Georgetowner Reflects on Missing the Moon Landing

When , the man who took the historic first steps on the moon, we asked readers to share their memories of Armstrong and that very first moon landing.

Georgetown resident and Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Tom Birch emailed Patch to say he had a story.

His story about that historic moment in the summer of 1969 is not one of nostalgia. It is not about sitting with his family watching the television in awe. Rather, Birch says he still feels "sheepish" when he thinks about the moon landing.

He missed it. He missed the moment and the opportunity it would have presented to share his country's historic accomplishment with the small Moroccan village he called home at the time.

From an email written by Birch:

"On July 20, 1969 when Americans landed on the moon, I was a Peace Corps volunteer living in a remote village in the foothills of the Rif Mountains in Morocco, six kilometers off the road between Fez and Tangier.  No one in the village of about 250 people spoke English, only a handful spoke French, so my Arabic was improving daily just to keep talking.  Somehow, though, I didn’t get the message about the moon landing.

There was no electricity or running water in the village houses, but the mayor’s office had electricity and the only TV set around.  Late in the day, several dozen men passed my house on their way home from the mayor’s office, shouting congratulations to the American who had landed on the moon.  I hadn’t seen it.  Some of them later told me they thought it was all a Hollywood stage set.  I had to wait to see the photos in the onion-skin, overseas airmail edition of Time magazine I received weekly.  To my eyes, it was a toss-up.  I had to admit, the still photos seemed a little stagey too.

I’ve always felt a little sheepish about the fact that the only American ever to live in that Moroccan village before me or since, missed out on sharing with a roomful of Moroccan farmers one of the great moments in the history of American achievements."

Thanks to Tom Birch for sharing his story. We welcome your story about this and other historic events. Email your editor shaun@patch.com any time.