Remembering Challenger and ‘The Speech’

The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded this day in 1986. In a few years, my son will probably have to come home and ask us where we were when certain historical events happened. He and the kids in his class will not believe that their parents could remember exactly what they were doing last week let alone years and years ago.

I was in 7th grade and we were out of school that day because of snow. I was watching “The Price is Right” and putting my dishes in the sink after having a late breakfast of pancakes when the CBS Special Report flashed on. I watched TV all day after that.

I also remember one other part of that day.

Tonight is The State of the Union Address, which will most likely be another laundry list of things that won’t come to pass and one that few will remember. It’s difficult to remember the last SotU speech that actually had something both memorable and positive in it.

I do remember Reagan’s speech that day 21 years ago and that still-famous line:

We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and “slipped the surly bonds of Earth” to “touch the face of God.”

That speech was written by Peggy Noonan and certainly was a career-maker for her. As writers, we hope for even a single, inspired day like that. Regardless of what you think of Reagan, he knew how to deliver the words his speechwriters gave him.

The quoted pieces come from the poem “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. Magee died at the age of 19 in World War II. This is easily his most famous poem, though few outside the aviation world have ever heard of him.

Click the above link, scroll down, and read the entire poem. There’s a reason why it means something special to military aviators everywhere.