“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”
John F. Kennedy, September 12, 1962
On a hot summer day in Texas, President Kennedy brought some heat of his own. While speaking on the campus of Rice University the challenge was given to land on the moon by the end of the 1960’s and the space race had it’s official start. The Soviet Union had gotten a head start with the launch of the Sputnik satellite but our national pride was on the line. On July 20, 1969 the ‘Eagle’ had landed and American Neil Armstrong was the first human to walk on the moon.
“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969
What was witnessed by millions around the world was a fulfillment of a dream that overwhelmed the United States with national pride. As Neil Armstrong place the US Flag on the surface of the moon it was proof that mankind had landed on a planetary body outside the boundaries of Earth and we had won the race to the moon against the Soviet Union.
What flew with enthusiasm in 1969 flies with the proverbial “dark cloud” over it in 2018. An elementary school in Grand Prairie, Texas had flown the US flag upside down on the second day of school. A US Navy Veteran informed the school staff of the incident but no immediate action was taken. An Atlanta, Georgia Charter school has decided to drop the Pledge of Allegiance from it’s daily routine and the NFL is still reeling from the controversy over the US flag protest by their own players.
Hollywood has also thrown their hat into the middle of this growing conflict and one of their biggest critics is one who was there on the moon. Buzz Aldrin has weighed in on the ongoing controversy surrounding the upcoming Neil Armstrong biopic “First Man.” The movie screened at the Venice Film Festival has been criticised for not featuring a scene depicting the American flag being planted into the moon.
Damien Chazelle, who previously directed “La La Land” and “Whiplash,” has explained that the decision to omit the iconic moment was not a political gesture. One of the most vocal critics has been US senator Marco Rubio, who wrote on Twitter: “This is total lunacy. And a disservice at a time when our people need reminders of what we can achieve when we work together.”
Revisionist may want to downplay the importance of our national achievements but many will never forget that day in 1969 when our nation stood so tall.
“We would like to give special thanks to all those Americans who built the spacecraft; who did the construction, design, the tests, and put their hearts and all their abilities into those craft. To those people tonight, we give a special thank you, and to all the other people that are listening and watching tonight, God bless you. Good night from Apollo 11.”
Neil Armstrong, July 23, 1969
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“JFK at Rice University, 1962” Courtesy AP
“Upside Down US Flag” Staff Photo
“US Flag on Moon” Courtesy NASA.