Three Heroes

When Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon 40 years ago today it was a massive achievement for the United States of America, and a great moment in history.

On the day I was as excited as anyone. I'd followed the space program in the National Geographic and other magazines and in the newspaper.
Back then we didn't have a television set. I listened to the live radio broadcast, dragging the heavy portable around the garden as I weeded the flower garden and played with my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter.

At last the time came. I wanted to fix the moment in my daughter's memory. I jumped up and down shouting, "a man has stepped on the moon!" But she couldn't see what the fuss was about. She said, "the cow jumped over it."