initial commit

posixlycorrect/content/safire_memo.md

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
++++
+title = "safire_memo"
++++
+
+```txt
+To  :   H. R. Haldeman
+From:   Bill Safire                                 July 18, 1969.
+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+IN EVENT OF MOON DISASTER:
+
+    Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to
+explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.
+
+    These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know
+that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there
+is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.
+
+    These two men are laying down their lives in mankind's
+most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.
+
+    They will be mourned by their families and friends; they
+will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of
+the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two
+of her sons into the unknown.
+
+    In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to
+feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood
+of man.
+
+    In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in
+the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes
+are epic men of flesh and blood.
+
+    Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man's
+search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they
+will remain the foremost in our hearts.
+
+    For every human being who looks up at the moon in the
+nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world
+that is forever mankind.
+
+PRIOR TO THE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT:
+
+    The President should telephone each of the widows -to-be.
+
+AFTER THE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT, AT THE POINT WHEN NASA
+ENDS COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE MEN:
+
+    A clergyman should adopt the same procedure as a burial at
+sea, commending their souls to "the deepest of the deep," concluding
+with the Lord's Prayer.
+```