History and "And You Were There"
 

In elementary school, a prominent newsman Walter Cronkite did an educational series on US history reenactments ending with "And You Were There."

I love history. I truly believe you have to know where you have come from to know where you are going.

Historic events have shaped the world we know today. Whether you are in Great Britain, Australia, Sweden, or the Americas, my question is Where were you when...

ok. I'll start. I hope you will join.

I am older but trust me, the wheel HAD BEEN INVENTED!!

JFK Assassination - I was in a lunch room, heading onto the playground when a boy ran in with the news. I did not believe him. When the riderless horse and the funeral procession were being televised, I was not happy because it preempted my favorite cartoon show.

9/11 - I was getting my kids ready for school. DH called and said I needed to turn on the news. DH was in Northern CA at the time and had a rental car. Since all the flights were grounded, he drove the car back to AZ.

There are so many more parts of history I remember. I will start with these two and see where we go from here.

What part of history do you remember?

Cool idea, Cyn!

12/15/66, I was in our family room in front of the TV, I was four years old and bawled my little heart out when the news lady said that Walt Disney had died.

When the Apollo landed on the moon, it was summer and I was 9, my whole family sat around the TV with a radio on listening and watching in total disbelief.

Did I do it right? Is there a prize? I was there when Disco hit the scene, does that count?

You did this EXACTLY RIGHT. There is a prize...my unending admiration. Ok, it is a booby prize. And re: disco. oohh John Travolta.

Probably not a biggie for Americans, but for us Aussies the English Royal family are important to us, and the event I remember most vividly was when Dianna, Princess of Wales was killed in Paris.

I was driving to work when I heard the announcement on the radio. I was so upset that I burst into tears and had to pull the car over to the side of the road. It was quite some time before I was composed enough to continue driving to work. That was so sad! :(

i remember that anne a friend on aol loved princess di so much i ended up talking to her on the phone the whole night

the first shuttle accident I was watching it on TV we had nasa channel back then, I was horrified

Bobby Kennedy...I remember that well, even though I was probably stoned at the time. I was a 'hippie' and lived that summer in Berkeley, CA. We were at a friend's house and happened to be watching him on TV. I remember I was so upset I wanted to go home to Iowa.

Kent State...I remember that all too well also. I was 20 at the time and very into protesting. I cried and cried when the National Guard? Army?, I can't remember now, gunned those students down.

April of 1968 and I was preparig to go to the 'protest capital' of the world, Berkeley/San Franciso. Martin Luther King was assassinated and I was with a group of friends when it happened. Again, probably high. And horrified.

August 1968 the Chicago 7 and that horrible, awful riot that happened outside the convention center, and where was I? Again, with friends watching on television, and probably...well, I was probably altered. :o

The late 60s/early 70s had a huge impact on my life for certain. Saw too much strife.

Although the highlight of the tumultuous summer in Berkeley was walking down Telegraph Avenue with my soon to be abusive husband and another couple, again...well, we were very altered...And there sat Jim Morrison at an outdoor coffee house and we stsopped and literally stared with our mouths open. He said, "You look like you could use coffee, have a seat." And we did! Don't think any of us spoke one word. :o

I was there when Di married Charles at St. Paul's Cathedral on July 29, 1981. . I lived in London then. It was a wonderful time with so much pageantry. we lined the streets to watch the procession and then saw the ceremony on telly at a friends place nearby, followed by a celebratory picnic on the banks of the River Thames . :)



I was in still a child in South Africa when JFK was assassinated.
We had no TV there in those days. Only radio. so that is how we got the news and then saw it on the Movietone(?sp?) news at the cinema



9/11 I was on the phone in the kitchen talking to a friend with the TV on in background. Her dh was a pilot. She suddenly gasped and asked me if I was watching CNN and I turned around to see the first Tower burning. Just then the 2nd plane hit:( I still recall how surreal it all seemed till the reality set in



and to end on a light hearted note...........
I was at the premier of Star Wars at Manns Chinese Theater in Hollywood on May 25th 1977:D
http://bestsmileys.com/scifi/18.gifhttp://bestsmileys.com/scifi/10.gif

I was not quite born when JFK was assasinated. Although I was more than a twinkle in my parents eyes and I am sure a mysterious lump in mom's stomach to my 5 older siblings.

9/11 - Getting the kids up and fed and ready for school. I never watch TV but for some reason I turned the TV on that morning.

I was skipping History class (of all classes lol) when Reagan got shot. I remember thinking, man, I'm in trouble now. LOL

I remember 9/11.....I had only been back to work for about a week since my DH's death and someone in the warehouse heard about it on the radio they had playing. He ran into the office and told us to turn on the TV we had in the conference room. I remember about 12 of us sitting around the conference room table watching in disbelief. I don't think we got much done that day. I can remember that I didn't want to go home that day...I just wanted to "be" with people.

On a happier note I, too, remember the Star Wars premier and sitting through the whole movie completely confused and not knowing what in the world the plot of the movie was!!! :o:p:D

August 28, 1963 - Sitting on my living room floor mesmerized by Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. With the exception of my father, MLK became my favorite person that day. :)

August, 1966 - MLK came to the south side, and I wanted my father to take me to see him in person. He said I was too young. I stayed home and watched the coverage on TV. I was stunned and horrified when my neighbors threw rocks at him. My father just shook his head in disgust at their behavior.

April 21, 1967 - My 9th birthday. A huge F4/5 tornado hit my neighborhood, killing 33 people and injuring hundreds. If it hadn't been my birthday, my father most likely would have also been killed - but he came home early that day. :)

April 4, 1968 - Woke up to the news that MLK had been assassinated. Over the days that followed, watching my city crumble and burn due to the riots. Some of those neighborhoods never recovered from their loss. :(

February 12, 1973 - Watching my VietNam POW "brother" Dan step off the plane after being released from the jungle. I wore a bracelet with his name and prayed my heart out night and day for the guy. I never even knew what he looked like until he stepped off that plane. I named my son after him. I'm wearing that bracelet again - until my son comes home from the desert. :(

August 28 is a very memorable day for me. In addition to MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, it was also the day a young boy named Emmett Til was beaten to death in 1955. His mother had an open-casket funeral. He's buried down the street from me. I wasn't around when it happened, but it was still a big deal around here. It caused a lot of anger.

August 28, 1990 - From an 18th floor window, I watched a huge tornado destroy a lot of land in Plainfield.

August 28, 1991 - After a five-year battle, my father died from cancer.

August 28, 1998 - I stood at my kitchen window that afternoon admiring a butterfly I had never seen before. It was perched on a brick outside and stayed there for the longest time. It looked like a Monarch, but the distribution of color was different.

That evening, news broke that Princess Diana had been killed in an auto accident. The next day, I went up to the library to find out the name of the butterfly I saw the day before. It was a "Diana." :cool: May she rest in peace.

I think this year on August 28th I'll stay in my room and not watch any TV. :p

sorry this is so long
 

9/11 whoa what do we all say, it was a nasty day thats for sure, i was late going to work and had heard about a plane hit the first tower and the radio wasnt sure as to what type and what extent and as i pulled into work the reporter shouted while doing his interview omg another plane just hit the other tower,

I walked into work told them turn off music and turn on news on radio they gave me a hard time i said do it we are being attacked, I knew that two planes was not an accident. needless to say we all freaked,

deb and my mom went and got all 5 boys out of school and stayed at her house. I was on tonys route that day, I use to do the same 5 different routes each week. about an hour in to the route a guy started saying its horrible the building is down, and as far I could comprehend, he meant facial structural damage not the whole building,

did not see another customer the whole day walking and were i delivered we are not real far from Ohare airport and it got quieter and quieter in the air, finished my route got home to my moms as fast as i could and as i walked in they were showing the second plane, going over that reporters head and into the building, my knees literally buckled and i went to my knees, I was in such shock,

I still had absolutely no idea of the extent of damage and it just floored me. the friendly gent who told me the buildings were gone, that concept hit home a few moments later when they showed it all,

debs cousin worked at the pentagon and it took about 3-5 days after it to find out she was ok, she took some time off and no one knew except her job, her and her boyfriend went camping and when they went to a nearby store for some more food provisions, they saw a newspaper and immediately called her family and friends to let them know what was up,

Ms will never take this memory away, all those innocent souls, 9/11 still gets to me, i burn a candle every 9/11 all day all night and my kids were told when i die they are to continue it, and i mean it, sorry to go on i didnt want to touch the 9/11 memory because i knew i would go on about it, it still touches me very deeply, what they did was a sin in any Gods eye.

One thing I remember well, from when I was little, is the Zodiac Killer (notorious from the San Francisco Bay Area).

Every morning and afternoon before boarding the school bus, it was "drilled" into us what we were supposed to do if we heard something similar to a tire blowing out.

Federal officers boarded our school buses, and took seats.

I don't remember how long that lasted, only that it was pretty freaky. I think that probably affects why I still have an aversion to public transportation.


It happened around the same time my uncle held his family hostage and 17 Sheriff's deputies surrounded his house; he refused to come out even after canisters of tear gas were used. He also refused to give up his weapons. Officers broke into the house, he spun around (with those guns) and they shot him. He died. And, I'll never forget the smell of tear gas.


911: I was asleep, and a friend woke me to tell me to turn on the "Today Show." The rest, we all know too well :(.

ok - I'll play...

JFK assasination - I was in Kindergarden. People just went crying for no apparent reason to me. His funeral - it must've been on a Saturday because I remember being upset because it preempted cartoons.

7/20/69 - The Tuesday Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper was as thick as a Sunday paper!!! I delivered 75 of those things. Who cares man landed on the moon! I still have a copy...

7/25/69 - The Sunday Plain Dealer weighed at least 20 pounds! I delivered 110 of them! Who cares if the first men on the moon splashed down. I still have a copy of that one too.

6/10/66 - Cleveland Indians' pitcher Sonny Siebert pitched a no hitter. Cleveland 2, Washington Senators 0. I was there...

9/11 - Sitting at my desk at work, boss sticks his head into my office and says a plane flew into 1 WTC. I said yeah right...

November 1983 - I was stationed in West Germany when we received the first batch of the Pershing II nuclear missiles - they replaced the Pershing 1A missiles. We could hit Moscow and most major soviet bases with the PII. The PIA could only hit bases in the satellite countries. Guess what? Cold war's over. It took a few years for the INF treaty, but deploying the PII ended the cold war. We had no idea at the time we were making history...

8/24/92 - stupid me tried to drive from Tampa FL to Miami FL that morning. I finally made it to Miami that evening. Have you ever tried to drive thru a hurricane? House destroyed. Hurricane Andrew.

Can y'all tell my vacation starts in 4 hours????

Tom

Feb. 1964-watching the Beatles on Sullivan Show...I was 8. Said "They're goofy." Dad said, "They're going to be real popular." Understatement if I ever heard one.

Apr. '68-MLK shot. I remember my dad saying, "America's going to burn." Why was he always right?

Dec. 8, 1980-The night John Lennon was killed. Weirdly, it changed my life. I hadn't even bought his and Yoko's album, but his death did something to me. I read all the interviews he'd done right before his death, and it opened my mind up to reading many things that made me think about reality and why we're here. Began photography, writing, exploring New Age thinking.

9/11-DH called, told me, "Planes just crashed into the WTC." I got up and watched, horrified. Woke my DS (he was 21 at the time) up; I couldn't be alone. When the south tower fell, I collapsed in his arms, and said, "I'm so sorry I brought you into such an evil world." DD called from high school, crying and worried about her dad, who worked near the Sears Tower. She'd heard that it was about to be hit. I told her not to worry, they evacuated the downtown Chicago area. DH said it was eery down there. That day felt like Armageddon...I think about those souls who were stuck up above the impacted areas...and those who felt it was better to die jumping than to die up there...prayers for them...

All my historical memories seem to be sad, so I'll add a happy one....

Summer, 1975 - Pink Floyd concert in Milwaukee, WI. We arrived early, and it was a hot day. It later raned hard during the concert, but it felt good. As the rain let up and they were finishing "Dark Side of the Moon," the clouds parted. Out popped a beautiful full moon just above the stadium. There was a collective hush in the crowd - we all felt blessed, and baptised. :D

How could I forget those. Well, I haven't but they really hit me hard. LOL the Sullivan show, my best friend and I were watching it on our tiny black and white TV and we were both crying our heads off, just like the rest of the crazy fans. I was instantly in love with John Lennon while I watched all the girls around me fainting over Paul.

December 8. :( Yes, my hero died. My then little girl was sleeping in bed with me. I was 30 something and going to college and was laying in bed reading a text and had the Saturday Night Live show on. When they broke in with the news about Lennon...well, I mourned for a long time. I'll never forget the worldwide candlelight vigil and moments of silence that one night in his memory. Both my daughter and I sat in a dark living room with candles lit respecting the moments of silence. Sigh. I do think his death was a huge loss for humanity. I can just see him now! I believe he would still be an inspiration.

1962 when JFK was assasinated, I was in Chemistry Class in my Roman Catholic High School.

We were all girls sitting in the glass. I was 14 years old. The principal made an announcement over the loudspeaker.

I remember her words exactly.

She interrupted the lesson and said "Girls, we have just been informed that the President of the United States has been shot. He is not dead. He is still alive (Never forgot those words).

"We are shutting down the school out of respect and you all will be dismissed"

I remember no one hooped or hollared because we were getting the rest of the day off from school, but we all looked at each other and said "wow, we get to go home???"

I went home and put on the tv. Everybody was quiet. No funeral procession yet because it was too soon. It was all over the tv for weeks.


Now on 9/11 I will NEVER FORGET THAT DAY because my friends 25 year old son was painting the roof of the World Trade Center (Building 2) and he was on the job for only one week. His friends were able to get off the roof.

That morning, Alan and I went to Columbus breakfast diner for our usual morning breakfast. Alan drove at the time. Before his neuropathy got the better of him.

We were sitting eating our breakfast when one of the staff member said "Look everybody, there's a plane that crashed in the World Trade Center."

We all got up from our seats and walked over to the tv that was mounted on the wall. We all looked. This was after the first plane crashed and BEFORE the second plane crashed. Someone said "how stupid is the pilot that doesn't see the World Trade Center???"

So we all forgot our breakfasts at our tables, and we continued to watch.

Then the second plane crashed into it. Not one person ever thought of terrorism. Someone said 'oh my god, another pilot did the same thing".

We sat down again, finished up and drove home. Alan had an acupuncturist appointment at Coney Island Hospital for 11 a.m. that day.

We go home and I phoned Coney Island Hospital. We were still not sure what went on. The tv had all the news but still, no one said terrorism.

The people at Coney Island Hospital said 'we are still keeping all appointment, please come in"

Alan and I hop in our car and we drive over the Belt Parkway to get to Coney Island Hospital. We look up in the sky and we see this pillar of smoke, or whatever it was. We did not know it was the debris from the explosion. We really didn't know what it was. Alan said 'wow, look at that".

We get to the hospital and there's police everywhere. There are guards in front of guards. We try to enter the hospital and a police officer says "Where do you think you are going?" We said "to our acupuncturist appointment on the 3rd floor".

The Police Officer said "are you for real, we are at Red Alert, you are not going anywhere"

I said "what do you mean we are at Red Alert", what the heck does that mean??

She said 'It means we are at war". I said 'WHAT???"

We got in our car and went home and watched tv.

The next morning, when we walked out of our home, every single car, every single windowsill, everybody's property was FILLED WITH WHITE DUST.

I yelled to my landlord "go inside and close the windows, you don't want to inhale any of this".

Everybody was washing the cars down. All of Brooklyn was like this.

So that's what I remember from 9/11.

Sad day. Lots of my friends in my neighborhood, lost their sons and daughters.

jfk - got home from school and dad was watching the news on tv.

1st shuttle explosion - my youngest son was a baby I was feeding him and it came on tv , the rest of the day I just held him and cried a lot

9/11 - at work many of us had radios, friend said "a plane crashed into some buildings in NY" I was thinking a small plane , not a airliner LOL.
then everyone turned up their radios to the same channel and everywhere we went we could hear it all unfolding.
not too much work got done that day.. management set up some TVs in the cafeteria too.

Wow Melody. What an experience for you on 9/11.

Heh, you were in chemistry class and I was in home ec class and 13 yrs old. I don't remember the exact words, but I do remember the teacher was in tears when she made the announcement about JFK and my whole class was in tears. And they let us go as well. I walked home to find my mom in tears in front of the television set.

International Politics
 

The year is early 1979 and I am 24 years old. The Allatollah Khomeini comes into power in Iran. In the televised streets people are carrying signs bearing Khomeini's picture. He looked like evil personified.

During that time I went to a bar with girlfriends. I am talking to a young man my age and he is from Iran. He is talking about his support of the new leadership. He is saying how he hates America. After a heated debate, I moved on but never forgot the exchange.

on the international political stage the most memorable day for me in South Africa was February 11, 1990, when Nelson Mandela was finally released from 27 years imprisonment. I had been only 12yo when he was imprisoned in 1964, sentenced to spend his life on Robben Island, in view of beautiful Cape Town. http://www.robben-island.org.za/

His release in 1990 was broadcast live on TV (television had finally been introduced in the 1970s, after being previously banned because the ruling govt had declared it subversive)

anyway, watching this gracious man enter his freedom with such dignity and lack of wrath and vengeance at the injustice was deeply moving to me.

August 8, 1974, I was not quite 12 and we had just returned from a family road trip. I did not understand what we were watching but Nixon resigned his office of POTUS and all I remember thinking is that I was glad because he always looked angry to me.

Later, I was thrilled that Gerald Ford put a swimming pool in the Whitehouse. His tomb is nearby and I still haven't visited it.:o

Know what I just remembered??.

When the Challenger exploded, I was at work. Everybody was called into the boss's office and we all saw Christa McCauliff's mother looking upward and they kept showing this clip over and over.

Saddest thing I ever saw.

Cannot believe it was ALL THOSE YEARS AGO.

In prep. for an upcoming cardiology appt., I've had to note the causes of death of relatives; he wants to know how they died. (What a happy thought. Not.) Anyway, in doing as he asked, I came across a news article about the fatal shooting of my uncle. Because I don't want to advertise his name, or those of innocent relatives, I gave the ugly news a bit of "artistic" embellishment.

I had referenced his death earlier:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post325389-13.html

9/11: I turned on the TV just as the first tower fell. I couldn't believe my eyes. I had jury duty that day. I ripped myself away from the TV to check in at the court house. We were on the 5th floor. Confusion was everywhere...and this as far away as you can get except Hawaii.

After we all filtered into the courtroom for jury picking....an aide came in to the Judge. The Judge announced that there were 'Unknown Planes' in the skies heading toward Anchorage. We were evacuated. Scared the hell outta me. We were in one of the taller buildings of the city. Going down the stairs that day I kept thinking about all the people in NYC who had done the same....

We have fly in services for people who want to experiance the bush. These people were left in the wilderness without any form of communications. Around day 5 solo flights went out and dropped newspapers to those on the ground so they would know why they were not being picked up (Planes were grounded).

Never forget.

Late 60s - I was at a friend's house, taking a break from playing outside and watching TV. A news flash comes on the screen showing the police pushing a man in handcuffs into a police car, announcing "Jimmy the Bomber" (Mafia) had been caught. My friend says "Hey, that's my GRANDPA - MOM, GRANDPA'S ON TV!!!!" :eek:

Her mom came running into the room and said "You kids go out and play - NOW!" :eek::mad:

My friend moved away, but I thought of her years later in 1978 when her grandfather was "officially retired" in the same manner as "Sonny" from "The Godfather." The front page of the newspaper showed his Cadillac riddled with bullets. :eek: I felt bad for my friend because she really loved her grandfather. :(

The Silamar earthquake in the early 1970's.
We lived in a second floor apartment, and during the quake, while I was in the kitchen, the floor opened up and you could see the crack widen across the entire complex. It was surreal.


The Northridge earthquake...Oye Vey...
I ran out of my university office to get out of the building during the quake, and was tossed from one side of the 12'-waide hallway to the other side several times as I was running/stumbling out of the building......only to get outside and watch concrete start to break off of the buildling and fall around us. I just stood there like a deer in the headlights...like an idiot.


9/11 - 9/15:
The absence of commercial air traffic still leaves me with some odd memories. And, the constant F-16 CAPS left so much uncertainty that I will never forget it.


9/16/2001:
The sight of an MD-11 on final approach to Ontario International Airport with two F-16's flanking it all the way to the tarmac and two more F-16's about 1 mile in tow. It was the first commercial aircraft that I saw since 9/11, and I can still see it hanging in the air on final approach. The event actually stopped traffic completely on a major California freeway.

I remember that......she didn't know what was happening at the time (nobody watching did) but you could tell by her expression that she knew it wasn't good.

I cannot imagine anything more horrible than watching in slow motion as your child dies.....:(

me too Melody....its not something Ill soon forget:(

I just remembered something very interesting. Before John F. Kennedy became President of the United States, he was a senator and he came to Brooklyn NY to campaign and shake everyone's hands. I was in front of my school and my church (with a big crowd). I got a good look at this young guy (JFK), smiling and reaching for everyone's hand. I put my hand up and I shook his hand.

Holy Cow!!! I actually shook JFK's hand while he was campaigning. I'll never forget that one!!!

the loss of the crew of space shuttle Columbia on Feb 1st 2003 is something I remember well. because we live about 50 miles due west of the Space Coast here in flat Florida, we go in the backyard to watch the shuttles take off (spectacular!)
We experience the sonic booms at re-entry too:eek:

when Columbia was sheduled to return, I was helping as a judge for a large State debate tournament that my son's school had entered, and all judges used the media center of the school where tournament was being held as our rec room in between judging rounds. Anyway, they had the overhead TVs on for us to watch the landing and I remember the shock and grief in the room when the reality of what was happening became so horribly clear:(

It was decided to let the tournament finish, but word soon began to spread amongst the kids too.

One of the youth pastors at our church is a KSC engineer and he had to go to Texas for long stretches at a time afterward, when the search for remnants of the shuttle was ongoing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_S...umbia_disaster

on a happier note I do remember watching the launch of the first shuttle to go back up after the tragedy -- Discovery on July 26 2005 -- and as the fireball in the sky turned into that trail of smoke as they soared out of view, I was praying for their safety, and remembering those on Columbia and their families who must have had such mixed emotions that day:grouphug:

Olympics
 

In honor of the upcoming Olympics being held in China:

1. The Tank Man of Tiananmen Square 1989 - This is of the brave student that brought a line of tanks to a halt. Just as brave was the driver of the tank that did not want to run him over.

2. Nadia Komenich 1976 - She was the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 in the Olympics. I was in awe.

3. Massacre of Israeli athletes 1972 - This was disgusting. The subsequent events were equally loathsome.

4. Greg Louganis 1988 - He really banged his head on the board during that dive.

5. Mary Lou Retton 1984 - I remember her horse vault on just one leg. I think that is being replayed right now.

6. Mark Spitz 1972 - I remember he won 5 gold medals in swimming. There was a pin-up poster of his in his bathing suit wearing all the gold medals.

Olympic coverage is no where near as good as it used to be. Seems like on US channels, only our athletes are covered, ad nauseum. There are so many interesting competitions, rifle shooting and trampoline jumping. I care more about the actual trials than at length biographies of only our athletes.

No matter who wins the gold, I want to see that!

I remember John Glenn orbiting the Earth on February 20, 1962, on the Mercury Atlas mission... I was six... I remember the splashdown, and the tickertape parade.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Glenn

November 25, 1963 - the funeral of John F. Kennedy... I remember crying, not for the President, (although he was very important to our family and parish, being the first Catholic president) I was crying for Caroline, who was the same age as me, and had lost her daddy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_f...ohn_F._Kennedy

I had the hardest time wrapping my child's mind around death, and started sleeping with the light on, and being afraid of the dark, and worrying about losing my dad whenever he was late getting home.

I remember the Be-In at Golden Gate Park on January 14, 1967... I was ten, and my father took our whole family to a picnic in GG Park that day. I remember the clowns, and the hippies, and the swirly skirts and the long hair, and the beginning of the Summer of Love in the Haight Ashbury... our dad took us for walks around the block in San Francisco, and we got bead necklaces and feathers, and learned to make a Peace Sign.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_of_Love

a few years later, when the Catholic Church added a Peace part to the regular mass, we six kids would flash each other the hippie peace sign, instead of the usual hand shake.

The priest would say a prayer and end with the words of Jesus saying "I leave you peace, my peace I give you. Now let us all offer one another the sign of peace."

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...u_entered.html

I remember the day Nixon resigned with extraordinary vividness... it was August 8, 1974, and I had just turned 17... I remember being VERY glad:

"By taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the start of the process of healing which is so desperately needed in America."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...s/080974-3.htm

now, if only the current crop of criminals would be so kind as to repeat that favor.

:D:p:D

November 9th, 1989: The fall of the Berlin wall on every television channel. I was so impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of that crowd as they knocked it down. We have a piece of it here in Grand Rapids and it's easy to stare at it and imagine all the historical meaning involved in it.

Cyn, this thread has motivated me! I'm going to take a ride into the city today and finally go see Gerald Ford's tomb. I remember wondering why the odd landscape at the new museum, now I know that it was pre-planned to become his final resting place.


Quite true, Vic, quite true. I'm currently reading The Fourth Turning by Strauss and Howe and it is fascinating. These guys have documented the ebb and flow of historical trends to the Nth degree and it is a very impressive analysis of world cycles. I recommend it not as a prophecy, but as a way to broaden horizons within one's own mind.

They have published a follow-up, Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation and that is my next book choice.

Victor,
Pearl Jam had a song with a line that went something along the thought "When you don't learn from history you're doomed to repeat it" (I can't remember the exact words...I know you all understand:rolleyes:)

It's frightening in one aspect...it's all a house of cards, and there's an ill wind blowing. The other aspect is, we're all going to sink together, 'cause there are NO lifeboats for us regular people. Que sera sera...

Who'd want to be president with this catastrophe coming? :(:(

LOL, did they know George Santayana?:D

as someone has called moi, "Phony Phwench Man" which is totally true...LOL

My American History didn't start until I was 10.

The next few years, I was too busy in the ESL and trying to fit in and getting dx with what was wrong with me...

I couldn't walk when I was around the age of fourteen and basically stayed in my room/hospital most of the year that year...

so when Lennon died and Reagan got shot, I was not clueless but didn't cared...

I learned to love the Beatles much later and learned to love Lennon. But it was when George Harrison died that it broke my heart. He was my favorite Beatle, still is...

the day the Challenger launched, we were in class. My best friend James was one of the few kids that owned a VCR at the time, he taped it. When we heard about it in school, we were all in shock. I went to his house after school and hung out with him the rest of the day. We took his parents VCR and we taped and looped the event over and over. He was an electronics genius and he dubbed over some of it with a tribute...I remember we sat there and watched it over and over again. Seeing her mom baffled image over and over again...it STAMPED deep into our hearts...

few weeks later, he and I found some carvings of someone saying that he would shoot himself. We didn't take it seriously cause he was very popular....that night, he shot himself....

gun control became a very heated debate in our school the rest of that year...(please do NOT let this become a subject of debate and respect the original poster's intention: memory sharing and where we were in in our own history when it happened. :) )

We felt awful after we found out. Depression and suicde was taboo-ed back then(still are to some degree this day) and we both changed that day, I think...we never really talked about it afterwards and it wasn't until a couple of years ago, I confided in Alffe in private about it....and finally some weeks ago, I finally posted about it in the SOS forum....

space shuttle Columbia on Feb 1st 2003, da wife and I were still just friends. We went to Wisconsin to honor an old friend's wish who'd just passed away. We took her son, "D", and grandson, Eli, up to Egg Harbor and we were in the Comfort Inn hotel and we saw Columbia on the news. I remember just watching da wife, "D", and Eli, who was barely 1 year old. The expressions of "D" and his reactions somehow transferred to Eli and he started to fidget...I went to get him and as I held him, his sweet face contrasted greatly with that from the adults. His was the face of sweetness and innocence...while the adults were those of shocked and pain and uncertainty...


the day of 9-11, I had my b-10 tumor (it was better than a benign) removed that morning and I went home. When I woke up, I was still pretty drugged up and when I turned the TV on, I had thought it was a television show or something. It was when an actual news caster that reported when I realized that it was real...

in my groggy state, I called my mom...she confirmed it...

I remember that my heart sank deeply while I felt tremendous guilt cause earlier that morning, I was just worried about how my tumor was going to affect me and how I was going to be in pain the next few days and I was whine-whine-whining...

it still feels surreal as I am typing this out...

Tiananmen Square and Berlin wall were such contradictions for me that year...on one side, we have people that were being walled up, on the other side, people were tearing the wall down...

a few of my relatives, mostly scholars, were either hurt or killed at the square...I have never met any of them. Only know that I was related to them.

During the beginning of the last Dynasty of China (Qing, in case some were wondering) , scholars were persecuted as well as prosecuted. They had a mini cultural revolution which once again, killed some of my ancestors cause they were outspoken scholars...

during the communist China, once again, some of my erudite ancestors/relatives were challenged/jailed/or killed...

when I was young, I remember that my parents were always telling me I shouldn't say this or that cause they can end up in jail just because of something that I could've said...

anyways, I am really digressing here....

I am proud to be an American these days. :) (and to sooth those minds that were wondering, we have cats, but they are ALL safe...;) )

Wow, Moi, what can I say? You come from good stock. Brave people, your ancestors & relatives. :hug: And you too!