Our responses to national tragedy

Marie5656

Marie5656

SF VIP
Location
Batavia, NY
My JFK thread got me thinking about our reactions to National Tragedy. It is what brings us together. I am interested in the fact that it is these occasions that we remember almost *exactly* where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news...along with JFK, I am thinking 9/11, the explosion of the space shuttle, Challenger. I can remember my dad saying it was the same for his generation when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and when the war ended.

As I posted in my thread, I still remember exactly what I was doing 54 years ago today. Right down to the film we were watching in school. It is interesting how memory works
 

I recall exactly where I was and what I was doing on April 19, 1995 on the day of the Oklahoma City bombing.

I was still working at the time and we were sitting outside and had just started our 9:00 a.m. break.....at exactly 9:02 a.m. we felt the ground shake and heard the explosion from over two miles away.

168 killed and 680 injured.

.okc.jpg
 
Tragedy and shared sacrifice does seem to draw the nation together and create a common bond or goal that seems to be missing during times of peace and tranquility.

It's too bad that we can't seem to harness that national energy and spirit of cooperation during good times.
 

I remember what I was doing on 911 when I saw the news on tv. I turned on the tv (was living with my Dad) and saw the jets fly into the towers. I thought it was a movie and just watched without much thought. Then I saw it repeated and the newscaster saying we were attacked. I thought we our country was under attack from a whole other country (not just Al Queda) and I went to the store and talked to some people about it. I was worried and didn't know what was going to happen next. I became quite upset needless to say.
 
I was utterly stunned by 911. Really didn't believe the U.S. so vulnerable to attack from outsiders. It was a wakeup call.
 
Because of the time zone difference I heard about 911 and also the death of Princess Diana on the radio while I was in bed. I watched the TV of the Twin Towers being attacked over and over. It is seared into my memory.

Another happier event that impacted me was the Apollo 11 moon landing. It filled me with awe and inexplicable joy.
 
Mrs Salt and I were in the dairy on her farm near Reading (GB) milking the Prize Jersey herd. The bird guano covered transistor radio blaring forth, when suddenly the music stopped and the announcer with gravitas said President Kennedy had been assassinated. Grim silence except for the pumping sound of the Alfa-Laval milking system.....
 

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