Challenger - 18 Years

Ronald Reagan ^ | 1-28-86

[Indy Pendance]

Ronald Reagan's Funeral Eulogy for the Challenger Crew

Following is the text of President Reagan's remarks at a memorial service held in Houston following the Challenger disaster, Jan. 31, 1986. (From Houston Chronicle archives.)

We come together today to mourn the loss of seven brave Americans, to share the grief we all feel and, perhaps in that sharing, to find the strength to bear our sorrow and the courage to look for the seeds of hope.

Our nation's loss is first a profound personal loss to the family and the friends and loved ones of our shuttle astronauts. To those they have left behind - the mothers, the fathers, the husbands and wives, brothers, sisters, and yes, especially the children - all of America stands beside you in your time of sorrow.

What we say today is only an inadequate expression of what we carry in our hearts. Words pale in the shadow of grief; they seem insufficient even to measure the brave sacrifice of those you loved and we so admired. Their truest testimony will not be in the words we speak, but in the way they led their lives and in the way they lost those lives - with dedication, honor and an unquenchable desire to explore this mysterious and beautiful universe.

The best we can do is remember our seven astronauts - our ChallengerSeven - remember them as they lived, bringing life and love and joy to those who knew them and pride to a nation.

They came from all parts of this great country - from South Carolina to Washington State; Ohio to Mohawk, New York; Hawaii to North Carolina to Concord, New Hampshire. They were so different, yet in their mission, their quest, they held so much in common.

We remember Dick Scobee, the commander who spoke the last words we heard from the space shuttle Challenger. He served as a fighter pilot in Vietnam, earning many medals for bravery, and later as a test pilot of advanced aircraft before joining the space program. Danger was a familiar companion to Commander Scobee.

We remember Michael Smith, who earned enough medals as a combat pilot to cover his chest, including the Navy Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals - and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, in gratitude from a nation that he fought to keep free.

We remember Judith Resnik, known as J.R. to her friends, always smiling, always eager to make a contribution, finding beauty in the music she played on her piano in her off-hours.

We remember Ellison Onizuka, who, as a child running barefoot through the coffee fields and macadamia groves of Hawaii, dreamed of someday traveling to the Moon. Being an Eagle Scout, he said, had helped him soar to the impressive achievement of his career.

We remember Ronald McNair, who said that he learned perseverance in the cotton fields of South Carolina. His dream was to live aboard the space station, performing experiments and playing his saxophone in the weightlessness of space; Ron, we will miss your saxophone and we will build your space station.

We remember Gregory Jarvis. On that ill-fated flight he was carrying with him a flag of his university in Buffalo, New York - a small token he said, to the people who unlocked his future.

We remember Christa McAuliffe, who captured the imagination of the entire nation, inspiring us with her pluck, her restless spirit of discovery; a teacher, not just to her students, but to an entire people, instilling us all with the excitement of this journey we ride into the future.

We will always remember them, these skilled professionals, scientists and adventurers, these artists and teachers and family men and women, and we will cherish each of their stories - stories of triumph and bravery, stories of true American heroes.

On the day of the disaster, our nation held a vigil by our television sets. In one cruel moment, our exhilaration turned to horror; we waited and watched and tried to make sense of what we had seen. That night, I listened to a call-in program on the radio: people of every age spoke of their sadness and the pride they felt in `our astronauts.' Across America, we are reaching out, holding hands, finding comfort in one another.

The sacrifice of your loved ones has stirred the soul of our nation and, through the pain, our hearts have been opened to a profound truth - the future is not free, the story of all human progress is one of a struggle against all odds. We learned again that this America, which Abraham Lincoln called the last best hope of man on Earth, was built on heroism and noble sacrifice. It was built by men and women like our seven star voyagers, who answered a call beyond duty, who gave more than was expected or required, and who gave it with little thought to worldly reward.

We think back to the pioneers of an earlier century, and the sturdy souls who took their families and the belongings and set out into the frontier of the American West. Often, they met with terrible hardship. Along the Oregon Trail you can still see the grave markers of those who fell on the way. But grief only steeled them to the journey ahead.

Today, the frontier is space and the boundaries of human knowledge. Sometimes, when we reach for the stars, we fall short. But we must pick ourselves up again and press on despite the pain. Our nation is indeed fortunate that we can still draw on immense reservoirs of courage, character and fortitude - that we are still blessed with heroes like those of the space shuttle Challenger.

Dick Scobee knew that every launching of a space shuttle is a technological miracle. And he said, if something ever does go wrong, I hope that doesn't mean the end to the space shuttle program. Every family member I talked to asked specifically that we continue the program, that that is what their departed loved one would want above all else. We will not disappoint them.

Today, we promise Dick Scobee and his crew that their dream lives on; that the future they worked so hard to build will become reality. The dedicated men and women of NASA have lost seven members of their family. Still, they too, must forge ahead, with a space program that is effective, safe and efficient, but bold and committed.

Man will continue his conquest of space. To reach out for new goals and ever greater achievements - that is the way we shall commemorate our seven Challenger heroes.

Dick, Mike, Judy, El, Ron, Greg and Christa - your families and your country mourn your passing. We bid you goodbye. We will never forget you. For those who knew you well and loved you, the pain will be deep and enduring. A nation, too, will long feel the loss of her seven sons and daughters, her seven good friends. We can find consolation only in faith, for we know in our hearts that you who flew so high and so proud now make your home beyond the stars, safe in God's promise of eternal life.

May God bless you all and give you comfort in this difficult time.

[Monty22]

I was at school, in the 6th grade. I was in band practice and the school intercom came on 'The space shuttle exploded and all are believed perished'.

In my young mind, I thought he said 'All had parachuted' and I was thinking it was ok.

Later I knew the truth. And I remember my dad being so depressed that day.

It's amazing how Columbia barely affected us this time. 9/11 really changed Americans, for the far worse.

[Luis Gonzalez]

I was there.

[Indy Pendance]

I'm a cellist.

[Thane_Banquo]

Address to the nation on the Challenger disaster
Oval Office
January 28, 1986

A few hours after the disaster, this speech was delivered to the American people via nationwide radio and television.
648 words

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we've never lost an astronaut in flight; we've never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle; but they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.

For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, "Give me a challenge and I'll meet it with joy." They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.

We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle us. But for 25 years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

And I want to say something to the school children of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.

I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.

I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them: "Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it."

There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, "He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it." Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."

---

That closing line is probably the best ever in a presidential speech. I get chills whenever I hear it.

[Orangedog]

Me too. I was at work getting pictures of the towers burning that were emailed to me from co-workers who worked at our site in NYC a few blocks away.

[Monty22]

Reagan's speech that day left a lasting imprint. One of those things. You'll never forget it. The whole thing was.

I feel bad for today's kids that will be imprinted by 9/11, a scar from pure evil on them. At least our heroes died for a cause.

The poor kids of today are raised with far worse tragedy for no good reason. What a shame.

[Indy Pendance]

When I was little, the Apollo missions were the greatest. I remember the first walk on the moon, I was eleven. That was so cool. We, as kids all followed the space program, as an adult, the space shuttles were an extension, a reach further. This was real, and it hurt real too.

[Arkinsaw]

I worked for a candy company. We went out to the warehouse to listen to the radio. We had been out there about an hour and the boss came in with a customer, some old lady. He pinched up his face and walked up to us and cocked his head sideways like we were some sort of unidentifiable organisms. "Those people are dead, you've heard about it, its not going to change, so get back to work."

I said, "You are a slimy bastard you know.".

He fired me and I went home. As I drove along on the interstate there were already flags flying at half staff. I woke my roommate up and we watched the coverage. He was a big supporter of the program.

The next day of course the boss sent a flunky to my apartment. They did not know how to operate the computers. I told the guy that there was no way. The guy asked how much I would charge to come back for two weeks to train a replacement. Since I made about $5.00 or so an hour I said "$5000". The guy accepted. I wonder how high he was authorized to go.

Anyway, it is a day I won't ever forget. The sky was so blue and it was so cold and I felt righteous rage and terrible sadness.

Seeing the films of Christa McAuliffe's parents, not knowing what had just happened. Terrible.

[commish]

I was stationed at Beale AFB when Challenger Blew. I had arrived at Beale on Jan 6 after a tour at the Air Force Technical Applications Center at Patrick AFB, FL.

I had worked all the previous Shuttle Launches (we were one of the backup computer sites), and this was the first one I did not get to see live. Needless to say it is also the one I will never forget.

[KangarooJacqui]

Continuing blessings to you, Jacqui.

Thankyou. I seem to cry all the harder these days over events like this.

And...it's odd for me to hear the recollection of someone who was on the other side of the globe at that moment. Thanks.

It was odder still, for me, 17 years later, to be watching the disintegration of Columbia (the shuttle I had several scale models of as a kid) from snowy Connecticut. I felt like I'd lost a childhood friend when Columbia went... but that's a story for another thread.

Unforgettable...our generation's November 22, 1963.

It certainly was a loss of innocence. The first of many.

[Ohioan from Florida]

I was pregnant, too! Only my son was born in May. However, I worked in Dallas at the time at a research facility. The doctor in the lab across the hall from me was an astronaut, and had originally been scheduled to go on that flight until about 2 weeks before, when his mission got pulled and NASA decided to do the one with the teacher-in-space program, instead. Talk about shock! I will never forget it! He eventually did get to go to space several years later when the program started up again. God bless the souls of all the men and women of the Challenger, and of Columbia, too!

[The Duke]

I was working in the Space Defense industry in Colorado Springs when Challenger blew up, and in fact had just left Johnson Space Center where I had helped train the ill-fated crew on the SMS (Shuttle Mission Simulator). I even had (and have) the tee-shirt from that mission.

My buddies back at the Space Center all had deep suspicions that the launch was coerced by the Reagan White House, because that day happened to be the day of the State of the Union speech, and the speculation was that the shuttle (carrying a teacher on board) would make for a potent reference in the speech.

Sorry if I've offended any Reagan fans out there, but if they could talk 200 US Marines who dies in Beruit would testify that even "The Gipper" wasn't perfect.

[LisaMalia]

I remember it well...the night before actually. I couldn't sleep that night, thinking about Christa and her small children, and praying for her safely. There had been so much press about it, and you almost felt like you knew her. My kids were 3 and 7 at the time.
I was cleaning house when they broke in on tv. That was before most had cable, so the updates were sporadic. All I could think of as I watched the tragedy unfold was Christa's children. I just grabbed my baby boy and hugged him for dear life.

[KangarooJacqui]

One of my favorite things to draw back then was the Space Shuttle. I was eight when the Challenger exploded, and it certainly introduced harsh reality into my life. I didn't draw much after that.

Boy, do I relate to that! I was eight years old when Columbia was first launched in 1981. I don't think I drew anything else for months. By the way... do you do any drawing these days? (I do, although it's been years since I drew a space shuttle... heh.)

[Indy Pendance]

I remember it was a big deal to send Christa McAuliffe. She wasn't a trained astronaut, but, she was professional. I think it hit us all hard because she was a 'regular' person as us, and the shuttle blew up, with a teacher on board. That made it all the more tragic. I'm not suggesting the others weren't tragic, it was at this time, Christa was a 'celebrity' and was the media darling. You all have to remember, celebrities weren't as they are today. Still, all 7 were lost, and I'll never forget those images of their shuttle. What a day, what a memory, and God bless them.

[.38sw]

Nice to meet a fellow musician.

[Indy Pendance]

Wow. thanks for sharing that. Thanks!

[Kirkwood]

I can't believe it has been 18 years. It seems like it was just yesterday. I dedicated my doctoral dissertation to them.

[KangarooJacqui]

Wow. thanks for sharing that. Thanks!

Seconded, and duly bookmarked. Thankyou.

[Ohioan from Florida]

I was nine when they walked on the moon. Growing up in Central Florida, the Space program was always something my whole family paid attention to. Lots of times we could see the vapor trails after they launched. I thought I wanted to be an astronaut when I was little. It sounded so cool! When I went on my first roller coaster ride, I decided I didn't quite have the stomach for space travel.