It’s Monday morning and the 40th anniversary of the day American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. It’s one of those life touchstones for many of us and I have been enjoying reading the memories that more than 370 of you have blogged about here since we first asked for them two weeks ago. Click here to see our original post and the thoughts you all shared. To pique your interest, here are a few unique ones from Americans across the globe at the time.
• Barbara Hoffman was sent home early from work at the Wapa Theatre in Wapakoneta, Ohio (Armstrong’s home town) to watch the moon landing.
• Kay Thomas from Mt. Airy, N.C. was giving birth to her son and there are numerous other readers who remember giving birth on that day.
• John L. Swingen, Jr. was in Paris and remembers French people hugging him just because he was American.
• Judy M. Findlay was in Carmel, Calif. recording a tape to send to her husband who was deployed in Vietnam and began screaming into the tape with the moon landing news. She still has it.
• Joseph Taylor was a 19-year-old anti-war, long-haired American backpacking through Europe. The townspeople in Aegina, Greece invited him and his friends to celebrate with dancing and ouzo.
• Bob Schoenecker from Kittanning, Pa. was in Vietnam listening to the landing on a transistor radio with the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division.
• Jim Bard was in officer training school at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. Their classes were canceled so they could watch the historic moment.
• Kitty Wynnberry was in Amsterdam when she heard shouting about the moon landing and is one of many who recalls how proud she was to be an American.
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