That was a good day for me. I was in the Navy and the ship was out to sea, but I was home re-finishing a dining table. The Columbia disaster is more personal to me because it broke up over our heads and rained down thousands of pieces. We were fortunate to have such a clear day so that we knew what happened.
I was working at an Oldsmobile dealership at the time, watching the live broadcast of the takeoff on the TV in the service waiting room. At first, many of us thought the explosion was actually a premature separation of the shuttle from the rocket. Wasn't long afterward that we realized history had just unfolded before our eyes.
I was working a couple of blocks from Johnson Space Center when it happened. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the memorial service a few days later at JSC. President and Nancy Reagan were very gracious with their comforting words to the families of the deceased.
Twenty Years Ago, Today
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