http://news.yahoo.com/neil-armstrong-1st-man-moon-dies-193954975.html Its officially the end of a generation.
No matter what you've achieved in your life...its hard to beat "walking on the moon". I'm sure thats one man that felt his life was lived to the fullest.
I hear ya. What a rough week for Lance Armstrong. First he is labeled a drug cheat, then they strip his titles and now to top it all off his old man Neil has died.
Maybe his passing will be a blessing in disguise for our country. Where Americans once walked on the moon, now the only way an American gets into space, and only low-earth orbit at that, is to hitch a ride on a Russian craft. Look how much we've changed as a country since that day in 1969 when Armstrong made that giant leap. We now have more people on food stamps than ever before, more people on disability than ever before, were unable to subdue a third world sinkhole after a decade of military action. In my workplace, a warehouse with a crew of about 15, we have one guy who is given a light workload because he says his feet hurt. We have another guy who is given nearly nothing to do, and I'm not exaggerating - he does about 3-4 hours worth of work in his 8-9 hour shift, who claims he's too mentally disabled to load boxes of potato chips into a truck, so managment just lets him hang out. He spends most of his day updating his facebook status with his smartphone. Whenever I hear these "Angry White Man" rants about how America has gone to hell, I just laugh them off, but we really have declined as a nation. As a country we don't try to lead the way anymore, and no more Neil Armstrongs are rising to the top.
The speech never given, thankfully. The moving text of the speech, sent to President Nixon's chief of staff, H.R. Halderman, was thankfully never used. It begins, "Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace. These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice." The speech continues, They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown. In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man. In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood. Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man's search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts. For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.
That's a brilliant piece of writing. I just did a quick google search and found that it was written by William Safire. Thanks for posting it.