[Chemist_Geek]

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of- wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never Lark, or even Eagle flew -
And while with silent lifting mind, I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

[B-Chan]

I was swabbing the after mess deck on board USS ENTERPRISE when it happened. It was still dark outside in Hawaii (we were inbound to Pearl Harbor) when the news came down from a guy I knew up in the radio shack. I ran up the ladder and stood there (still in my apron) with the officers and men of the TV/Radio studio as we watched the satellite feed from AFTN showing the explosion over and over again.