50 Years Later, Westminster Resident Remembers Apollo 11

July 19, 2019

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, Westminster Village resident Tom Shackelford remembers being part of NASA’s team to put a man on the moon.

The 93-year-old WWII veteran told Gulf Coast News and The Courier newspaper, “We were a tight knit group in the early days. That’s how we got the job done.” Read the full article below.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo mission to the moon

Tom Shackelford kept apologizing to the crowd. A lot of the details were fuzzy. Dates had faded into each other. The 93-year-old World War II and Korean War veteran had tucked away many of his memories for safe keeping. But, he remembered vividly what it felt like to be part of the team tasked by President John F.

Westminster Village celebrated the launch anniversary by “recreating” the milestone with 20 plastic mini-rockets in the courtyard. On the menu: Moon Pies, astronaut food and cosmic drinks.

Visit our community’s on Facebook to see photos from this fun event!