Saturday, August 25, 2012
WARREN
Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, took his first airplane ride in Warren.
Armstrong, who died Saturday at the age of 82, spent about two years in the mid-1930s as a young boy in Champion. His father, Stephen, worked for the state auditor’s office and moved frequently.
On July 26, 1936, Armstrong, at the age of 6, took that first flight in a Ford Tri-Motor, also called the “Tin Goose,” at Warren Airways, off Parkman Road N.W. in Warren, according to Vindicator files and NASA’s website.
“From that time on, he claimed an intense fascination with aviation,” according to NASA.gov’s biography of Armstrong.
Pete Perich, who lived in Warren and Champion before moving to Tampa a couple of years ago, was an admirer and friend of Armstrong.
“He was a wonderful person and a good friend,” Perich said. “He’s an important person in history. He went all the way up there [to the moon.] It was a great and important accomplishment for America.”
For more on his life, read Sunday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.