Do you remember where you were when the Challenger blew up? I remember – though I was very small. I remember that the adults were shocked and started crying. I remember that I was confused because I was desensitized to things blowing up on television so I didn’t realize the tragedy that unfolded that day, January 28th, 1986. I can imagine that was possibly the case for very young viewers of the September 11th terrorist attacks back in 2001.

Although a terrorist attack has entirely different ramifications on a nation’s psyche than a home space program tragedy, I make this correlation between the two because it is one of those events that everyone old enough to have witnessed these events will always remember where they were and what they were doing at the time it transpired. I was working as an engineer at Motorola.

I remember we were all glued to our computer screens watching what was happening. Streaming video quality wasn’t very good back then, but it worked. The only emotion I remember was shock… and then fear. I think most of us went home early and then didn’t even go to work for at least a day or two. We were all anticipating a subsequent attack.

There’s been a lot said about these attacks by those far more knowledgable that me, but I wanted to share my personal experience. I’m sure we all remember the intense and confusing way in which this gross act of terrorism shocked our lives and our nation. But we also remember how it united us.

Below is a song “Towers” that Tom and I wrote about the September 11th tragedy. Please feel free to share.

Never forget, America. Never forget.