JustAdvice

Forty years ago Neil Arm­strong and “Buzz” Aldrin walked on the moon.  As they were doing so, I was trudg­ing around another stark land­scape — a fire sup­port base in Viet­nam.  I was one of 125 Amer­i­can Red Cross Donut Dol­lies who were sta­tioned in-Country at the time.  My co-workers and I were sent mostly to for­ward areas, so we got to know the opin­ions of the com­bat troops.  We talked with them enough to hear how they felt about things.  On that par­tic­u­lar day their talk was about the men on the moon.

“I’m telling you, I’m just not that impressed,” said one man who had just come in from a long patrol.  Another chimed in.  “Well, yeah, it’s great we put some­body up there, ‘n all, but you can bet they’ll get them home, alright, yet they can’t seem to get me outta here!”  The rest of the men agreed and added their own takes on their sit­u­a­tions, as com­pared to the Astronauts’.

I’ve never for­got­ten those remarks.  In fact, since we had no tele­vised access to what was occur­ring, the Moon Walk, for me, has always been more about those GI’s and their com­ments, rather than a visual mem­ory from see­ing it hap­pen as it occurred.  That doesn’t mean I’m not proud of the accom­plish­ment.  I am proud we made it to the moon, and I’m also proud of those soldiers, the nurses and oth­ers who were doing their stints in Viet­nam at the time.  Most of them, in their long­ing for home, thought they might as well have been on the moon too, that July 20, 1969.