Yes they were! I was only 7 in 1965, but I remember 1968, unfortunately. The country went from wanting the war in Vietnam to eventually turning against it, and unfortunately they turned on the veterans as well. Thankfully my teen years were all in the 1970s when it was much more tolerable, at least after they put Tricky-Dicky out to pasture. But I remember watching every space launch in the mid to late 1960s. Even when we were in school, they would stop classes and roll in portable TVs on which to watch the launch and hear Walter Cronkite discussing it. It was a nice break from the constant war coverage.