General Charlie Duke

Charlie Duke had an impressive career as a pilot, astronaut, and military officer. He flew various aircraft and was part of the Apollo 16 mission, where he walked on the moon. He is proud of his service to his country, but also values his faith and family. He has received several awards for his achievements. Duke shares his experiences of being on the moon and the beauty of Earth from space. He also pays tribute to astronauts who lost their lives in space missions. Duke believes in the power of Jesus Christ to change lives and is grateful for the opportunity to share his story. Charlie's career includes roles as an instructor, pilot, and astronaut. He flew F-104s and T-33 aircraft, as well as some other fighter aircraft, and the lunar landing module. Charlie ultimately rose to the rank of General Officer in the United States Air Force. Surely one would be very proud of this kind of service to our country. However, I believe General Duke is most proud of his love and service to his God and his family, and that's what you're going to hear a lot about this morning. So I'd like to tell you that General Duke, who also has a master's degree, a Master of Science degree from MIT, has been awarded NASA's Distinguished Service Medal, as well as the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, and the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America. The General is a member of the Astronaut Hall of Fame, and is one of only 12 men who have walked on the moon. He served as the lunar module pilot of Apollo 16, which was the first scientific expedition into the rugged lunar highlands on the moon. And what I'd like to do now is direct your attention to the screen so that you can see that through the eyes of General Charlie Duke. We're standing on the moon in front of the lunar module, looking out across the rough Cayley Plain to a place we call Stone Mountain, which is about five miles away. Since there's no atmosphere up on the moon, you get a very sharp horizon. The color of the moon is just shades of gray. The surface is very smooth and rolling, not scary at all. And though it's a hostile environment, we weren't afraid. We felt right at home. Hey John, this is perfect with the limb and the rover and you and Stone Mountain and the old flag. Come on out here and give me a salute. Big Navy salute. Look at this. That's a pretty outstanding picture here, I tell you. Come out a little bit closer. Okay, here we go. A big one. Off the ground. One more. There we go. Yes. I'd like to see an Air Force salute, Charlie, but I don't think they salute the Air Force. Sure we do. Just fly high and straight and land soft. Okay, Charlie, say when. Here we go. Do it again. One for you. Okay. Wait a minute, one more. This is a good time for some good news here. The House passed a space budget yesterday, $277 to $60,000, which includes a vote for the shuttle. Wonderful. Wonderful. Tony, again, I'll say it, with that salute, I'm proud to be an American. I'll tell you. Thank you. Brothers, a great man of God and a real American hero, General Charlie Duke. Thank you very much. Thank you. Bless you. Thank you. Praise the Lord. Thank you very much. God bless you. Thank you. Well, it's a great privilege to be here this morning with you to share my story. You know, the scriptures tell us that God calls some to be apostles, some to be priests, some to be teachers, some to be pastors, some to be evangelists. Well, God hadn't called me to do any of those, but he has called me to a changed life. And to be his witness. Jesus says, you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and to all the corners of the earth. And here we are in Cincinnati this morning, and God's given me the great privilege to be a witness to the power of Jesus Christ to change a life. I want to thank the Catholic Men's Fellowship for inviting this Episcopalian to share this morning with you. We're all brothers in Christ. We're all brothers in Christ, and we are here to answer the call of what God has for each of us. I had the great privilege of serving my country as a fighter pilot, as a test pilot, as an astronaut. I got selected as an astronaut in 1966. And about eight months, nine months later, we had three of my friends get killed in a fire at Kennedy Space Center, Apollo 1. And about 18 months during that time frame, there were eight astronauts killed in various accidents. In 1986, we lost seven other astronauts as Challenger exploded. Just a few months ago, we lost seven others as Columbia came apart during re-entry, which is a very critical part of our missions, of course. I want to remember all of my friends, colleagues, men and women who have given their lives into the space program this morning. They answered the ultimate call, as many of our young men and women are doing in Iraq right now. It's a great sacrifice. The Father said just a moment ago, it takes suffering, and our men and women are doing that right now for us so that we can be free and we can be here to honor our God. Thank you. Thank you, Lorne. In April 1972, I was sitting up on top of a big Saturn rocket. I don't know if you've ever seen a Saturn or not, but they're big machines. It's the biggest rocket ever launched. It was 363 feet tall. It was about 33 feet in diameter and weighed six and a half million pounds. We're up in the top of this little spacecraft sitting on the top, strapped in tightly, and we're ready to launch. It's a Sunday afternoon at Kennedy Space Center. About five minutes before liftoff, they removed the cover over the spacecraft called the White Room, and it swung back. Ken Mattingly, the third member of our crew with John Young and I, he was sitting in the center seat, or laying in the center seat. There's a little window above his head about like that. He looked out that window through the top of his helmet and looked over at John and says, John, I can see the moon. They got us pointed in the right direction. Then they lit the engines of this rocket. There were five big engines at the bottom of this thing, pushing with seven and a half million pounds of thrust. When they lit the engines, it began to shake. I got a little nervous because I didn't remember anybody telling me it was supposed to shake. I found out later as we cleared the pad, it took 11 seconds to go the first 400 feet. It took two minutes and 30 seconds to go the next 35 miles. As we cleared the pad, the vehicle was shaking from side to side very violently. I found out later my heartbeat was 144 per minute from the flight surgeons. John Young, who was the veteran, he was the commander on the left side. His heartbeat was 70. So you can figure out who the cool one was. Well, we shook our way into orbit and two and a half hours later over Australia, we accelerated to 25,000 miles an hour and we were on our way to the moon. A few minutes later, we turned our spaceship around. I floated over to the left side. Out that left window of the spacecraft was the most awesome sight I'd ever seen. Out that window, about 25,000 miles away, was the whole circle of the earth. It was breathtakingly beautiful. We could see the Arctic Circle down across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, Cuba, Jamaica, and the West Indies. There were three colors. The pure crystal blue of the oceans, the brown of the land, and the white of the snow and the clouds. And that jewel of earth was just hung up in the blackness of space. And everywhere else you looked was just black. You couldn't see any stars out in space because of the blackness of space. And everywhere else you looked was just black. You couldn't see any stars out in space because the sun's shining. But you can see that jewel of earth. Now I wasn't a real student of the scriptures. I didn't read the Bible too much back in those days except when I lay red at church. You know, I was asked to read the lectionary at church maybe once a month or something like that. That's about the only time I ever cracked open a Bible. But when I gave my heart to Jesus Christ and I had a personal relationship with Him, which I'm going to tell you a little bit more about. It happened in 1978, six years after this mission. I began to study God's Word and I discovered that God speaks the truth to us, man. In the book of Isaiah, there's a little verse that says, God sits enthroned above the circle of the earth. Now I didn't see God, but with these eyes I saw the circle of the earth. There have been 24 of us who have seen the circle of the earth with our eyes. And that's the man that went to the moon in Apollo. And there was this circle of the earth. And in the book of Job, God says, when I made the earth, I suspended it upon nothing. And that's exactly what it looks like, hung in the blackness of space. But I wasn't thinking about the Lord. I wasn't pondering the origins of life or the mystery of God going to the moon. I was getting to the moon. I was going to land on the moon and I was foresighted on that opportunity. And we did land, a place called Descartes. You saw a little bit of it here a minute ago in that little video that I produced. Those videos will be available somewhere out there in the book area. And I had a great time on the moon. I was jumping up and down like a little kid at Christmas. It was an adventure. We could look to the left and see Stone Mountain. And off to the right was a place we call Smoky Mountains. And out in front of us was just rolling gray terrain. And I felt right at home, even though it was a hostile environment. You know, your glove pop off and you have a high altitude hiss out. You lose all your air. And you're dead, just like that. But we didn't think about that. We had faith in our equipment and faith in our ability. Faith in our training. I was ready. And I got there and I looked out. As we looked at the moon from the earth, we were right in the middle of the full moon. But it wasn't a full moon, it was a half moon. And there it was. And up in the sky. And I had to bend my suit backwards and look up. And right over my head, about 400,000 miles away. No, 400,000 kilometers, I should say, was the earth. A jewel of beauty that God has given us to live on. I came home after 11 days. We were on the moon for 72 hours. Almost. And then we left. And on the way home, we had a spacewalk where we got outside and could see the earth here and the moon over here. And we were getting ready to go into re-entry. We hit the atmosphere at 39,000 feet per second. That's over 26,000 miles an hour. And there's a big fireball that occurred around the spacecraft. Seven and a half G deceleration in Apollo. Parachutes came open and we floated to the surface of the Pacific. Mission complete. Heroes welcome. I had reached my goal. I had climbed to the top of the ladder. I was a colonel then. They promoted me to colonel. And I had reached every goal that I had tried to achieve. And I thought I'd be satisfied. But you know, after eight months later, I look back and say, now what? What are you going to do now with the rest of your life? You've made it. And yet I had no contentment, no real peace in my life. I was a great success in my career. But unfortunately, two things that really meant a lot to me was falling apart. My marriage and my family. I'd been married in 1963. And we had two young sons when I went to the moon. They were five and seven years old. They hardly knew their dad because dad was gone all the time. And when I was home, I was a military drill instructor. You know, boy, you're going to do it, boy. And you're going to do it my way. Very hard on my kids. Very hard on my kids. I loved them. My motive was to make them into men. But my method was madness. And they didn't want to be around their dad because he was so hard. And I had an explosive temper. I mean, it was like a volcano going off. If I didn't, they didn't do exactly what I said instantly. It was like Vesuvius erupting. So you can imagine the tension in our home. Now, going to the moon wasn't a spiritual experience. I mean, I didn't feel close to God. As I said a moment ago, I wasn't searching for God. I didn't think you needed God more than what I had, which was one hour on Sunday morning. You see, I believed in God. He was out there somewhere. I wasn't an atheist. Out there was a God. And I honored Him on Sunday morning. Said the creeds. Been baptized. Confirmed. But I walk out of church on Sunday morning and I never think about God again because I was in charge of my life. Not Jesus. That was Sunday. And so I had no foundation. I had no peace in my life. See, I was looking for the things of the world for satisfaction and commitment. And commitment, not commitment, but completion. Contentment. And nothing wrong with things. I mean, God gives us things to enjoy. But if things are your God, your career is your God, or money is your God, you're looking in the wrong place. They aren't God. There's only one God. Things got so bad in my marriage that my wife went from despair to depression to thoughts of suicide. And I said, we had everything. Cars, houses, society. We didn't have a lot of money. I mean, I'm a military officer. You know, we didn't have a lot, but we were comfortable. Certainly weren't poor. But things got worse and worse and worse. Her marriage was falling apart. If this is all there is to life, why live any longer? The hurt in her heart. Well, in 1975, some people answered the call to come to our church. And they shared the love of Jesus Christ and the power of God to change a life. And they knew Jesus. They had a personal relationship with Jesus. And it was like He was... You could see it. You could feel it. They were... They loved Jesus. And they just shared what He had done in their lives. And after that weekend was over, in the privacy of our bedroom, unbeknownst to me, my wife knelt down and said, Jesus, if you're real, I give you my life. If you're not, I want to die. Well, Jesus is alive. And He came into her heart. And I watched her change from sadness to joy. It wasn't 30 minute, you know, as the world turns deal. It was a process, but she changed. And she began to love me. She forgave me. And she began to... change our family and the atmosphere in our family. I'd taken my eyes off the moon and put them on money. In 1975, I became a businessman and I made a lot of money, but that money's not God. 1978, I sold my first business. And a man in our church named Hill Carbock, a doctor, answered the call. And he invited me to a meeting at the tennis club. Where we were going to have a Bible study called Walk Through the Bible. People came from all over. I can't tell you why I was there. But I went. Just to be nice. Some of you might be here like that. You just came just because your friend invited you. Come to this gathering. And when I got there, I was challenged with the question. The question Jesus asked His disciples. Who do you say that I am? It's a good question. I realized I had a free will. Who is this guy? Is he the Savior? Is he the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins? Is that who He is? He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to God except through me. Is that true? Or is it a lie? I get to decide. Because God has given me a free will. Is it true? For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that if you believe in Him, you'll not perish, but have everlasting life? Is that true? Sitting in my automobile after that weekend was over, I looked over at Dottie, my wife, and I said, You know, the Scriptures tell us that God calls some to be apostles, some to be priests, some to be teachers, some to be pastors. I didn't see any angels, and there were no booming voices from heaven, You got it, boy, you know, nothing like that. No angelic host appeared, nothing supernatural except inside. And I knew that I knew that I knew that Jesus was alive, and He'd come into my heart. And all my life I'd honored Jesus. In church, I knew that Jesus was the Son of God. I knew that intellectually, but He wasn't in my heart. But that night, that Sunday night, He came into my life. Jesus came from my head to my heart. And I experienced the peace of God that passes all understanding. And I knew that I knew that I knew that Jesus was alive. And I knew that I knew that I knew that He was alive. And I was going to serve Him. I had this insatiable desire to read the Bible, and I began to study the Scriptures. Not study it, but just to read it. And the more I read, the more convicted I became of the sin in my life. But He is faithful and just. If we will confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us of our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And as I began to read that Word, God's Word, the Word spoke the truth. It said it's like a two-edged sword. It judges the attitudes of our hearts. And I got over to that passage in Ephesians. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. Uh-oh. I'm in trouble. I'm in trouble. I said, Lord, I want to love my wife as You love me, which is sacrificial, 100% giving love. And I said, Lord, help me to do that. I've treated my wife. And He forgave me. And I went to my wife. I humbled myself before my wife. And I was a hero, grim-jawed, steely-eyed astronaut and general, not noted for their humility. But God humbled me in my heart and said, go ask for forgiveness. And I went to her. She'd already forgiven me, but I had to say it. Forgive me, darling. I want to love you as Jesus loves me. And He began to teach me how to be the husband that He wants me to be. As we began to pray together, as we began to communicate, as we began to humble ourselves and not put ourselves first, God restored our marriage. Jesus is in the resurrection business. And He'll resurrect relationships. And He'll resurrect a marriage. And it blossomed. It began to grow like a spring flower. And over the last 25 years, we've been walking with Jesus through the trials and troubles of life. Been a lot of bumps in the road. Been a lot of potholes. But not one promise of God has failed. Every promise of God is yes in Christ Jesus. And He's been there through the troubles and the trials and the financial problems and the sicknesses and the deaths of parents and friends. He's seen us through these trials. And He's brought us together as lovers and as friends and as helpmates and as servants to one another. I want to be a servant to my wife. Jesus said, I came not to be served, but to serve. He's our servant. He gave Himself for us. He's changed my life. He's changed my heart. He's changed my marriage. Next June, we'll be married 40 years. We're headed towards the divorce courts. And God said, this is the way. Follow Me. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You know, I look back now, and the church had the message. But I didn't listen. I can't blame anybody but me. I had the choice to walk the way I walked. I was reading one day in the Proverbs. And in the Proverbs, there's a little verse. I think it's like the 16th or 18th chapter. You know, I have friends that can say, well, that's in Proverbs 16.6 or that's in this, that, and the other. And they can quote you a Scripture and verse. And then they've got it all down. Well, I can't do that. I'm like the guy that wrote Hebrews. Somewhere in here it says. So somewhere in there, it's in Proverbs, somewhere it says, you have the power of life and death in your tongue. Think about that. God says that we can speak life or we can speak death. And when I read that, God spoke to my heart, not to my ears, but by the power of the Spirit, spoke into my heart and says, you have cursed your own children. Now, I don't mean profanity. I mean words like, son, you're stupid. That's dumb. You'll never get it. I have cursed my own children by those words. And a father's words have power in the life of a child. And I love these boys. And I mean with tears as God convicted me. I went to him and said, boys, forgive me. Tom, my youngest, was 11. And he said, that's okay, Dad. What an attitude. And I began to bless them. I began to encourage them. And I had to learn, Dad, that there was a fine line between discipline and discouragement. God expects us to discipline, but don't discourage your children or they become embittered. And so with Jesus' help, I began to bless my children and lead them into the way of God. I began to speak about Jesus. I began to have family devotions, which was a real fight. I realized we have an enemy. He doesn't want the family together. He wants us all divided, as a church even. And so I began to speak blessings. And we began to grow as our family. And I watched our kids blossom. I can remember my little youngest, he's now 35, soon to be 36, but he was on these first video games. You know, he was doing these video games all the time. Stop it! You're wasting your time. I was on him constantly. But when he went off to college, he fell in love with airplanes like his dad did. And he decided to be a pilot in the Air National Guard, the Texas Air Guard. So they sent him to flight school with the Air Force, graduated first in his class. He began to fly F-16s. And he said, Come on down, Dad. I can't give you a ride, but you can get in a simulator. So he got in a simulator. And he fired up the simulator. And I'm flying this thing, and it hit me, this kid's flying a $10 million video game. God knew he was going to be a fighter pilot. And when he decided to be a fighter pilot, I said, You do the best one you can be for the glory of God. Whatever God calls you to do, do it all under the Lord. So as our family began to grow in these early years in Christ, I began to see a change in them. And they gave their hearts to Jesus. And we began to walk together as a family. And we began to love one another and encourage one another. Every time I see my kids now, I'm a touchy guy. I give them a big hug and I kiss them on the cheek and say, I love you. Words I didn't hear from my father until two weeks before he died. My father was a good man, a kind man, a gentle man.