you
mr. president mrs. Reagan families of
the Challenger crew other members of the
NASA family ladies and gentlemen thank
you for coming here today to honor seven
brave Americans the crew of the
spaceship Challenger dick Scobee Mike
Smith Judy Resnik Ron McNair el Onizuka
greg jarvis and christa mcauliffe were
explorers who blazed the trail for the
rest of us their courage and dedication
represents all that's best in each of us
and in America the Challenger crew took
something of all of us aloft on Tuesday
their dreams of discovery are our dreams
and the men and the women of that flight
will always live in our thoughts and in
our hearts I pray that families and
friends will remember our pride and our
gratitude and find some refuge and its
warmth god bless them all
we are gathered here today as a family
the family that shares a common dream
common goal common commitment and now a
common tragic and devastating loss his
family's do we have drawn together to
remember with love and faith 7 who
embodied in a very special way that
dream we all possess dick Mike judi l
ron Greg Kristin
shall we pause for a moment of prayer
and meditation o thou whom we call by
various names approached by several
paths and at all acknowledged as a
source of life my greatness is seen in
this vast and wondrous universe we turn
now to thee because we need the
assurance of a love equally great and
wondrous to feel that underneath are the
everlasting arms and to know that the
hand that holds us is a hand we trust we
come here grateful for the many ways we
have known those whom today we mourn as
husband wife father mother daughter son
colleague neighbor and friend
each brings his or her own memories of
love and laughter the strength and
tenderness enthusiasm and joy skill and
courage and we are grateful for the
privilege of having known them having
our lives touched by their lives being
bound by ties of love and care now we
pray for those who most keenly feel this
lost may they is surely feel the love
that surrounds them the caring that
reaches out to them may we be bearers of
life spirit of love so that together we
may know not only grief but also the
grandeur and the grace of life amen
a reading for hope and strength from the
46 Psalms God is our refuge and strength
a very present help in trouble therefore
we will not fear though the earth should
change though the mountains shake in the
heart of the sea though its waters roar
and foam though the mountains tremble
with its tumult theres a river whose
streams make glad the City of God the
Holy habitation of the Most High God is
in the midst of her she shall not be
moved God will help her right early the
nation's rage the kingdom's totter he
utters his voice the earth melts the
Lord of Hosts is with us the God of
Jacob is our refuge come behold the
works of the Lord how he has wrought
desolations in the earth he makes Wars
cease to the end of the earth he breaks
the bow and shatters the spear he burns
the chariots with fire be still know
that i am god i am exalted among the
nations i am exalted in the earth the
Lord of Hosts is with us the God of
Jacob is our refuge
we come together today to mourn the loss
of seven brave Americans to share the
grief that we all feel and perhaps in
that sharing to find the strength to
bear our sorrow and the courage to look
for the seeds of hope our nation's loss
is first a profound personal loss to the
family the friends and the loved ones of
our shuttle astronauts to those they
left behind the mothers the father's the
husbands and wives brothers and sisters
yes and especially the children all of
America stands besides you in your time
of sorrow what we say today is only an
inadequate expression of what we carry
in our hearts words pale in the shadow
of grief they seem insufficient even to
measure the brave sacrifice of those you
loved and we so admired their truest
testimony will not be in the words we
speak but in the way they led their
lives and the way they lost their lives
with dedication honor and an
unquenchable desire to explore this
mysterious and beautiful universe the
best we can do is remember our seven
astronauts our challenger seven remember
them as they lived bringing life and
love and joy to those who knew them and
pride to a nation they came from all
parts of this great country from South
Carolina to Washington State Ohio to
Mohawk New York Hawaii to North Carolina
to Concord New Hampshire they were so
different yet in their mission their
quest they held so much in common we
remember dick Scobee the commander who
spoke the last words we heard from
they shuttle Challenger he served as a
fighter pilot in Vietnam earning many
medals for bravery later as a test pilot
of advanced aircraft before joining the
space program danger was a familiar
command you companion to Commander
Scotty we remember Michael Smith who
earned enough medals as a combat pilot
to cover his chest including the Navy
Distinguished Flying Cross 3 air medals
and the Vietnamese Cross of gallantry
with silver star in gratitude from a
nation he fought to keep free we
remember Judith Resnik known as jr. to
her friends always smiling always eager
to make a contribution finding beauty
and the music she played on her piano in
her off hours we remember Ellison
Onizuka who was a child running barefoot
through the coffee fields and macadamia
groves of high dreamed of someday
traveling to the moon being an Eagle
Scout he said had helped him soar to the
impressive achievements of his career we
remember Ronald McNair who said that he
learned perseverance in the cotton
fields of South Carolina his dream was
to live aboard the space station
performing experiments and playing a
saxophone in the weightlessness of space
Iran we will miss your saxophone and we
will build your space station we
remember Gregory Jarvis on that
ill-fated flight he was carrying with
him a flag of his university in Buffalo
New York a small token he said to the
people who unlocked his future we
remember Christa McAuliffe who captured
the imagination of the entire nation
inspiring us with her pluck her restless
spirit of discovery a teacher not just
to her students but to an entire people
instilling us all with the excitement of
this journey we ride into the future we
will always remember them these skilled
professionals scientists and adventurers
these artists and teachers and family
men and women and we will cherish each
of their stories stories of triumph and
bravery stories of true American heroes
on the day of the disaster our nation
held a vigil by our television sets in
one cruel moment our exhilaration turned
to horror we waited and watched and
tried to make sense of what we had seen
that night I listened to a call-in
program on the radio people of every age
spoke of their sadness and the pride
they felt in our astronauts across
America we are reaching out holding
hands and finding comfort in one another
the sacrifice of your loved ones stirred
the soul of our nation and through the
pain our hearts have been open to a
profound truth the future is not free
the story of all human progress is one
of us struggle against all odds we
learned again that this America which
Abraham Lincoln called the last best
hope of man on earth was built on
heroism and noble sacrifice it was built
by men and women like our seventh star
voyagers who answered a call be on duty
who gave more than was expected or
required and who gave it little thought
of worldly reward we think back to the
pioneers of an earlier century the
sturdy souls who took their families and
their belongings and set out into the
frontier of the American West often they
met with terrible hardship along the
Oregon Trail you could still see the
grave markers of those who fell on the
way but grief only steal them to the
journey ahead today the frontier is
space and the boundaries of human
knowledge sometimes when we reach for
the stars we fall short but we must pick
ourselves up again and press on despite
the pain our nation is indeed fortunate
that we can still draw on immense
reservoirs of courage character and
fortitude that we're still blessed with
heroes like those of the space shuttle
Challenger dick Scobee knew that every
launching of a space shuttle is a
technological miracle and he said if
something ever does go wrong I hope that
doesn't mean the end to the space
shuttle program every family member I
talked to ask specifically that we
continue the program but that is what
their departed loved one would want
above all else we will not disappoint
them today we promise dick Scobee and
his crew that their dream lives on but
the future they worked so hard to build
will become reality the dedicated men
and women of NASA have lost seven
members of their family still they too
must forge ahead with a space program
that is effective safe and efficient but
bold and committed man will continue his
conquest of space to reach out for new
goals and ever greater achievements that
is the way we shall commemorate our
seven challenger heroes dick Mike judi l
ron Gregg and Christa your families in
your country mourn your passing we bid
you goodbye
we will never forget you for those who
knew you well and loved you the pain
will be deep and enduring a nation to
will long feel the loss of her seven
sons and daughters 47 good friends we
can find consolation only in faith for
we know in our hearts that you who flew
so high and so proud now make your home
beyond the stars safe in God's promise
of eternal life may God bless you all
and give you comfort in this difficult
time
you please rise and join in the singing
of America the Beautiful
you