Deseret News | Let's hear what you remember about the moon landing

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Let's hear what you remember about the moon landing

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Bear Rug | 10:39 a.m. July 13, 2009

I was 12 years old. My nose was about 2" from the TV screen the entire time. I had watched John Glenn, through to Apollo 11. I was the ultimate space nerd.
To all of those naysayers of naybob, Gene Cernan was asked, once, if he had really walked on the moon, or if it was a studio set up. His response was that he was one of 12 people, that walked on the moon. And then asked, with 12 witnesses, why would you need anymore proof?

Patrick Casaday - Sandy City | 10:43 a.m. July 13, 2009

I was serving an LDS mission in Mexico. We had heard reports during the week that the American astronauts were about to take that "one giant leap" for mankind. That evening, our landlord invited us to his house to watch as Neil Armstrong, followed by Edwin Aldrin, stepped off the ladder and made history. Certainly an event I will never forget.

Bill Baumgardner Sr. | 11:02 a.m. July 13, 2009

My dad & I sat there & watched it on TV live & when it showed the ball shape of the moon in the background, we just looked at each other & bust out laughing! :) It is the biggest hoax ever played out on the American people & most, at that time believed it. Now it is a whole different thing to find as many that believe it now. I KNOW it was a real joke THEN & still is. I have seen too much evidence since then that helps me to know what a real hoax it was & still is. IT NEVER HAPPENED PEOPLE!! I do not have to prove to anyone that it did not happen. This country has the responsibility to prove it did & that is impossible to do, because it never happened. We will all know the real truth about it someday, but by then, of course, who will care? Ha Ha Ha. The hoax in the 1970s about running out of fuel has been proven to be just that! Thank you for letting me state my opinion & knowledge here. It is still my freedom to do so for now. Not sure how long we will have this freedom.

Comments continue below

Bill Baumgardner Sr. | 11:05 a.m. July 13, 2009

In my comment above, I ran out of room to put my city, so I will put it here in case you would like to print some REAL TRUTH.
My name is William Arthur Baumgardner Sr. & I live in New Philadelphia Ohio USA.
Thank you.

Bee's Mom | 12:18 p.m. July 13, 2009

I turned 5 the day before, and I have always associated the moon landing with my birthday.

We didn't have a television until I was 12, so we had to go to my Aunt and Uncle's house and watch it there. I think it may have been the first time I ever saw a television.

I remember watching the tiny man in a white suit climb down a ladder and step onto the moon. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew it was important. I will never forget the look on my Mother's face. The awe and wonder in her eyes are perhaps my most vivid memory. When I asked her what was happening, she said this: "What is happening is the end of the world we knew. Nothing will ever be the same after this."

I didn't understand her then, but I do now. I used the same words to explain to my 3 year old daughter what was happening on 911. Unfortunately, it wasn't the same type of event, but the result was the same.

Bettie Allee | 1:02 p.m. July 13, 2009

It was the most wonderful moment in history, watching the television and at the same time looking through my telescope, realizing they really were up there!! I was always facinated with the space program, and hoped it would always continue.

J. Wilhite, Red Bluff | 3:43 p.m. July 13, 2009

It was my 15th birthday and I had been asked by my best friends family to water their yard. I used their key and watched the event on their color TV. I was respectful of their home but I remember sitting in their house by myself and watched the whole event. What a birthday present.

captain | 6:59 p.m. July 13, 2009

I was 13years old and walked outside in long beach calif. and looked up at the moon and thought to myself... "wow there are two people on the moon right now. That is sooo cool!" I also was so proud to be an American.

bmblack | 11:05 p.m. July 13, 2009

We lived in Tustin, California and had just moved into our new home. I was just four years old, but I remember going to our next door neighbors home to watch it on their television as they had a bigger screen than we did. recall sitting on the floor right in front of the TV and hearing the words,"One small step..."

Hassan Salisu | 7:06 a.m. July 14, 2009

I was nine years old and in primary school then in Lagos ,Nigeria.All I can remember was the fear of particle dustts coming to earth from the moon and that such dust partcles were responsible for eye infections popularly called "apolo".However, it was exciting to me that humans could land on the moon!

deedee | 8:24 a.m. July 14, 2009

I was 12. My grandma had the only color TV in the town where I grew up.
She lived next door to us so we went to her house to watch the landing. It was standing room only. As many of the towns people as could fit in her front room had arrived to see and hear about the moon landing. People were even on the front porch watching. IT was great!!! We all cheered.

Big Daddy | 9:21 a.m. July 14, 2009

I was 14 years old, at Anaheim Stadium watching the Angels play the Oakland A's - they flashed on the scoreboard that Man had landed on the Moon. I drew on my program a picture of a spacecraft landing on the Moon...I still have the program...

Linda F | 10:32 a.m. July 14, 2009

I was 12 years old and living in Bountiful, Utah. My older sister had left a small reel to reel tape recorder that she had used in college . I took the recorder downstairs to the basement to watch our black & white Admiral TV and I pretended that I was Walter Cronkite and that I was making a news recording which I would later play for the family. "Ladies & Gentlemen we have landed on the moon, yes, we have landed on the moon". Sadly, I don't have the recording anymore. I also thought we would surely be able to see that flag on the moon when we went outside because the moon was gray and the flag was RW&B. My husband who is older than I am has no recollection of the event because he was up at his parents summer and they had no radio that would receive a signal. I am at the location right now. My next door neighbor in UT who is from Iran told me that were at their summer place on the Caspian Sea and everyone huddled around the radio to listen she translated for the household hep & nannies.

Patty | 10:40 a.m. July 14, 2009

I remember sitting on the floor in the gymnasium at Provost Elementary School in Provo, Utah. The whole entire school was there watching it on a television. I remember my heart pounding when they put up the American Flag it gave me goose bumps and still does every time I see it again. One of those things you will always be in your memory bank.

Leo | 12:43 p.m. July 14, 2009

I was 11 years old (Apollo 11) - First time there is a TV at home, just in time to see Neil Armstrong take the first step on the Moon.

Melinda Arnold | 1:03 p.m. July 14, 2009

I was celebrating my 13 birthday on July 20, 1969 when we found out about the moon landing. We watched it on our black & white television. I knew I was lucky to have it happen on my birthday and every year I can remember when it happened and know how many years it's been. What a special birthday present!

Jimmy Brady jr. | 1:06 p.m. July 14, 2009

I was at Ft. Bliss Texas, waiting to be shipped out to Vietnam in the next few days.

Mooney | 1:19 p.m. July 14, 2009

LOL. Silly people. Man has not stepped foot on the moon. The US gov has never, and will never, show us something so monumentous and historic... live.. What a scam on the people of the earth.

Stacey - Midvale | 2:20 p.m. July 14, 2009

The moon landing is one of my very first memories. I was nearly two years old... I know, people don't believe that I remember this, but I do. We were in our living room, my parents were sitting on the couch to the right of the room, my siblings on the left. I was sitting on the floor near our fireplace and the black and white tv was on the other side of the room. I wasn't quite sure what was going on but my parents were making a huge deal about it. I remember grainy b/w images of the capsule and the "spaceman" and I can't say i knew what they were, but I do remember that day and the fuss.

trina | 3:05 p.m. July 14, 2009

I have a question. didn't the moon landing happen later at night? I just looked up the CBS video and I swear it said on the footage "10:46pm EDT" -- so was it played live? or was it taped delayed? If it was live, how can people say they were at school or they rushed home from church or similar situations when it would've been like 9 p.m., at least here in Utah?

Just a question, just wondering.

Marc Roddin, Sandy UT | 7:15 p.m. July 14, 2009

I remember this vividly, as it happened to be my 19th birthday. My Mom and Dad and I were glued to our black and white TV set, and everyone was jubilant.

Robert Wasser | 7:25 a.m. July 15, 2009

I was with a girl I never saw again, at a place I have never been again, watching something I would only witness once. A week later I left for a one year tour of combat duty in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Neither of which I will never forget.

James | 9:10 a.m. July 15, 2009

It was all a set up.

C Allen Meeker, Knox PA | 9:28 a.m. July 15, 2009

It was 2 days before my wife & I would go get our marriage license on her 19th birthday. We married on the 28th, & are still married w/3 grown sons all married themselves. I've heard all the it "never" happened, Hollywood hype. But still remember watching in awe of what could be done "if you believe, you can achieve"! Hopefully, if we indeed do return, the lunar lander will be found & our flag will still be proudly standing. Time's they have indeed changed. But we can still pray, believe & achieve, it's our choice! I choose to stay a believer, maybe for some just a dreamer. I remember one astronaut's words very clearly..."I feel I have touched the face of God!" Not yet, but very soon. Get ready...bigger & far greater things are on the way!

Maung Maung | 10:13 a.m. July 15, 2009

I was in school (in Burma) and the name of Commander Neil Armstrong struck in mind ever since.

Mike Jacobson | 11:58 a.m. July 15, 2009

It was both a day of excitement and sadness for me and my family, as it was also the day I left for "boot camp" and the unknown that lie ahead with the war in Vietnam. The moon landing was a breath of fresh air for this country during a time of great turmoil and division due to racial tension, the ramping up of the "Cold War", threats of an expanded arms race, nuclear submarines and ballistic missiles, the war in Southeast Asia, and last but not least...Peace, Love, and Flower Power!

Like so many heroic patriots before him, Neil Armstrong's "giant step" that day helped bring Americans together with a pride that validated all that has ever been GREAT about this Country!

Chip | 12:19 p.m. July 15, 2009

Enter commentI was 3.....

Gail | 12:27 p.m. July 15, 2009

My husband and I were sitting on the bed (we had a 2 room apartment) and I was holding our 9 month old son on my lap. David and I were both in tears at the wonder of humans in space, and I kept telling the baby to watch and remember! My husband decided then that if he ever had a chance, he would fly to the moon. He now wants to go to the spacestation. We are still in awe and wonder at the magisty of space

awsomeron | 3:47 p.m. July 15, 2009

I am Not Sure, I have to look at my time line. I know I watched it on TV Repeat, after Repeat. I know I felt great pride in being an American. I Remember it was a good moment.

We had accomplished something No Other Nation could come close to doing. We Need to be American and have more National Pride, as Americans.

The accomplishment was great. God Bless America.

For Bill "Cranky" Baumgardner | 4:09 p.m. July 15, 2009

Bill -

Congratulations. You were a negative, cynical, crusty man 40 years ago and you still are today.

Here's your sign....

Stephen Price | 7:32 p.m. July 15, 2009

What a great post Mike Jacobson! America always finds a way to get through it. In turmoil, someone or something always steps up to bring us all together. The Moon Landing did just that. Way to go America!

Scott Wall | 8:51 p.m. July 15, 2009

I was 13 years old at the time. I remember the excitement of man landing on the moon. I had followed the space program from the days of the Mercury astronauts and this was the crowning achievement. What a moment as I sat in my grandparents TV room and watched this event with my family, grandparents, Uncle, Aunt and cousins.

I will never forget that day as it was the last time I saw my Uncle alive. He was killed the next February in an accident.

Jimbo | 10:20 p.m. July 15, 2009

I was 11 years old in my home town of Cedar City and have two distinct memories of the event. 1)My older brother was taking a photograph of the image on our black and white Dumont television by holding the shutter open on his camera. (no VCRs at that time) 2) Thinking to my self that Neil Armstrong's "one small step.... one giant leap" statement was pretty clever to come up with on the spur of the moment.

Steve | 12:41 a.m. July 16, 2009

I remember watching Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldren on my Grandmother's old Black and White Admiral Television. I was 15 and less than one month from my 17th birthday. I was excited. I could not explain to my grandmother why they could actually stay on the moon. My grandmother, born in 1889, could not put it together that the moon had gravity. She understood that the moon was in space and there was no gravity in space, so there was no gravity on the moon. My grandfather believed that Mars was as far as their was. There was nothing beyond Mars. I had to keep re-assuring my grandmother that the astronauts would not just float away.

Ken V. | 6:16 a.m. July 16, 2009

I was attending the Boy Scout National Jamboree in Farragut State Park in Idaho when the Lunar Module landed. I remember the entire camp being totally quiet during the landing, with everyone huddled around a radio in each troop campsite, listening live to the landing. I remember being totally fascinated by all of Alrin's technical jargon as he assisted Armstrong's piloting with navigation and condition call outs as the landing and touch down progressed. When we finally heard the phrase "Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed" the entire camp erupted into a HUGE cheer. I can still feel the emotion of that moment.

Tom Tolman | 7:31 a.m. July 16, 2009

I had just returned home from Viet Nam the previous Fall and was finishing my Jr. Year at Weber State College. I was a photographer/reporter while in Viet Nam and was working towards a major in art with a minor in photography at Weber. I thought it would be cool to photograph the moon walk on TV, so I set up my tripod & camera, and adjusted the settings so I could avoid the lines in my photo. We just had an old Dumont black & white TV we had bought at a thrift store while in the Army, but it was a big 21” screen which gave a great picture for that time period. I took several shots while the moon landing was being telecast and they turned out pretty good for shooting it from the TV. I actually used some of the images in my school assignments later that year and was impressed at how well they worked out and how fellow classmates and my instructors were excited to see what I had accomplished. I still have the negatives somewhere in my files, because I have continued in art and photography professionally for over 40 years.

Gary, American Fork, UT | 9:37 a.m. July 16, 2009

I was 17 years old that summer and I had watched the Apollo 11 launch on a TV set in a hotel in Mexico. We made it home to California not long before the first moonwalk was televised. I'll never forget those ghostly images of Neil Armstrong stepping down off the ladder and touching lunar soil for the first time. "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" INDEED! Television technology had a long way to go to catch up to space technology! After watching the unreal looking television images, I went outside to look up at the moon. It was overwhelming to think that there were men from my own country walking on the moon at that very moment. That moment, I realized that the last frontiers of the planet earth had now been overshadowed by the new frontier of space.

G | 9:59 a.m. July 16, 2009

Armstrong stepped out onto the surface about six hours after the actual landing, which occurred in the afternoon, Eastern time. Kids watching the "small step" had to stay up late.

The intervening hours were spent on system checks, preparations for an emergency departure, and donning a very bulky suit in a very small space.

LNH | 3:17 p.m. July 16, 2009

I was 15 that summer and working on a ranch out in the sticks with no electicity. It just so happened that night I was asked to babysit some neighbors kids so I was able to see the moon walk afterall. I seemed like it took forever for Neil Armstrong to actually get out of the module and get down the latter. All the while Walter Cronkite kept talking with little tid bits of information until Armstrong finally made it down to the moon. I remember being in awe and thinking this is just the begiinning of many more things to come. Although we haven't become the great space explorers I thought we would it is still a great memory.

Sadly... | 9:55 p.m. July 16, 2009

I was nearly five but I don't remember a dang thing about it!!! I wish I could!
So now I have to go to the commemorative website that's counting down the events -- virtual memories?! Who'da thought!

Dave | 11:48 a.m. July 17, 2009

I was a crewchief on a UH1 helicopter flying over Saigon when we heard the news. I never got to see the footage until years later.

Red | 12:34 p.m. July 17, 2009

I was a grad student at the time. The wife and I were watching a friend's color TV (couldn't afford one of our own.

The darn TV set went "POP," and flames came shooting out of it!

Sadly, we missed most of the lunar broadcast--

Get a clue! | 3:41 p.m. July 17, 2009

To all who believe that the moon landing was legit, you are all just a bunch of sheep following the sheepherder. You will believe anything that is put on the news, and talk negatively about anyone who doesn't believe it. You say "but it was on the news, so it has to be true". I have seen enough evidence myself to believe that it was all a hoax and probably filmed out in the Nevada desert somewhere. You all probably believe Oswald acted alone too, right? Go ahead and bash me for this comment, but when all is said and done I'll still be able to think for myself and you all will still be as naive as ever.

AndyInLondon | 11:34 p.m. July 17, 2009

I was 12 years old, and had been taken to Disneyland with my friend Robert by his father. We spent the day there, and they had put up big television monitors in Tomorrowland, near the "Flight To The Moon" attraction. It seemed the perfect place, from a 12 year old's perspective to be witnessing that great moment.

When I got home later that day, of course my family was still watching the coverage on television, and my grandfather, who at 84 was then living with us, kept insisting that it was all a fake, and could not be convinced by any of us that it wasn't all a hoax being filmed in a television studio. He had worked all his life at one of the major film studios, constructing furniture for sets, and felt he understood stagecraft and the trickery of film, and was getting madder and madder at the fast one he thought was being pulled on us.

Mike Reid | 1:23 p.m. July 18, 2009

I was an eight year old Cub Scout at the time. We were at a Cub Scout activity at Navy Pier in Chicago. We were called to gather around a small TV to witness the historic event. I don't remember if this was the landing on the moon or the actual walking on the moon.

Jim Phillips | 1:41 p.m. July 18, 2009

I was an Air Force fighter pilot at the time, stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB. We stayed up all night watching the first moon landing. The most exciting action was just as the Luner lander slowly descended. You could see the shadow of the lander on the surface of the moon, with the shadow of the long probe getting closer and slowly to the surface, than you could see moon dust being kicked up. The excitement increased when you knew they were just about out of the fuel allotted for the landing. What a sigh of relief went around and then a big cheer as Niel announced "The Eagle has landed!" His descent on the ladder and his statement was another historic moment as well as when they planted the American flag. Those were exciting and proud times.

Viet Vet | 3:54 p.m. July 18, 2009

I was at PBR Mobile Base 1 at Tan My, Viet Nam. Our TV reception was so bad, we didn't get to see a thing.

Kjirstin Youngberg | 10:26 p.m. July 18, 2009

My mother was mortified when my father walked to the front of the chapel during our sacrament service, whispering to the Bishop that Armstrong was about to walk on the moon. The Bishop got up, announced that we would now end the meeting with a prayer, so we could all arrive home in time to watch the event. All of us kids nearly cheered! Of course, there were delays and my mother had to say, "I told you so!" as we could have finished our church meeting and still seen it. I took black and white photos from our TV which I still have...I only wish Walter Cronkite could have lived another three days. My friend was a ham radio operator who recorded something the TV viewers didn't hear, about Armstrong not being alone up there. He recorded it on a little reel to reel recorder. He still has that, too.

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Let's hear what you remember about the moon landing