Forty years ago, the Daily Herald was filled with anticipation — far above the earth three men were hurtling in a small capsule toward the moon. The next day, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin Jr. were to land on the dusty, rocky, meteor-pocked surface and declare, “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Advertisement

Our editorial writer described the anticipated landing, “Within less than 24 hours, the good Lord willing, one of the most significant events — if not the greatest — since God created the heavens and the earth …” will take place.

The next afternoon it did. The lunar module, the “Eagle” landed safely in the Sea of Tranquility and with Michael Collins circling above the moon’s surface in the Apollo 11 command craft, Armstrong took the first steps on the orb's dusty soil. The world was forever changed.

America had taken the challenge offered by President John F. Kennedy. In eight brief years, the United States space program had gone from chasing the Russians to literally flying rings around the globe.

We had firmly grasped the idea, taken it and run to success. Where once we only looked into the evening sky for the glowing yellow-white globe in hopes of finding a sense of solace and comfort, a feeling of companionship and completion, an awareness of a dream and wonder — we now saw our own footprints, our own victory.

For a moment, we escaped the horrors of our own world. It was 1969, Vietnam was bleeding American blood, two visionaries Martin Luther King Jr., and Bobby Kennedy assassinated and riots against the war and for racial equality.

Today we live in a world facing equally if not uglier challenges. But too often we seem lost in the finger pointing and nay saying of politics and bureaucracy to find our way through the maze to actual solutions.

If we were still earthbound, we wonder if our political systems and national fortitude would drive us to seek “brave new worlds where no one has gone before?” Would President Kennedy’s dare inspire us today? Or would we seek haven in the idea it’s too complicated, it might not work, we can’t be guaranteed 100 percent success or myriad of other explanations, which are nothing but excuses for doing nothing. We fear they might fail us. Watching the Congress and government over the past few years, we often wonder whether if they had been in charge of the Revolution, would we still be singing “God Save The Queen.”

Yet, we hope and believe America can reach deep down and meet any challenge. We simply have to do it.

It’s time the pundits and “no”-mongers are challenged. Debate and opposition are the key ingredients in democracy. Bitterness, my-way-or-no-way approaches and conflict for the simple sake of hearing your own voice have no role in constructive discussions and policy making — from either the right or the left.

We have many challenges in front of us today:

 • America needs a new health care program which adequately protects its citizens but not at the expense of higher taxes, destroying our economy and running small businesses into bankruptcy court.

• We need to pay attention to global warming and the threat man’s efforts bring to earth’s fragile environment without surrendering control of our own destiny to anyone.

• We must make the world a safer place without invasion or attack on a whim or surrendering our basic freedoms to anyone, including our own government.

• Repairing the American economy, restoring its independence and strength are necessities but only with the mechanism to protect us from the greedy subterfuge which landed us in today’s recession and the disregard for sound economic policy on the part of our government.

• We need to rekindle our sense of adventure and exploration in all our people.

These are just a few of the challenges and opportunities awaiting us 40 years after moon day. Will we embrace them, find solutions and move forward or linger in a mire of “oh, woe are we?” We believe we can. We believe we must. Remember there was a day when the moon was simply a hunk of cheese hanging in the sky. Today, we suggest it as a symbol of what we humans can achieve and how much more awaits us — together.