Photo credit: Donamy
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, –and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of –Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air…
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr
Since Neil was initially trained as a Naval aviator, he also deserves a Missing Man:
Photo credit: Star Voyager
Now for the really boring part, Dear Reader (if any). I still remember watching the first "small step" live on TV. I was watching it with my father (another boyhood hero who is now gone), and he was trimming my fingernails.
UPDATED SEPTEMBER 1, 2012:
Missing Man formation flown for Neil at his memorial on August 31, 2012:
Photo Credit: NASA
Then there was two:
Photo Credit: NASA
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, –and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of –Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air…
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air…
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr
Since Neil was initially trained as a Naval aviator, he also deserves a Missing Man:
Photo credit: Star Voyager
Now for the really boring part, Dear Reader (if any). I still remember watching the first "small step" live on TV. I was watching it with my father (another boyhood hero who is now gone), and he was trimming my fingernails.
UPDATED SEPTEMBER 1, 2012:
Missing Man formation flown for Neil at his memorial on August 31, 2012:
Photo Credit: NASA
Then there was two:
Photo Credit: NASA
UPDATED SEPTEMBER 1, 2012:
Missing Man formation flown for Neil at his memorial on August 31, 2012:
Then there was two:
1 comment:
I was absolutely GLUED to the television from liftoff to splashdown. I was only 12 at the time and figured when Armstrong first stepped off that I would jump up and shout for joy. But I simply sat there in silence and wonder, so amazed that it was REALLY, REALLY happening right then and there -- history before my eyes. Never felt anything like it since.
God love 'em all. I've seen their spacecrafts in the Smithsonian and they're either the bravest souls on the planet or the craziest. But they're ALL my heroes.
Won't ever look at the moon without thinking of you, Neil. Thanks so much, gentle sir.
With all my admiration,
Patrick
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