Those among us of a certain age can
recall some of the major events of 1969. Fifty years is not enough to erase the
images of that fateful year. Here are just a few:
That year the Vietnam War was
raging. Anti-war riots occurred on campuses around the country, most notably at
UC Berkeley; enormous crowds massed outside the White House to protest;
pictures of the My Lai massacre were released. Meanwhile, young people gathered
under a marijuana haze to tune out at Woodstock and Altamont.
Among people who died but shouldn’t
have: Sharon Tate and friends at the hand of Charles Manson and his followers;
Mary Jo Kopechne in a car abandoned in the water by Ted Kennedy at
Chappaquiddick. Category 5 Hurricane Camille killed 262 people from Louisiana
to Virginia.
Good things happened that year, too.
The Boeing 747 flew for the first time, and the Concorde broke the sound
barrier on its first commercial flight. ARPANET, precursor of the Internet,
linked two computers—just think how far we’ve come since then.
My favorite memories: We put a man
on the moon! Broadway Joe Namath led the New York Jets in a major upset of the
Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. My wife presented me with Marc, our third
child, now himself a father and grandfather.
I won’t be around in 2069 to recall
the events of 2019. I wonder how those who are alive then will remember this
year.
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