One small wink, one giant farewell to Neil Armstrong

WAPAKONETA, Ohio (WDTN) - A special tribute to astronaut Neil Armstrong was held in Wapakoneta Wednesday evening.

A large crowd gathered with lawn chairs ready, to spend the evening remembering the first man to walk on the moon.

Those who knew Armstrong remembered him as the young man who brought so much pride to Wapakoneta.

Some of his high school classmates told stories about how Armstrong was a very private person and never talked about his time in space.

They hope that people will remember Armstrong as a humble man who made history.

"He was just a regular guy and he didn't like this publicity, the notoriety that came with that job, but he had to accept it and he would never bring this up, you had to pry him to get anything out of him," said Kenny Weber, Armstrong's high school classmate.

"We never thought anything about it back then.  You know we just thought it was marvelous, but we just never talked about it, ever, at any of our reunions," said Doris Weber, Armstrong's high school classmate.

Wednesday's memorial service featured a 21-gun salute, color guard and flyover.

Armstrong's wife asked people to remember her husband with a wink at the moon and that's just what the crowd did... one small wink, one giant farewell for the space pioneer.

Armstrong died last weekend at the age of 82.

Visit the museum website here .