Everybody has a Story: Time with astronaut Armstrong was out of this world

Starting in November 1968, I was a C-130E Hercules transport navigator, assigned to the 50th Tactical Airlift Squadron at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Taiwan, for duty in Southeast Asia, principally flying in Vietnam. In December 1969 I was selected, along with others from our wing, to fly the Bob Hope show around Southeast Asia for its annual Christmas visit.

We rotated crew duty through the three aircraft so that we flew the cast, band, crew, sets and other stuff on successive days. Once we arrived at each destination, it was the show’s policy that we crews would accompany them to whatever pre-show activity the local facility had to offer. Consequently, we spent an enormous amount of time with the entire company over the 17 days that we were with them.

In addition to Bob Hope, the celebrities on the tour included Connie Stevens, Teresa Graves, Eva Rueber-Staier (Miss World 1969) and Suzanne Charny, a Broadway singer and dancer from “Sweet Charity.”

We also had Neil Armstrong along for the entire period. This was not long after he completed his quarantine and debriefing after his walk on the moon in July 1969.

I could probably write a memoir of those 17 days, but for now I want to comment on meeting and chatting with arguably the most famous man on Earth, and beyond, at that moment in time. Neil was probably the shyest and most unassuming celebrity one could encounter anywhere. He was willing to pose for endless pictures and always chat with the troops, never showing anything but good humor and kindness. He often ended up sitting around with those of us in the air crews, probably because we shared backgrounds, if not accomplishments. He was a capable and practiced speaker onstage, and typically made a short presentation and then took questions from the audience, until Bob would cut him off to get the show moving again.

All in all, it was a pleasant and rewarding experience for all of us who spent time with him.

My favorite anecdote concerns a return flight from somewhere in Vietnam back to Bangkok, where we spent the night. I was sitting at the navigator’s station, monitoring radios and radar while writing a letter to my family. Bob Hope was dozing on the crew bunk next to me.

Neil came up from the back of the airplane to look around. He saw me writing and asked who I was writing to. I told him my wife and four young children, who were all space nuts and Neil Armstrong fans. He offered to add a note, if I would like. He asked for my kids’ names, and wrote about a one-page note addressed to all of them, thanking them for “allowing” their father to be away from home at Christmas. Bob had awakened and offered to add a contribution, as well. I then finished the letter and sent it off to the family.

So, somewhere in the family archives, we have my handwritten letter, incorporating notes from Neil Armstrong and Bob Hope, followed by the rest of my writing to the family. I suppose that letter has some value but it will never leave the Newell family.

That typifies the entire time we spent with the members of the Bob Hope show. I personally never witnessed a single incident of anything but gracious behavior from anyone in the cast, crew or band. They worked extraordinarily difficult hours, often doing two shows a day followed by the flight back to Bangkok, often arriving at 2 or 3 a.m., and turning around to do the same thing the next day. It was a class production from day one to day 17, when we last were with them.

Day 17 was memorable because the USO had agreed to send the show to our home base on Taiwan for a performance before they traveled on to Guam and then home. We spent a lot of time telling the cast about fun things to do on and around Ching Chuan Kang Air Base and promised to give them a tour with whatever free time they had, before turning them over to the Military Airlift Command to take them to Guam. Some members of the cast, including Neil and most of the Gold Diggers, ended up downtown with various crew members and delayed the departure for several hours.

We were sad to see all our new friends depart when they left for Guam and home.

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