Memory book gives new life to Armstrong’s moonwalk

Visitors to the museum are encouraged to write in the book.

WAPAKONETA, Ohio (AP) — The remember-where-you-were recollections of the live global broadcast of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon have been captured by a museum in this western Ohio city and compiled as a memory book with hundreds of handwritten pages.

The physician on board Apollo 11 recalls that Armstrong’s heart rate showed he was more calm walking on the moon July 20, 1969, than talking to President Nixon afterward.

Among other entries is the story of a South African who had no TV and used a movie camera to record the broadcast from his granddaughter’s screen in Norway. A woman who writes that she was “raised Amish” said a horse and buggy passed by as she watched the event.

The book was created two years ago by Andrea Waugh, education specialist at the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum. The book is on display at the museum and open for additional entries.

“So many people would tell us their stories,” Waugh said, “and I thought this is real history; let’s start recording it.”

Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo lunar module they called Eagle on the moon that famous day. Hours later, Armstrong descended a ladder and became the first to walk the lunar surface. People around the world were glued to television sets to witness the event.

Contributing

Visitors to the museum were invited to write in the book. People who have not visited the museum have sent in their memories via e-mail or by fax.

“They remember sitting in front of the black-and-white TV and watching Neil take his first steps,” Museum Director Becky MacWhinney said.

MacWhinney said she is surprised at the number of entries that have been collected in such a short time.

“It’s been very successful, and people really take to it,” MacWhinney said.

She said documenting the firsthand accounts of people who watched the moonwalk is crucial to keeping that part of history alive, enabling those who were not yet alive to experience it through the written memories.

Most of the entries are from out-of-state visitors.

A woman from Norway wrote about her grandfather visiting from South Africa. He aimed his movie camera at the family’s television set so he could share the moment with his neighbors back home who had no televisions.

One entry details the writer’s birth on the day when Armstrong returned to Earth. The woman in the hospital bed next to her mother named her baby Neil after Armstrong.

MacWhinney said she hopes to get more Wapakoneta residents to sign the book so they can share their take on the moon landing from the perspective of Armstrong’s hometown. Armstrong is originally from Wapakoneta and now lives in suburban Cincinnati.

The older generations could provide firsthand accounts of Armstrong’s homecoming parade to Wapakoneta in 1969, she said.

“I would bet if you asked the younger generations, they wouldn’t know that the parade existed,” MacWhinney said.