Neil Armstrong, R.I.P.

Regardless of how one may feel about the Space Age, the reticent Midwesterner who passed away Saturday was an American hero if ever there was one.  Prior to his historic race with the Soviets' Lunik…

Regardless of how one may feel about the Space Age, the reticent Midwesterner who passed away Saturday was an American hero if ever there was one.  Prior to his historic race with the Soviets’ Lunik 15 robot, Neil Armstrong flew 78 combat missions over Korea and test-piloted the famed X-15 rocket plane; as mission commander for Gemini 8, he demonstrated what Tom Wolfe would call “the right stuff” by regaining control of his spacecraft after a dangerous thruster malfunction had set it tumbling end over end.

It is an understatement to say I am no longer a card-carrying member of the National Space Society, yet upon learning of Armstrong’s death I find myself remembering the one opportunity I had to have lunch with David White, a Shakespeare scholar then teaching at the Naval Academy.  During our conversation Dr. White pointed out that at the end of time not only individuals will be judged, but peoples too. 

And it’s comforting to know, he added, that when judgment comes America will have at least two great things to its credit:  Melville’s Moby Dick, and the Moon landing.

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A stack of three Local Culture journals and the book 'Localism in the Mass Age'

Jerry Salyer

Jerry Salyer holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics from Miami University and a Master of Arts from the Great Books Program of St. John’s College, Annapolis. A veteran of the US Navy, Mr. Salyer has navigated ships, deployed to the Persian Gulf, and served as an assistant security officer at the American naval base in Naples, Italy. He works as an educator and as a freelance writer.