Congress Honors Four Astronauts With A Congressional Gold Medal

In a ceremony in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, Congress honored four U.S. Astronauts with a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest government honor that can be bestowed on a civilian.

NASA Image

Mercury astronaut and former senator John Glenn, along with the crew of Apollo 11 ... Niel Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, were presented the award by House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), Minoity leader Nancy Pelosi (C-CA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

“The world looks to America because we are free – it is our values to which people aspire, said Speaker Boehner. "One of these values is humility – the idea that you’re part of a cause greater than yourself, that nothing in life is a do-it-yourself project. Though an often unsung virtue, humility figured prominently in the pinnacle of human achievement.

“To this day, John Glenn insists he was no hero, just a patriot serving his country, which in those days was gripped by the notion that America – and democracy itself – had fallen behind. These were daring missions, yes, but vital ones too.

“Neil Armstrong was once asked: why did you, this one man, choose to speak for all when you set foot on the lunar surface?  As it turns out, there was no script, no notes. When the moment came, Neil’s thoughts turned to the 400,000 people who worked on the project … the designers, testers, engineers, and navigators who devised that one small step.  He said he knew ‘it would be a big something for all those folks and a lot of others who weren't even involved in the project.’ So it was."

Also attending the ceremony was NASA administrator Charles Bolden, who said the agency "stands on the shoulders" of the group recognized with the medal.

"America's leadership in space and the confidence that we can go farther into the unknown and achieve great things as a people rests on the achievements of these brave men," Bolden said. "As we honor these heroes, I want to recognize the hundreds of thousands of dedicated NASA employees and industry partners who contributed to the incredible success of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs and all that has followed, and all that is yet to come.

I also want to thank our Congress. Our nation is a better place because of more than a half century of strong, bipartisan support for NASA's work in human exploration, science and aeronautics."

While members of the group have gone to great lengths to insist they and other astronauts are not "heroes," Boehner said that was just a matter of semantics. “Gentlemen: heroes or not, yours were heroic acts. Today we add to your many honors, with respect and gratitude, the Congressional Gold Medal.”

FMI: www.nasa.gov