Neil Armstrong was a Rotarian who belonged to the Rotary Club of Wapakoneta, Ohio in the United States.
Born in Wapakoneta on 5 August 1930 Armstrong had German, Scottish and Irish forebears. His father was and auditor for the Ohio State Government and, as a consequence, the Armstrong family moved around Ohio repeatedly living in sixteen towns over the next fourteen years.
Armstrong fell in love with flying at a young age when his father took him for his first aeroplane ride when he was five years old.
Attending Blume High School, Armstrong had his pilot's licence before he was old enough to drive.
At the age of 17, in 1947 Neil Armstrong began studying aeronautical engineering at Purdue University.
In 1949, Armstrong was called up to do service in the US Navy. In 1950 he joined an all jet Navy squadron and in 1951 he served in the Korean War.
Following graduation from University Armstrong became a pilot and aeronautical engineer. He impressed authorities at Edwards Airforce Base in California and he was seen as a highly capable test pilot.
In 1958 he was selected for the US Airforce's Man in Space Soonest Program. In 1962 he joined the American space program; the NASA Astronaut Corps.
After space flights in Gemini 8 and Gemini 11, in 1969, Armstrong was one of the three person Apollo 11 mission to the moon. As commander, Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon on 20 July 1969 (US time).
Because of his busy work situation, Armstrong was not necessarily a particularly active Rotarian. However, following his walk on the moon his home Club of Wapakoneta made him an honorary life member. It is understood that he became more active in rotary later in life after his retirement.
