Yesterday, we had a public event to talk about the upcoming solar eclipse. A local amateur astronomer friend and I made an hour-long presentation describing the celestial mechanics that make an eclipse happen and also the practical aspects of observing and photographing an eclipse such as use of filters for protection. After the event, a retired eye-doctor from the Navy told us about his experience from 1970s. He was stationed in Florida and a group of marines from Georgia were sent to him for treatment. It seemed that they viewed the solar eclipse at that time without any protection and damaged their eyesight. According to him, these marines were about to be shipped out to Vietnam and they did this intentionally to get out of that tour of duty.
We have one more event scheduled next Monday. Let’s see what stories I get to hear there.