Posted on 02/03/2003 7:14:27 AM PST by Indy Pendance
Statement from the families of Columbia's crew, read by Evelyn Husband, wife of shuttle Cmdr. Rick Husband on NBC's "Today":
On January 16th we saw our loved ones launch into a brilliant cloud-free sky. Their hearts were full of enthusiasm, pride in country, faith in their God and a willingness to accept risk in the pursuit of knowledge - knowledge that might improve the quality of life for all mankind.
Columbia's 16-day mission of scientific discovery was a great success, cut short by mere minutes. Yet it will live on forever in our memories. We want to thank the NASA family and people from around the world for their incredible outpouring of love and support.
Although we grieve deeply, as do the families of Apollo I and Challenger before us, the bold exploration of space must go on. Once the root cause of this tragedy is found and corrected, the legacy of Columbia must carry on for the benefit of our children and yours.
On a side note. Laurel Clark was a classmate of mine (Horlick High School Class of '79). I have no recollection of her. Even seeing her yearbook pictures do not evoke a memory. How weird is that?
My prediction.....the Seals will make her an honorary memnber....
They chose to do this, they were highly paid and received lots of attention. No doubt, their families will receive substantial insurance benefits, and as little commercial insurance would be available, we as taxpayers pay their benefits. Then there will be the book deals.
I'm getting tired of the media gushing over this accident, and its victims endlessly.
I really feel sorrow for the poor son of a bitch that is squatting over his latrine in 10 degree Afganistan, or whereever the military assigns them, to get in constant harms' way 24/7, never knowing when its your turn to get hit.
Where's the media when the phone call is made to the family who just lost their provider; whose's wife just got home from shopping with food stamps; who will be kicked out of base housing because she's no longer a dependent.
Just move along, nothing to see here!
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 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.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
No. You're wrong. Yes, they KNEW what they were doing was dangerous, but doggone it.....life IS dangerous. Our kids (AND we adults) NEED heroes!!!!! What is wrong with that??? Come on, this is America. We do things different here. We're the (ok, this is gonna sound hokie)...Land of the Free, the Land of the Brave...I personally hope they get their answers, real fast-like, and MOVE FORWARD!
< /rant>
Grieving over the loss of these astronauts doesn't denigrate the sacrifice of the grunts. Your rant sounds suspiciously like "why spend money going to outer space when there are poor folks at home?"
The reason we revere these people is because they embody the boldness of the American spirit. It is for other countries to be cautious; it is for ours to be brave. And being picked to be in the astronaut training program is highly select. These folks (with the exception of Dr. Chawla) were all military to start out with, they were selected for this. These were the best and the brightest, and how you can fail to see the tragedy in their loss is beyond me. We grieve for them as individuals, but also for the loss of what they represent.
Ad astra per aspera.
I agree that astronauts had little commercial insurance - couldn't get it because of hazardous occupation.
Our grunts also cannot get insurance due to war exclusion provisions.
Astronauts are brave because they seek the hazards of their profession. Sometimes they lose!
Grunts are brave because they do what they do to keep us free and alive. Sometimes they lose.
Would my family be better off as the family of a dead grunt, or of an astronaut? Would my future be a lot better off as family of an astronaut, or a grunt.
As the wife of a grunt, do I get any special recognition for what my husband sacrificed his life for? Does the president of the United States console me?
As an astronaut's wife, am I forced to cry by myself, without the world calling me and my husband heroes? As a grunt, do I return from war to cheers, or to boo's? Yeah, I'm insensitive: So much so that the continuing thoughts of 9/11, and of the sacrifice that our military has made over the years, and today, and tomorrow, brings tears to my eyes because I am, and we are - free.
This isn't because some brave astronauts died; it's because all of our families have benefitted over 200 years for what we as a nation stand for, what we have sacrificed family members for.
I'm not equating spending money for exploring space or the depths of the ocean, with spending money for the poor folks at home.
I'm for recognizing human sacrifice for it's benefit to mankind, and America.
Gushing wall to wall media coverage about lost explorers, while basically ignoring our veterans after the six o'clock news is just wrong. Gawking at the 55 year old guys riding in their electric wheelchairs on the streets of America, with their limbs blown off, is not checking out some type of a freak show. They too wish that they wculd have died in some foreign jungle. Died for peace; for freedom; for the rest of us.
Sorry, I'm insensitive; the astronauts don't live up to that ideal
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.