[el ess A]

That was half my life ago and I was in the Navy then. I was eating cube steak and mashed potatos at lunch on the living barge in the Portsmouth, NH Naval Shipyard (Kittery, Maine, actually) while our submarine was in overhaul. The TV was on and because that teacher was on board and she was fairly local, it was on all over the place. It started off routinely like just about every other shuttle launch went up to then. I remember saying "WTF?" when the trails split off. It was a couple of moments before it sank in as to what really happened.

I remember Reagan's speech on it later that night, and his way with words as to make you feel like the healing started. That man's communication ability to go straight to the average American was unequaled in my lifetime.