Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite
Originally uploaded by anslatadams

God bless you Uncle Walter, you will be sorely missed. May you sail on peaceful seas.
How ironic that his passing was just shortly after the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 launch! I will never forget my mother and I sitting in the living room watching the liftoff
of Apollo 11. Walker Cronkite was as excited as the rest of us! He and astronaut Wally
Schirra were reporting on the launch. I will never forget when the enormous SaturnV
rocket was lifting off he said to Wally Schirra "the building's shaking!!!" lol He was such
a part of our everday life when I was growing up! I remember my parents and I watching "The Twentieth Century" that would come on I think on Sunday evenings. He
had clips of his coverage of World War II a lot. I couldn't have been but 5 years old and
yet I will never forget it. It really made an impression on me. The day President Kennedy was assasinated, I was home from school because I wasn't feeling well. Then a neighbor came over and told us what happened and there was Mr. Cronkite, reporting on the death of President Kennedy. You could see he was about to tear up,
he took his glasses off and you could see tears welling up in his eyes, but he held up,
he had to for all of us. But I will especially remember his enthusiasm for the space program and especially covering the Apollo moon missions. He really loved that. And
that enthusiasm he passed on to me. Because of "Uncle Walter", I have become an
enthusiastic supporter of the space program and always will be. God bless his family.