Neil Armstrong

The following was posted by Austin Tice on his Facebook page on July 25. It is republished here with the permission of his parents. It's nice and all, but please quit telling me to be safe. Against my better judgment, I'm posting this on Facebook. Flame away. People keep telling me to be safe (as if that's an option), keep asking me why I'm doing this crazy thing, keep asking what's wrong with me for coming here. So listen. Our granddads stormed Normandy and Iwo Jima and...

Neil Armstrong's passing reminded me of the moment I learned of his historic accomplishment. I didn't gather with my family around the television to watch him take his "small step" onto the surface of the moon. When the momentous event occurred, I had no idea it was happening. I and several hundred comrades were otherwise engaged — prisoners of war in the enemy's capital, where in 1969, news could travel slowly. Our captors in Hanoi went to considerable lengths to keep us in the dark.

To me, the name Neil Armstrong is synonymous with granite. I had almost believed Neil would be here forever, as elemental as the Earth he viewed from so high above. He was the symbol of all that was good about America on July 20, 1969, his courageous feat representing one of the greatest triumphs ever achieved. In my estimation, Apollo 11's landing on the moon and Armstrong's spacewalk saved the soul of America. After our incredible victory in World War II, a series of sobering events created concern and stress among the American...

On Thursday, the last man to walk on the moon took the podium at Washington National Cathedral and honored his friend, Neil Armstrong , the first man to walk the moon. "Fate looked down kindly when she chose Neil to venture to another world and to have the opportunity to look back from space. It could have been another. But it wasn't," said Eugene Cernan, who visited the moon in 1972 as commander of Apollo 17. "No one — no one, but no one — could have accepted the responsibility of his remarkable...

Telin Ozier doesn't remember why she did this, but she once approached Neil Armstrong's wife with a simple request: Could she dance with her famous husband? "She smiled and said sure," Ozier recalled in a phone interview. Armstrong obliged. "He smiled and took my hand and took me out to the dance floor. I was just trembling," Ozier said. That was in 1975, six years after Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. Ozier was at a banquet for  The Society of Experimental Test Pilots , an organization co-founded by her...

Neil Armstrong , the astronaut who marked an epochal achievement in exploration with "one small step" from the Apollo 11 lunar module on July 20, 1969, becoming the first person to walk on the moon, died Aug. 25 in the Cincinnati area. He was 82. His family announced the death in a statement and attributed it to "complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. " A taciturn engineer and test pilot who was never at ease with his fame, Mr. Armstrong was among the most heroized...

Most everyone remembers that Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon. Much has been written, in The Post's excellent Aug. 26 obituary and elsewhere, about his humility and his passion for the future of manned space flight. What fewer people know is that in 1971 he was named chairman of the Peace Corps National Advisory Council. In that capacity, he traveled the world, visiting Peace Corps programs and meeting volunteers in the villages where they served. In 1972, Mr. Armstrong came to India, where my...

Astronaut Paul Weitz piloted the first manned Skylab mission in 1973 and commanded the first flight of the space shuttle Challenger in 1983, and later became deputy director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. But the former Navy pilot was a rookie in America's most competitive program when NASA was overcoming technological hurdles in the Cold War race in space — and capturing the nation's imagination in everything from Walter Cronkite-narrated missions to the prime-time comedy series " I Dream of Jeannie . " ...

Regarding Daniel Goldin's Aug. 31 Washington Forum commentary, "Reaching for the moon, and beyond": On July 20, 1969, around 6 p.m. in Budapest, I left my desk in the U.S. Embassy to meet my wife outside. She was waiting to drive me home. I exited the embassy and, as I did every day, acknowledged with my customary wave the several not-so-secret Hungarian policemen who had been stationed outside the entrance since 1956, where they waited to arrest Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty were he to emerge from the building...

Thank you for publishing Daniel Goldin's Aug. 31 Washington Forum commentary, " Reaching for the moon, and beyond ," in which the former NASA administrator lauded the late Neil Armstrong as "the symbol of all that was good about America . . . his courageous feat representing one of the greatest triumphs ever achieved. " Mr. Goldin also hailed the moon landing as a transformative moment for the United States and implored Americans to continue to reach for the stars. However, it wasn't just this nation that was...

Before manned space flights began, officials pondered what background they should seek in the crew for this bizarre new venture: Danger lover? Bullfighter? Mountain climber? Should they search for people who were self-aware and calm in extreme conditions? A deep-sea diver, perhaps? Finally, they settled on — and President Dwight Eisenhower supported — experimental test pilots, people who had already guided complex new flying machines. Thus the original seven astronauts were selected in 1959.

Regarding Daniel Goldin's Aug. 31 Washington Forum commentary, "Reaching for the moon, and beyond": On July 20, 1969, around 6 p.m. in Budapest, I left my desk in the U.S. Embassy to meet my wife outside. She was waiting to drive me home. I exited the embassy and, as I did every day, acknowledged with my customary wave the several not-so-secret Hungarian policemen who had been stationed outside the entrance since 1956, where they waited to arrest Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty were he to emerge from the...

Admirers of the late Neil Armstrong are now able to see parts of the spacesuit he was wearing when he took the historic first steps on the moon at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Northern Virginia. The "extra vehicular" gloves and visor worn by the Apollo 11 astronaut on his July 20, 1969 spacewalk are displayed in the center's James S. McDonnell space hangar, which also houses the Space Shuttle Discovery, where they will remain for two weeks. Armstrong's...

Thank you for publishing Daniel Goldin's Aug. 31 Washington Forum commentary, " Reaching for the moon, and beyond ," in which the former NASA administrator lauded the late Neil Armstrong as "the symbol of all that was good about America . . . his courageous feat representing one of the greatest triumphs ever achieved. " Mr. Goldin also hailed the moon landing as a transformative moment for the United States and implored Americans to continue to reach for the stars. However, it wasn't just...

Most everyone remembers that Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon. Much has been written, in The Post's excellent Aug. 26 obituary and elsewhere, about his humility and his passion for the future of manned space flight. What fewer people know is that in 1971 he was named chairman of the Peace Corps National Advisory Council. In that capacity, he traveled the world, visiting Peace Corps programs and meeting volunteers in the villages where they served. In 1972, Mr. Armstrong came to India, where my father, David...

To me, the name Neil Armstrong is synonymous with granite. I had almost believed Neil would be here forever, as elemental as the Earth he viewed from so high above. He was the symbol of all that was good about America on July 20, 1969, his courageous feat representing one of the greatest triumphs ever achieved. In my estimation, Apollo 11's landing on the moon and Armstrong's spacewalk saved the soul of America. After our incredible victory in World War II, a series of sobering events created concern and stress among the American...

Before manned space flights began, officials pondered what background they should seek in the crew for this bizarre new venture: Danger lover? Bullfighter? Mountain climber? Should they search for people who were self-aware and calm in extreme conditions? A deep-sea diver, perhaps? Finally, they settled on — and President Dwight Eisenhower supported — experimental test pilots, people who had already guided complex new flying machines. Thus the original seven astronauts were selected in 1959.

On Thursday, the last man to walk on the moon took the podium at Washington National Cathedral and honored his friend, Neil Armstrong , the first man to walk the moon. "Fate looked down kindly when she chose Neil to venture to another world and to have the opportunity to look back from space. It could have been another. But it wasn't," said Eugene Cernan, who visited the moon in 1972 as commander of Apollo 17. "No one — no one, but no one — could have accepted the responsibility...

Telin Ozier doesn't remember why she did this, but she once approached Neil Armstrong's wife with a simple request: Could she dance with her famous husband? "She smiled and said sure," Ozier recalled in a phone interview. Armstrong obliged. "He smiled and took my hand and took me out to the dance floor. I was just trembling," Ozier said. That was in 1975, six years after Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. Ozier was at a banquet for  The Society of Experimental Test Pilots , an organization co-founded by her...

Astronaut Paul Weitz piloted the first manned Skylab mission in 1973 and commanded the first flight of the space shuttle Challenger in 1983, and later became deputy director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. But the former Navy pilot was a rookie in America's most competitive program when NASA was overcoming technological hurdles in the Cold War race in space — and capturing the nation's imagination in everything from Walter Cronkite-narrated missions to the prime-time comedy series " I Dream...