Once Upon A Time In America (8/25/12)
When I was a young boy in the 1960’s and early 70’s, America held in high esteem men such as Ed White, Buzz Aldrin, Jim Lovell, Gus Grissom and Neil Armstrong. These men fed the imagination and planted the seeds of a can do attitude of little kids all across America and held a nation captive as they took us to the heavens. These men were held in reverence, in that place reserved only for Firemen, Policeman and Soldiers, for they were of God’s and Heroes!
Many the hours were spent by my generation gazing up at the heavens, hoping, praying and straining as hard as we could to imagine that we saw the rocket ship so high above, staring at the moon in the mid summers July in 1969, daring ourselves to see Neil and Buzz up there! They made us believe that impossible could be possible, that we could do and be whomever or whatever we wanted to be and from that, look what my generation produced, Apple and Microsoft but to name only 2. But then, when you have dreams, anything is possible.
I can recall the hours spent waiting for splashdown – oh, that bygone time, that most anticipated and celebrated time of any Apollo missions, when the heroes came home, bursting through the atmosphere in their manmade womb of life, three incredibly large parachutes deploying and then crashing into the Pacific where a nearby Aircraft Carrier was waiting and a helicopter would launch with frog men who would jump into the Pacific and help free our heroes from the space capsule. We watched all this unfold before our very eyes, mostly on black and white televisions with all four channels, but then afterwards, after all the pomp and circumstance, me, like so many red blooded American boys would pull out our Astronaut G.I. Joe and Space Capsule, and Frogmen G.I. Joe and spend hours in play, losing ourselves in the moment!
Who will forget Armstrong stepping onto the lunar surface and saying these words - one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind, oh those words, the beauty of what he said. Words that still live with so many of us today. Those words launched us past the Soviets, they made sitting under a school desk during a “duck and cover” drill tolerable, because we knew, that America was the best! It represented our FREEDOM, our desire to excel, to be prosperous, to be a leader among men and the world – and – we were!
Those days of innocence have long since passed and in our fight Patriots, we still cling to those words that Neil uttered in 1969 – and though our Flag is tattered and worn, and though the threads may be frayed, she still shines bright – and we – together will carry the battle forth, but today, I ask you all, remember that man who said those words, who inspired a country.
God Bless America and God Speed Commander Neil Armstrong – back to the heavens you have found a final peace in eternity!
Neil Armstrong stood for an America that our current Preseident has much disdain for, an America that led the world. I can’t help but wonder will Barak Obama have the presence of mind to understand that Neil was the Columbus of the 20th Century and as he (Obama) has gutted NASA, we will be hard pressed to see another man step on a moon or planet for some time to come. Will Obama follow Ohio Congressman Bill Johnson and honor the request to give ths unique American hero the State Funeral he should have?
This song was released in 1969 for Apollo 11, I dedicate this song to all Americans.
Many the hours were spent by my generation gazing up at the heavens, hoping, praying and straining as hard as we could to imagine that we saw the rocket ship so high above, staring at the moon in the mid summers July in 1969, daring ourselves to see Neil and Buzz up there! They made us believe that impossible could be possible, that we could do and be whomever or whatever we wanted to be and from that, look what my generation produced, Apple and Microsoft but to name only 2. But then, when you have dreams, anything is possible.
I can recall the hours spent waiting for splashdown – oh, that bygone time, that most anticipated and celebrated time of any Apollo missions, when the heroes came home, bursting through the atmosphere in their manmade womb of life, three incredibly large parachutes deploying and then crashing into the Pacific where a nearby Aircraft Carrier was waiting and a helicopter would launch with frog men who would jump into the Pacific and help free our heroes from the space capsule. We watched all this unfold before our very eyes, mostly on black and white televisions with all four channels, but then afterwards, after all the pomp and circumstance, me, like so many red blooded American boys would pull out our Astronaut G.I. Joe and Space Capsule, and Frogmen G.I. Joe and spend hours in play, losing ourselves in the moment!
Who will forget Armstrong stepping onto the lunar surface and saying these words - one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind, oh those words, the beauty of what he said. Words that still live with so many of us today. Those words launched us past the Soviets, they made sitting under a school desk during a “duck and cover” drill tolerable, because we knew, that America was the best! It represented our FREEDOM, our desire to excel, to be prosperous, to be a leader among men and the world – and – we were!
Those days of innocence have long since passed and in our fight Patriots, we still cling to those words that Neil uttered in 1969 – and though our Flag is tattered and worn, and though the threads may be frayed, she still shines bright – and we – together will carry the battle forth, but today, I ask you all, remember that man who said those words, who inspired a country.
God Bless America and God Speed Commander Neil Armstrong – back to the heavens you have found a final peace in eternity!
Neil Armstrong stood for an America that our current Preseident has much disdain for, an America that led the world. I can’t help but wonder will Barak Obama have the presence of mind to understand that Neil was the Columbus of the 20th Century and as he (Obama) has gutted NASA, we will be hard pressed to see another man step on a moon or planet for some time to come. Will Obama follow Ohio Congressman Bill Johnson and honor the request to give ths unique American hero the State Funeral he should have?
This song was released in 1969 for Apollo 11, I dedicate this song to all Americans.
