As
a youngster I had been an enthusiastic fan of the American space program,
especially in the early Project Mercury years.
These feats were heroic and dramatic, and I followed them eagerly. I lost track of its progress during the
Gemini phase and the early Apollo, because I was a coming-of-age teenager and
had a lot of stuff on my mind, such as girls, Rock n Roll, and an addiction to
reading. So it was a surprise when I
heard about Apollo 8 much, much later.
Because
fifty years ago today I was towards the end of my Marine Corps recruit training
at Parris Island, SC. USMC Boot Camp had
been intense, and we had not had any news of the outside world for months. No radio, TV, newspapers, etc. Nothing.
We
had finished our basic recruit training then we did the intensive two weeks of
rifle science and firing on the Rifle Range.
We had only a Command Inspection and a spell doing mess-hall duty before
we were to be graduated as Marines and sent on to Camp Geiger, NC for Infantry
Training Regiment.
A
half-century ago on this night we were marching back to the barracks very late
after midnight after a very long day working at the Mess Hall getting ready for
Christmas dinner tomorrow. We marched in
step but more relaxed, under a bright moon.
The Senior Drill Instructor, whom we obeyed on instant reflex, gave us a
puzzling marching command. Instead of “Eyes
Right”, etc., he said “Eyes Up! Platoon!
Look up at the Moon.”
Confused,
we looked up and saw the bright Moon above.
The Senior DI said: “Be
proud. Three Americans are orbiting
around the Moon right now.”
I
was dumbfounded. What the Hell? We had no word of the space program for a
long time or any hint of this Apollo mission.
All we could think is that this took real balls.
They
strapped three astronauts unto the top of a massively huge ballistic
missile and then lit it and rocketed them up out of Earth’s gravity-well and then around
the Moon. The Apollo 8 crew did 10
orbits then returned to Earth. What a
ride! In the annals of exploration, this
was one of the most audacious voyages of the modern era. I’m still in awe.
-Zenwind.
.
