is forever with me, the staff announced that everyone needed to get out of the pool, line up along the fence and listen to the radio broadcast live from the moon!  Time in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, literally stood still as the juvenile population paid silent reverence to the event unfolding.  It was a world where news was interpreted and explained through a handful of network anchors.  Just as our parents, those of us coming of age in this generation turned to these figures of trust and authority to learn and understand the important events of the world around us and the explorations beyond.  Space exploration and the triumphant lunar landing are still marked by the distant voice from the moon's surface and an anchor's paternal commentary, reminding us all, both young and old, that we were witnessing a great moment in human history.  Our only outward reaction was quiet awe.  There was no wireless internet, no blogosphere and no Twitter with which to explore and emote, just a naive wonderment and silent appreciation of those first steps for humankind." -- Kris Benesh, Ely

"I was at Veterans Memorial Stadium with my father James M. Abernathy the evening of July 20

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, 1969 at 9 pm. (I adored my handsome, athletic, fun - loving dad).  Daddy loved baseball (they called it kitten ball when they played in high school in southern Iowa), and over the years embraced who ever the major league team was that played in Cedar Rapids. In the spring, summer and autumn the family would picnic in the city parks (I especially remember the Robins Lake area of Ellis Park) and before and after the meal Daddy would hit his girls (my sister Judi and I) grounders to field. I am a Cardinal Baseball fan due to my Dad, Lou Brock, and the Cedar Rapids Cardinals since that's the affiliate playing in town during my high school years. Mother was working a night shift as a long distance telephone operator at the Bell Telephone building on 3

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Avenue, so it was just Daddy and I at the ball game, since sister Judi had married and had a family of her own. The competing teams were playing under an enormous full moon and during the 7

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inning stretch I believe there was an announcement over the public address system about the astronauts.  Daddy pointed up to the moon and said, “Jean, you need to remember where you were when the Americans were on the moon, “(my father was a sailor and had been in Tokyo Bay near the USS Missouri when Japan surrendered at the end of World War II).  Clearly in awe at the enormity of the feat on men landing on the moon my Dad said, “I never thought I'd see or know anything like this was possible in my lifetime.”  He was so full of pride at the achievements of the United States in his lifetime.  I laughed, as kids will, and as a new still very impressionable high school graduate, I promised my Dad I would remember. Time has passed, my father died in 1992, my sister in 1996 and my mother in 2004, but everything was miraculous and full of promise back on that long ago luscious evening in 1969 with the “men in/on the moon.”  That was a time when the world marveled and congratulated America on it's achievements for all of mankind. Yes, I remember………" Jean (Abernathy) Hahn, Cedar Rapids

"While working at Collins Radio, I was involved in the bidding process for several projects related to the Apollo program, so I had more than a casual relationship with what led up to the moon landing. My late wife, Margot, and I left the States for Germany the same day that the astronauts took off for the moon.  I had taken along a time table that told of various events that were to take place.  Well, prior to when the landing was to happen, we were partying with some friends at their home, after which we returned to the home of Margot's parents' (Leo & Frieda Volk, who lived in C.R. in the 1950s & "60s).  It was rather late when we got there, and the parents had gone to bed.  However, they knew how interested we were with the landing, and Margot's mother was to wake us as soon it got close to the time of the landing as she was aware of the schedule. Well, since there was no wakeup call, we assumed it didn't take place until we got downstairs for breakfast.  Oh, the folks were excited, and we asked what was going on.  To shorten the story, I'll say that the mother-in-law took in the whole experience first-hand, but didn't think it important to awaken us, since we could see it all when it was rerun! As a follow up to the above, the four of us went to Yugoslavia to spend some time at a resort in Porec.  It was during the time that the astronauts were to return from the moon, and we were there for the splashdown.  As I recall, the resort was brand new and had about 600 guest rooms, but only one large room, like a convention hall, where the only

television set was available.  The room was packed and a huge cheer went up when the astronauts were brought aboard the carrier.  The crowd was essentially all Europeans, and when word got out that we were Americans, (probably the only ones in the place), people came to us shaking our hands and slapping us on the back congratulating us as tho we were the ones who just returned. Couldn't buy a drink the rest of the night.  Never felt better to be an American in a foreign land!" -- Don Buss, Cedar Rapids

"In 1969 I was 20 years old and a student at the University of California at Berkeley, majoring in Renaissance Art History. That summer I spent studying at the University in Perugia, Italy, and took a side trip with several other American students to Venice. On July 20 we were staying at a very small basic hotel on the Lido in Venice. Bathroom down the hall, no phones nor TVs in the rooms, etc.  In our broken Italian we had to convince  the hotel manager that we needed a TV to watch the "moon walk." He thought we were loco, but produced a tiny square black and white oldie that we all huddled around to watch the event. We all hugged and cheered while the Italians stood by and scratched their heads at the "crazy Americans." I'll never forget the pride and excitement we all felt to be an American." -- Jeanne H. Guthrie, Cedar Rapids

"I have kept a daily journal since I was 10 years old, and in November I will turn 80!  Boy, do I have a lot of memories tucked in those journals.  I will type exactly what I wrote on July 20, 1969: 'Up at 8:45.  Kids to S.S. - Mike & I to 11:00.  Ate a lunch. Gayle and Gary to Nelson Park for Walther League Retreat at 1.  At 1:15 Butch, Edna, Kevin here on way back from Calif.  Coffee'd.  Visited.  Watched men land on moon.  Had a drink.  They left at 4.  Fixed hamb. at 6:45.  Did dishes. We all watched Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin walk around on moon!  To bed at 12:30.' I was particularly interested in the events of the space program, as my brother was one of the original 10 men chosen to be astronauts.  He went through all of the training and then elected not to become an astronaut.  He had a wife and 2 children.....I don't know if it was fear of the unknown or just what the motivation was for him to drop the program.  He then became a test pilot and ended his career as a Lt. Col. He passed away in December of 2008 at the age of 85." -- Dona Potratz, Tama