ALAMEDA -- Bob Fish wrote a book about the return of Apollo 11, the spacecraft that delivered Neil Armstrong to his historic moon walk, its splashdown and recovery by the USS Hornet. But one of his favorite stories about Armstrong predates space flight.

It comes from Armstrong's service as a Navy pilot during the Korean War. On one mission he flew ahead of bombers assigned to disrupt North Korean supply lines. He descended into a valley and took action against anti-aircraft guns, then began his ascent for the trip home. As he did so, he spotted a steel cable the North Koreans had rigged across the valley.

Armstrong dove his plane, but the cable sheered off part of the tail. Somehow he managed to coax the crippled machine back across United Nations lines, where he ejected and was retrieved by friendly forces.

"You want to talk about a veteran?" Fish asked a rapt audience aboard the Hornet on Saturday. "Neil Armstrong was a real vet."

Armstrong, who died Aug. 25, was honored in a tribute aboard the Hornet which was billed as a "Veterans Commemoration." The scene was fitting, for it was where he and crewmates Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, and flight surgeon Dr. William Carpentier, were quarantined for several days inside an Airstream trailer. You can still see 12 painted footsteps, the first Armstrong and Aldrin took on earth after returning from the moon, on the Hornet's hangar deck.

Armstrong's path to global fame began with his career as a Naval aviator from 1949-52. In 1955, he joined NACA, which became NASA, where he spent 17 years. He flew more than 200 types of aircraft.


"To me," Carpentier said, "he epitomized the right stuff."

Saturday's event included flyovers by several vintage World War II planes, and the reopening of the Hornet's Apollo and Splashdown Exhibit. But Armstrong was the main attraction.

Fish, Carpentier and Daniel Bursch, a shuttle-era astronaut, spoke of Armstrong's character, intellectual curiosity, his calm under fire and the understated manner in which he bore his global fame as the first man on the moon.

Carpentier not only spent time in quarantine with Armstrong and his crewmates, but also traveled with them on their victory tour to 27 cities in 24 countries over nearly six weeks.

"In Spain, he made remarks in Spanish," Carpentier said. "We didn't know he spoke Spanish. In France, he made remarks in French. No matter where we were, he always had something important to say about that country's history. He was undoubtedly the best-read person I ever met."

Carpentier also recalled a conversation he had with astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to set foot on the moon.

"He said, 'Other astronauts were capable of being the first man on the moon,'" Carpentier recalled, "'No one could have accepted the responsibility with more dignity.'"

Bursch said that to his generation of space shuttle astronauts, "the Apollo guys were like gods." When Bursch finally met Armstrong, he found him to be remarkably down to earth.

"Celebrity should supersede personal accomplishments," Bursch said. "That's Neil Armstrong."

After the remembrance, a short service was held on the Hornet's flight deck. A wreath was dropped into the water. Taps was played, and a bagpiper performed "Amazing Grace."

"I personally think," Fish said, "the Earth and moon are better places because of Neil Armstrong."
