I didn't do it! I was somewhere else!
1. When John F. Kennedy was shot (11/22/1963)
Not even a gleam.
2. When Mt. St. Helens blew (5/18/1980)
In eighth grade, at Beaufort Junior High School. Don't recall the specific day.
3. When the space shuttle Challenger exploded (1/28/1986)
A sophomore at Duke, I recall people tenuously beginning the jokes that day. I think I was on West Campus, in front of the C.I. when I first heard.
4. When the 7.1 earthquake hit San Francisco (10/7/1989)
I was a 2ndLt in the Marines, stationed at MCAS Cherry Point, NC. Don't recall specifics of the day.
5. When the Berlin Wall fell (11/7/1989)
Still a 2ndLt at Cherry Point, I like to think I shared in the credit fot THIS event. (Radio intercepts from Moscow were interpreted to say roughly "Aw, Crapski! The Evil Americanskis now haff ze secret veapon, zey haff UncleBill now! Ve must capitulate!")
6. When the Gulf War began (1/16/1991)
Now a 1stLt. In my sleeping bag in the Saudi desert about 15km from the Kuwaiti border with the HQ Element of the 2nd Mar Div. At about 2:45am I woke up, with the sensation that a squadron of B-52s was in my sleeping bag with me, the noise was so loud from the massive air strikes headed north. I had a fleeting moment thinking about the guys we were faced off with across the border, thinking their world was about to go to shit in the next five minutes, then realizing I was going to have a busy day the next day and went back to sleep.
7. When OJ Simpson was chased in his White Bronco (6/17/1994)
I was working 2nd Shift at a box plant in Buffalo, the now ex-wife called me, she had lived in that area and knew all the roads. We had no TV at work, so she gave me the blow-by-blow over the phone until I got home and watched live on TV.
8. When the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed (4/19/1995)
I had just started at a box plant in Auburn, ME. I was at work when we heard, and the TV in the conference room was turned on, with a bunch of people watching.
9. When Princess Di was killed (8/31/1997)
I was living in Savannah, GA, and kinda found out about it via normal news channels.
10. When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on their classmates at Columbine High School (4/20/1999)
Still living in Savannah, at work, probably.
11. When Bush was first announced President (11/7/2000)
Miami, Floriduh, the center of confusion. I went to bed after the newsies called Florida (and the Nation) for Gore, maybe about 9pm or so. When they flip-flopped and called it for Bush later that night, I was asleep. By the time I woke up they had admitted they didn't know what the hell was going on. I learned a lot about the FL Statutes, as I fought ignorance with folks via e-mail.
12. When the 6.8 earthquake hit Nisqually, WA (2/28/2001)
They had an earthquake? I was living in Miami, but may have been out of the country. I have detailed records of my whereabouts recorded at home.
13. When terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center. (9/11/2001)
I was at a convention in Las Vegas. I was getting dressed and turned on the news after the first hit, but before the second hit. Not much was accomplished that day at the convention. A projection screen was brought into the convention hall lobby, and there was always a crowd. I was odd being in Vegas casinos, with all of the football and baseball betting screens blank because all the games were cancelled.