Forty years ago today…

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

My family and I were visiting Israel, and we watched on television as the astronauts walked on the surface of the moon.

Some weeks later, my kid brother Wally, all of six years old, started school, and he came bounding home at the end of his first day all excited to relate what he had learned that day. “America landed a man on the moon TOO!” he informed our parents, since he’d been under the impression that the moonlanding he’d witnessed had been achieved by the Israelis.

PAD

21 comments on “Forty years ago today…”

  1. So he was kinda like Chekov, except that he gave credit to the Israelis instead of Russians? 🙂

  2. By a bizarre coincidence, I was just telling a friend of mine the story of how, about 10 years ago, I created the one-and-only Wally David Fan Club, complete with message board where people could tell him how great he was, even if they didn’t know who he was. Because everybody deserves a fan club. Next thing I know, we’re stumbling across your blog and you’re talking about Wally too!

    WALLY ROCKS!!!

    1. For some inexplicable reason, a mental image of an Incredible Hulk action figure saying, “I got a Wally” just ran through my head.

  3. Lisa and I have been watching a lot of the mission via wechoosethemoon.org — an awesome idea, even if the execution can be a bit spotty.
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    Regardless of video/audio quality, though, what a moment. Wow.
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    Good work, gentlemen.

      1. Wally, I just checked out your band’s web site. Your last gig at The Landing was just ten minutes away from where I live. It’s a small world, indeed.

        I’ve bookmarked the site and will try to check out one of your shows in the future. My girlfriend loves blues and southern rock, and your list of drumming influences includes drummers from a lot of my favorite bands. I look forward to catching one of your shows.

      2. Wally – you do ROCK! Just thought I’d remind you that you have a little slice of fan club right here in Virginia Beach 🙂 And why can I so picture you running into a room and saying “America landed a man on the moon TOO!”

      5. Hi Bill. Thanks for the nice words. It is a small world, huh?

        We are playing in Henrietta on Sunday. Details on my website. You can reach me via email there as well. I’m the webmaster!

        Thanks
        Wally

  7. 40 years ago I was with my best friend at anothers friend’s house in a small city of 800 people in Kentucky.[yY, a city. It was declared a fourth class city.] We were there because they had a color tv. Imagine my surprise to find out the landing was broadcast in black & white. Irregardless, watching that momentous event with dear friends, some whom are no longer with us, was mindboggling for this small town country boy.

    Seeing Walter Cronkite,another one no longer with us, A bit overwhelmed saying “ooo boy, ooo boy with a very delighted smile.” I won’t ever forget that evening. It was one of the few times I have felt extremely proud of my county.

  8. And to think we can’t do it today because the government, in its infinite stupidity decided it cost too much to store the blueprints for the launch vehicle (Saturn V) so they destroyed them and now we don’t know how to make them any more. Makes one wonder if mankind really deserves to survive if it’s going to pull such monumental blunders.

    1. in its infinite stupidity decided it cost too much to store the blueprints for the launch vehicle (Saturn V)
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      Considering what NASA has been saying about their own film archives (or lack thereof) in the last week or so, this wouldn’t shock me in the least.
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      It really does seem like the last thing NASA was concerned about at the time was the historical significance of what they were doing.

  9. Well, I figured I’d chime in. I don’t remember seeing it on TV. I remember seeing a newspaper on a news stand in Hebrew and I asked my mom what it said. She said “We landed on the moon.” When she said “We” I assumed she meant the Israelis landed on the moon. The rest of the story fits my recollection.

    Wally

  10. Geez, Wally. I just went to your site, and you could be Peter’s twin. 🙂

  11. Please forgive my punctuation errors and spelling errors.county i.e. country. Good heavens. You wouldn’t know that I am actually an English teacher. SHEESH!

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