most of us on here come across as complete fucking psychopaths based on our posts.
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Tucked away in the National Archives the speech written for Nixon for the historic lunar landing on July 20, 1969, but one he never hoped to read. It was a contingency speech, one Nixon would only read if tragedy struck the Apollo 11 mission and stranded commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin on lunar surface forever while their crewmate Michael Collins circled the moon in the command module. The speech surfaced about 10 years ago, around the 30th anniversary of the first moon landing. [...]"Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace. These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice."These two men are laying down their lives in mankind's most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding. They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown."In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man. In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood."Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man's search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts."For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind."According to Bruns, the stricken Apollo 11 astronauts would then shut down communications with Mission Control and there would be a brief ceremony by a clergyman commending their souls to the "deepest of the deep." Safire entitled his memo containing the backup speech "In the Event of a Moon Disaster."
My grandfather was an engineer involved with Apollo 11, BTW.
more (Image removed from quote.)this and the stranded-on-the-moon speech were written by Safire apparently. I bet he got a kick out of typing "The sense of loss felt by Mrs.____ is keen and personal"
