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{
    "localId": "6922351",
    "label": "Memorandum from Speechwriter William Safire to President Nixon",
    "core": "doc",
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    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6922351"
}

{
    "id": "6922351",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6922351",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Memorandum from Speechwriter William Safire to President Nixon",
    "description": "This item is a memorandum from speechwriter William Safire to President Richard Nixon that contains the text of a statement that was prepared for Nixon in the event that the Apollo XI astronauts were unable to return to Earth following the moon landing.",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6922351",
    "collections": [
        "White House Staff Member and Office Files (Nixon Administration)",
        "H. R. Haldeman's Files"
    ],
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{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6922351",
    "naId": 6922351,
    "levelOfDescription": "item",
    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 18,
            "logicalDate": "1969-07-18",
            "month": 7,
            "year": 1969
        }
    ],
    "recordType": "description",
    "ocrSource": "nara-archive"
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{
    "seq": 3,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "document",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/51/9223/6922351/content/arcmedia/presidential-libraries/nixon/gallery/RN100_6-1.pdf",
    "mediaId": "b9f24fc765390a92",
    "ocrText": "To\n:\nH. R. Haldeman\nFrom:\nBill Safire\nJuly 18, 1969.\nIN EVENT OF MOON DISASTER:\nFate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to\nexplore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.\nThese brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know\nthat there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there\nis hope for mankind in their sacrifice.\nThese two men are laying down their lives in mankind's\nmost noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.\nThey will be mourned by thei r families and friends; they\nwill be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of\nthe world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two\nof her sons into the unknown.\nIn their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to\nfeel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood\nof man.\nIn ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in\nthe constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes\nare epic men of flesh and blood.\n-2-\nOthers will follow, and surely find their way home. Man's\nsearch will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they\nwill remain the foremost in our hearts.\nFor every human being who looks up at the moon in the\nnights to come will know that there is some corner of another world\nthat is forever mankind.\nPRIOR TO THE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT:\nThe President should telephone each of the widows-to-be.\nAFTER THE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT, AT THE POINT WHEN NASA\nENDS COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE MEN:\nA clergyman should adopt the same procedure as a burial at\nsea, commending their souls to \"the deepest of the deep, \" concluding\nwith the Lord's Prayer."
}