Were were you...

[AZHUNTERR]

i was at work heard it on the radio when i got home watched on t v

 

[jkhunterid]

I was in the barracks dayroom on Fairchild AFB

 

[Elkhunter]

I was on my way to work when I heard it on the radio.

 

[AZ402]

guppie9, I was in 7th grade at Cottonwood Jr. high in AZ...

 

[TheTone]

I would have been in Kindergarten, yikes. I don't actually remember watching it or hearing it on the news at the time though.

 

[2fastnaz]

Shop 41-A SIMA SanDiego. Freaked me out a little bit, just the day before we (the guys in my shop with me) had heard on the radio about how agressive the US was going to be about manned space missions with the shuttle being the greatest thing since sliced bread and how many flights they had schedualed. I made a smart ass remark like "yeah till they blow one of the sumbitches up".

Then the next day on the same radio we hear it went boom.

 

[tnctcb]

if it is a clear day you can see the shuttle take off from where i live. i was on the highschool football field watching it and saw it go from a streak of flame to a ball of fire. we didnt know what happened until later that day.

 

[point man]

I was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Ca. at the time. I can't recall if I was at home or in the barracks though.

 

[JohnSWA]

I was at Edwards AFB working on my F-4 Phantom, when my favorite pilot (Major Ferris) asked my partner and I if we heard about the shuttle accident. He invited us into the flight ops break room ( a big no-no for officers to invite the enlisted ) to see the breaking story on the news. It was a very sad day at Edwards. The shuttle was landing at Edwards routinely at that time. You wouldn't believe the sonic booms we heard as it was nearing its landing.

The saddest part of this whole story is that the very next day Major Ferris went down in an F-4C. Apparently the Liquid oxygen bottle exploded inside the aircraft and took out the hydraulic system which powers the flight controls. Major Ferris was riding in the the back seat of the aircraft just above the lox bottle. This explosion also destroyed the ejection system in the back seat where the front seater was able to eject safely where as Major Ferris had to ride the aircraft into the ground.

That was the saddest day of my Air Force career. Major Ferris was the greatest guy to wear a pair of wings. He didn't give a damn about the "no fraternization (sp) with enlisted men" rule and was always there to lend a hand either in the weight room or on the flight line.

Rest in peace Challenger Crew and Major Ferris. You will never be forgotten.

 

[300wsm]

was at the Marine Barracks in Guam

 

[Ridge Runner]

Was on my way to work at the 680, 24 interchange listening to the radio when they broadcast it.

 

[Tuffbucker]

I was 8. I was in 3rd grade, and watched it all happen on TV while in class.

SCOTT

 

[MarvB]

Standing in a hospital room watching the whole thing play out as my Pops was recovering from a heart cath....what a thing to wake up to for him!

 

[JLG]

I was sitting in a training class. I had just been hired at Merril Lynch Realty, JLG.

 

[Nemont]

I was in basic training standing in line to be issued my TA-50 in Fort Leonardwood, MO. One of the DI's told us about it and then allowed us to watch it on TV for half an hour before resuming chewing our asses.

Nemont

 

[schmalts]

At work, i was working as a tool grinder and our boss told all of us.

 

[BigHornRam]

Soph. in college at UW-Madison.