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.
It continues to hurt to this day.
The most bitter memory I recall is the headline of the previous day.......WHEN IS THIS TURKEY GOING TO FLY......that from our vaunted media who were annoyed that the mission had been scrapped several times.
I was there also.
A coworker and I were running a tracking telescope located between Launch Complex 40 and 41. I had only hired on two weeks prior and this was the first mission I worked.
I was freezing that day. I had on every piece of clothing I owned, including quilted hunting coveralls. I couldn't believe they would launch.
My buddy was "in the seat" actually tracking the bird and I was monitoring computer and video recording equipment while sticking my head outside the dome to watch the launch.
Our RTLS (Return To Launch Site) contingency plan was to track the orbiter and we searched in vain for an intact bird. We tracked pieces to the sea while our computer and video recorded azimuth information.
We spotted a parachute at one point. My hopes went up until I remembered that the crew did not have chutes. My mind, in shock from the event, started thinking that maybe "we knew something would happen" and "we had given the crew parachutes"....amazing what goes through your head at a time like that.
Anyway the chute was from the SRB's and we tracked it and radioed in the azimuth readings at the point we lost it on the horizon. We saw another one later and tracked it.
We were still tracking debris falling 45 minutes after it happened when we were ordered to cease and get our data and video tapes back.
I felt impotent. I wanted to help with the rescue or something. I didn't want to go home but I did and my wife and I hugged each other for a long time, just thankful to be alive.
It was a bad day.
It was the dawning of a new decade,
We got our first microwave,
Dad broke down and finally shaved them old sideburns off.
I took the stickers off a-my Rubik's cube.
Watched MTV all afternoon.
My first love was Daisy Duke in them cut-off jeans.
Space shuttle fell out of the sky.
And the whole world cried.
It was a day I will never forget.
I promissed my parents I would drive them up to see the launch. We were disapointed that the lauch was scrubbed the day before. We were at the cape and when it was scrubbed due to that door, the announcement was made that the launch would be the next day.
We got up around 4 am the next day so we would not miss the launch. We got to the visitors center at 5:30 and already a large crowd was gathering.
Everybody was wearing winter clothing because of the cold. We saw on the video monitors in the visitors center all the icecicles on the vehicle and nobody thought they would launch. Even the employees at the center thougth no-way. I wish we all would have been right and there was no launch.
I'll never forget the looks on all our faces after the explosion. The announcers voice over the PA was giving us no hope of survivors. There was a lot of crying and yelling in the crowd. What else could we do.
It was the most helpless feeling I've ever experienced.
Time to figure out what parts of the moonbase are going to be named after them, the '03 crew and the Apollo One crew.
Oh my, that's wonderful!
space.com
Holy cow, isn't that a little young? Where did you guys go on your honeymoon, Chuckie Cheeses?? :-)
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