John McCain Tells How Neil Armstrong Inspired The Vietnam War's POWs

Seantor John McCain offers an interesting piece in the Washington Post on how Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon inspired him and the other POWs who held in prison by the communist North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War.

Neil Armstrong's passing reminded me of the moment I learned of his historic accomplishment. I didn’t gather with my family around the television to watch him take his “small step” onto the surface of the moon. When the momentous event occurred, I had no idea it was happening. I and several hundred comrades were otherwise engaged — prisoners of war in the enemy’s capital, where in 1969, news could travel slowly.

... Once in a while, the Vietnamese unwittingly let a little good news slip by. One evening, Hannah played a clip of a speech by a prominent American opponent of the war. It was a quick, throwaway line in a long list of diatribes about the war and the president. But we all caught it. The quote was something like: “President Nixon can put a man on the moon, but he can’t end the war in Vietnam.”

Yes, that was news to us, arriving years after the successful Apollo 11 mission.

We had all heard President John F. Kennedy commit our country to putting a man on the moon within a decade. Most of us prisoners were pilots, and we admired and envied the pilots who became Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts. Most of all, we wanted our pride in our country, our love for the place where free people reached for the stars, reaffirmed in the place where it had been tested and mocked.

In that one screw-up, that brief mention of glorious news, our morale soared. We felt almost physically strengthened as we communicated with each other in whispers and tap code: “Did you hear that? Did you? We put a man on the moon. My God, we did it.”

Many years later, I had the honor of meeting the man who planted that flag. I told him how we had learned what he had done and how much it had meant to us. Armstrong was a brave man who made his countrymen proud, but he was also a modest man with a quiet demeanor, and he seemed moved by the recollection.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/john-mccain-how-neil-armstrong-inspired-a-pow/2012/09/13/5bd707e2-fdc0-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions

One Of America's Greatest Heroes: Defense Secretary Praises Neil Armstrong's Legacy

By John Valceanu
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2012 - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said he was deeply saddened by death of Neil Armstrong today, calling the pioneering astronaut "one of America's greatest heroes and naval aviators."

Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission he commanded as a NASA civilian. He also had a distinguished career as a Navy combat aviator during the Korean War. He died from complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures, according to a statement released by his family. He was 82.

"On behalf of the Department of Defense, I express my condolences to the Armstrong family during this difficult time," Panetta said in his statement. The defense secretary called Armstrong "one of our own," praising his service to the nation both in and out of military uniform.

"As a decorated Korean War veteran, as an astronaut for NASA, and as the first man to walk on the moon, Neil inspired generations of Americans to believe that as a nation we are capable of achieving greatness that only comes with determination, perseverance, and hard work," Panetta said.

"As a true pioneer, his one small step showed all mankind the great feats we can accomplish when we set ourselves to the task," the secretary said.

Panetta said Armstrong may be gone, but "his legacy of American achievement and national pride will live forever."