Rest in Peace Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong, First to Set Foot on Moon, Dies at 82
A boy from Wapakoneta, Ohio who grew up building model airplanes and got his pilot’s license before his driver’s license became an engineer, a pilot, and an astronaut. On July 20, 1969, as commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon on. The people of his hometown, his state, his country and the world will always remember him.
Here are a selection of photographs from the Neil A. Armstrong Homecomings Collection, call number AV 203, donated to the Ohio Historical Society by Donald A. Wittwer, former mayor of Wapakoneta. There are also pictures of some of the artifacts in the collections of the Armstrong Air & Space Museum.
Model airplane made by Neil Armstrong while he was a student at Purdue University, catalog number H 31380.
Boyhood home of Neil A. Armstrong in Wapakoneta, Ohio, from Neil A. Armstrong Photograph Collection, call number P 402
Neil Armstrong riding in a red convertible during the parade in Wapakoneta celebrating his return after the Gemini 8 Mission on April 13, 1966, from the Neil A. Armstrong Homecomings Collection, call number AV 203.
Event held on September 6, 1979 when Neil A. Armstrong returned to Wapakoneta after his historic walk on the moon, from the Neil A. Armstrong Homecomings Collection, call number AV 203.
Sign in Wapakoneta honoring their most famous native, from Neil A. Armstrong Homecomings Collection, call number AV 203.
Neil Armstrong speaking at the dedication of the Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio on September 21, 1972, from Neil A. Armstrong Photograph Collection, P 402.
Moon rock sample collected by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during the first lunar landing in 1969. It is displayed at the Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio.
In 2009, two buses full of citizens of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma arrived in Wapakoneta, Ohio on a heritage tour of areas that had been home to the Shawnee tribes before their removal from Ohio. Our arrival coincided with the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. We visited the Armstrong Air & Space Museum that day. Of course, he was in DC at the White House but we enjoyed our visit to the museum & our visit to his home town. He was a great man who will be missed by all.