After a national service of remembrance was held at the Washington National Cathedral the day before, the cremated ashes of Apollo 11 commander and first moonwalker, Neil Armstrong, were finally put into the Atlantic in a ceremonial burial service on hte USS Philippine Sea on 14 September. Also in attendance at the service were members of Armstrong’s family including Armstrong’s son Eric (Rick). The while the final sea burial was performed by his wife Carol, the ceremony itself had most of the elements of a traditional US Navy burial at sea including a formal rifle salute.
Before becoming a civilian test pilot and NASA astronaut, Armstrong had served as a US Navy pilot in the Korean War.
