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Saturday, Aug 25, 2012 11:45 PM UTC

Armstrong called humble hero who served country

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Topics: From the Wires,

Armstrong called humble hero who served countryVisitors gather around the Apollo 11 command module “Columbia” that carried astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins on their historic voyage to the Moon and back on July 16 to 24, 1969, at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Aiur and Space Museum in Washington Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012. Neil Armstrong who became a global hero when as a steely-nerved pilot made "one giant leap for mankind" with a small step onto the moon died Saturday. He was 82. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)(Credit: AP)

Neil Armstrong’s friends, NASA colleagues and admirers around the country say the former astronaut was a humble pilot who served his country above all.

His shuttle colleagues Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins said Saturday that they will miss a dedicated, smart and careful astronaut and friend.

In Washington, D.C., tourist Jonathon Lack from Alaska said he decided to tour the Air and Space Museum after hearing of Armstrong’s death.

He says he sees in Armstrong’s death a reminder of an America where people dreamed big things and sought to accomplish the inconceivable.

At the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Ohio, a black ribbon hung over a plaque of Armstrong in the museum’s entryway and a U.S. flag was lowered in Armstrong’s memory.

More Colleen Long.

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