Neil Armstrong: Forever linking Wapakoneta with the moon

WAPAKONETA — For many Americans, the televised vision of the shuttle “Challenger” falling from the sky is the defining image of the U.S. space program.

But millions who stayed up late one July night in 1969 will always remember the slightly snowy television pictures of two men in bulky clothing and face-covering helmets planting an American on the moon. It was an act that fulfilled the goal set by President Kennedy nine years before to land an American on the moon before the end of the decade.

“We come in peace for all mankind,” says the plaque they left behind. The man who left that plaque was from Wapakoneta, and 40 years after the first lunar landing, people in Auglaize County have vivid memories of Neil Armstrong and the events that forever linked the moon with their city.

“I don’t think God will ever let a man set foot on His moon.” That was the view of the father of Wapak resident and one-time mayor, Don Wittwer.

Wittwer, on the other hand, had established a rooting interest in seeing the venture succeed. Neil Armstrong’s father, Stephen, talked about his son to Wittwer when they both attended Lion’s Club meetings in Wapak during the 1960s. It turned out that Wittwer and the younger Armstrong were the same age, and Wittwer became interested in what the Navy test pilot was doing.

They established a casual correspondence and Wittwer began documenting Neil Armstrong’s career as an astronaut in the Gemini program that preceded the effort to put a man on the moon. When the senior Armstrongs elected to stay in Wapakoneta when their son’s moon mission was launched, Wittwer was among those close at hand for the onslaught of media attention that came to Auglaize County.

What he saw is echoed in the only authorized biography of Neil Armstrong, “First Man, The Life of Neil A. Armstrong.” Author James Hansen noted that the three networks built a shared, 85-foot television tower at the end of the driveway. WLIO-TV went to elaborate lengths to be able to transmit live from Wapakoneta. The block surrounding the Armstrong’s house was barricaded, but the night before the launch, someone at the house counted 223 press vehicles.

The networks supplemented the Armstrong’s black-and-white television with a large, color model. They installed window air conditioners and set up the garage to accommodate the media. Since the Armstrong’s regular phone was published, NASA put in other phone lines so the family could talk with their son or anyone else they needed to reach.

NASA helped the Armstrongs cope with the attention by sending a special protocol officer, to Viola Armstrong’s relief. She recalled that the red-haired Tom Andrews offered to do anything to help.

“‘I’ll answer your doorbell, answer your phone, help in any way I can,’ My, but he was a welcomed with open arms,” she said.

Don Klock, of Wapakoneta, worked at Fisher Cheese in 1969. He persuaded the company to make “Moon Cheez” to mark the occasion. A quantity of the green-tinted Colby was sent to the Armstrongs. He, too, recalls throngs of reporters from as far away as Japan.

Mrs. Armstrong did not enjoy her 15 minutes of fame.

“They were a constant strain on my strength and nerves,” she told her son’s biographer.

Ned Keiber was in Neil Armstrong’s graduating class and lived near the senior Armstrongs. He said Neil felt the way his mother did about publicity — he didn’t want it. Because his parents’ neighbors were inconvenienced by having the street blocked off for the launch, Neil Armstrong gave autographed photos to all of them. Many residents still treasure the pictures — and a Neil Armstrong autograph is uncommon.

Keiber remembers that at their 50th high school reunion in 1997 all the class members wrote a short biography of their lives since high school. Neil Armstrong’s identified him as a test pilot, but said nothing about space or a moon landing.

“He just didn’t want to be involved with hoopla,” Keiber said. “He didn’t feel deserving.”

For a man who did not like hoopla, the homecoming parade Wapakoneta gave in early September following the successful landing and return might not have been welcome. But he and his family participated. Don Wittwer was among a contingent who visited New Concord, which had hosted a parade when John Glenn orbited the earth, to see how another small Ohio town pulled off a big parade.

Estimates of the crowd that engulfed the town of 6,700 people ranged from 80,000 to 100,000 who wanted to see the first man on the moon with their own eyes. Politicians, bands and flags were everywhere. Bob Hope and Ed McMahon were national celebrities who appeared.

“I got a call from England from Sonny and Cher’s agent,” recalled Don Wittwer. “They would be in the parade if we would pay their expenses — we couldn’t afford it.” 

Expenses for the event were covered when the local chamber and other groups held two exclusive lunches and a dinner and charged $25 to attend each one.

The events of the summer of 1969 have been echoed ever since in a community party, the Moon Festival.

This year a solemn “field of honor” will display hundreds of American flags in respect for people in safety occupations will highlight the 40th anniversary of the first time people thought of the moon in connection with Wapakoneta. There will also be a six-foot, 180-pound life-sized astronaut sculpture carved out of cheese.

And Lunar Lager to drink. And a 45-pound Moonpie. Hoopla. Created in admiration for a local man who hates attention.

Will Neil Armstrong attend the festival created to honor what he accomplished?

“I would bet against it,” speculated Don Wittwer.

It wouldn’t matter to his friends in the class of 1947, who were used to his quiet leadership.

“We always knew he would do great things,” Ned Keiber said. “We just didn’t know what.”

NEED YOUR HELP

Do you recognize any of the onlookers in these photos? Contact Lifestyle Editor Adrienne McGee at 419-993-2072 or amcgee@limanews.com. Information will be shared with the Auglaize County Historical Society.

MOONWALKER

• Neil Armstrong left NASA in 1971 and became a teacher of aeronautical engineering at the University of Cincinnati.

• The museum may close after the 40th anniversary celebration because of state budget constraints.

• The city of Wapakoneta renamed the street where Steve and Viola Armstrong watched the launch and safe return of Apollo 11. That house, where they moved in 1968, is at what is now 912 Neil Armstrong Drive.

• The airport in New Knoxville is named in his honor. Armstrong learned to fly at Port Koneta airfield, now closed.

• Neil Armstrong approved James R. Hansen to write his biography.  “First Man, The Life of Neil A. Armstrong” was a New York Times best seller.