pilots was summoned to a top secret briefing at the pentagon. they were told that nasa was developing a program to put a man in orbit and it needed volunteers. the training would be long, dangerous, and unlike anything anyone had ever experienced. those chosen would be called astronauts. a 37-year-old marine and father of two named john glenn was among those who attended that meeting. he volunteered without hesitation. three februarys later, john glenn found himself circling the

earth from the heavens at 13,000 miles an hour staring at the sunset that was even more spectacular than he ever imagined as the nation looked on. in new york, thousands of commuters stood still in grand central station to watch the takeoff. and even walter cronkite allowed himself a little broadcaster pride as glenn's rocket lifted from the earth, cronkite rooted for the home team saying go, baby go! the context of all this was important. five years earlier, the soviet union beaten us into space with an unmanned satellite and now the u.s. sleeps under a soviet moon. and that's where the other three men we honor today come in. seven years after glenn circled the earth, neil armstrong, buzz aldrin and michael collins put

to rest any doubts about the position of the united states in the world. the cold war was being fought in space and these men proved that the u.s. was winning. it wasn't easy. as president eisenhower stated at the outset, america's space program would be civilian rather than military led, so no one would doubt our intentions. this meant it would be conducted in the open so every hitch and hold up could be scrutinized. and this is just as it should have been. these missions spanning two democratic and two republican administrations showed not only the power of the four men we honor today, they showed the power of the collective efforts of the nation united in a common purpose.

it took vision. it took will, it took leadership. it took guts. and it took the remarkable courage of john glenn, neil armstrong, buzz aldrin and michael collins. now they will tell you they're not heroes. don't listen to them. america is only as strong as the citizens we produce and here are four of the best. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the majority leader of the united states senate, the honorable harry reid. >> a couple points of personal privilege. first of all, norah jones, i'm one of your big fans. and it's such a pleasure to be able to listen to you in such close proximity with your beautiful voice and your wonderful presentation.

[ applause ] second, can we give a round of applause to mark kelly? [ applause ] mark, you could stand so we can all see you. [ applause ] it's been a pleasure over the years to meet neil armstrong and michael collins and buzz aldrin. but i'm going to spend some time today talking about someone i not only met but had the good

fortune of serving with in the united states senate, john glenn. about a barbara mokulski is here and she'll remember as a couple of new young senators that we were going on a congressional delegation trip led by john glenn and ted stephens. it was a wonderful trip. to be with these two fine senators. i was so happy that i could go. i can remember many things about that trip. and i'll talk just about a couple of things. we left vienna to go to czechoslovakia and whether we came to that border, the iron curtain was still down. they stopped our train. they brought out the dogs and all the security personnel with the rifles. and they were looking around and

under the train and we were asked to get out of the train. one of the soldiers looking around so no one would see what he was doing came over to john glenn quickly and said, could you give me an autograph. we then went to prague and had a meeting with some government officials there. as we were walking up the street, someone came out of an apartment building with an encyclopedia and had it opened to john glenn's picture and said would you autograph over your picture. we focus on how important these astronauts are to us here in the united states. but keep in mind how important they have been to people all around the world a soviet soldier on a train going into czechoslovakia, a person of minimal status, i guess you

would say in prague who wanted to be able to look at john glenn and say i have this picture. would you sign it for me? john glenn's prowess has been more than just this trip to czechoslovakia and the other places we went. i've been so impressed with who he is and what he's done, his personal life but also one story i have to tell because it's one of my favorite all time, we had some people come to visit me and my office was that time in the hart building. and my -- there were people young teenagers from nevada who had been in the double dutch jump roping championship nationwide. and so they were in one of the hallways there of the hart building, a big wide, spacious area. and they were jumping. there were two ropes going at

the same time. and these kids looked so great jumping in and out. he said try it. to me? i tried it and i made a small fool of myself. but i didn't realize this. john glenn had been watching these kids do the double dutch jump roping. and he came over. he was just a kid then. he was probably about 75. he came over and he said, do you mind if i try this? he was just like one of the teenagers, double dutch jump roping. so i have so many fond memories of john glenn and the role model that he has been for me as a senator. sometimes it seems the more we learn about the great reaches of the heavens, the more we have left to learn. so much left to learn.

space travel taught us as much about the planet at home as much as about the mystery that lies beyond. and for that we have these four pioneers to thank. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the speaker of the house of representatives, the honorable john boehner. >> well, i think i'm going to say what i think everybody is thinking. this is pretty cool. when the prime minister of australia addressed the congress last march, she said that as a little girl watching the men land on the moon proved to her

that americans could do anything. she grew up in adelaide, east of perth. it was a small city whose residents turn all their lights on to greet john glenn the night he flew back across australia. the world looks to america because we are free. and it's through our values to which people aspire. one of those values is humility, the idea that you're part of a cause greater than yourself that nothing in life is a do it yourself project. though an often unsung virtue, humility figured prominently in

the pinnacle of human achievement. to this day john glenn insists he was no hero. just a patriot serving his country which in those days was gripped by the notion that america and democracy itself had fallen behind. these were daring missions but they were vital missions as well. neil armstrong asked why did you, this one man, choose to speak for all when you set your foot on the lunar surface? as it turns out, there was no script. there were no notes. when the moment came, neil turned to the people that worked on the project, the designers and engineers and navigators, all who devised that one small step.

he said and i quote, "he knew it would be a big something for all those folks and a lot of others who weren't even involved in the project." and so it was. buzz aldrin, far from being caught up in the adrenaline paused to reflect. he took out a waifer and then wine and observed communion on the moon just as columbus had done when he reached the new world. buzz invited everyone to give thanks in his or her own way and when neil and buzz planted the stars and stripes on the moon, there wasn't -- there was one person who couldn't observe this scene live. that's all right. i don't mind said michael collins from apollo 11's command module. his attention focused on making sure that pioneers would get home.

two years ago mike said this, "a heroes abound but don't count astronauts among them. we work very hard. we did our jobs to near perfection. but that's what we've been hired to do." when americans take on our work with humility and dedication, there truly is nothing that we can't accomplish. we can do anything if we humble ourselves and if we've got the right stuff. gentlemen, heroes or not, your acts were heroic. and today we add you to the many honors, two of your many honors with respect and gratitude, the congressional gold medal. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated for the unveiling and presentation of the gold

medals by the united states congress. [ applause ]

>> ladies and gentlemen, the first person to land a spacecraft upon the moon and set foot upon the surface, mr. neil armstrong. [ applause ]

>> thank you so much, mr. speaker, mr. reid, mr. mcconnell, miss pelosi, members, distinguished guests. we gather in this remarkable monument to american history.es of congress, this room where ideological differences fade in the presence of the overpowering force of pride and what we do achieved. it's a privilege to be in this rotunda. high above us, just below the h

19 panels depicting important events in american history. the most recent of them, number 19, just above me here. depicts the first successful flight of a man in a powered aircraft brothers wright, 108 years ago. the depiction in addition bald eagle carrying an e olive branch. wilbur and orville wright were

the recipients of the 45th congressional gold medal and the first in the achievements in the world of flight. subsequently, congressional gold medals have been awarded nine times for aviation and rocketry achievements. today, for the first time, they are being given for achievements in spaceflight. in an appropriate coincidence, apollo 11's mission and crew patch featured an american bald eagle branch. the apollo 11 crew is honored to receive the congressional gold our fellow apollo teammates, all those who played a role in

expanding the human presence outward from earth and all those who played a role in expanding human knowledge of the solar system and beyond. we thank the congress very much. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the former united states senator from the state of ohio and the first american to orbit the earth, the honorable john glenn. [ applause ] >> thank you.

[ applause ] >> thank you all very, very much. leaders of the house and senate, members of the congress, ladies being here todayrst, thanks to to share this very, very special occasion with us. from our founding days, americans have been motivated by curiosity about the new and the unknown, whether it was geographical exploration that pushed back the frontiers of a continent or microexploration in our laboratories. thatrearch, coupled with an eti all our cit benefit and contribute were the twin engines of progress that catapulted america into world

preeminence. but there were other frontiers never before believed to be approachable. and for many, many thousands of years, people had looked up and wondered, had been curious about what was up there. we must consider ourselves among the most fortunate of all generations, for we havetime wh a reality, when we finally could travel above the atmosphere around the earth, where we could establish laboratories in space and do research. and, for the very first time in history, leave human footprints on some place other than earth. as neil, buzz and mike made their epic journey. the message they left on the

lunar surface could be said of all our manned space travels. we came in peace for all mankind. these dreams were praut to life by one of the most capable teams ever put together. workers, technicians, engineers, scientists, honored as we are today. we certainly share this recognition with that great team. almost 50 years ago, following the flight i was privileged to address a joint session of congress. and i closed my remarks then with words i repeat today. as our knowledge of the universe in which we live god grant us the wisdom and

guidance to use it wisely. thank you. [ applause ] gentlemen, please remain standing as the chaplain of the united states senate, dr. barry black, give ben addiction. >> let us pray. oh, lord of stretched out the heavens like a curtain. thank you for this four pioneer. lord, you empowered them to

enter a new frontier, flipping the surly bonds of earth, to reach out and touch your sovereign face. may the inspiration we receive from these well-lived lives save us from the love of ease, which chooses the comfortable way. and from the procrastination, which puts things off until too late, bless keep us in all of our tomorrows, in our going out and coming in, in our rising up lying down from this timeforth, even forever more. amen.

>> ladies and gentlemen, please remain at your seats for the departure of the official party. ♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's ceremony. thank you and have a nice day. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ >> this week, across the street

from ford theater where president lincoln was shot as he enjoyed the play "our cousin." ford theater campus on third street in washington where visitors can learn about the life, death and legacy of abraham lincoln. >> we are in the center for education leadership, directly across the street from historic ford's theater on tenth street in washington, d.c. behind me is the tower of books, which is a concept that really started about five years ago to visualize and showcase the unending quest to learn more about abraham lincoln. and so this tower of books represents, as we all know, that abraham lincoln is the most written about figure in world history, next to jesus christ.

we believe that ford's theater is the location in washington, d.c. to learn about lincoln and his legacy. it's one of those things that we do better than anyone else. we are able to marry the concepts and excellence that we bring to theatrical productions, to the museum experience. we will teach our oratory programs in this facility. we will use this facility to do our teacher training. all of those things are jumping off who lincoln was, as such a brilliant leader. that center is what that is all about. >> visit their website at ford'stheater.org. history bookshelf features popular american history writers of the past decade and airs on american history tv every saturday at noon eastern. this week on history