On August 13, less than a month after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made the historic first landing on the moon in 1969, they and fellow astronaut Michael Collins were guests at this dinner given in their honor in Los Angeles. The trio was on a triumphant tour of the United States and had already been feted by hundreds of thousands of people in tickertape parades in New York and Chicago.

The main speaker at this official White House dinner at the Century Plaza Hotel was President Richard Nixon. Some 44 Governors and 14 members of the Cabinet were also present and some 83 countries were represented by their ambassadors.

In his remarks, President Nixon thanked all the guests for coming a long way to attend the dinner but joked that nobody had quite as long a journey as the three astronauts.

It was a triumphant and emotional evening with the three brave Americans each making their own comments before a cheering audience.