Question of the week: Forty years ago today, Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in the Apollo 11 mission. What do you remember about that significant moment in history?
“I’m trying to think. It was
1969 wasn’t it?
I guess it was
exhilarating at
the time. We
were all in junior
high school.
It was really exciting
because it
had never been
achieved before.
It was kind of like science fiction
was coming true. We were
actually going to new worlds.
Buck Rogers was the only thing
we could think of that was science
fiction before, and they
were making Buck Rogers come
true.”
— Dave Weymouth, maintenance
worker, Deposit
“I know exactly where I was.
I was in my family
room at 31
Riverdale St.,
New Jersey,
watching television
in the wee
hours of the
morning. It was
an exciting moment
for us. I got
up to make sure I was watching
it.”
— Bill Eckhardt, retired,
Oneonta
“I remember being in
school. My teacher slapped a
ruler down on
the desk and
looked us all
in the eyes and
said, “Dreams
do come true.”
It was amazing,
and really stuck
with all of us. It
was at that moment
I realized how real it all
was.”
— Ron Nemire, maintenance
worker, Mt. Upton
“We were down in the farmhouse
when Neil
Armstrong landed
on the moon.
I didn’t watch it
because at that
time we didn’t
have television,
but I heard it on
the radio. I was
amazed. You
can’t know how different it was.
It was like another world. You
have to have a 40-year memory
to know.”
— Kathleen Martin, retired
teacher, Bloomville
“I do remember that. I
would imagine it
was like the way
my father spoke
of the Titanic:
it was as big as
man landing on
the moon in 1969.
That was phenomenal;
just
the thought of it.
When I was growing up in the
1950s, you heard about rocketry
and the early stages. Then we
woke up and realized Russia
was ahead of us; then Chuck
Yeager broke the sound barrier.
We used to make our own
rockets when we were kids. In
those days, you could order kits.
Life is truly a wonder.”
— Jim Sliney, retired, Maryland
“My husband
stayed up to
watch it, but I
was asleep. He
told me about it
the next morning.”
— Barbara
Eckhardt, retired,
Oneonta
