The "Challenger" explosion of '86, the "Twin Towers" Tragedy of "01, & now the "Columbia" tragedy of '03. Whoever would of thought of it? The answer is still being determined at this time. Three major tragedies of these years, yet all heart-breaking moments for others to ponder. Each of these tragic terrors brought grief to viewers below. Especially to the world itself. I was one of them.

Allow me to introduce myself; my name is creative_silence. The "Challenger" is a sad story. I wasn't yet born to witness this tragic event, until only a few weeks ago I had found out what happened. My World Geography teacher, Mr. Walters, was in school watching the "Challenger" live on television in class at the time as well as his teacher. The shuttle had indeed exploded. The female teacher aboard the shuttle was his teachers' best friend. Grief & sorrow filled the room as well as their hearts. To this day, Mr. Walters' teacher has this sad story still with him. I'm deeply sorry. Scientists found that an "o-ring" failure had caused the problem. After only a matter of seconds from lift-off, they were gone. Viewers grieved down below. A sad day for the nation.

However, there was another moment that played as a major, major part in these times. It was the terrorists’ attacks of 2001. This was a humongous heart breaker. The two tallest, & yet, most beautiful towers stood in lower part of Manhattan, New York. They were named the World Trade Centers, also known as the "Twin Towers", along with "Big Brothers". These towers were started by some construction workers in 1926, & finished a few years later. Peace filled the land, until SEPTEMBER 11, '01. Disaster had struck really hard. This was the new beginning of WW III. It all was caused by a stupid afganistanian, named Osama Bin Laden. We, the U.S., never did anything to them, well at least not that I knew of anyway. Nobody would ever see the day that terrorists would hi-jack some of our American Airlines planes; fly them into the towers as if it were a movie or something. The U.S. didn't think this was impending anytime soon. Armed forces have already gone overseas to execute him, but still haven't. He'll pay for the treachery he's put us through; all of the heart breaking, grieve making, sorrowful times that was caused. It was all over the news later that day, the next day & the next for an entire year. Rescuers & volunteers helped in the finding of the persons in the debris. All that was found was dead, deceased, just plain gone. After the major catastrophe, the site was sadly crowned, "Ground Zero" because there was nothing left of the towers. All was lost; all hope was gone. A few days after the memorial, construction workers put surrounding lights around where the towers once stood. Grief had taken its toll.

Soon after the attacks, approximately two years later, there was another heart-breaking moment, the "Columbia" incident. Not only did the shuttle explode similar to the "Challenger", but instead, exploded while coming in for land. The astronauts were still in the atmosphere when this happened. Their families & friends stood waiting & watching at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the shuttle to come in to land. That moment lasted long yet a short period of time. It was 8:00 a.m. & as I was walking across my living room of my house, a loud explosion had caught my attention. My mom thought it was the papermill, because we live close by. Yet my aunt thought it was an earthquake. I thought it was both. Come Monday, my teacher thought it was another terrorist attack. Lufkin & part of Louisiana were part of a debris field from the explosion. Volunteers & helpers helped to find scattered pieces of the shuttle. Most was taken into custody by local authorities. Some of the pieces were stolen & sold on "Ebay". The thieves were captured the following day. Scientists believe that a single heat-resistant tile fell off & damaged the left wing during lift-off. So when they were coming down, death's doorbell had rang. They were innocent people with a purpose for the world, but unfortunately, they lost their lives instead. Fate has dealt its winning hands.

I lived through two of these tragic events to see the sorrowfulness among the nation. Also as everybody else knows, they are having the time of their lives wherever they went. Having what anybody could ever ask for. The goodness of man will always prevail. No matter what happens, when, where, or even why, United We Stand.

© creative_silence, 2003