For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.
Statement of the Armstrong Family
The first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, died today at 82. He served as a naval fighter pilot in Korea, flying 78 combat missions. A test pilot after the war, his feats in that field were legendary, combining strong engineering ability, cold courage and preternatural flight skills. He was accepted into the astronaut program in 1962. On July 20, 1969, in the middle of the night in Central Illinois, he set foot on the moon. My father and I, like most of the country, were riveted to the television screen as we watched a turning point in the history of humanity. He intended to say, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” It came out: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Godspeed Mr. Armstrong on the journey you have just embarked upon.
I…. I never even had the random thought that was possible.
It’s like hearing the Empire State Building died.
[…] Neil Armstrong: Requiescat in Pace – Donald R. McClarey, The American Catholic […]
Rest in Peace.
A real American hero. He’ll need no space suit where he is going. May God receive him into the beatific vision.
Armstrong was a devout Christian. I recall reading that years after the moon landing, he visited Jerusalem and walked on the ruins of steps which had once led to Solomon’s Temple. Armstrong asked his guide if Christ had walked those same steps. The guide said Jesus, an observant Jew, would have walked those steps many times in his life to visit the Temple. Armstrong told Thomas Friedman (of all people) that he was more emotionally overwhelmed by walking on those steps than he had been when he stepped on the moon.
[…] Neil Armstrong: Requiescat in Pace. The first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, died today at 82. He served as a naval fighter pilot in Korea, flying 78 combat missions. A test pilot after the war, his feats in that field were legendary, combining strong engineering ability, cold courage and preternatural flight skills. He was accepted into the astronaut program in 1962. On July 16, 1969, in the middle of the night in Central Illinois, he set foot on the moon. My father and I, like most of the country, were riveted to the television screen as we watched a turning point in the history of humanity. He intended to say, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” It came out: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Godspeed Mr. Armstrong on the journey you have just embarked upon. Share:EmailPrint […]
You should read “Rocket Men”. Beautiful book about the Apollo missions & its people. Relates how , upon reaching lunar orbit, Armstrong & ALdrin read scriptural passages and Armstrong took holy communion. So m,any devout christians in the space program. DUring the first flight to the moon ( no landing) , on CHristmas eve, the astronauts read “Genesis” and the whole world listened..
Neil Armstrong was an agnostic or a Deist (a God created the world but takes no part in creation or human affairs) ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Armstrong#Personal_life ) . It was Buzz Aldrin who took communion while on the moon ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_Aldrin#Personal_life ) and Apollo 8 that read from the book of Genesis while in orbit around the moon on Christmas Eve 1968 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8_Genesis_reading ).