Memories of the moon landing on July 20, 1969 CHERYL BRAUN
Miami Valley residents shared what they remember on the historic day 50 years ago.
WILLIAM FREDERICKS
“I was at Camp Defiance for Boy Scout summer camp. They brought all of us up to the main lodge where they had a TV and we watched it in wonder live! I was 14 so it’s a memory I will carry forever.”
KIMBERLY BURTON
“(I was) playing kickball with my friends, this was a home that once the dad came home from work we were sent home or outside to play. This day, the dad came outside and said ‘come inside, you are going to see something on TV you will be telling your grandchildren about one day.’
All four of we 8-year-olds sat down in front of the TV and watched as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon. I have never forgotten that fuzzy image on that old black and white TV. Indeed I have shared this memory with my grandchildren.”
BARB LAPIERRE
“I was in the maternity ward at the old Middletown Hospital on McKnight Drive, in induced labor. Watching the moon landing on TV made the labor pains a bit (not much) bearable. My son, James Franklin LaPierre III, was born early on the 21st.
I don’t know which is harder for me to believe — that the moon landing took place 50 years ago or that my son will be turning 50 on Sunday!” “I was watching it in the basement because we did not have A/C and I was full term with my oldest daughter, Julie. The day that Neil walked on the moon, she was to be born. I held my huge tummy and was so mesmerized by watching the walk on the moon. It was surreal.”
THEODORE ARNDTS
“I was born in May of 1969. So I was only 1 when we landed on the moon. I don’t remember the landing. Surprise. The story that I do remember is that my mother told me that she held me on her lap during the landing and told me to watch this because it was important.
Not much of a story but a wonderful memory of my mother.”
DEBORAH KAUCHER
“We were camping at Timber Shores Campground in Michigan at the time and we all gathered around a small black & white TV to witness the first landing on the moon! It was thrilling to experience!”
CHRISTOPHER E. HOSKINS
“I was at a summer gymnastics camp in Illinois, only 8 years old. Camp counselors brought out a small black and white TV set and put it on a cabinet for all of us to sit around and watch. It was late in the evening for little kids and many were getting tired and bored waiting for the event to happen. I almost fell asleep.
Then as we watched the very grainy image of Neil Armstrong slowly making his way down each step of the ladder, he made his famous announcement,“That’s one small step ...,’ and shortly after that, in the most basic graphics, the words “Man on Moon” flashed on the screen. As little kids with little reference of the world, it was great to us but we didn’t appreciate the magnitude of it all.”
MARTHA HARDCASTLE GUTHRIE
“I was an 11-year-old Dayton View kid at Camp Wy-Ca-Key in Oregonia. I was a devoted and fanatical fan of Paul Revere and the Raiders. The Raiders had a Saturday afternoon TV show called “Happening” of which I was loath to miss. I concocted a scheme.
There was only one TV set at the camp, which was located in the infirmary. I decided to fake illness to land myself in the sick bay where I expected to talk my way into having the TV on the ABC affiliate from Dayton or Cincinnati. However, fate intervened and I never had the opportunity to test my planned deception. You see, the first moon landing happened that day.
It bumped off all regular broadcasting. But we all got to watch TV for perhaps the only time in the camp’s history. They moved the TV into our dining hall. I believe we all sat on the floor to watch. No, I was not thrilled to see the landing. I was not filled with wonder. I just had wanted some rock ’n’ roll!”