One Small Step for Man…

July 21, 1969

Today we accomplished something no one else on this Earth has ever done, we walked on the moon. As we were approaching the moon’s surface, my heart was pounding out of my chest. We could see the gray sandy bottom ahead. There was nothing but craters from meteorites that have struck the moon’s surface throughout time. As we were getting closer and closer, I look over at Buzz and he is shaking. I look over at Neil and all he can do is practice what he is going to say as he steps down on the moon. He keeps repeating, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” And continues to ask Buzz and I if that sounds good. Both Buzz and I are too anxious and nervous to respond. We finally touch down on the moon. Everything we have trained and worked for was for this moment. We said a quick prayer and opened the hatch to step down on the moon. We were all so nervous that we almost forgot to bring the American flag with us. Neil was the first one to go and executed his saying back down to the command center perfectly. Buzz was the second one to go and he was freaking out the entire way down the ladder. I was the third one to touch down and at that point all of my nerves were gone because I was so ready to touch the moons surface. As I was climbing down the latter, one foot at a time, I had a million thoughts running through my head and couldn’t believe this was actually happening. I’ll never forget the feeling as both my feet touched the ground. It was so light, so soft, something out of this world, (literally.) As soon as all three of us were out there, we went straight to work. We gathered what we needed to and were off the moon in after about two and a half hours. This has been an extraordinary journey and I’m so proud of my team and what we’ve accomplished with Apollo 11. Now its time to go home.