Neil Armstrong

A man of grace in an era that needs more of them

I once watched Neil Armstrong sign his name, and it appeared to be one of the hardest things he'd ever done. It was in March 2010, and he, Gene Cernan and Jim Lovell--moon men all--were part of a morale tour of U.S. military bases in the Middle East. I went along, and on this particular evening, a party was being sponsored by the Navy to honor the astronauts. There was a queue to enter because attendees were expected to sign a guest book at the door. This presented Armstrong with a problem.

Since his return from the moon in 1969, signing...

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