Worth of the Moon Mission

Shortly, after Apollo 11 landed on the moon and astronaut Neil Armstrong took his famous first steps on the dusty lunar surface, some comedian in our army unit at Ft. Knox, KY, posted a sign in our barracks: “Sorry, Drill Sgt., No Green Cheese!”

Our basic training drill instructor was already “highly agitated” because President Richard Nixon ordered a “training holiday” so we could watch live television coverage of landing.

On July 20, 1969, our unit was supposed to take what was called “Military Stakes.” That test would determine if we were qualified to graduate from basic training and move o...