Failed moon landing speech leaks to internet
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Hard to believe the moon landing is still a contentious issue for some folks. You've got the crowd that thinks space travel is a waste of precious funds, that nothing tangible was gained by a couple of "clowns walking on the moon" (to paraphrase Tom Lehrer). And then you've got the wingnuts that think the whole thing was a grand hoax.
Well, whatever you believe, the below speech is of interest to us all. William Safire, who died over the weekend, was one of Richard Nixon's prized speechwriters. And this is what Safire had written for Nixon, should the moon landing have proven to be a failure.
Thanks to The Smoking Gun for this, and so many other, prized docs.
Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace. These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.
These two men are laying down their lives in mankind's most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.
They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.
In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.
In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.
Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man's search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.
For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.
The addendum to the speech indicates that a priest should conduct similar ceremonies as when a burial at sea is conducted.
Pretty elegant and sobering stuff, no? William Safire died over the weekend at the age of 79.
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Leaked to the Internet? This speech has been available online for quite a while. Space.com even published it again in early July, prior to the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. Wikisource.org had it among its collection of Presidential speeches in May, 2008. It was even published by Safire himself in 2004 in his book "Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches In History," and even earlier, in 2001, in the book "Almost History: Close Calls, Plan B's and Twists of Fate in American History."
A simple Google search showed me all that in about 10 seconds.
Nothing secret or otherwise about this speech-that-was-never-given.
