Moon landing July 1969

Moon Landing July 1969

Oma (grandma) Hardeman had lived on the same street all of her married life.  She was born in the 1800’s and had seen technology go from horse drawn wagons to trains, automobiles, and airplanes.  She survived wars and depressions.  As far as I know, she had never been out of Holland.  Oma and Opa came down to our house to watch TV almost every night.  One of their favorite shows was an American western called “High Chaparral”.  I told them that I had visited my sister in Tucson, Arizona where they filmed the show.  Oma was certain there was no place like that.  She thought they filmed it in a gravel pit.  I brought out some pictures from Arizona that I had taken on my visit.  I finally convinced her that there really was a southwestern desert.

She was much harder to convince that they were really going to land people on the moon.  The moon landing that July was going to happen late at night European time, and she kissed us all “Good-bye” when she left because if they really tried to land on the moon, it would be the end of the world.

I rode the bus to work the next morning wearing my uniform.  When I got on the bus everybody shook my hand and congratulated me on my country’s great accomplishment.  I was overwhelmed with pride to be an American.  With the Vietnam war going on, the Americans in Europe were not always getting good press.  I found myself with mixed emotions as I tried to somehow justify what we were doing in Southeast Asia.  That morning on the bus I didn’t feel I had to justify anything and accepted the praise for my country with a big smile.

That night when Oma came to our house, I said “See Oma, the world didn’t come to an end.”

She wasn’t convinced.  “They just filmed that where they film “High Chaparral!”

I was interviewed about this story on an NPR radio show called “The Story”.  You can listen to the archived broadcast at: http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_819__the_anniversary_of_the_moon_landing.mp3/view

Oma & Opa Hardeman (note Opa's wooden shoes)

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