“That's one small step for a man. One giant leap for mankind.”
That quote by Neil Armstrong was heard by an estimated 650 million people all around the world, 50 years ago today.
July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft landed on the moon, which allowed the United States to beat the Russians to be the first ones to land on the moon.
Several Marion Countians shared their memories of the event.
Larue Davis was 33 when the spacecraft landed. He said he didn’t see it live because he was working for the State of Mississippi, but he did see the replay of it.
“I was very excited,” he said. “It was something unusual and proud that we were able to get a head of Russia."
Doris McKlemurry was 40 years old when she watched the event unfold with her 12-year old-daughter, Melinda. She said she kept her daughter home from school that day so she could watch it unfold on television. McKlemurry said her daughter was fascinated with space after that.
Margie Harris was 24, and her husband was serving in Vietnam. She said she recorded the event and sent it to her husband.
“My heartrate went up as he (Armstrong) climbed down the ladder. It was amazing they could do that,” she said.
“I felt proud, proud of the United States,” Willie Strickland, who was 26 at the time, said. He said he watched every minute of it, and it was fascinating that someone could go to the moon and back.
James Wilson, who was 28 then, was at first proud of the accomplishment. He said he later became mad because we had the ability to send someone to the moon and back but we could not get along here on this planet.
