From Excitement to Horror: Columbia's Last Flight Online (New York Times)

New York Times and Free Republic.Com | 9 Feb 03 | Tom Kuntz

[TLBSHOW]

btt

[TLBSHOW]

did you see this part in the top of the story?


WORD FOR WORD | FREEREPUBLIC.COM
From Excitement to Horror: Columbia's Last Flight Online
By TOM KUNTZ

[Registered]

Thank you and the others for representing us so well.

[leadpenny]

No, I didn't. Extra plug.

I plead ignorance. Would this be in the paper copy of the NYT?

[southernnorthcarolina]

Ideology aside, Free Republic is the place for breaking news. Many's the time I've heard a bulletin on the radio or TV, immediately logged on to FR, and noted the presence of multiple threads, each with dozens of comments and links to news sources -- whichever one happens to be fastest on a given story. That, for me, was the case with the Columbia disaster. No matter how tragic the news, you need it fast. In this case, one great benefit of Free Republic was its calming influence, in the quick dispelling of any concerns that this might be a terrorist attack.

More riviting still, of course, are those occasions when one is already logged on to Free Republic when news breaks. For me, an unforgettable moment was the Wellstone "Memorial," which I watched on TV while simultaneously FReeping. This board lit up like the Tokyo skyline at night, and posters and lurkers here realized the implications of that event HOURS before the national media started to "get it."

Good article by the Times. I hope it gets Free Republic a little well-deserved attention.

[TLBSHOW]

I am running out to get a copy just in case. By the time this is done every paper across the world will have written something about Your thread and Freerepublic and all super positive.....

[Northern Yankee]

Family smiling with debris?!!!

How utterly sad.

You folks who tracked this last week have my absolute admiration.

Thank you for doing such a professional job of tracking a piece of history.

I felt useless all week long not being able to do anything, until I had my class write letters of condolence to the Johnson Space Center. (I also had my first graders watch the memorial.)

It was the least I could do, and felt better about contributing something.

God Bless you guys!

[TLBSHOW]

ping

[BraveMan]

And for those of us almost past mid-life. :)

Never admit to that, especially to the children! They'll mistake it for a sign of weakness . . .             ; . )

[SeeRushToldU_So]

I get chills eveytime I re-read this post. I shared y'alls observations with my friends at work. It had the same effect on them.

Good job!

[leadpenny]

C-SPAN replayed the Houston Memorial Service yesterday and after watching and listening to President Bush, I felt even sadder and more comforted at the same time.

[Ligeia]

Nice work all around, leadpenny. I followed your thread that morning myself. Amazing composure by all posters considering the circumstances. It's nice to see FR get positive press; that we wish the subject were different is a given.

[Jael]

I know you wouldn't want any credit for that thread, but I just want to say thanks.

[Northern Yankee]

You and me both.

There were lots of screams to end the space program altogether this week. Too many risks.

We don't live in a perfect world.... that's what makes space travel so remarkable. These men and women know the risks before going up and go anyway.

Where would we be if we did not have these pioneers willing to go into the unknown, for the betterment of society?

My guess is that we would still be pounding rock, and wearing fur.

God bless those 7 brave souls, who will in the end, make all our lives so much better... and safer!

[Orange1998]

I was lurking the thread that morning before the tragedy. Later in the thread, I could feel the concern and was like a "deer in headlights" unable to add to the conversation. I even shared the comments with others that tragic day who wanted insight into what happen. The way the thread was written before and during the tragedy proves without a doubt "Free Republic is PURE AMERICAN". I think I will join the local chapter here in Houston. Thank you.

[leadpenny]

I think I will join the local chapter here in Houston.

By all means. I believe the Houston FReepers have an important FReep coming up.

[McGruff]

C-SPAN replayed the Houston Memorial Service

If they replay it again please contact me. There's a certain image I want to capture of Pres. Bush giving his handkerchief to that little boy..

[leadpenny]

Actually, it's in Austin, but join anyway.

FREEPERS JOINING CLINTON PROTEST AT UT-AUSTIN WEDNESDAY

[bert]

I was lurking at CPAC and read the thread, I learned there was high probability of failure. I went to one of the meetings where after 15 minutes or so an announcement was made.

I already knew that observant FReepers put the events spanning several states together in real time and made the correct assessment of the observed facts.

[leadpenny]

Hello, McGruff. What I saw yesterday was that President Bush handed it to the woman just to his left and quietly took it back after she had wiped her eyes. It was right before he went to the podium.