How High the Moon


How High the Moon

By Dick Mauer

All you folks out there who have ever worked a checkpoint, or a land or airport Port Of Entry remember that you have had contact with famous or well known people from time to time. I've recognized my share and have, for the most part, enjoyed the contact.  I would never do something like asking for an autograph, as I felt that would be unprofessional. There was, however, an exception.

The year was about 1974 and I was an Inspector at Toronto Airport working Pre-Flight Clearance. I was inspecting an American Airlines flight to Dallas and my next passenger was a guy wearing only a pair of Levis and a red plaid shirt, and sporting about a weeks growth of beard. He had his U.S. Passport out and presented it to me with his boarding pass. I flipped to the ID picture page and only then recognized the photo of Neil Armstrong. Looking back at him, all I could say was, "Are you the?" He cut me off and said yes, like he didn't want anyone else to recognize him. I stamped his boarding pass and told him that I never asked for autographs but that this was an exception. With that, he signed the only piece of paper I could offer, the back side of a blank I-94. He told me he was returning from Arctic deep sea diving training in Prudhomme Bay and was enroute to NASA.

No one else in the departure lounge tripped to the fact they were traveling with the "First Man on the Moon".