Man on Moon -- 40th Annivesary

For people who are Boomers or older, the "Where were you when" question often surfaces.

July 20th is one of those days. The day that Neil Armstrong first stepped on the Moon.

Where were you?

I had a unique perspective on the Moon Walk ... as a young reporter for The Associated Press, I drew the assignment to cover Neil's parents (Stephen & Viola Armstrong).

Reporters from all over the world gathered in his hometown of Wapakoneta, Ohio.

Because Time-Life had a exclusive contract with NASA for news coverage, the other news reporters and I covered the event from a makeshift news room in Armstrong's garage. We interviewed townspeople, community leaders and, when they came out for a news conference, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong.

During this historic eight days -- starting with blastoff on July 16 and ending with splashdown on July 24 -- we reported on the movements and comments of the family and community.

It was a big story for such a young reporter. The words I wrote appeared in newspapers around the world.

I was blessed to be partnered with The AP's Gene Herrick -- one of the best news photographers I've met -- and a 29-year veteran of The AP. He had covered major news events around the world. As a real pro, he shared valuable pieces of wisdom on covering a major event.

Some, I've never forgotten:
* Never stopping digging for the story.
* Always have an escape route ... so you know how to exit the scene you are covering. He learned this from covering floods and major disasters.
* Always eat a huge breakfast because you never know when you will eat again.
* Never checkout of your hotel until you are on your way out of town.

The first piece of advice was valuable when we were in Wapakoneta for an "advance story" about the town and the Armstrongs. During our visit, we were reminded that the Armstrong parents was off limits. With Gene in the lead, we located Neil's grandmother at the home farm south of Wapakoneta. When we arrived, we discovered that Mrs. Armstrong was there. While I got an "unofficial" quote from Mrs. Armstrong, Gene snapped a photo of she and her mother. And, viola, we had a quote and photo that no other news outlet had.

Knowing the location of the farm became valuable at the end of the coverage.

This last piece of advice came in to play in our news coverage from Wapakoneta. The morning of splashdown, I checked out of the hotel as we were told we could return to Columbus. Gene -- based on his long experience -- did not checkout. And, sure enough, sometime that afternoon, we received a call from The AP office that we needed to stay another night because the governor was flying to Wapakoneta to make remarks and meet Neil's parents. I sheepishly spent the night in Gene's hotel room!

While a reporter, I experienced the big rivalry between The AP and United Press International (UPI). We constantly strived to get breaking news on The AP wire before UPI reported.

When Governor Rhodes arrived at the Wapakoneta airport, he made a few comments. I grabbed enough for a story and ran to the other pay phone booth at the small airport. I called the story in and then, stayed on the line because the UPI reporter was waiting to call her story in. I kept waiting until the Governor's party departed ... and the UPI reporter followed. The next stop was the Armstrong farm. Since I knew where it was, I didn't worry about following the Governor's motorcade. And, as a result The AP had a two hour advantage on the story.

Gene's advice was at work once again!

So, while Neil was making history, I was learning lessons for a lifetime.

It was an exciting time.

Steve