Apollo 11 gala event, Part 1

good evening I am eron Cohen director of the Johnson Space Center thank you it is a great thrill to see so many people in this room tonight who made Apollo a reality and I thank you for [Applause] coming in 1961 John Kennedy a remarkable president gave us a remarkable task to land men on the moon and return them safely within a decade that challenge provided the remarkable events of this lunar program and tonight we have gathered the remarkable people who made it all happen what a proud night this is for the Johnson Space Center and the surrounding Houston Comm community in [Music] 1969 I had the Good Fortune to be a darkhaired young man working in the Apollo spacecraft program office specifically on the command and service module meeting the the challenge of Apollo with the likes of Bob Gil Ruth George low Chris Craft George Jeffs Joe Gavin and Dick baton provided me with the opportunity to work with and learn from our nation's best and brightest Engineers scientists and mathematicians today as you can say can see my hair has turned gray and is my privilege to serve as the Director of the Johnson Space Center the legacy of the Apollo program is the very foundation on which this Center operates it is my strong conviction and fervent hope that the persons who gather to recognize the 30th the 40th and the 50th anniversary of the lunar Landing will have their own remarkable achievements worthy of recognition and honor this is an evening for celebration camaraderie and reflection in that spirit I welcome you all to tonight's festivities thank you [Applause] it is my pleasure now to introduce a staunch supporter of NASA and a friend of the Johnson Space Center the mayor of euth ouon Mayor Kathy Whitmire thank you Erin it is it is my pleasure on behalf of the people of the great City of Houston to welcome some former houstonians back tonight to welcome a lot of good friends of the space program and to celebrate with all of you a very great occasion that happened 20 years ago that has changed all of our lives and will further change them in the future you know this is a fabulous occasion that you put together here tonight it reminds me of kind of a cross between a 20-year High School reunion and perhaps the senior prom but uh I have uh really enjoyed uh chatting with people here who haven't seen each other for a long time and and who are reminiscing about some of the most fabulous events that have ever occurred in this country but I think from a local perspective none of us is in doubt about what the successes of the Space Program mean to this community here in Houston we've been through some good times in Houston NASA has been through some good times we've been through through some periods of re-examination and NASA has also been through some periods of reexamination I think all of us together are stronger today as we look at those new challenges that are now being given to the Space Program so I want to give my congratulations to all of you all of you who have made your mark on history and I also want to give my congratulations to the great people who today make up the NASA program at the Johnson Space Center to Aaron coin for his outstanding leadership and to all of the staff members and the contractors who are the space team here in Houston we are all with you thanks a lot and congratulations I would now like to ask you to please enjoy your meal I uh I'm very pleased can I have your attention please I'm very pleased to introduce uh your Master of Ceremonies for the evening Jim Harts was well known to the astronauts flight controllers and project managers of Apollo because he spent a lot of time in Houston talking to them and learning about the space program as a correspondent and Anchor Man for NBC's Nightly News he had a well-deserved reputation as a reporter who always did his work and it could translate NASA jargon and Acron acronyms into clear simple English and still get it right and that's a challenge his Pleasant style and ging manner seemed very very familiar to us when he became co-host of The Today Show he is now a five-time winner of the television industry's highest award the Emmy and he currently hosts the award-winning PBS network television program Innovation Jim it's really a pleasure to have you back with us thank you thank you good evening you know I think if we had any decency in our hearts here tonight we just wrap this thing up and let these poor men go home Neil and Buzz and Mike have been at this 20 20th anniversary thing since last Saturday now and I suspect that they're beginning to feel a little bit like the two porcupines making love just not sure how much more of this fun they can stand but Neil buzz and Mike you know you know this crowd there is not a person here tonight with any decency in his heart so you just better sit back and relax and enjoy it this is not the White House you know and mayor this is also not a high school prom these are the people who threw the piano into the swimming pool at the splash down party 20 years ago there there are a lot of people in this audience tonight who are actually sorry and Miss rotten Reds and some women too for those of you who weren't around here during the Apollo days um I should tell you I guess a little bit about rotten Red's Castaway bar it um it was an elegant um very Posh uh exceedingly sedate um Lounge it was where very many highlevel decisions in the space program were made it was in a a Scenic spot down on gston Bay um it was a known as a quiet place where the astronauts and the flight directors and occasionally a network correspond or two would get together and talk about things like um Mar tranquilatus Oceanus proelium and marry Nubian nubium they they played chamber music at Rotten Reds and and they never took the Christmas tree down it was a sort of a place You' sort of like take your mom you know I want to say right here at the beginning that I never saw Neil and Buzz and Mike at Rotten Ritz and I'll continue saying that as long as they want me to you see Neil I think you're dealing with two groups of people here tonight the one a bunch of rowdies who um were sorry that you missed the splash down party and they want to pick it up from here and the other group uh still has a few things they want to discuss with you from rotten Reds I guess I'm like everybody else here tonight I remember exactly where I was 20 years ago yesterday I was in Studio 8 at NBC in New York doing my best to be composed and deliberate and very levelheaded about all of it trying to do my job as a reporter and get it all straight and explain it very clearly except that nobody had ever done a story like this before man going to another planet and nobody knew for sure what it meant was it a stunt was it a waste of money should we be spending all that money down here on Earth was it only to impress the Russians or was it like rener Von Bron said the equal importance to the moment in evolution when Aquatic Life first came out on land well truthfully I don't think I knew what all men at the time but I think I do now today if you strip all the rhetoric away from it and remove all the strands that connected the moon program to a hundred different unconnected things and look at it in its simplest terms the Apollo program stands out absolutely and singularly as a radiant achievement in American and in world history when when all of the rhetoric is stripped away and when you remove all the arguments that weren't contained in NASA's mandate the fact is that we went there just to check it out friendly like no Bounty there was no booty it was scientific exploration straight research National stature to be sure but mostly like President Kennedy said we did it mostly because we chose to and Tonight We Gather here to celebrate that exceptional Enterprise the world has come a long way in 20 years and no small part of that Journey was inspired I think by the Apollo program just going to the Moon just doing it because it was there ignited the imagination of millions of people especially younger people and today because of that imagination turned to Deeds we live in a world that is fundamentally different from that of 20 years ago today 20 years later with 2020 hindsight it's POS possible to see that all in all but one case we were expecting the wrong thing from Apollo it was not a poverty program it was not a jobs program it was not a housing program it was not a social program it was an engineering and scientific blueprint organized to demonstrate what man could do with a singleness of mind and a clearly defined goal at the time it was the grandest thing we could think to do there and there was always a tendency I think at least in on our side of it I think to look at everything in gargantuan terms after all making a 6 million pound 3360 ft machine rise straight up off the ground and hurl itself and three men to the moon was quite an achievement but I suggest that the real emphasis should be put on the Colossal efforts that were made to make everything small and more efficient after all it took five pounds of fuel to get one pound of machine and man into orbit so you could say that the energy conservation program began in NASA the moon program I think set the stage for the nation to become lighter and stronger and leaner and meaner and harder and faster it led the way if you will in showing the larger society how to improve its thrust to weight ratio and it wasn't Teflon which was invented 1938 and it wasn't velcro which has been around since 1957 that the Apollo program spun off it was the PC and it was solid state circuitry and it was new materials and data processing and quality control and as much as anything else the can do Spirit nobody says anymore if we can go to the Moon we can do anything frankly the Apollo program is not a good model to solve every societal problem the legacy of Apollo is intuitive it took us to a new level of realization implanted a new man-made Gene in the DNA of our psyche it became so much a part of us that today most people don't even know it's there I had a teenager asked me recently what was the big deal about going to the Moon well the big deal about going to the Moon is that nobody has been able to duplicate the feet since it's still stands as man's farthest reach the inspiration even though today it is subconscious for the Lightyear surge in our civilization s last week in a very unscientific experiment I looked around my office in my home to see the things that I liked and that were important to me and interestingly they fell out in two different very distinct categories one the things that I lik because of their artistic and sentimental value and two the things that make my life and my business more productive and more comfortable and more profitable and those things were all less than 20 years old word processors Laser Printers cellular phones energy efficient buildings planes cars and appliances in Walter's business in my business 20 years ago it took a couple of tons to do what 20 pounds does today indeed the chief tool of our business the mini cam the instrument that has become the eyes of the world was invented and first used to show us the news from the Moon none of this says inspired by Apollo and a lot of it is not stamped made in USA but that's okay I submit that 20 years later it's time that we discard our worn out Notions of what the moon program was not and accept it for what it was which was the realization of a universal dream and a spinner of ideas and intimations and expectations and not necessarily products and while 20 years is but an instant in the history of man it is fitting that we pause here tonight and honor not just the men who first landed on the moon but as they themselves have often said all those who labored together to make it a giant leap for mankind everybody remembers one small step and what fewer people recall are the words on the plaque that they left on the moon we came in peace For All Mankind but why some say the Moon why choose this as our goal and they may well ask why climb the highest mountain why 35 years ago fly the Atlantic why does Rice play Texas we choose to go to the Moon we choose to go to the Moon we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy but because they are hard because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills because that challenge is one that we're willing to accept one we are unwilling to postpone and one we intend to win and the others twoo liftoff we have a liftoff 32 minutes past the hour LIF off and a 11 Apollo 11 this is Houston you are go for tli over 11 thank you [Music] Roger how does it look colia Houston over L andle Mike how did he go over listen babe everything's going just swimmingly beautiful okay all flag controllers go now go for landing retro goid control go capc go for landing eag Houston you're go for landing over stand go for landing 3000 [Music] ft Tranquility base here the eagle has landed Roger twink Tranquility we copy you on the [Music] ground that's one small step for man [Music] one Le for me he'll be here in a [Applause] minute before we uh go any further I've been uh asked to introduce to you night tonight the people that you've been watching eat up here starting down on my far left the incoming president president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and astronautics Buzz hello the wife of one of our honored guests here tonight Lois Aldren a more flowery introduction will come from our speakers at the head table tonight including ladies and gentlemen Buzz Aldren her honor the mayor of the city of Houston Cath hm Kathy I hope being with this rdy group here tonight doesn't hurt your chances for reelection if anybody could ever write a book called what it's like to be introduced as the wife of this is the person ladies and gentlemen Janet Armstrong ladies and gentlemen Janet Armstrong's husband Neil [Applause] my wife Alexandria Dixon Harts on my right Aaron Cohen introduced me a few minutes ago I want to say just a couple things about him for the Out of Towners here tonight he was the NASA project manager for the development of the Apollo command and service module 20 years ago he was the man who had the responsibility of bringing it all together and holding it all together for a half a million miles today he's the director of the Johnson Space Center Aaron con and Ruth con our keynote speaker tonight is a man who can be introduced quicker by citing the things that he hasn't done rather than those he has Walter [Applause] kronite the Apollo 11 command pilot Michael Collins Pat Collins becoming a NASA astronaut in the month following the first moon moon landing must have been a heady experience for our next guest but who was to say that that 31-year-old Navy flyer in those days would go on to become the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Admiral Richard h trule Mrs Cody truy National honorary chairman of Space Week the chairman of the board CEO of Rockwell International the company which incidentally built the Apollo command and service module Donald arabel and Joan Beal in addition to having Neil and Buzz and Mike here tonight we have several other men who have either walked on the moon or flown in the Apollo program with us and before we go any further we'd like to recognize them in the audience if we bring the lights up just a little bit I think uh we have either one or more representatives of every crew and I think perhaps that's the best way to recognize them I don't know whether we're ever going to get spotlights on can we have the lights up just a little bit please hello thank you from Apollo from Apollo 7 Walt Cunningham from Apollo 8 Frank Borman Jim level and Bill Anders from Apollo 9 Jim mcdot Dave Scott and Rusty schwier from Apollo 10 Tom Stafford John Young and Jean cernon from Apollo 12 Pete Conrad's not here tonight I always loved his first words on the moon he said it may have been a small step for Neil but it was a big one for a little guy like me but his partner is here tonight uh one of my favorite people in the whole world a great artist Alan Bean Al where are you everybody gets a personal recollection I found this quote the other day it's from Marcel PR who died in 1922 he said only through ART can we get outside ourselves and know another's view of the universe which is not the same as ours and see Landscapes which would otherwise have remained unknown to us like the Landscapes of the moon thanks to Art and instead of seeing a single World our own we see it multiply until we have before us as many worlds as there are original artists and many centuries after their core is extinguished they continue to send us their special rise Al thank you two of the hard luck gang from Apollo 13 Jim level and Fred Hayes the old man in the moon Alan Shephard and Stu rusa from Apollo [Applause] 14 when Al came back he worked as a consultant for NBC and we were on the air one night and couldn't think of anything to say and I wrote on a piece of paper I said what was the lousiest thing about being on the moon Al picked it up and wrote back and he said having to appear on NBC afterwards I loved Al's first words on the moon he said we're here the first dune buggy driver and the first man to find green rocks instead of green cheese on the moon Dave Scott and Jim Irwin from Apollo 15 from Apollo 16 John Young and Charlie Duke famous for grits and orange juice 3 years and six months after Neil Armstrong first set on the moon Jean cernon was the last man to walk on its surface from Apollo 17 Jean cernon and Command Module pilot Ron Evans and and we're also pleased to have with us tonight the crew from the Apollo so's joint us Soviet Mission Tom Stafford and Vance bran de Slayton couldn't be here tonight Tom Vance stand up please and also a special guest please give a warm Round of Applause to the commander of the soyuz part of Apollo soyuz and the first man to walk in space Alexi leonov Tom told me earlier that he taught him how to speak English with an oy accent well a lot of people have worked very hard to make this evening possible tonight and we want to express our thanks especially to our official hosts of the evening NASA and the Johnson Space Center the American Institute of Aeronautics and astronautics and Space Week you've already heard from Aaron Cohen speaking on behalf of the JSC and now I'd like to introduce two others speaking on behalf of our other hosts 20 years ago when man first walked on the moon Don Beal was Executive Vice President of the electronics group at Rockwell International and since that time he's been through many reincarnations as has his company suffice it to say that this was the outfit that built the command ship for Apollo and more recently the all the shuttlecraft Don was named president of Rockwell 10 years ago was elected chairman and chief executive officer 18 months ago he is here with us tonight to help celebrate this great anniversary acting as National honorary Space Week chairman ladies and gentlemen Don [Applause] Beal well thank you very much Jim I feel just privileged to be here go as far as you can see a historian once said and when you get there you'll be able to see much further Tonight We join to celebrate a journey in singular accomplishment which most all of us opened which most of all for for all of us opened our eyes to see the promise of the future it threw a glorious Spotlight on human ability and achievement 20 years ago a whole world watched and marveled at what a nation could accomplish when her people worked together and when hard work combined with equal measures of patience and faith after reaching this important destination our sites were immediately fixed on others in the vast reaches of space the vision the president shared with us yesterday was clear and provides not only a solid foundation for the future of space exploration but also good reason to venture into the future with renewed confidence this year space week activities are contributing once again to fostering greater appreciation and I think support for America's leadership in space I've been very proud to serve as chairman of space week this year in this capacity I'm also honored to recognize all those around the country who make this national celebration a great success people like Chris Craft who's National chairman of the Apollo anniversary and the many volunteers of space week uh national headquarters who are deserving of recognition for their commitment of time and energy and not just in this important 20th anniversary but every year uh space week is important because it is an annual Affair and we should be privileged to support it annually many companies and space related organizations have helped underwrite or promote space week activities and I would like to offer a special thanks to NASA for its enthusiastic participation and support of these efforts every year with activities underway all across this nation space week is one of the many ways in which American citizens can become involved in celebrating our nation space Heritage and contributing to its future as well they should because in reaching one destination our natural tendency is to wonder about the next about what the next one will be and with that Wonder comes a great deal of desire and with desire determination let this week be a reminder then that we Americans must share a determination to go forward boldly and unafraid into the New Frontiers of tomorrow and we will setting our sights upon the Horizon and our hopes upon what is just beyond I thank you all for what you've meant to American America's Legacy in space and for your contributions to this week of Celebration and to those of many tomorrows thank you very much 20 years ago our next guest was Rockwell's vice president and general manager of Saturn Apollo launch operations at Kennedy Space Center he led the Rockwell team that achieved six successful launches including three Landings on the moon in the midst of the Apollo program he changed hats and managed the team that developed the space shuttle and then went on still later to manage the B1 bomber he got a piece of the colia trophy for that one he went on to Head North American aircraft group then the North American aircraft operations and most recently he was Rockwell corporation's senior vice president in charge of Washington operations recently retired from Rockwell he is now the incoming president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and astronautics ladies and Gent gentleman Bastion Buzz hello thank you Jim honored guests and ladies and gentlemen my greetings come to you from the aiaa the American Institute of Aeronautics and astronautics and on behalf of our 42,000 members it's really a privilege to be part of this celebration of the Monumental things that took place that culminated in Man's first landing on our moon now we're dedicated the AA to the Improvement of the Science and Technology of astronautics and Aeronautics and to the development of our um uh professional development of our members and it's in that light that I'd like to um recognize those members of our Houston section of the aiaa who worked hard to make uh part of this um night possible Ava Lunsford chairperson of the event Ava has done a Monumental job Janette Stan and Scott site and let me let me just extend a special recognition to Walter luki our Houston section chairman and really to all the members of the Houston section I know they all pitched in to help support this Gayla now nowhere that certainly I'm aware of has the impact of the practice of the science of uh and Technology of Aerospace been greater than right here in Houston in the Johnson Space Center nowhere um there are there are there are literally hundreds of AIA members associate fellows fellows and honorary fellows uh among those who have contributed to this event and uh whose whose um exploits of course we celebrate tonight there far too many to recognize individually but I would like to pick out three who are honorary fellas who typify this host Robert gilruth the first director of the NASA man spacecraft Center and Christopher craft the second director of the NASA man spacecraft Center and last but certainly not least Maxim F designer of the Mercury capsule this has been a just a great night for an absolutely terrific apoll team please enjoy yourselves and thank you very very much than you buzz just made my night a lot shorter I had a few more introductions here and he just got half of them I'd like to recognize a couple more people in our audience former administrator of NASA Tom Payne Tom where are you uh also former Deputy Administrator Robert seamons former Deputy Administrator former Secretary of the Air Force Hans [Applause] Mark and former Deputy Administrator our Apollo program director baggy paron retired General Sam Phillips and also uh former associate administrator George [Applause] Miller Buzz mentioned uh two of the directors of the Johnson Space Center I'd like to mention two more Jerry Griffin and Aaron Cohen please and what seemed like in those days a bunch of teenagers carrying the responsibility of a multi-billion dollar program on their shoulders the guys who had to make the quick now fast decisions the flight directors those that I think are here tonight Jean cray Jerry Griffin Glenn Loney Cliff Charlesworth Pete Frank and Milt Windler would you all please stand well this evening is the climax of a round of celebrations that that began for our special guests last Saturday in Huntsville Alabama and proceeded on to Cape Canaveral on Sunday where there was a ceremony on the 20th anniversary of the actual launch and then it was on to Washington for special events at the Smithsonian institution and the meeting with the president and finally here tonight after tonight they get to resume life as ordinary Mortals for another five or 10 years and then all of us who are still alive and can make any sense we'll be back here again the fact is that if you've been watching and listening to these men in recent days and in recent years you will have noted that they don't particularly care to look backward much any longer they've all been saying to anyone who will listen that their eyes are now definitely on the future and it is to Neil and Buzz and Mike that we turn now over the years I've come to believe that Michael Collins is the single hardest person to introduce in a public forum so much nonsense has been written about the fact that he almost made it to the moon but not quite and that he he was incredibly jealous almost to the point of fuming while he circled 60 miles above the Moon while his buddies were down there making history Mike has been portrayed as the odd man out the loser and the lunar Lottery The Invisible Man how can you deal with this to introduce this man especially when the record tells such a diametrically opposed story listen to the record born in Rome educated at St Albin in Washington then to West Point and to Harvard fighter and test pilot for the Air Force Space Walker on the G program retired US Air Force Major General assistant secretary of state director of the National Air and Space Museum the man who brought that wonderful place in under budget and ahead of schedule vice president that's good enough right there vice president of LTV and since 1985 the head of his own firm along the way he picked up the presidential medal of freedom the CER Godard and Harmon trophies and if you want a literate and thoughtful account of Apollo 11 and his days in the space program I suggest that you pick up copies of his book books carrying the fire flying to the moon and other strange places and lift off the story of America's adventures in Spa Adventure in Space I submit that this is not the portrait of a man who spent a great deal of time brooding about his Apollo seat a couple of days ago I asked a former high-ranking official here in NASA to describe Mike's contribution to the Moon program and he said outspoken in a constructive way he is always logical and he is always right a contemporary writer in the 1960s described him as the Living spirit of good and graceful manners ladies and gentlemen Michael Collins there are a lot of really nice places in this country and if U if Neil had said Hilton Head the eagle has landed or or Indianapolis or Peoria the eagle has landed I suppose I would have gotten used to the idea before very long but he said Houston and to that word has a um a special almost a magical sound to me and I think for you too uh at least I suspect so for all of you or most of you each of us each in our own way U has a special recollection I think of Houston over the past 20 years and uh listening to President Bush yesterday I my paraphrase would be uh you ain't seen nothing yet so so I'd like to ask you to remain seated but to raise your glass uh with me in a in a toast to uh to Houston and to the Future to Houston and to the Future if Michael Collin Collins is the hardest man to introduce this in a public forum the second hardest man to introduce is Buzz Aldren you see he actually went to the moon and even though he and Neil landed together at the exact same moment in the same Spa spacecraft since Neil actually stepped out on the surface first Buzz is relegated to second place on the technicality and that is an unfair characterization of his achievements and cont contributions the truth is NASA had three supremely qualified astronauts on Apollo 11 any one of whom could have been the first on the moon and the nation would have been proud in fact I can make a pretty good case for Buzz his educational achievements at the time were perhaps unmatched by any of the other astronauts he graduated third in his class class from West Point he had a PhD in astronautics from MIT his thesis was guidance for and orbital Rendevous he had the most recent experience in space having flown the final geminy mission during which he spent five and a half hours outside the spacecraft walking in Space besides that he was the oldest of the three you see when you start making comparisons among these three guys you just end up digging yourself in deeper and deeper to no really good end but the truth is according to buzz in his new book there was only one way that they could get out of the spacecraft because of the way the door was made he couldn't get around and so Neil had to go out first so it seems the guy who put the hinges on made one of the most fateful decisions in man's history in his career Buzz has been honored with numerous achievements the Air Force distinguished service medal with Oakleaf cluster the Legion of Merit NASA distinguished an exceptional service medal and the presidential medal of freedom most recently Buzz has contributed a lot of new ideas to Earth Moon and Earth Mars Perpetual orbits and like Mike he has become a popular author with a newly published book entitled men from Earth ladies and gentlemen bz Aldren thank you yesterday was a big day for me for over a year I've been trying to build a fire in this country to to chart a course for the future and what happened on the steps of the Aaron Space Museum was nothing short of fantastic and beyond my expectations the president uh said of course that uh to to me was particularly heartening because there there was the word that was expressed uh later in the barbecue that we had at the White House a sustaining effort and and I received this message from him as I sat across and and had a big choice of whether I was going to have a hot dog or a hamburger and and uh I want to thank everybody for uh serving much more appetizing meal here tonight did so wonderful we flew down here and had a splash down party and joined so many friends from home so many I can't uh even begin to think but one in particular it reminded me when we uh tripped off the uh or almost tripped off the helicopter on the carrier and then got inside that little quarantine facility um shortly after we were in there and had a physical exam the flight surgeon who was in there said I've got got some uh some tapes of what was happening when you guys were up there would you like to see what the reaction was so he played some of these over and and I was just so tempted uh because we could see Walder kronite and how he uh Express things and and I was just tempted and I looked over at Neil and I said Neil you know we missed the whole thing [Applause] well tonight we're going to hear it from the man who was [Applause] there we viewed the thousand points of light last night and and there were a bunch of people around and and I got to look out there in Horizon said there it is there's the moon we should have had a countdown for moon rise last night so next time we do this this morning I got up and uh was able to share some thinkings uh with some people who are planning these next Mars trajectories and then I had lunch at Brennan's and again it was better than hot dogs and uh met some people there from the Challenger Center and then went over to where the Challenger Center is at the Houston Museum of Natural History and the reason I wanted to do that is because I've been carrying around toothpicks that represent how I think uh certain things in the future ought to be and some students have been doing some work at the University of Houston and they built a neat Spaceport similar to what my toothpicks are and they built a cycling spaceship and and I would hope uh that I don't have to carry toothpicks anymore good evening I am eron Cohen director of the Johnson Space Center thank you it is a great thrill to see so many people in this room tonight who made Apollo a reality and I thank you for [Applause] coming in 1961 John Kennedy a remarkable president gave us a remarkable task to land men on the moon and return them safely within a decade that challenge provided the remarkable events of this lunar program and tonight we have gathered the remarkable people who made it all happen what a proud night this is for the Johnson Space Center and the surrounding Houston Comm community in [Music] 1969 I had the Good Fortune to be a darkhaired young man working in the Apollo spacecraft program office specifically on the command and service module meeting the the challenge of Apollo with the likes of Bob Gil Ruth George low Chris Craft George Jeffs Joe Gavin and Dick baton provided me with the opportunity to work with and learn from our nation's best and brightest Engineers scientists and mathematicians today as you can say can see my hair has turned gray and it is my privilege to serve as the Director of the Johnson Space Center the legacy of the Apollo program is the very foundation on which this Center operates it is my strong conviction and fervent hope that the persons who gather to recognize the 30th the 40th and the 50th anniversary of the lunar Landing will have their own remarkable achievements worthy of recognition and honor this is an evening for celebration camaraderie and reflection in that spirit I welcome you all to tonight's festivities thank you [Applause] it is my pleasure now to introduce a staunch supporter of NASA and a friend of the Johnson Space Center the mayor of euth hon mayor Kathy Whitmire thank you Erin it is it is my pleasure on behalf of the people of the the great City of Houston to welcome some former houstonians back tonight to welcome a lot of good friends of the space program and to celebrate with all of you a very great occasion that happened 20 years ago that has changed all of our lives and will further change them in the future you know this is a fabulous occasion that you put together here tonight it reminds me of kind of a cross between a 20-year High School reunion and perhaps the senior prom but uh I have uh really enjoyed uh chatting with people here who haven't seen each other for a long time and and who are reminiscing about some of the most fabulous events that have ever occurred in this country but I think from a local perspective none of us is in doubt about what the successes of the Space Program mean to this community here in Houston we've been through some good times in Houston NASA has been through some good times we've been through through some periods of reexamination and NASA has also been through some periods of reexamination I think all of us together are stronger today as we look at those new challenges that are now being given to the Space Program so I want to give my congratulations to all of you all of you who have made your mark on history and I also want to give my congratulations to the great people who today make up the NASA program at the Johnson Space Center to Aaron coin for his outstanding leadership and to all of the staff members and the contractors who are the space team here in Houston we are all with you thanks a lot and congratulations I would now like to ask you to please enjoy your meal I uh I'm very pleased can I have have your attention please I'm very pleased to introduce uh your Master of Ceremonies for the evening Jim Harts was well known to the astronauts flight controllers and project managers of Apollo because he spent a lot of time in Houston talking to them and learning about the space program as a correspondent and Anchor Man for NBC's Nightly News he had a well-deserved reputation as a reporter who always did his work and it could translate NASA jargon and Acron acronyms into clear simple English and still get it right and that's a challenge his Pleasant style and gentling manner seemed very very familiar to us when he became co-host of the Today's Show he is now a five-time winner of the television industry's highest award the Emmy and he currently hosts the award-winning PBS networks television program Innovation Jim it's really a pleasure to have you back with us thank you thank you good evening you know I think if we had any decency in our hearts here tonight we just wrap this thing up and let these poor men go home Neil and Buzz and Mike have been at this 20 20th anniversary thing since last Saturday now and I suspect that they're beginning to feel a little bit like the two porcupines making love just not sure how much more of this fun they can stand but Neil buzz and Mike you know you know this crowd there is not a person here tonight with any decency in his heart so you just better sit back and relax and enjoy it this is not the White House you know and mayor this is also not a high school prom these are the people who threw the piano into the swimming pool at the splash down party 20 years ago there there are a lot of people in this audience tonight who are actually sorry and Miss rotten Reds and some women too for those of you who weren't around here during the Apollo days um I should tell you I guess a little bit about rotten Red's Castaway bar it um it was an elegant um very Posh uh exceedingly sedate um Lounge it was where very many highlevel decisions in the space program were made it was in a a Scenic spot down on galliston Bay um it was a known as a quiet place where the astronauts and the flight directors and occasionally a network correspondent or two would get together and talk about things like um Mar tranquilatus oceanis proelium and Mary Nubian nubium they they played chamber music at Rotten Reds and they never took the Christmas tree down it was a sort of a place you'd sort of like take your mom you know I want to say right here at the beginning that I never saw Neil and Buzz and Mike at Rotten Reds and I'll continue saying that as long as they want me to you see Neil I think you're dealing with two groups of people here tonight one a bunch of rowdies who um were sorry that you missed the splash down party and they want to pick it up from here and the other group uh still has a few things they want to discuss with you from rotten Reds I guess I'm like everybody else here tonight I remember exactly where I was 20 years ago yesterday I was in Studio 8 at NBC in New York doing my best to be composed and deliberate and very levelheaded about all of it trying to do my job as a reporter and get it all straight and explain it very clearly except that nobody had ever done a story like this before man going to another planet and nobody knew for sure what it meant was it a stunt was it a waste of money should we be spending all that money down here on Earth was it only to impress the Russians or was it like rener Von Bron said the equal importance to the moment in evolution when Aquatic Life first came out on land well truthfully I don't think I knew what it in at the time but I think I do now today if you strip all the rhetoric away from it and remove all the strands that connected the moon program to a hundred different unconnected things and look at it in its simplest terms the Apollo program stands out absolutely and singularly as a radiant achievement in American and in world history when when all of the rhetoric is stripped away and when you remove all the arguments that weren't contained in NASA's mandate the fact is that we went there just to check it out friendly like no Bounty there was no booty it was scientific exploration straight research National stature to be sure but mostly like President Kennedy said we did it mostly because we chose to and tonight We Gather here to celebrate that exceptional Enterprise the world has come a long way in 20 years and no small part of that Journey was inspired I think by the Apollo program just going to the Moon just doing it because it was there ignited the imagination of millions of people especially younger people and today because of that imagination turned to Deeds we live in a world that is fundamentally different from that of 20 years ago today 20 years later with 2020 hindsight it's Poss possible to see that all in all but one case we were expecting the wrong thing from Apollo it was not a poverty program it was not a jobs program it was not a housing program it was not a social program it was an engineering and scientific blueprint organized to demonstrate what man could do with a singleness of mind and a clearly defined goal at the time it was the grandest thing we could think to do there and there was always a tendency I think at least in on our side of it I think to look at everything in gargantuan terms after all making a 6 million pound 3360 fot machine rise straight up off the ground and hurl itself and three men to the moon was quite an achievement but I suggest that the real emphasis should be put on the Colossal efforts that were made to make everything small and more efficient after all it took 5 pounds of fuel to get one pound of machine and man into orbit so you could say that the energy conservation program began in NASA the moon program I think set the stage for the nation to become lighter and stronger and leaner and meaner and harder and faster it led the way if you will in showing the larger society how to improve its thrust to weight ratio and it wasn't Teflon which was invented in 1938 and it wasn't velcro which has been around since 1957 that the Apollo program spun off it was the PC and it was solid state circuitry and it was new materials and data processing and quality control and as much as anything else that can do Spirit nobody says anymore if we can go to the Moon we can do anything frankly the Apollo program is not a good model to solve every societal problem the legacy of Apollo is intuitive it took us to a new level of realization implanted a new man-made Gene in the DNA of our psyche it became so much a part of us that today most people don't even know it's there I had a teenager asked me recently what was the big deal about going to the Moon well the big deal about going to the Moon is that nobody has been able to duplicate the feet since it's still stands as man's farthest reach the inspiration even though today it is subconscious for the Lightyear surge in our civilization since last week in a very unscientific experiment I looked around my office in my home to see the things that I liked and that were important to me and interestingly they fell out in two different very distinct categories one the things that I liked because of their artistic and sentimental value and two the things that make my life and my business business more productive and more comfortable and more profitable and those things were all less than 20 years old word processors Laser Printers cellular phones energy efficient buildings planes cars and appliances in Walter's business in my business 20 years ago it took a couple of tons to do what 20 pounds does today indeed the chief tool of our business the minicam the instrument that has become the eyes of the world was invented and first used to show us the news from the Moon none of this says inspired by Apollo and a lot of it is not stamped made in USA but that's okay I submit that 20 years later it's time that we discard our worn out Notions of what the moon program was not and accept it for what it was which was the realization of a universal dream and a spinner of ideas and intimations and expectations and not necessarily products and while 20 years is but an instant in the history of of man it is fitting that we pause here tonight and honor not just the men who first landed on the moon but as they themselves have often said all those who labored together to make it a giant leap for mankind everybody remembers one small step and what fewer people recall are the words on the plaque that they left on the moon we came in peace For All Mankind but why some say the Moon why choose this as our goal and they may well ask why climb the highest mountain why 35 years ago fly the Atlantic why does Rice play Texas we choose to go to the Moon we choose to go to the Moon we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy but because they are hard because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills because that challenge is one that we're willing to accept one we are unwilling to postpone and one we intend to win and the others [Applause] too liftoff we have a liftoff 32 minutes past the hour lift off and 11 Apollo 11 this is Houston you are go for tli over 11 thank you [Music] Roger how does it look columia Houston over L and Mike how did he go over listen babe everything's going just swimmingly beautiful okay all flag controllers go now go for landing retroid control go Capcom we go for landing Eagle Houston you're go for landing over stand go for landing 3,000 [Music] ft uh Tranquility base here the eagle has landed Roger twink Tranquility we copy you on the [Music] ground that's one small step for man [Music] one diete for man he'll be here in a [Applause] minute before we uh go any further I've been uh asked to introduce to you night tonight the people that you've been watching eat up here starting down on my far left the incoming president president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and astronautics Buzz hello the wife of one of our honored guests here tonight Lois Aldren a more flowery introduction will come from our speakers at the head table tonight including ladies and gentlemen Buzz Aldren her honor the mayor of the city of Houston Kathy hm Kathy I hope being with this Rowdy group here tonight doesn't hurt your chances for re-election if anybody could ever write a book called what it's like to be introduced as the wife of this is the person ladies and gentlemen Janet Armstrong ladies and gentlemen Janet Armstrong's husband Neil [Applause] my wife alexandraa Dixon Harts on my right Aaron Cohen introduced me a few minutes ago I want to say just a couple things about him for the Out of Towners here tonight he was the NASA project manager for the development of the Apollo command and service module 20 years ago he was the man who had the responsibility of bringing all together and holding it all together for a half a million miles today he's the director of the Johnson Space Center Aaron con and Ruth con our keynote speaker tonight is a man who can be introduced quicker by citing the things that he hasn't done rather than those he has Walter [Applause] kite the Apollo 11 command mod pilot Michael Collins Pat Collins becoming a NASA astronaut in the month following the first moon moon landing must have been a heady experience for our next guest but who was to say that that 31y Old Navy flyer in those days would go on to become the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Admiral Richard h trule Mrs Cody truy National honorary chairman of Space Week the chairman of the board CEO of Rockwell International the company which incidentally built the Apollo command and service module Donald ARA and Joan Beal in addition to having Neil and Buzz and Mike here tonight we have several other men who have either walked on the moon or flown in the Apollo program with us and before we go any further we'd like to recognize them in the audience if we bring the lights up just a little bit I think uh we have either one or more representatives of every crew and I think perhaps that's the best way to recognize them I don't know whether we're ever going to get spotlights on can we have the lights up just a little bit please hello thank you from Apollo from Apollo 7 Walt Cunningham from Apollo 8 Frank Borman Jim Lovel and Bill Anders from Apollo 9 Jim mcdot Dave Scott and Rusty schwier from Apollo 10 Tom Stafford John Young and Jean cernon from Paulo 12 Pete Conrad's not here tonight I always loved his first words on the moon he said it may have been a small step for Neil but it was a big one for a little guy like me but his partner is here tonight uh one of my favorite people in the whole world a great artist Alan Bean Al where are you everybody gets a personal recollection I found this quote the other day it's from Marcel PR who died in 1922 he said only through ART can we get outside ourselves and know another's view of the universe which is not the same as ours and see Landscapes which would otherwise have remained unknown to us like the Landscapes of the moon thanks to Art and instead of seeing a single World our own we see it multiply until we have before us as many worlds as there are original artists and many centuries after their core is extinguished they continue to send us their special rise Al thank you two of the hard luck gang from Apollo 13 Jim level and Fred Hayes the old man in the moon Alan Shephard and Stu rusa from Apollo [Applause] 14 when Al came back he worked as a consultant for NBC and we were on the air one night and couldn't think of anything to say and I wrote on a piece of paper I said what was the lousiest thing about being on the moon Al picked it up and wrote back and he said having to appear on NBC afterwards I loved Al's first words on the moon he said we're here the first dune buggy driver and the first man to find green rocks instead of green cheese on the moon Dave Scott and Jim Irwin from Apollo 15 from Apollo 16 John Young and Charlie Duke famous for grits and orange juice 3 years in six months after Neil Armstrong first set on the moon Jean cernon was the last man to walk on its surface from Apollo 17 Jean cernon and Command Module pilot Ron Evans and and we're also pleased to have with us tonight the crew from the Apollo so's joint us Soviet Mission Tom Stafford and Vance bran de Slayton couldn't be here tonight Tom Vance stand up please and also a special guest please give a warm Round of Applause to the commander of the soyuz part of Apollo soyuz and the first man to walk in space Alexi leonoff Tom told me earlier that he taught him how to speak English with an oy accent well a lot of people have worked very hard to make this evening possible tonight and we want to express our thanks especially to our official hosts of the evening NASA and the Johnson Space Center the American Institute of Aeronautics and astronautics and Space Week you've already heard from Aaron Cohen speaking on behalf of the JSC and now I'd like to to introduce two others speaking on behalf of our other hosts 20 years ago when man first walked on the moon Don Beal was Executive Vice President of the electronics group at Rockwell International and since that time he's been through many reincarnations as has his company suffice it to say that this was the outfit that built the command ship for Apollo and more recently the all the shuttlecraft Don was named president of Rockwell 10 years ago was elected chairman and chief executive officer 18 months ago he is here with us tonight to help celebrate this great anniversary acting as National honorary Space Week chairman ladies and gentlemen Don [Applause] Beal well thank you very much Jim I feel just privileged to be here go as far as you can see a historian once said and when you get there you'll be able to see much further Tonight We join to celebrate a journey in singular accomplishment which most all of us opened which most of all for for all of us opened our eyes to see the promise of the future it through a glorious Spotlight on human ability and achievement 20 years ago a whole world watched and marveled at what a nation could accomplish when her people work together and when hard work combined with equal measures of patience and faith after reaching this important destination our sites were immediately fixed on others in the vast reaches of space the vision the president shared with us yesterday was clear and provides not only a solid foundation for the future of space exploration but also good reason to venture into the future with renewed confidence this year space week activities are contributing once again to fostering greater appreciation and I think support for America's leadership in space I've been very proud to serve as chairman of space week this year in this capacity I'm also honored to recognize all those around the country who make this national celebration a great success people like Chris Craft who's National chairman of the Apollo anniversary and the many volunteers of space week uh national headquarters who are deserving of recognition for their commitment of time and energy and not just in this important 20th anniversary but every year uh space week is important because it is an annual Affair and we should be privileged to support it annually many companies and space related organizations have helped underwrite or promote space week activities and I would like to offer offer a special thanks to NASA for its enthusiastic participation and support of these efforts every year with activities underway all across this nation space week is one of the many ways in which American citizens can become involved in celebrating our nation space Heritage and contributing to its future as well they should because in reaching one destination our natural tendency is to wonder about the next about what the next one will be and with that Wonder comes a great deal of desire and with desire determination let this week be a reminder then that we Americans must share a determination to go forward boldly and unafraid into the New Frontiers of tomorrow and we will setting our sights upon the Horizon and our hopes upon what is just beyond I thank you all for what you've meant to American America's Legacy in space and for your contributions to this week of Celebration and to those of many tomorrows thank you very much 20 years ago our next guest was Rockwell's vice president and general manager of Saturn Apollo launch operations at the Kennedy Space Center he led the Rockwell team that achieved six successful launches including fre land end ings on the moon in the midst of the Apollo program he changed hats and managed the team that developed the space shuttle and then went on still later to manage the B1 bomber he got a piece of the colar trophy for that one he went on to Head North American aircraft group then the North American aircraft operations and most recently he was Rockwell Corporation senior vice president in charge of Washington operations recently retired from Rockwell he is now the incoming president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and astronautics ladies and Gent gentleman Bastion Buzz hello thank you Jim honored guests and ladies and gentlemen my greetings come to you from the aiaa the American Institute of Aeronautics and astronautics and on behalf of our 42,000 members it's really a privilege to be part of this celebration of the Monumental things that took place that culminated in Man's first landing on our moon now we're dedicated the AA to the Improvement of the Science and Technology of astronautics and Aeronautics and to the development of our um uh professional development of our members and it's in that light that I'd like to um recognize those members of our Houston section of the aiaa who worked hard to make uh part of this um night possible Ava Lunsford chairperson of the event Ava has done a Monumental job Janette strin and Scott site and let me let me just extend a special recognition to Walter luki our Houston chairman and really to all the members of the Houston section I know they all pitched in to help support this Gayla now nowhere that certainly I'm aware of has the impact of the practice of the science of uh and Technology of Aerospace been greater than right here in Houston in the Johnson Space Center nowhere um there are there are there are literally hundreds of AIA members associate fellows fellows and honorary fellows uh among those who have contributed to this event and uh whose whose um exploits of course we celebrate tonight there far too many to recognize individually but I would like to pick out three who are honorary fellas who typify this host Robert gilruth the first dor of the NASA man spacecraft Center and Christopher craft the second director of the NASA man spacecraft Center and last but certainly not least Maxim F designer of the Mercury capsule this has been a just a great night for an absolutely terrific apoll team please enjoy yourselves and thank you very very much than Buzz just made my night a lot shorter I had a few more introductions here and he just got half of them I'd like to recognize a couple more people in our audience former administrator of NASA Tom Payne Tom where are you also former Deputy Administrator Robert seamons former Deputy Administrator former Secretary of the Air Force Hans [Applause] Mark and former Deputy Administrator our Apollo program director beggy pardon retired General Sam Phillips and also a former associate administrator George [Applause] Miller Buzz mentioned uh two of the directors of the Johnson Space Center I'd like to mention two more Jerry Griffin and Aaron Cohen please and what seemed like in those days a bunch of teenagers carrying the responsibility of a multi-billion dollar program on their shoulders the guys who had to make the quick now fast decisions the flight directors those that I think are here tonight Jean cray Jerry Griffin Glenn Loney Cliff Charlesworth Pete Frank and Milt Windler would you all please stand well this evening is the climax of a round of celebrations that began for our special guests last Saturday in Huntsville Alabama and proceeded on to Cape Canaveral on Sunday where there was a ceremony on the 20th anniversary of the actual launch and then it was on to Washington for special events at the Smithsonian institution and the meeting with the president and finally here tonight after tonight they get to resume life as ordinary Mortals for another five or 10 years and then all of us who are still alive and can make any sense we'll be back here again the fact is that if you've been watching listening to these men in recent days and in recent years you will have noted that they don't particularly care to look backward much any longer they've all been saying to anyone who will listen that their eyes are now definitely on the future and it is to Neil and Buzz and Mike that we turn now over the years I've come to believe that Michael Collins is the single hardest person to introduce in a public forum so much nonsense has been written about the fact that he almost made it to the moon but not quite and that he he was incredibly jealous almost to the point of fuming while he circled 60 miles above the Moon while his buddies were down there making history Mike has been portrayed as the odd man out the loser and the lunar Lottery The Invisible Man how can you deal with this to introduce this man especially when the record tells such a diametrically opposed story listen to the record born in Rome as educated at St Albin and a few people would go over there that are interested and take a look and and see what uh what some of these concepts are there was also another special event uh that happened at Brennan's uh as I was uh chatting with some good friends there was a a young man sitting close by and he came up and uh and wanted to present me with something and it was red white and blue and his father was uh very instrumental in my my getting in the astronaut program and uh and it was great to see Eddie White [Applause] there and I thought maybe some of you would like to know what my kids are doing now Mike who was a little younger than Eddie is uh flies for Delta now as a flight attendant and Jan uh just four months ago allowed me to become a proud grandfather my son Andy uh finally got his bachelor's degree at age 26 but he's he's really moving on he studied under that man that told us uh why we went to the moon John logon and he's now working on his PhD Rand on Soviet studies and I'm very proud of all my kids and I'm uh and they grew up here and and learned uh at the schools and and got to meet some really nice kids and and it's nice to see the parents and the kids that they got to meet uh I'm I've got three more kids now thanks to Lois we got married a year and a half ago on Valentine's Day the program says a footprint Upon Time a step into space and the beginning of an incredible journey into the future yesterday we reinvigorated that journey into the future and for all of us God's feet reason why buzz and and uh Mike sometimes are hard to introduce is because Neil is so easy everybody I mean everybody on the face of the Earth knows who this man is so what can you really say that kind of recognition is reserved for just a few people and only a few of the few really deserve it Neil has been fooling around with high performance aircraft and spacecraft since 1949 when he graduated from Purdue 78 combat missions for the Navy in Korea test pilot at Edwards and other places he flew over 200 models of high performance aircraft including the X15 he was a command pilot on gmany 8 which was the first docking in space his Awards include the presidential medal of freedom The Goddard and colar trophies Congressional space medal professor of aerospace engineering at University of Cincinnati runs his own company everybody's been telling the story of the moon landing this week and I'm not sure how much I can add to it except I heard just he just told my wife a while ago we're talking about being first man on the moon he said well you know to a pilot to Landing is a real important thing not walking to the airport remember one other story came from the debriefing when Neil and Buzz and Mike got back there was a lot of discussion among the engineers there precisely where the landing had occurred and one of the engineers asked Neil why in the final few seconds he seemed to sort of be drifting around and Neil replied I was reserving a pilot's inherent right to be wishy-washy about where I landed on that day and on this night I think everyone in America was and is prepared to concede just about any right or privilege he chooses to invoke ladies and gentlemen Neil Armstrong than you you very much thanks thank you thank you this past week and NASA centers and aerospace companies Across the Nation the alumni of Apollo have gathered to celebrate and remember their work of a generation ago we all remember the images of Apollo we uh remember the Thundering Saturn rising majestically from a Florida beach uh Eerie television of uh bulkily clad figures roving an alien landscape many remember those images and where they were when they saw them but the men and women of Apollo the men and women of the Apollo program remember remember not only what emerged what came out of that effort but more importantly what they put into it building trajectories and strategies that would be forgiving of human failures and system errors designing Valves and solenoids and Rocket injectors that were Superior to and more reliable than any that had ever been previously devised sharing ounces from uh the spacecraft that we're almost human in their tendency to G gain weight conceiving creating building testing testing testing they gave their time and their skill their care and their heart and their soul without limitation to make America the premier Space Fairy Nation it was the most intense the most challenging the most difficult period in their lives but most would also say say those were the best days of their lives thanks ordinarily when you have to introduce a keynote speaker like ours tonight you call up as Employer C yes in this case and you say send me over a short bio page or two we did that for Walter kronite and they sent over eight pages single spaced tiny type abbreviated it wasn't a biography it was a history course we look for the things that are Germaine here Walter was born in St Joseph Missouri not quite 73 years ago he grew up and was next seen here in Houston Texas beginning his journalism career on the post and then he wrote for the Houston Press after college Walter's broadcast career had an inauspicious beginning in my hometown in Tulsa Oklahoma tale of how perseverance and blind luck can overcome adversity and doubt I'll let him tell you that story actually Walter's career is like Monopoly you know you start at go and then you advance to UPI World War II North Atlantic North Africa dday the Battle of the Bulge the German surrender nurg and Moscow then there's CBS Korea Vietnam North and South Middle East Poland Hungary China Watergate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth Chris Jeff's us visit here are some of his exclusive interviews listen to this list Truman Eisenhower Kennedy Johnson Nixon Ford Carter Reagan and Bush not bad his own programs air power you are there the 20th century 21st century eyewitness Walter kronite at large Walter kronites Universe CBS reports and of course the CBS Evening News for 19 years Awards Dupont white poke Peabody presidential medal of freedom and a closet full of Television enemies honorary doctor from Notre Dame Harvard Northwestern Michigan Massachusetts Buck Now Syracuse and Ohio State and in all of this Walter somehow managed to cover the US Space Program in the early days from Cape canavero when Rockets were going to Titusville instead of Jupiter all the way [Applause] all the way down to the shuttle during a moment of delirium a few years ago Nas had decided to send a journalist into space and Walter applied and before the program was postponed unfortunately because of the Challenger he was on the short list his last name ought to be midy you know as usual Walter was at the CBS anchor desk with when Neil and Buzz set foot on the moon and some time ago Walter made a rare confession he said I experienced the first in my life too I found myself on the air speechless tonight 20 years later we learned if he has regained his Poise ladies and gentlemen Waller kronite Jim you are a tough act to follow you're a tough act to compete against and you're a worse one to follow it U it is true that I was speechless 20 years ago and I guess there are more people tonight who wish that were so tonight than even recognize the fact 20 years ago keynote speeches shouldn't come at this hour of the night