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Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger, January 28, 1986
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January 28, 1986
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The sight of the Challenger exploding is seared into each of our minds. A few days after the explosion, I attended a memorial service in Houston for the crew. I stood next to Jane Smith, the wife of Michael Smith, one of the crewmen on the Challenger. She gave me a most remarkable gift, a three-by-five card that her husband had written before the flight and left on the bedroom dresser. He wrote about the importance of their mission. It was such a personal, generous gift that I didn’t feel right about keeping it. I made a copy and gave her back the original. I’ll never forget her generosity in offering me that part of her husband’s final days.
- Ronald Reagan -