Michele's post about the 19th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion asks Where were you?

St. Aidan's School, 8th grade, lined up in the hallway after coming from recess. They shut us all up as we crowded in the hallway in a single file line against the wall (gotta love Catholic school) and made an overhead announcement. It was scary for me because the last shuttle had my neighbor's sister on it (Kathy Sullivan), and at first I thought she was on this one too (what did I know back then, I thought they were the same crew each time)

TV's were rolled into our class rooms and we watched them all day, and for most of the week. It was the first time most of use realized how serious life/death is, and that explosion was etched in my mind as they repeatedly showed it from every angle possible and then speculated that the crew may have been still alive for a time afterward. It was the first "where were you" day that was burned into my memory.


Ronald Reagan: The Space Shuttle "Challenger" Tragedy Address (Audio and Video feeds of his address)