Neil Armstrong embodied all of those pep talks, aimed at us as kids, by a parent, teacher or coach.
“You can achieve anything. The sky’s the limit.”
On July 20, 1969, Armstrong proved those encouraging words true. That day, Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, an achievement that, just a few years earlier, seemed beyond impossible.
For that reason, his death Saturday at age 82 tugs at the heartstrings of millions of people worldwide. A piece of youth has passed, at least for folks old enough to remember the Apollo 11 landing. The sights and sounds of that event remain embedded in memories … the picture of Armstrong in his space suit and helmet, standing on the lunar surface … “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” … And, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
The latter quotation uttered by Armstrong transcends those of philosophers, writers, generals and statesmen. He delivered that thought, in that unforgettable staccato cadence as he climbed off a ladder of the lunar module and put the first footprint on the moon. Most of us fumble to accurately recite a pithy quote from Twain or Churchill, but Armstrong’s 11 words flow from our memory banks automatically.
In an ironic historical footnote, Armstrong long insisted he had actually said “one small step for a man,” but admitted his ears, like those of the humans back on earth, could not hear the “a” in that famous radio transmission. That discrepancy is fitting, because we may not know Armstrong’s personal story as thoroughly as we think.
Armstrong always appreciated but never became comfortable with the awe and emotional attachment expressed by others for him. In the decades following the moon landing, he consistently avoided the limelight and opportunities to reminisce about the glory of that one small step. Even on milestone anniversaries of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong typically made no comments, and kept about his very private life.
NASA could not have picked a more humble man, especially in the 1960s, an era when astronauts enjoyed rock-star status in the eyes of the public. “A reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job,” his family said in a statement last weekend.
Armstrong saw himself in a far more ordinary light. He once told the National Press Club, “I am, and ever will be, a white-sock, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer.”
Just a guy from small-town Ohio who drew inspiration from the Wright Brothers and Chuck Yeager, and loved to fly. In the midst of their dramatic 21⁄2-hour moonwalk, Armstrong patted Apollo 11 crewmate Buzz Aldrin on the shoulder and, according to an Orlando Sentinel recap, gushed, “Isn’t this fun?”
Millions of us down here on their home planet thought the same thing as we huddled around TV sets, watching Armstrong and the space program make history, in grainy yet indelible images, and realizing the impossible was no longer so.
Editorials
EDITORIAL: Tribute to a reluctant hero
A shy Midwesterner, Armstrong now an icon
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Noteworthy in the news: MVC tourney an event worth having
It’s been a long time since the Missouri Valley Conference chose Indiana State University to host its post-season baseball tournament, but Terre Haute had never been more prepared for an event such as this.
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EDITORIAL: Cleaning up voter rolls
It’s not a lot of money in the big scheme of things, but the $2 million designated in the recent session of the General Assembly will begin the messy but necessary process of cleaning up Indiana’s voter registration rolls.
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EDITORIAL: Waging the ‘readiness’ campaign
Almost every Hoosier who starts college intends to finish. Unfortunately, those who arrive on campus unprepared in key academic areas are far less likely to fulfill that aspiration.
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EDITORIAL: Insult to an independent press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: Dashing finish for the Sycamores
It’s always thrilling to see Indiana State University’s athletic teams do well in high-level competition, and two specific teams rose to impressive heights last weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference outdoor track and field championships.
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EDITORIAL: Better monitoring needed to prevent local environmental messes
The nasty, hazardous messes lurking in the community raise a bottom-line, red-flag question. Could these environmental problems have been monitored and, thus, prevented?
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EDITORIAL: Memo to U.S.A.: You can ‘SPPRAK’ just as we do in Vigo County
Our kids, truly, are ‘Making a Difference’
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Some words in praise of boring government — Indiana’s
A conservative Republican governor has super majorities in both branches of the legislature. One might suspect such one-party government leads to major changes in public policy. This did not happen in 2013 in Indiana.
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EDITORIAL: Doc’s prescient prescription
Viewed through a 2013 prism, Doc Bowen’s response to the AIDS epidemic looks merely prudent, routine.
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EDITORIAL: Education remains worth the cost
Within the next few weeks, each of the local colleges will have conducted graduation ceremonies. A few days later, a different Class of 2013 will don caps and gowns for commencement — the seniors at five Vigo County high schools. It is still a smart, worthy aspiration for those high school grads to replicate the achievement of those college students by earning a higher-education degree.
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EDITORIAL: Good news for downtown
For decades, it seems, downtown Terre Haute has been in the throes of change
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EDITORIAL: Overall, state budget step in the right direction
For average Hoosiers uninterested in political point-scoring, the budget crafted by the Indiana Legislature inspires only muted, if any, fanfare.
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EDITORIAL: The lessons of organ donation
The range of emotion surrounding life-saving transplantation of a vital organ is extreme. It is the ultimate “good news-bad news” scenario.
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READERS’ FORUM: April 26, 2013
• Pence’s tax cuts benefit wealthiest
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
This does not qualify as a surprise in any way. But the Wabash Valley’s response to widespread flooding of recent days has been nothing short of impressive, even inspirational.
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EDITORIAL: Still waiting for the jobs reward
The forces in control of Indiana government for most of the past decade need to show some results to Hoosiers in one primary category.
Good-paying jobs. -
MARK BENNETT: Littered with irony: Why do people callously discard their trash, and who are they?
Though they aren’t acknowledged by the U.S. Census Bureau, there are basically two demographic groups of people … Those who would dump their old toilet on the banks of the Wabash River or a rural roadside. And those who wouldn’t.
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EDITORIAL: Doing the dirty work to clean up tossed trash
A first-of-its-kind, coast-to-coast project to remove litter from U.S. roadsides brought the Pick Up America crew through the Wabash Valley two years ago.
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EDITORIAL: Keep school security a local issue
The decision to provide armed security inside a schoolhouse should be made locally.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
Indiana’s parks need your help.
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EDITORIAL: The return of terror
Emotions today remain strong and raw in wake of Monday’s terror bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
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EDITORIAL: A solution to distracted driving … stop it … now
You’ve got to stop. You know you do it. It’s a miracle you haven’t caused a tragedy already.
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EDITORIAL: ‘Women of Influence’: 2013 selectees have given much to their communities
For the second year, United Way of the Wabash Valley has teamed up with local sponsors to select and honor a group of women who have made outstanding contributions to their communities, professions and families.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: A new honor for our veterans
A commendation goes out today to state Rep. Clyde Kersey, a Terre Haute Democrat who led the charge this week in the Indiana House of Representatives to pay tribute to the nation’s Purple Heart recipients.
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EDITORIAL: Shifting view on marriage
One could argue, as many have, that Sen. Joe Donnelly did the right thing last week when he dropped his support of government-sanctioned opposition to same-sex marriage. It wasn’t a radical move, considering most Democrats have now made the switch.
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MAX JONES: The American Newspaper: Changing? Yes. Dying? No way!
It happened again this past January when all those “looking at the year ahead” stories started popping up on Internet “news” websites and broadcast “news” programs. Under a provocative headline reading something like “Five industries/businesses doomed to tank in the coming year,” there it was, a prediction based on an unsubstantiated “expert” analysis that the newspaper industry will continue in 2013 to suffer its slide into oblivion.
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EDITORIAL: A chance to change our bad cultural habits
The sight of diligent, eager young people dragging trash out of the Wabash River wetlands is both inspiring and sad.
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EDITORIAL: Maintaining high standards
Standards
It’s the raging buzzword in education circles these days. Everyone insists that higher standards must be met. Anything less is, doggone it, unacceptable. -
Noteworthy in the news
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EDITORIAL: Crack down on dumpers
There is a reason it’s called “illegal” dumping. It’s against the law. And there is a very good reason illegal dumping is against the law.
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Noteworthy in the news: MVC tourney an event worth having
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