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January 28, 1986


willie-pete
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I was in Basic Training. We had a formation the next morning and were told about it. I didn’t actually see the footage of the explosion for almost four months. 

The following summer, I was in a televised memorial service that was held for the crew. I was one of the soldiers in dress blues holding the state & territorial flags lining the back of the ceremony. 

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I was in FRG on a nuclear weapons site, NATO23 in Nuremberg 

late evening there. One of the guard team that was off shift came into the Staff Duty/CQ and told us to turn on the tv in the day room. 

 

We had a full house in about 15 minutes.

 

damn shame, RIP all of them

 

.

Edited by Dric902
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1 hour ago, NWPA said:

Many,  many people weren't paying much attention as it was so routine.  I was one.

I watched every one I could, probably because I grew up around Cape Canaveral.

 

As a kid, every time we would hear the windows rattling, we always ran outside to watch a rocket go up. Sometimes they didn’t make it.

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I've told the tale many times here and on GT. I had just walked into the mess hall on Fort Meyer after performing a couple of full honor funerals in Arlington National Cemetery. I looked up and watched the lift off and explosion live as it happened. Not too much after that we were part of the internment ceremony in The Boneyard.

The World changed forever that day.

 

RIP

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5 hours ago, KWalrad said:

I've told the tale many times here and on GT. I had just walked into the mess hall on Fort Meyer after performing a couple of full honor funerals in Arlington National Cemetery. I looked up and watched the lift off and explosion live as it happened. Not too much after that we were part of the internment ceremony in The Boneyard.

The World changed forever that day.

 

RIP

Do you remember the memorial ceremony that TOG did that summer? Several companies were in on it, but I don’t remember if that included Alpha Company. My company was assigned to carry S&Ts. I think the ceremony was at the Jefferson Memorial, but it has been a long time. It was the first time that I did a ceremonial function that I knew was being televised. No one gave a crap about me in the back back holding a flag (I think I had Missouri), but I was nervous anyway. That was a hell of a unit to be stationed with. 

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5 hours ago, KWalrad said:

I've told the tale many times here and on GT. I had just walked into the mess hall on Fort Meyer after performing a couple of full honor funerals in Arlington National Cemetery. I looked up and watched the lift off and explosion live as it happened. Not too much after that we were part of the internment ceremony in The Boneyard.

The World changed forever that day.

 

RIP

BTW, I miss that mess hall. They fed us damned good there. 

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11 hours ago, Eric said:

BTW, I miss that mess hall. They fed us damned good there. 

That one was good, but for the best, I'd go with Bolling AFB. We used to race the clock during Spirit of America season to try to make it to their midnight breakfast. Those Air Force folk REALLY eat well!

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11 hours ago, Eric said:

Do you remember the memorial ceremony that TOG did that summer? Several companies were in on it, but I don’t remember if that included Alpha Company. My company was assigned to carry S&Ts. I think the ceremony was at the Jefferson Memorial, but it has been a long time. It was the first time that I did a ceremonial function that I knew was being televised. No one gave a crap about me in the back back holding a flag (I think I had Missouri), but I was nervous anyway. That was a hell of a unit to be stationed with. 

The summer of '86 was a busy one for us. We did the rededication of the Statue of Liberty over July 4th (very cool, got to meet John Denver, Johnny Cash, and Whitney Houston, plus best fireworks show I've ever seen.) We also took SoA out to San Francisco and Oakland as well as to Philly for a couple of weeks. Then we went to Canada and retreived the remains of soldiers that were recovered from the War of 1812. We escorted them back into New York and had a full honor service for them. The local VFW treated us like Kings...

Looking back, it's amazing how many experiences were crammed into such a short period of time. White House jobs standing next to Reagan, Bush 41's Inaugural parade, Air Assault School, NTC, Panama JOT... Never (hardly) a dull day.

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24 minutes ago, KWalrad said:

That one was good, but for the best, I'd go with Bolling AFB. We used to race the clock during Spirit of America season to try to make it to their midnight breakfast. Those Air Force folk REALLY eat well!

The Air Force always ate better.

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