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Author
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Topic: John McCain and the Apollo 11 moon landing
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-25-2018 08:56 PM
   
John McCain died on Saturday (Aug. 25) at his home in Arizona. He was 81.NASA paid tribute to the late senator by sharing an editorial that McCain wrote in 2012 about how he first learned of the Apollo 11 moon landing while being held as a prisoner of war. An excerpt: 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." McCain later shared the story with Neil Armstrong, who by coincidence died this same day six years ago. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3118
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 08-25-2018 09:01 PM
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oly
Member Posts: 905
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 08-25-2018 09:12 PM
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ManInSpace
Member Posts: 114
From: Brooklin, Ontario Canada
Registered: Feb 2018
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posted 08-25-2018 09:39 PM
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randy
Member Posts: 2176
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 08-25-2018 09:56 PM
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Jurg Bolli
Member Posts: 977
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 08-25-2018 10:02 PM
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tedc
Member Posts: 123
From: Renton, WA USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 08-26-2018 12:17 AM
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Panther494
Member Posts: 402
From: London UK
Registered: Jan 2013
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posted 08-26-2018 02:50 AM
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1202 Alarm
Member Posts: 436
From: Switzerland & France
Registered: Nov 2003
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posted 08-26-2018 03:29 AM
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Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4167
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 08-26-2018 03:30 AM
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Henk Boshuijer
Member Posts: 450
From: Netherlands
Registered: May 2007
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posted 08-26-2018 03:49 AM
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india-mike
Member Posts: 76
From: Linnich, Northrine Westfalia, Germany
Registered: Jan 2012
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posted 08-26-2018 03:54 AM
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Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2912
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 08-26-2018 04:23 AM
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SPACEFACTS
Member Posts: 301
From: Germany
Registered: Aug 2006
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posted 08-26-2018 04:33 AM
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space1
Member Posts: 853
From: Danville, Ohio
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted 08-26-2018 04:56 AM
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GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 2474
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 08-26-2018 05:07 AM
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Lunar rock nut
Member Posts: 911
From: Oklahoma city, Oklahoma U.S.A.
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 08-26-2018 05:12 AM
I always admired this man. RIP Senator. |
Kite
Member Posts: 831
From: Northampton UK
Registered: Nov 2009
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posted 08-26-2018 05:57 AM
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ea757grrl
Member Posts: 729
From: South Carolina
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 08-26-2018 06:56 AM
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mode1charlie
Member Posts: 1169
From: Honolulu, HI
Registered: Sep 2010
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posted 08-26-2018 06:58 AM
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jasonelam
Member Posts: 691
From: Monticello, KY USA
Registered: Mar 2007
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posted 08-26-2018 07:02 AM
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bthumble
Member Posts: 267
From: Houston, Texas
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 08-26-2018 09:00 AM
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Rusty53
Member Posts: 50
From: Rochester, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2010
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posted 08-26-2018 09:15 AM
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David C
Member Posts: 1014
From: Lausanne
Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 08-26-2018 10:03 AM
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star51L
Member Posts: 340
From: Vilano Beach, FL, USA
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 08-26-2018 11:47 AM
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Solarplexus
Member Posts: 107
From: Norway
Registered: Jan 2014
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posted 08-26-2018 03:34 PM
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Grounded!
Member Posts: 367
From: Bennington, Vermont, USA
Registered: Feb 2011
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posted 08-26-2018 04:24 PM
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Grounded!
Member Posts: 367
From: Bennington, Vermont, USA
Registered: Feb 2011
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posted 08-26-2018 04:24 PM
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Apollo-Soyuz
Member Posts: 1205
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 08-26-2018 04:44 PM
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spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 08-26-2018 04:55 PM
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David Carey
Member Posts: 782
From:
Registered: Mar 2009
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posted 08-26-2018 05:12 PM
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AlanC
Member Posts: 147
From: Scotland
Registered: Nov 2014
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posted 08-26-2018 05:35 PM
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Jeff
Member Posts: 474
From: Fayetteville, NC, USA
Registered: May 2009
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posted 08-26-2018 08:32 PM
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SpaceyInMN
Member Posts: 355
From: Andover, MN
Registered: Dec 2013
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posted 08-26-2018 09:28 PM
I picked up a signed copy of his book "Faith of My Fathers" a few years ago at a church book sale for 50 cents. I wasn't planning on reading it, since I'm not really into novels about politics, but I eventually did read it. It was very compelling and hardly focused on any politics at all. Senator McCain was truly an American hero. May he rest in peace. |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 08-27-2018 06:49 AM
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dss65
Member Posts: 1156
From: Sandpoint, ID, USA
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 08-27-2018 06:13 PM
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LM1
Member Posts: 667
From: New York, NY
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-28-2018 05:07 PM
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Mike Isbell
Member Posts: 551
From: Silver Spring, Maryland USA
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 08-31-2018 01:44 PM
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Jeff
Member Posts: 474
From: Fayetteville, NC, USA
Registered: May 2009
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posted 08-31-2018 05:25 PM
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