January 1968. The war in Vietnam is raging and the Tet Offensive kicks off on all fronts across Vietnam. This month-long attack by Communist forces brings a new level of violence and bloodshed to the American military in Vietnam—and to American television screens from coast to coast here in the States. Up to that time, no war has ever been televised. But now, but now Americans everywhere see the bloodshed and carnage every night . . . and it has an effect on our Nation. In fact, in February 1968 after the Tet Offensive, CBS newsman Walter Cronkite declares that the war in Vietnam is unwinnable. And yet, the war rages on for seven more years. By the way, over the course of 1968, an average of 50 American servicemembers
February 1968. The movie “Planet of the Apes” is released. Like a number of movies during that era, this blockbuster is based on the premise that humanity has destroyed itself through nuclear war. Indeed, the very-real specter of nuclear annihilation hangs over the Baby Boom generation like few other things do.
March 1968. American troops commit what becomes known as the “My Lai Massacre,” the worst slaughter of unarmed civilians on the battlefield in American history. A company of American Soldiers brutally kill and mutilate over 500 men, women, and children in the village of My Lai. The American public is outraged, and the anti-war protests swell in numbers.
April 1968. Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated in Memphis. The death of this Civil Rights icon hits like a thunderclap across the Nation, sparking violence and riots in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Baltimore, Louisville, Kansas City, and a dozen other cities, leaving 39 dead, 2,600 injured, and over 21,000 arrested.
June 1968. Robert F. Kennedy, brother of the slain President John F. Kennedy, is assassinated in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles while campaigning for President. The assassination is captured on camera and televised.
July 1968. In Cleveland, the Glennville Shootout between police and black militants leaves three dead on each side, and riots rock the city for five days. This is just one of many such events that take place in cities across America in 1968.
August 1968 . At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 10,000 protesters clashed violently with 23,000 police and National Guardsmen. The violence was televised nightly.
September 1968. The Hong Kong flu pandemic takes its toll with some 100,000 Americans dying from the virus.
October 1968. At the Olympic Games in Mexico City, Americans Tommy Smith and John Carlos win the gold and bronze medals in the 200m dash, then protest with gloved fists on the platform in solidarity with the Black Power movement. The next day, the International Olympic strips them of their medals and send them home.
November 1968. Richard Nixon is narrowly elected President, indicative of the divided Nation. Meanwhile, 78 coal miners die in Mannington, West Virginia in a mine explosion.
December 1968. Finally a ray of light in the darkness . . . from December 21st to December 27th, three American astronauts on the Apollo 8 mission— Frank Borman, James Lovell, and Bill Anders—became the first human beings to leave low-Earth orbit and travel to the moon, which they orbited 10 times before returning to the Earth. As the first human beings to circle the moon, they captured one of the most famous photographs ever taken called “Earthrise,” which is the view of our planet from the moon.
In addition, they sent a live broadcast from their space capsule back to the Earth on Christmas Eve. NASA officials had told them in advance that the entire world would be watching that broadcast and ask them to come up with something “appropriate” to say. They chose to read from the Bible, from Genesis chapter one: “We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.”
The impact of the Apollo 8 mission, the “Earthrise” photograph, and the Christmas Eve reading from the Bible had an electric impact on the Nation. Thousands of Americans wrote to NASA and to the astronauts, thanking them for the positive message of hope and peace in an otherwise hellish year. One lady summed it up in a letter to Frank Borman – “Thank you, Apollo 8. You saved 1968.”
