On this week's 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, President Obama praised the pioneering American astronauts and recalled his own childhood memories in Hawaii of NASA capsules splashing down in the Pacific.
But Houston, we have a problem. The president actually lived in Indonesia in 1969.
Obama met with Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin in the Oval Office July 20 to commemorate the historic landing.
He praised the men for their "heroism, calm under pressure" and "grace."
"I think that all of us recall the moment in which mankind finally was untethered from this planet and was able to explore the stars; the moment in which we had one of our own step on the moon and leave that imprint that is there to this day," the president said.
During his speech with the Apollo 11 crew, Obama told the astronauts:
The country continues to draw inspiration from what you've done. I should note, just personally, I grew up in Hawaii, as many of you know, and I still recall sitting on my grandfather's shoulders when those capsules would land in the middle of the Pacific and they'd get brought back and we'd go out and we'd pretend like they could see us as we were waving at folks coming home. And I remember waving American flags and my grandfather telling me that the Apollo mission was an example of how Americans can do anything they put their minds to.
The following is a White House video of his speech:
However, Obama lived in Indonesia as a child, from 1967 to 1971, with his mother and stepfather – and not with his grandfather and grandmother, Stanley and Madelyn Dunham, in Hawaii.
Despite several statements made by the president about his childhood years in Jakarta, Obama's own White House biography begins with his alleged birth in Hawaii Aug. 4, 1961, and makes no mention of Indonesia.
It was not until Obama turned 10 that he moved to Honolulu to live with his grandparents.
The White House declined to respond to WND's request for clarification concerning Obama's account of being in Hawaii during the event.
The Apollo 11 splashdown took place 1,440 nautical miles east of Wake Island and 210 nautical miles south of Johnston Atoll on July 24, 1969 – just before Obama's eighth birthday.
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