Saturday, July 18, 2009

THE SUMMER OF '69

How much do you remember about the Summer of '69? I know, I know. . . a lot of you weren't even born yet. It was the year I graduated high school. (SHOCK, HORROR, GASP!) That summer sticks in my mind for two reasons: (1) Chappaquiddick (and I won't go there right now); and (2) The landing on the moon. I remember being glued to the radio (whuzzat, eh? :) and television for reports and any available pictures. 24-hour TV news did not exist back then. I also remember all the radio and TV stations having contests to guess what the first words spoken on the moon would be. Do you know? Leave a comment with the correct wording. And, yes, I remember them well. :)

Here's something else going on around the important July '69 anniversary.

Apollo Astronaut Announces New Pro-Life AD Centered around Historic Moonwalk
Aimee Herd/Dr. Joseph Kerwin (July 18, 2009)

"This historic anniversary is a perfect opportunity to show America, and the world, the power of every human life."

Astronaut KerwinSpeaking for the organization, CatholicVote.org, former Astronaut, Dr. Joseph Kerwin introduces their latest pro-life ad which is centered around the Apollo 11 Moonwalk. View this poignant video message at the link provided. Dr. Kerwin's introduction follows…

"…our nation [is celebrating] the 40th anniversary of the historic mission of Apollo 11 to the moon. While I never personally made it to the moon, I was privileged to serve as the first American doctor in space with Skylab 2.

"I am honored to announce the launch of a new ad from CatholicVote.org.

"I [recently appeared] alongside other retired astronauts along with CatholicVote.org President Brian Burch at a press conference in Houston. The reason for the media event was that the new CatholicVote.org ad would be running regularly on local Houston television stations for the next several weeks.

"Joining me at the press conference were retired astronaut Dr. Bill Thornton, and Mr. Gene Kranz—the Flight Director at Mission Control during the Apollo program, including the famous Apollo 13 mission. Mr. Kranz was played by Ed Harris in the 1995 Oscar award winning film.

Catholic Vote Ad"CatholicVote.org's new ad is already creating buzz in Houston, and I can't wait for the rest of the country to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11 with it.

"[On Monday] media outlets around the world will commemorate the historic achievement of Apollo 11. The courage and dedication of the astronauts aboard Apollo 11, and hundreds of others involved in our nation's space program make me proud of our great country.

"But most importantly, the achievements of the space program remind me of the potential of every human life. This historic anniversary is a perfect opportunity to show America, and the world, the power of every human life."

View the CatholicVote.org AD by accessing the link provided.

Source: CatholicVote.org

5 comments:

  1. I was 7 that year, but I remember seeing it on tv! The only words I remember from the moon were "One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind."

    I saw that news report too. I thought you'd be posting about this.

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  2. Um, I can't answer your first question because I'm such a baby. LOL. But it is interesting to read all this about the space program and a commercial like this to commemorate. Fascinating. Thanks for the info.

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  3. I remember it. Think I was in junior high. "one small step for man. one giant leap for mankind" or something along those lines. I even wrote a composition for class,satirically stating that I thought it was fake, because there was a Frito Bandito commercial on TV at the time that showed him on the moon.
    I had no idea that someone would dig up my composition to use years later to claim that the moon landing never happened.

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  4. I'm with JoJo on the first word uttered on the moon - too young to remember a contest going on then - I was 8 years old. Did you know that I graduated in'79 just 10 years later? I love posting things about '78 and '79 - important years for me - and usually I put the popular music on my blog - (I wonder why) and love to see how far we've come in that genre in 30 years - really takes me back!

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  5. In the summer of 1969, I was not quite born. My biological mom tells me of spending the entire summer hiding her pregnancy from her family. I was born later that year, in October, and adopted in December...turning 4-0 this year. yikes.

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