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Witnesses remember Challenger
CONCORD, N.H. — Holding a tiny Challenger T-shirt to his chest, Ben Provençal chuckled to think it fit him 10 years ago when he and his third-grade classmates traveled to Florida to watch their friend's mom rocket into space.
The Associated Press
Most of those youngsters are in college now. But they still carry memories of the trip and the shuttle explosion on Jan. 28, 1986, that plunged them from innocent excitement into unspeakable shock for the entire world to see.
"I see the absolute shock," the freshman at Springfield College said this month as he looked at a framed copy of the photo. "My face is saying, 'How could they let something like this happen?'
His question is repeated by former classmates, who said that although the experience did not scare them, it shaped their outlook on life, taking risks and trust — especially trust in government.
"I never really took things for granted from then on," said Trip O'Shea, 19, a freshman at Colgate College.
The third-graders had gone to Florida because Scott McAuliffe was in their class. His mother, Christa, was on the shuttle, having been selected to be the first teacher in space. The children shivered on the metal VIP bleachers and watched Challenger lift off, streak through the brilliant blue sky for a little more than a minute, then explode high over the ocean.
Provenal still has the hat he wore. It's still adjusted to the smallest size and covered with pins from the space program and Florida tourist sites.
"I have really good memories about the whole trip, and the whole class and how much fun we had," the 18 year old said. "I dwell on that stuff more than the ending."
But Christa McAuliffe has followed him to college. He said talk among his new friends often turned to famous people from their hometowns. After major league pitcher Bob Tewksbury, Provençal usually mentions McAuliffe, and "all of a sudden, everyone stops, and they all want to know."
Provenal is studying to be an elementary school teacher. He said it was a coincidence, not an attempt to follow in McAuliffe's footsteps.
Some remember little about the disaster, while others recall it vividly. But they agree they did not suffer the long-term emotional harm some had predicted.
"Two weeks later we were on with our lives," O'Shea said, "playing sports and getting back into third-grade life."
Provenclous does remember feeling much closer to his mother, who also was in Florida for the launch.
The experience left such an impression on O'Shea that on his college application, he wrote about the blast.
"Mothers are a big part in a little boy's life," he said.
"That's something I couldn't conceive, losing your mother at a young age like that. Even now, I think what an awful thing it is to lose a mother or father."
"I thought of Christa, and I knew that nothing would ever be the same," he wrote. "She once said 'I touch the future. I teach.' On that day, Christa's death taught me just how precious and fragile our time is here on Earth. In doing so, she touched my future forever."
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