'One small step....'

Buzz Aldrin stands beside an American flag at Tranquility Base on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. July, 1969 Tranquility Base, Mare Tranquillitatus, Moon

©LIFE Magazine

1969: headlines ranging from USA landing on the moon, Woodstock, Chappaquiddick incident, Charles Manson killing spree, BA graduates from high school.

I was working that Sunday at the Dole pineapple cannery. Back then, it was a rite of a passage that teenagers work either in the fields or in the cannery. I arrived home, cleaned up from my shift and prepared for the newsworthy event. Luckily for the 50th state we were 5 hours behind central time so it was about the late afternoon when I saw history unfold. Ironic how I listened/watched Walter Cronkite that day and now he has gone to the great news desk in the sky right in time for this 40th anniversary.

Let’s just say that a certain 16 year old was moved that we had accomplished the goal set by President Kennedy to have a man on the moon by the end of the decade and for that day at least, proud to be an American!

fluttering by,
~ba