this is apollo 8. t-minus 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, nine, we have ignition sequence. the engines are on. four, three, two, one, zero. we have connect, we have lift off. left off at 7:50 1 am eastern standard time. we have cleared. we are clear, 13 seconds. the united states was undertaking the most distant voyage ever attempted by man. for the first time, three americans will travel by moon rocket. roger,. we hear you loud and clear. it smoother. apollo 8 using, your trajectory is go. thank you. frank gorman, gene level, the landers were about to leave the fabled earth and face the infinite frontier. apollo 8 houston, go ahead. you are go for tli. roger, tli. tli. translator insertion. this was the commitment. foreman, lovell and anders were ready for the maneuver that would send them to the moon. as the world listened and watched, the people were overtaken by a new awareness and a real is that they were watching the ultimate destiny of man. global con
to the crew. our guests are elizabeth cobbs and mark kramer. first, here is a look back at the apollo 8 mission. december 21st, 1968, the shortest day of the year, but insignificance, perhaps one of the longest in the flow of history. this is apollo on launch control. we are still go at this time. t-minus 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, nine and we have ignition sequence, the engines are on, four, three, two, one, zero. we have commit. we have liftoff. liftoff at 7:51 a.m. eastern standard time. we have cleared the tower. towers are cleared. 13 seconds. the united states was undertaken the most distant voyage ever attempted by man. for the first time, three americans rode the saturn 5 moon rocket. we hear you loud and clear, apollo 8. the first stage is very smooth and this one is smoother. apollo 8 houston, your trajectory and guidance are go, over. thank you, michael. you looking real good. frank warmen, jim lovely and bill anders were about to leave their cradle
more than 1700 women applied and just over 200 served in europe with the army. their services are documented in personnel files, now in the national archives at st. louis, the collection of archival civilian personnel records. yes, that is civilian records. war is because after the the women were not deemed eligible for military benefits despite their army service. it took until the 1970 s for the hello girls to receive the benefits due to them as the first female army veterans. in both the military and civilian centers, we preserve the records of millions of men and women who served their country. throughout the centennial of of observance the national archives , is showcasing the unparalleled world war i holdings and the stories continued in them. to find out more about hello girls and their place in world war i, we turn to elizabeth cobbs. dr. cobbs is a historian, novelist, and documentary filmmaker. she works at texas a&m and is a research fellow at stanford s hoover ins
today we are talking about 1968, a year when a heck of a lot happened, including a presidential election. a year where there were a lot of social, economic, political parallels that are in some ways familiar to us now because, in part, some of the changes the early 21st century america has experience particularly in politics were set in motion in this late 1960 s period. let s get started. i want to start with an unlikely as official news conference or address to the american people. march 31, 1968. president lyndon johnson gave a televised address to the nation. his subject but was the vietnam war. by this point the vietnam had escalated into a bloody conflict involving over half a million american soldiers. a war that had gradually started as a small engagement against communist, put potential prime minister aggression in southeast asia in the 1950 s had escalated into a major conflict that was tearing america apart. johnson gives a speech about the war. he looks tired.
much-needed by the army, fighting a war required a reliable communications network. but more than 2.5 years had of war had devastated the french telephone system. called upon the expertise of the women telephone operators. more than 1700 women applied and 200 served in europe with the army. their services are documented in the personnel files in the national archives at st. louis. after the war, these women because they were women, they , were not deemed eligible for military benefits despite their army service. took until the 1970 s for those girls to receive the benefits due to them as the first female army veterans. in both the military and civilian centers, we preserve records of millions of men and women who served their country throughout the centennial of observance. the national archives is showcasing the unparalleled world war i holdings and the stories continued in them. to find out more about hello girls and their place in world war i, we turn to elizabeth cobbs.