July 20, 2018 Happy Friday! I hope your week has been a good one. And I hope you’re at least one step closer to realizing your dreams. Today is the 49th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 mission when American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the surface of the moon. After he stepped off the ladder of the Lunar Module and his foot hit the lunar dust he said, “That’s one small step for man: one giant leap for mankind.” A short time later, “Buzz” Aldrin stepped onto the surface of the moon. They conducted some tests; collected some samples of moon rocks; and they did some work preparing the spacecraft for its return trip to dock with the Command Module in orbit around the moon, piloted by Michael Collins. Two of their last tasks while on the lunar surface were to display a plaque commemorating the mission. The plaque reads, “We came in peace for all mankind.” Finally, they put up the flag of the United States. Between July 20, 1969 and December 14, 1972, the United States flag would be set up on the moon six times. Twelve Americans would walk on the lunar surface. And the aborted mission of Apollo 13 would be remembered as a triumph over near tragedy. The dream of landing on the moon became a national objective in 1961. In a speech before a joint session of Congress, on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced the goal of sending an American safely to the moon before the end of the decade. It required an incomparable national effort. And America rose to the challenge. Dream big and never give up on your dream! America was beset by many woes during the 1960’s. It was a turbulent time. JFK was assassinated in 1963; Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated in 1968. Protests against the war in Vietnam grew; there were civil rights marches; there were terrible riots. It seemed, for at least one day, the epic accomplishment of sending a man to the moon – in the name of all mankind – rose above those challenges. Those problems didn’t go away; but they didn’t seem to be so insurmountable. If we can walk on the moon… we can accomplish anything we set our mind to. Another Kennedy had a similar optimism. Barely a month after Robert was killed, Eunice Kennedy Shriver set foot in Chicago, at Soldiers Field, on July 20, 1968.
Six years earlier, she had founded Camp Shriver. This charitable effort grew and evolved. Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s dream became the Special Olympics. On that day at Soldiers Field, she spoke to more than a thousand athletes. In the opening ceremony of that first Special Olympics, she said to the assembled athletes, “Let me win, but if I cannot win let me be brave in the attempt.” She pledged that the new organization, Special Olympics, would offer those with intellectual disabilities “the chance to play, the chance to compete and the chance to grow.” Dream big. Don’t give up. From what we learned in those early years of space exploration, from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, we’ve gone further, and reached beyond our solar system. We’ve sent spacecraft to Mars, we’ve sent satellites that have explored Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto. The Voyager spacecraft that launched in 1977 have been operating and travelling more than 100-billion miles through space for more than forty years – and they continue to collect and transmit data to earth - even today. And fifty years later, Special Olympics serves more than 4.7 million people in 170 countries around the world. Mistletoe Enterprises and Victory & Valor pay tribute to the pioneers who paved the way to the moon, and we salute Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins for their historic journey on this day in 1969. And we pay tribute to Eunice Kennedy Shriver for building her dream into an inspirational reality that has touched the lives of millions since the Special Olympics began on this day in 1968. Have a good weekend. Dream big. Be brave. The following sources were researched to help compile and verify this installment: Library of Congress National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Special Olympics (specialolympics.org)
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AuthorTom Davis is the owner of Mistletoe Enterprises LLC. He also publishes and distributes the Victory & Valor Flyer, it tells the stories of heroes from all walks of life. Archives
December 2018
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