MEME: Where Were You When...?

Shelley of Cyber Chocolate fame has decided to start her own meme, to be called “Where were you when?” You know the drill. Click on the link above to get your own copy of the questions and leave a link in the comments there to your answers. Have fun!

1. Alan Shepard became the first American in space? On May 5, 1961 I was in the 5^th grade at the Plumstead Elementary School. I'm pretty sure a TV would have been on to cover the launch. Space was a big deal to us then, particularly in light of the Russians getting Yuri Gagarin into space the preceding month! I have a recollection of feeling cheated because of the hype associated with the “Race for Space” in contrast to the reality – a 15 minute, sub-orbital flight with a splash down in the Atlantic.

2. John Kennedy was killed? I was in a Social Studies class in Lenape Junior High School, Doylestown, PA. in seventh grade, after lunch, watching a film on some fascinating topic (cough!) when the teacher was called out of the room by another teacher. She returned shortly, crying, and haltingly made the announcement. A TV was turned on and we watched the news amid fear & confusion. Of note to me personally, it was already an emotionally fraught day – my mother was being returned from a hospital in New York City where she'd been recovering from a severe respiratory condition which later came to be known as “Legionnaire's Disease.” Her heart arrested twice in the ambulance en route from her hotel to a hospital 20 blocks away! Damn good thing she was in NYC when it happened as she'd likely have died on the floor if she had been at home, given the almost non-existent state of EMS those days in rural areas. She had been in hospital for over a month. I arrived home to find her safely ensconced in her bed upstairs, my father tending to her immediate needs as she sobbed seemingly uncontrollably while observing the events of the afternoon on the TV.

3. Robert Kennedy was killed? I was on Long Island, NY, on the beach partying, celebrating my impending high school graduation the night RFK was killed. I didn't learn about his death until the next morning. It was one more stressor added to an already incredibly stressful day as we were awakened an hour late for our graduation ceremony and therefore we arrived late – in the middle of the proceedings! Imagine trying to sneak into your high school graduation ceremony, badly hung over, reeking of booze, sans shower and clean clothes. It was nigh on to a disaster. But I'll never forget when Bobby was killed because of it.

4. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed? I was on Spring Break in Williamsburg, Virginia with my father and brothers. We heard about it that evening when we returned to the motel after spending all day at various Civil War battlegrounds (my father was a buff).

5. Neil Armstrong took that first step on the moon? I watched this momentous event on a small TV in the main lodge with about 120 other folks at a summer camp in Southern Maine where I was a counselor.

6. Ronald Reagan was shot? Here, at home, watching the tube with most of the rest of the country after a long, hard day working in the woods.

7. John Lennon was killed? On my way to visit with friends after a grueling trip from NYC with a trailer truck load of commodities for Maine Co-ops when the news was broadcast on the radio I had on in the car. I had to pull over and collect myself before going on.

8. The Berlin Wall came down? I was working here in Maine for a small town and first heard about the overwhelming of the border crossing guards in East Berlin on the radio news at lunch time while grabbing a bite to eat between inspections.

9. The US invaded Iraq the first time? Grabbing a quick meal between the regular work day and having to attend a Town Council meeting of the community where I was working at the time, I turned on the news to see the tracers flying from the ack-ack's in Baghdad.

10. The US was attacked on 9/11/01? I was a very sick puppy at the time, awaiting diagnosis of my ailments. I was awakened from my slumber on the couch (I was unable to climb stairs) by my wife after a phone call from her daughter and told in no uncertain terms to turn the TV on. We and the rest of the viewing audience sat glued in horrid fascination as the TV news coverage unfolded. While we'd missed the first impact, we were watching live coverage when the second impact occurred. My wife was in hysterics and I was in shock, befuddled and confused by the drugs I was on and my inability to understand why people were flying airplanes into prominent targets.