First manned launch you remember watching?

[Doggy Daddy]

Living in Central Texas, I saw a couple of night re-entries of the shuttle. Bright, lingering, orange arc across the sky - MUCH more spectacular than any meteor that I ever saw. (Of course, I wasn't in Chelyabinsk back on 02/15/2013.    )

I remember the silence against the sound of the slight wind.

[230RN]

Shepard's suborbital, May 5, 1961.

Summer job: my boss and I stopped at the warehouse to pick up stuff and the warehouse guy had the event on his office TV.  We watched the whole thing, along with a bunch of other people crowded into the office.

Then, back to work.

The importance was muffled by Gagarin's orbital flight three weeks before.  So, not a yee-haw, but more of a "Yeah, we'll show 'em!"

How many remember the Vanguard failures?  Finally, IIRC, von Braun convinced them to use the Redstone rocket, which was ready to go, and was the vehicle which put Shepard into suborbit. All, IIRC.

Corrections welcome.

https://youtu.be/zVeFkakURXM (0:53)

[RocketMan]

Okay, we have now established that Rocketman and I are as old as dirt. 

Yeah, pretty much.