Man on the Moon (if you believe)

When I was a little kid and just starting to understand football I would watch The Neil Armstrong show every Sunday morning on channel 2 in Chicago. I recall being extremely confused as to why the first man on the moon would go on to be the head coach of the Chicago Bears. As a seven year old I could not quite understand how one went from astronaut to football coach but I found it to be rather cool. As an adult I realize that they were two different people but having lived through both the Dave Wandstadt and the Dick Jauron eras sometimes I feel that I would prefer an astronaut.

My point, and I do have one, is that Neil Armstrong may be the most forgotten historical figure in history and he is still alive. Think about it; he is the first man to walk on the moon and I have no image of him in my mind other than a few pictures of him from the Apollo project. That might just be because I am a NASA geek. Most people probably cannot pull up a mental image of him at all.

Isn’t that bizarre? Today is Columbus Day when a portion of the country gets a three day weekend to commemorate the discovery of the New World, which came as a great surprise to the people who had been living there for thousands of years. But every single person knows who Columbus is and can recall the pictures from the textbooks and name his three ships. Even the pioneers of flight are well remembered. The Wright Brothers, Lindbergh, Earhart, all of them comprise our historic landscape and are still held up as excellent, barrier breaking figures. Heck, I can even discuss the Montgolfier Brothers who were the first to fly in a hot air balloon (partly because they are the answer to a trivia question but mainly because they appear in a Monty Python sketch (Episode 40: The Golden Age of Ballooning)).

Neil Armstrong may be one of the greatest enigmas of history. Here is someone who did something that no one else in human history had ever done. He stood on the moon and looked down at the Earth. It is an accomplishment that will be mentioned in history books for as long as there are history books. But with all of that fame, all of that acclaim, what does he do? He goes on to become a college professor and spends some time working on his farm. He has remained the perfect, clean cut Eagle Scout that led him to be chosen by the space program. No ego, no desire for fame, just a humble worker. It seems stunning in a world where being on a season of the Real World can provide you with a media career.

Fame is a strange thing. What most people don’t acknowledge is that it is so fleeting that it is rather meaningless. In three years you will mention Jon and Kate and go “who” in the same way that we mention that girl who was stuck in the well. You can be the center of attention and still be forgotten. But some fame, even unwanted fame, will last forever. You’ll always hear about Lindbergh and Armstrong. I just find it fascinating that the one person among us who will be known for the rest of time could walk past me and I wouldn’t recognize him whereas Paris Hilton would be mobbed by onlookers. Kind of sad, I think.