Where were you when...

[Zebo]

Elvis dead was most memorable to me. I was like 5 and loved him. Even dressed like him. Had a rinestone leather jacket, combed my hair like his etc..totally devastated me.

 

[spittledip]

Not sure about Reagan..

I was home from school sick watching TV when Challenger exploded.

9/11 (my birthday) I was at my internship site in a group session.

 

[ProfJohn]

I don't remember Elvis dying, would have been 7, but I remember how every town had a funeral procession for him and remember when the one in our little town passed by.

The Beirut bombing stick out in my mind because I was in a military family. I remember hearing about it and then walking to school and telling a friend about all the people who died and he replied "so?"

Challenger: was home skipping school and missed it live, but watched the rest of the coverage.

Columbine: perhaps the most amazing news event I have ever watched live. (I missed most of 9-11 due to stupid meeting that they did not cancel)

Remember learning about TWA 800, Princess Di and a whole bunch of other news events via online chats.

The biggest "Holy shit!" moment for me had to be turning on the TV and learning that they had found Elizabeth Smart alive. That is probably the best happy news story I remember since so many of these events are based on bad news.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I remember sitting on my couch in Minneapolis in the summer of 1975 and reading about the death of Haile Selassie on page 4 of the 'C' section while a human interest story with a picture of a puppy was on the front page. That event became the catalyst for my leaving the State in search of an America I believed in but had never experienced within our own borders. Thirty five years later and I'm still searching.

 

[BoomerD]

1) I was at work on a gold mine construction project outside of Ely, Nevada.

2) At work on the Exxon gas plant outside LaBarge, Wyoming.

3) Driving to work on a gas compressor project outside Lodi, Ca.

Others...

Winston Churchill dies...I was in the 5th grade. One of my teachers was a British WWII vet...and it was a HUGE deal in his classroom.

JFK assassination...home sick from school. 3rd grade in Springfield, Mass.

MLK Jr. Assassination...home doing school work. 8th grade

RFK assassination...I was delivering newspapers the following morning when I read about it. Spokane, WA.

First moon landing...Staying with relatives in Kankakee IL.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I remember the Prince Charles and Lady Di wedding and thinking to myself: "Who cares about these people?" I was 10 or 11.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

The Beirut bombing stick out in my mind because I was in a military family. I remember hearing about it and then walking to school and telling a friend about all the people who died and he replied "so?"

I was off the coast of Beirut when this happened. I help load the body bags into CH-46 Helo to be transported out to the Aircraft Carrier.

 

[NoCreativity]

I don't remember Elvis dying, would have been 7, but I remember how every town had a funeral procession for him and remember when the one in our little town passed by.

The Beirut bombing stick out in my mind because I was in a military family. I remember hearing about it and then walking to school and telling a friend about all the people who died and he replied "so?"

Challenger: was home skipping school and missed it live, but watched the rest of the coverage.

Columbine: perhaps the most amazing news event I have ever watched live. (I missed most of 9-11 due to stupid meeting that they did not cancel)

Remember learning about TWA 800, Princess Di and a whole bunch of other news events via online chats.

The biggest "Holy shit!" moment for me had to be turning on the TV and learning that they had found Elizabeth Smart alive. That is probably the best happy news story I remember since so many of these events are based on bad news.

Forgot about this one. Was in school when I learned one of my friends parents were on the flight.

 

[Kanalua]

1: Reagan v. Hinkley: I was four (just turned a few days earlier). I was probably with my mother in our house in Makakilo.

2: I was in school, at Mauka Lani Elementary School. I was eight, just about to turn nine. All of our 3rd grade classes (there was three of them) were watching the launch live on TV (the teacher on board, and Ellison Onizuka is from Hawaii). When the shuttle exploded, all of us kids thought it was cool...explosion! I remember the teachers crying...then we stayed in the same room and parents started coming to pick kids up.

3. I was in College and I was asleep. My Grandfather calls and wakes me up (he NEVER calls, or has any contact with me). He asks if I'm watching TV (no) and tells me America is under attack. I turn on the TV just in time to see the second tower fall.

- When Lady Di died, I was living in Belfast, Northern Ireland, living in a protestant neighborhood (Old Park). Everyone was in shock. When they had the funeral, everyone got dressed in their sunday best to watch the funeral on TV. It was surreal, everyone was mourning, and cursing the Queen. The place was a ghost town...there was nothing to do so we went hiking.

 

[werepossum]

The only ones that stand out are the start of the Gulf War bombing and 9/11. For the former I had worked very late and turned on CNN, so I was actually watching Arnette et al when the bombing began. BTW American television was completely clueless, BBC reporter was cool as a cucumber, could identify specific AAA as well as analyze the situation (i.e. The Americans are using stealth bombers because you can't hear cruise missiles going by, there are no missiles being launched, and the AAA is obviously firing blindly.) For 9/11 I was getting ready for work and had the TV on to check the weather (riding a bike you want to know) when they came on and did the story of the first plane hitting, so I saw the second strike live. It was only at that minute that I realized that we were at war with radical Islam, before that I thought it was just a horrible accident. I don't think I will ever forget watching people leap to their certain deaths, or watching the towers collapse knowing that the bravest of us were inside them, running toward the fires to try and save strangers. I do know I will never forgive it.

 

[Possessed Freak]

1... way too young.

2. First news event I remember. We were watching it live in grade school. They got all the kids to sit in the hall and pulled out a big ole TV. Saw it explode.

3. Was at college. Worked as an AV tech and had to program a 3m dish over to a news station to watch coverage. Saw the second plane hit. School was canceled, on my way home the towers collapsed (listened to it on the radio).

 

[thegimp03]

1) Wasn't born yet.
2) Don't remember. I was probably in preschool at the time.
3) Nearing the end of summer before my freshman year of college. It was like 6 am and my mom came running into my room in a panic to wake me up and watch on TV right after the 1st tower was hit and coverage started on our local news. We sat there and watched as a plane hit the 2nd tower then they both came down. I remember wondering if it was a dream I was having because it was so unbelievable.

 

[bfdd]

9/11 I woke up right between the first and second plane crashing into the towers. I left the TV on MSNBC so it was the first thing I saw. Shortly after my step mom came running in to wake me up, but was just in time to see the second one slam into the second building. First thing that went through my mind after they said "we've been attacked" was "if this is a full blown attack, they're going to target our energy production" and my dad works for a refinery in Wilmington, CA so we called him to make sure he was ok.