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SUBJ: PASSING OF MR. NEIL ARMSTRONG
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SUBJ/PASSING OF MR. NEIL ARMSTRONG//

RMKS/1. THE NAVY AND OUR NATION LOST ONE OF OUR HEROES LAST WEEK WITH THE 
PASSING OF NEIL ARMSTRONG.  MR. ARMSTRONG WAS AN OUTSTANDING CITIZEN AND 
PATRIOT WHO SERVED OUR GREAT NATION IN UNIFORM FOR 22 YEARS. HE WAS A 
DEDICATED HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, AND SHIPMATE, WHOSE LEGACY LEFT AN 
INDELIBLE MARK ON ALL HE TOUCHED. WE PAUSE AND CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF AN 
AMERICAN HERO.

2. MR. ARMSTRONG ATTENDED PURDUE UNIVERSITY UNDER THE HOLLOWAY PLAN WHERE 
SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS COMMITTED TO TWO YEARS OF STUDY FOLLOWED BY THREE YEARS 
OF NAVAL SERVICE. IN JANUARY 1949, MR. ARMSTRONG REPORTED TO NAS PENSACOLA FOR 
FLIGHT TRAINING AND ON AUGUST 16, 1950, TWO WEEKS AFTER HIS 20TH BIRTHDAY, 
EARNED HIS GOLD WINGS AS A NAVAL AVIATOR. ASSIGNED TO VF-51, HE MADE HIS FIRST 
FLIGHT IN A F9F-2B PANTHER IN JANUARY 1951, AND IN JUNE MADE HIS FIRST JET 
CARRIER LANDING ON BOARD THE USS ESSEX AND SET SAIL FOR KOREA. IN SEPTEMBER 
1951, LTJG ARMSTRONG FLEW ARMED RECONNAISSANCE MISSIONS OVER THE PRIMARY 
TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE FACILITIES SOUTH OF THE VILLAGE OF MAJON-NI, WEST 
OF WONSAN. DURING ONE MISSION, WHILE MAKING A LOW BOMBING RUN HIS F9F PANTHER 
WAS HIT BY ANTI-AIRCRAFT FIRE AND WAS BADLY DAMAGED BUT HE RETAINED CONTROL 
AND WAS ABLE TO FLY TO FRIENDLY TERRITORY BEFORE BEING FORCED TO EJECT. LTJG 
ARMSTRONG FLEW 78 MISSIONS OVER KOREA AND RECEIVED THE AIR MEDAL FOR 20 COMBAT 
MISSIONS, A GOLD STAR FOR AN ADDITIONAL 20 MISSIONS, AND THE KOREAN SERVICE 
MEDAL AND ENGAGEMENT STAR. AFTER THE WAR, HE BECAME A TEST PILOT AND LOGGED 
OVER 900 HIGH SPEED TEST FLIGHTS.

3. AFTER RESIGNING FROM THE NAVAL SERVICE, MR. ARMSTRONG JOINED THE NASA 
ASTRONAUT CORPS IN SEPTEMBER 1962 WHERE HE MADE TWO SPACE FLIGHTS. HIS FIRST 
SPACE FLIGHT WAS IN 1966 AS COMMAND PILOT OF THE GEMINI 8 MISSION. HIS SECOND, 
AND MOST FAMOUS SPACE FLIGHT, WAS IN JULY OF 1969 AS MISSION COMMANDER OF THE 
APOLLO 11 LUNAR LANDING MISSION. ON 20 JULY, AFTER A NEARLY 250,000-MILE 
JOURNEY TO THE MOON, MR. ARMSTRONG PILOTED AND LANDED THE LUNAR MODULE EAGLE 
ON THE LUNAR SURFACE AND LATER BECAME THE FIRST PERSON TO SET FOOT ON THE 
MOON.
MR. ARMSTRONG'S ICONIC PHRASE: "THAT'S ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP 
FOR MANKIND" INSPIRED GENERATIONS TO LOOK SKYWARD AND TURN DREAMS INTO 
REALITY. FOR HIS SERVICE AT NASA, HE WAS AWARDED PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF 
FREEDOM, THE CONGRESSIONAL SPACE MEDAL OF HONOR AND THE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD 
MEDAL.

4. MR. ARMSTRONG'S LEGACY IS ONE OF COURAGE, PERSEVERANCE, HONOR, AND 
DEVOTION. HE WILL FOREVER REMAIN ONE OF OUR NATION'S GREATEST HEROES.

5. RELEASED BY VICE ADMIRAL R. W. HUNT, DIRECTOR, NAVY STAFF.//

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