To: H.R. Halderman
From: Bill Safire
July 18, 1969
IN EVENT OF MOON DISASTER
2 Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest
in peace.
4 These brave men, Neil Armstrong an Edwin Aldrin, I know that there is no hope for their recovery. But
they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.
6 These two men are laying down their lives in mankind’s most noble goal: the search for truth and
understanding.
8 They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by the 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.
10 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.
12 In ancient days, men looked at the 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.
14 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.
16 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.
