Sea burial for Armstrong, Navy man to end
Neil Armstrong, a traditional Navy man to the end, will be buried at sea.
His colleagues from the Gemini and Apollo space programs had speculated about where Armstrong might go to rest.
Some thought near his hometown in Wapakoneta, Ohio, others thought perhaps closer to his home in the Cincinnati suburb of Indian Hill, where he spent the last decades of his life.
Instead, the first man to set foot on the moon wanted a traditional burial from the side of a ship.
“Well, he’s a Navy man,” said fellow astronaut and longtime friend Jim Lovell.
Armstrong’s Navy career began in 1947, when he enlisted in the Naval ROTC and went to college.
From that moment forward, many of the most significant events of his life involved the water.
By 1950, at the age of 20, he was stationed on the USS Essex, about 100 miles off of Wonsan Bay in the Sea of Japan.
He flew 78 combat missions, and after each of them he would fly back over the water toward the safety of the Essex.
In March 1966, after a successful but harrowing trip aboard Gemini 8, Armstrong went through re-entry before three parachutes opened and he dropped into the Pacific Ocean.
In July 1969, after Armstrong landed on the moon, after he said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” as he stepped onto the surface of the moon, he flew back again to water.
Armstrong and his crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean and were picked up by the USS Hornet.
Returning to the water meant his mission was complete.
“It’s how he knew he was finished,” Lovell said.
“It’s how he knew his work was done.”
Details of the burial have not been released, and may not be.
The U.S. Navy confirmed it would perform the ceremony but cited the Armstrong family’s wishes for privacy in deciding to not say where, when or from which ship the burial would take place.
It is not known if this will be a full-body burial or a dropping of ashes.
In a burial involving casketed remains, according to naval regulations, taps will be played, there will be a prayer, a firing of arms, a salute and then the board holding the casket will be tilted forward, allowing the casket to slide into the sea.
The ceremony for cremated ashes is similar.
Armstrong had told his family this was how he wanted to be buried.
“It was his wish,” said family spokesman Rick Miller.
Burials at sea are a naval tradition mentioned in Homer’s “Odyssey” and in “Moby Dick.”
During times of war, American and British sailors who died at sea were sometimes wrapped in a sail weighted with cannonballs or chains and dropped into the water.
The practice was last in common usage during World War II, when many men died at sea and ships sometimes would be away from port for weeks or months at a time.
Today, the Navy still offers sea burials from deployed naval vessels for eligible personnel.
Because the ships are deployed, family members are not present, although exceptions can be made.
People eligible for a burial at sea include active-duty military; retirees and veterans who were honorably discharged; U.S. civilian marine personnel of the Military Sealift Command and dependent family members of active-duty personnel, retirees and veterans of the uniformed services.
The Navy performs, on average, approximately 900 burials at sea each year.
“It’s not as rare as you might think,” said Navy spokesman Ed Ziegler.
A public memorial service for Armstrong will be held on Thursday at Washington National Cathedral. The service will be conducted by the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde. Political leaders and NASA astronauts, both active and retired, are expected to attend.
Tags: American heroes, Science
God bless this man. Imagine, if you will, that this may have occurred in absentia, had something gone horribly wrong. Nixon had a speech prepped for such a contingency. Here’s the text of that speech:
“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.”
It made me cry just to read this. God bless you, Neil.
@ Macker:
Funny thing happened to me, on August 24th I was over at my little brothers house, as is my habit on Fridays. And as we sat out on his back patio, I looked up in the sky and saw a very large bright full moon in the sky.
I looked at that moon for several minuets, then turned to my little brother and said to him. Do you believe it’s been over 40 years since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon? I wonder if we will go back in my lifetime.
Neil Armstrong passed away on August 25th, the very next day.
This reminds me of those Ultima games, where you had to choose between virtues, and that decided your path as an “avatar”.
Armstrong chose sacrifice -- loyalty to the Navy.
A burial on the moon would have been more honour: to remind future generations of what they can aspire toward.
We were in space ones. What a shame.
@ doriangrey:
I can’t believe we were there once.
Rest in peace Neil Armstrong. You are an example of a real American hero. I agree with others, burial on the moon would have been fitting; but this was his wishes for his final resting place.
@ Rodan:
Similar story, On Sept 9, 2001, my friend Dan and I were down by the river
(Hudson) it was a crystal clear night and I mentioned how we could see the individual windows of The World Trade Center, we were about 6 miles away.
36 hours later……not so much.
Sorry, my previous post was a reply to Dorian.
Hmmmm Israeli Government declaring Obama Birth Certificate a Fake?
doriangrey wrote:
could just be a warning shot… if anyone has the goods on him it is the Mosad
@ doriangrey:
Ha! Now that reminds me of this blog post I read a bit ago
Calo wrote:
Na,can’t possibly, that Israeli dude is actually intelligent…
AZfederalist wrote:
indeed…
and while we are remembering those passed, the WTC memorial lights are something to behold tonight.
@ Xeon:
I saw the attack in real time.
@ doriangrey:
Heh™
Rodan wrote:
corner of Canal & Lispenard was close enough for me…
brookly red wrote:
I saw it on TV, even that was closer than I wanted to see it.
@ Rodan:
@ doriangrey:
just wanted to mention that the 0′s apology tour pissed off a lot more blue-staters then you might think.
@ brookly red:
Damn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jersey City, right across the Hudson.
@ doriangrey:
Yet both parties wnat to help al-Qaeda in Syria. Amazing.
When is a Conspiracy Theory not a Conspiracy Theory?
Rodan wrote:
why yes, that is exactly what I said…
Britain rules the universe once again. Dr. Who had to be involved.
@ 22 doriangrey: When you think about it, what an accomplishment. ” I went to the moon and walked on it”. ” Then I came back”. I wouldn’t give two cents to anyone who wasted brain cells trying to advocate it never happens. I would give 2 cents if they retained a shrink. Otherwise it’s not worth my time unless I feel like ridiculing someone.
@ 21 Rodan: Taking a geo political side in that war without concessions to the west is not useful to civilization. Better to tell the Russians to get in there and turn them all into commies.
@ 2 doriangrey: i doubt if I will tell you my life highlight then. To there and back again.
@ 1 Macker: IT seems odd but the imagination around those events on the moon have powered civilization for decades. Once the bean counters are locked in a closet just think on what a trip to mars would be like.
We should put up a space station that orbits the sun. Staging area for a mars trip.
I’ve tebowed the thread.
darkwords wrote:
Our elites have a soft spot for Islam. Decades of Saudi money have done that.
Rodan wrote:
yet the Saudis would just as soon be rid of AQ… perhaps there is something here yet unseen?
doriangrey wrote:
It is a forgery, as anyone who has ever used Photoshop could tell you.
Absolutely no room for doubt about that whatsoever.
The real question is: what is being covered up? Is it the possibility that Obama’s real father is actually the US citizen and avowed Communist, Frank Marshall Davis?
Or could it be something else entirely?
I don’t expect that we will ever know for sure.
darkwords wrote:
Modern-day Russians are NOT commies.
You want to see commies, they’re on THIS side of the pond. In the White House.
@ 1389AD:
And not even a particularly good one, which leads me to wonder where it came from.
1389AD wrote:
the difference is the Russian commies used useful idiots and the Lib commies use useless idiots. I wish I was just snarking.
lobo91 wrote:
why a preferred diversity vendor of course
Not only was this past weekend the worst gun show I’ve been to yet as far as customers, but I had to spend it sitting next to a conspiracy theorist.
It was a really long couple of days.
lobo91 wrote:
OUCH… Now that’s a down right scary thought, a conspiracy theorist with a gun…
@ doriangrey:
I had Leia there to protect me.
@ lobo91:
I remember when it was released last year, you said it was fake right off the bat.
@ brookly red:
Don’t fall for that. The Saudi fund AQ.
doriangrey wrote:
they are usually only a threat to immediate family…
Rodan wrote:
well yes and no, it’s more like a protection racket
Rodan wrote:
It’s blatantly obvious. If you magnify it, you can see that the background isn’t consistant around some of the entries. If it were a modern computer-generated document, you might see stuff like that, but this is supposed to be a pre-printed form with typed information entered on it. There’s no reason the act of typing (or hand writing) onto a form should alter the background.
this is so wrong in so many ways…
http://freebeacon.com/great-green-car-fleet/
lobo91 wrote:
Low traffic? That’s surprising.
brookly red wrote:
Al Qaeda does receive funding from some elements in Saudi Arabia, but not from the Saudi monarchy. The Saudi royal family is right at the top of al Qaeda’s hitlist.
AZfederalist wrote:
It was awful. Nobody was buying anything.
In two days, I had a grand total of 5 people sign up for my free course drawing.
lobo91 wrote:
interesting choice of words… LOL
brookly red wrote:
Not as interesting as the total lack of interest by anyone in looking at it.
Compare that to what happened with the equally-bogus Bush National Guard memo.
@ lobo91:
That’s probably the most depressing thing I have read all day.
Even free stuff isn’t worth the effort of most people.
Come on America, wake up!
Support local businesses.
And Lobo, sic Leia on them next time they pass you by.
@ Calo:
I should have charged people to pet Leia, instead.
@ brookly red:
True.
@ lobo91:
Yup.
@ lobo91:
Hopefully the next one goes better. Did you get any sign-ups for your course?
AZfederalist wrote:
Nope. A few people took cards, but that was it.
doriangrey wrote:
At Der Bilderburger, ve bild a bettah burger!
(Henry Kissinger voice impersonated)
And don’t forget our Grassy Knoll Salad Bar!
Bilderburger… A conspiracy of good taste(tm).
The Hornet is a museum and film set now. Too bad they can’t take it out for a state funeral. But I guess the family wants this to be private so I can respect that.