Moment in History (1963?)

[Music] April 9 1963 President Kennedy empowered by an act of Congress is to Proclaim Sir Winston Churchill an honorary citizen of the United States the ceremony will take place in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington DC by means of the relay communication satellite this memorable event will be instantly televised to Sir Winston's home in London and viewers throughout Europe preparations to trans and received this historic broadcast had begun early in the day in the center of Italy 70 Mi to the east of Rome is the valley of fuino [Music] [Music] [Music] over the Alps in France at the edge of Normandy is the village of Plum bodu [Music] should be [Music] [Music] across the channel at the South tip of England is goonhilly Downs in Cornwall goon hilly England ready here the hours go by in Europe the stations check and recheck their equipment in the United States near Andover Maine at Nutley New Jersey at the Gard space flight center near Washington and in New York other links in the Network are standing by to carry the special broadcast scheduled for 300 p.m. Eastern Standard Time an hour internationally designated in grenage time as 2000 Zulu at the Mark the time will be 1951 Zulu stand by Mark this is Andrew verain Communications are ready nle New Jersey standing by and ready standby kill film and take one you have just seen films of the launch of a relay communication satellite on December 13th 1962 this was followed by animation which showed how this National era a atics and Space Administration satellite is used to retransmit signals across the Atlantic in the past 5 months relay has orbited the Earth exactly 909 times it has transmitted two-way telephone calls high-speed data fact simil and teletype Communications between the United States South America and Europe relay has also carried a number of television programs on a one-way path from Europe to North America and from North America to Europe relay was built by RCA for the national aeronautic and Space Administration and is a project of NASA's Goddard space flight center in Green Belt Maryland at Godard the relay broadcasts are directed by a Communications satellite operations center now I'd like the tour group to pay particular attention to the activity in this room this is a communication satellite Operation Center it's known as commock the gentleman you see at work are spacecraft controllers they're in charge of the relay project there on the side you'll note the spacecraft status board it shows that relay has been commanded to monitor its systems and report on its operating condition how much more time is there well not very long Handover is ready so are England France and Italy nutly is taking class two data right now com this is comcon tary looks okay here at the Mark the time will be 1954 Zulo standby Mark comc con this is comar switch transponder number two on the order has been sent to relay to turn on one of its two receiver transmitters after this transponder is reported in a go condition the final step is for the Andover station to transmit TV to goon hilly Downs in England well I see they're getting ready for the final check let's see how it goes com this is com con com this is com con at Nutley New Jersey receiving instructions from the Gard Space Center is relay Communications control known in short as comcon comcon is housed in two mobile trailers kry White the status of the class one Petry data at this time class one Petry data appears to be normal recording cameras ready receiver ready this is K con all systems are go and now for Mando over main inside a protective Dome the giant Horn of the American Telephone and Telegraph company beams the program to relay come this is command Roger receiving test pattern from Washington we will use it for a transmission test in just 60 seconds if all goes well relay will retransmit the signals back down to earth and an historic event will have begun at the Mark time will be 1959 Zulo standby Mark hello this is Tom Hill systems are taking out okay your test patter is save are excellent this come hello 20 seconds Mark we have a red light on transponder AGC picture still coming over Roger disregard the noo reception is okay 5 4 3 2 1 [Music] zero we are in the Rose Garden of the White House just outside the president's office it was raining an hour ago hard the grounds are damp but someone said this is as it should be typically British weather for Sir Winston [Music] ceremony a mixed Honor Guard United States Marines and a British Marine here's the president Randolph Churchill on the right Ambassador armsby gour on the president's other flank Tom Hill how was your reception hello comck hello comck reception very good program going over BBC and Eurovision ladies and gentlemen members of the Congress members of the cabinet his Excellency the British Ambassador ambassadors of the Commonwealth old friends of Sir Winston led by Mr baroo ladies and Gentlemen We Gather today at a moment unique in the history of the United States this is the first time that the United States Congress has solemnly resolved that the president of the United States shall Proclaim an honorary citizenship for the citizen of another country and in joining me to perform this happy Duty the Congress gives Sir Winston Churchill a distinction shared only with the Marcus de Lafayette in proclaiming him an honorary citizen I only propose a formal recognition of the place he has long since won in the history of freedom and in the affections of m I and now his fellow countrymen whenever and wherever tyranny threatened he is always championed Liberty facing firmly towards the future he has never forgotten the past serving six monics of his native Great Britain he has served all men's freedom and dignity in the dark days and darker nights when England stood alone and most men save Englishmen Des spared of England's life he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle the incandescent quality of his words illuminated the courage of his countrymen indifferent himself to [Music] Danger P the servant of the future now therefore our John F Kennedy president of the United States of America under the authority contained in an act of the 88th Congress to hereby declare Sir Winston Churchill an honorary citizen of the United States of America in witness whereof I have here unto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed done at the city of Washington this 9th day of April in the year of Our Lord 1963 and of the independence of the United States of America the 187 hello comck com Hill calling picture and sound both okay BBC State's clearest ever seen via transatlantic relay so Winston observed the program at his London home and was deeply moved [Music]