Reply #115: Beirut barracks bombing [View All]

[Xithras]

Born in 1975.

I remember this vividly because my uncle was a Marine in Lebanon at the time and I somehow misunderstood the broadcasts to mean that ALL of the Marines in Lebanon had been killed. It took three days for us to find out that my uncle wasn't anywhere near the barracks, but I was raptly tuned to the TV's until then.

After that, probably Challenger. We were watching live on TV. I remember that the teacher was sitting at her desk behind the TV and wasn't really watching, and when it blew I unleashed an "Oh Fuck!" that was probably heard halfway across the school. The teacher came out of her seat, ruler in hand, to slap me across the knuckles for my outburst but stopped dead when she saw the TV screen.

I didn't get thumped that day.