Posted on 01/28/2004 8:05:25 PM PST by 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.
After that, the Apollo fire, the Moon Landings, The fall of Saigon, the Challenger explosion, and Columbia...
My class was told that we were going to watch the launch but for some reason the cable to our school was out, and it was too cold for the teacher to let us go outside to see if we could see it from Springhill.
I think I knew something terrible was going to happen while I was watching the morning news before going to school that day, I can't explain it but it has happened a few other times when I see a picture or hear a voice, have a nightmare, or just a weird "what if" thought.
My teacher had told us months before hand that she had applied to go, and had made it past the first group but during the physical found out she was finally pregnant after years of trying. She was very upset when she told us, even though all of the teachers were told not to mention anything about it.
I can still see the image of it breaking apart, I guess it is because I watched tv from the moment I got home until late that night.
I remembered last night that it has been 18 years, I was thinking about all the things that have happened since then that has made an impact on me. It is a long list with September 11th at the top of course. (Not including deaths and births, ect in my family.)
Too bad I didn't become addicted to taping major news until the 90's...I've got hundreds of tapes of major stuff since 2000 alone.
I think this is the year I will watch my 9-11 tapes, several from that day, but mostly the days after.
I was too numb then to remember what the networks were saying and I think reviewing might be interesting.
Strange thing was the day before the mission was scrubbed becuse they could not close the shuttle door.
I remember the NASA technician pulling out a Makita drill driver and trying to fix that door.
The next day I thought they would never launch because it was so damned cold out.
I remember at the Kennedy visitors center people clapping as the shuttle blew up. They thought that was what it was supposed to do.
I remember yelling out "NO....NOOOO.....that's not right."
It then got real quiet.
Last year was the next time I watched a shuttle launch.
As it turned out...it was Columbia.
I could not believe the news as I heard it reported.
We have to accept these risks because this is Rocket science and things do go wrong from time to time.
But the advantages far outweigh the risk involved.
I was eight, too. I was either out of the country for a relative's funeral or on my way there, so I must have missed a lot of the news and President Reagan's speech. All I remember was that I was a little sad that a teacher had died. I still have a small bookmark I received later that year with "High Flight" printed on it.
Going through one of my desk drawers when visiting my parents' home a few weeks ago, I found a miniature shiny metal and plastic space shuttle pencil sharpener that my parents gave me when I was younger. Its tiny decals identified it as Columbia (and there were small American Flags screened on it), and it bears the year 1981 between the wheels. It reminded me especially of last year's Columbia crash, so I put it back in my old desk.
Anyway, I got somebody on the phone that day and started into my spiel, and she said "hey, did you know the Challenger just exploded on takeoff and everybody's been killed?"
I was devastated. The whole country was. I went home and watched the news. What a terrible day that was.
President Reagan was really the man of the hour. I've never regretted supporting that great man. Never once, unlike the Bush dynasty, but that's another story.
How time flies. 18 years. Wow. It seems like yesterday.
It sounds like its own punishment...I forgive you! : )
I called my family in Florida, and we all cried together.
Thanks for posting the rememberance.
On 51-L (the day before the fateful launch), a nutplate inside the hatch came loose, and the test setup couldn't be removed, since the nutplate just spun as they tried to back out the screw.
The closeout crew came up with "Plan B" - which was approved by engineering and management - but needed an electric drill to implement. (I'm guessing they were going to drill a small hole in the (non pressurized) aluminum skin of the hatch next to the nutplate, and stick a drill bit in there to stop it from spinning so they could remove the test setup.)
Back in those days, they didn't keep battery tools at the Pad after Pad Clear, and so the techs had to drive all the way back to the shop in the VAB to get what they needed. Suspense was building, since we were running out of hold time. The OTV cameras followed the tech van to the VAB and back again - probably a 20 minute round trip.
When the tech finally got back to the 195' level with the drill, the battery was dead. Everybody in the firing room was listening in on the command channel when the tech relayed that information, and a wave of incredulity washed through the firing room. "I can't believe it...", etc.
There was no time to go back for a fresh battery, and a 24 HR scrub/turnaround was declared.
Now they keep some tools out at the pad.
A little more from Luis Gonzalez's thread.
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