Cassi Creek: I recall
the moon race, from the first glimpse of Sputnik as it slid rapidly across the
night sky; to the final landing and de-activation of the Apollo program.
It was an era
of science in ascendancy. The Cold War
and space race had gotten warmer for some of us. For those of us in the shooting side of the
festivities, we were mostly concerned with shorter range, explosive ballistics
rather than the elegant multi-stage vehicular payloads that were designed and engineered
to carry and protect humans. But our
need for accuracy in our calculations and delivery were equally as critical as
were the NASA calculations.
We used slide
rules, maps, and grid coordinates to determine our position and to indicate to
the men who crewed the guns where we needed them to put their ordnance. We adjusted or corrected impact by visually
observing the shot and estimating how
much corrective distance was required to keep some other mother’s son from
going home again.
The 20th
of July 1969 was the first moon landing.
It is impossible to describe the excitement. It was celebrated around the world. Even the troops in VietNam were treated to
views of the televised landing on the AFVN network. At least the troops in the larger camps had
the opportunity to see Armstrong step onto the moon’s surface. I had just come inside the wire and was
cleaning my weapon when I first saw the video feed of the landing. Down the road, about 2 kilometers, was a fire
support base. It had occupied that
location for several days. As the moon
landing was played for the more fortunate troops, the men on the FSB pumped out
a string of fire missions, dropping artillery shells onto various targets.
To this day,
I am unable to separate the sound of outgoing artillery from the moon
landing.
My
descendants and their peers have never known that degree of anticipation and
excitement that the Apollo missions generated.
Once upon a time men named Armstrong and Shepard, among others, trod
upon the moon.
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