I Was There! (1 Viewer)

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

Njaco

The Pop-Tart Whisperer
22,255
1,758
Feb 19, 2007
Southern New Jersey
While watching "The Longest Day" the other day, Rod Steiger said something that got me thinking: he said "We are part of something that will be written in the history books long after we are gone." I thought about any major historical event that happened that will be written in history books the I was a part of. Besides some relatives involved in 9/11 and the San Fran earthquake of '89, I could only think of 2: I was at the massive memorial to John Lennon in 1980 and was at Live Aid in Philly in '85. Other than that, not much. But what historical event have members been too?
 
Historical Events I was at:

1. Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
2. 50th Anniversay of D-Day in Normandy (not as important as D-Day itself, but still a significant ceremony).
3. Operation Iraqi Freedom (whether it will be famous or infamous is uncertain, but it is a major historical event).
 
Chipping away at the Berlin wall in 1990

Viewed last night launch of the Space Shuttle

Viewed 2 shuttle landings

A part of the SALT 2 treaty.. (stationed on a nuke base as Soviets inspected)

Watched many games with Garvey, Lopes, Russel and Cey.

Saw Andre thr Giant wrestle Big John Stud, Sgt Slaughter wrestle the Iron Sheik

I was woken up at 3 am and told "you're at war" Gulf War 1




wow.. not much if watching on TV doesnt count
 
Last edited:
I was one of the first persons trained on the M-1 tank. Ran patrols out of OP Alfa north of Fulda during the cold war, unit was put on alert during the Libya air strike in the mid 1980's, Desert Shield/Storm.

DBII
 
1. Dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1990's and much of it what accompanied this tragic event
2. NATO aerial aggression against my country in 1999 during Kosovo crisis.
3. Great people's protests in September-October 2000 which finally brought down Milošević's regime
4. I was also personally present at the funeral of assassinated first Serbian democratic prime minister Zoran Đinđić in 2003 in Belgrade.
 
Last edited:
Hmmm, to name a few that I can think of off the top of my head.

1. Commo support for the Libya Raid in 1986. Watched them all take off and come back at Lakenheath.

2. 1 shuttle landing at Edwards.

3. Los Angeles riots

4. Northridge earthquake of 1994.

5. Seeing many historic places in my travels in the USAF, like the DMZ in Korea, Berlin Wall, Eiffel Tower, all the landmarks of London.

I'm sure there are more, but that's what I can remember.
 
April 1968.....

As a Rutgers college freshman, was visiting our Temple University fraternity chapter in North Philadelphia as the riots erupted in the wake of the MLK assasination. Absolutely the most scared I have ever been in my 60+ years!

September 11, 2001...

Watched live (not on TV, but out of my office window in Newark, NJ) from 12 miles away as the 2nd plane hit and both towers came down.

TO
 
Op Granby (Desert Storm). Spent about three weeks sunning myself in the UAE, then the next two months freezing my tits off in Iraq. Did get to meet Stormin' Norman though, at the end of hostilities we formed up in a letter 'L' on the apron, he disembarked, flanked by the meanest-looking bodyguards I've ever seen and thanked us individually for our contribution; he's like a big, friendly bear.

Some earthquake in Japan, unfortunately I can't find it to point to. It was stronger than the Kobe quake but deeper. It would have been early 1997. My friends and I were back in the dorm in Shinkoyasu, in the Kanagawa prefecture. It was pretty late, some were watching TV, some were reading in their rooms, I was just out in the washroom brushing my teeth (I think); we had long corridors in the dorms, watching them snake like they did was impressive and terrifying.
A couple of the Japanese guys were downstairs in the on-sen; from a moment of tranquility one minute to fighting an indoor tidal wave the next.
 
I can only list my significant events musically, as that was all I used to do:

Led Zeppelin at Knebworth
Deep Purple at Wembley Arena
Deep Purple at Knebworth
ZZ Top at Donnington
Queen at Knebworth
Gary Moore at Donnington
AC/DC at Donnington
The Rolling Stones at Wembley Stadium
Motorhead at West Runton Pavilion
Jean Michel Jarre at Docklands
Jethro Tull at Knebworth
Metallica at Donnington
Rush at Donnington
Iron Maiden at UEA Norwich
Plus too many punk bands to mention...

Historical significance? zero, probably...
 
Last edited:
The only historical event that I was present at was the election party of William Jefferson Clinton in Little Rock(No, not the one in the swank hotel, but with the other poor slobs in the streets). I was also about a mile from where Amber Hagerman was abducted in Arlington, Tx; subsequently murdered, she became the namesake for "Amber Alerts."
 
Unknown to most of you, but I'm in the middle of it right now: revolution in genome DNA sequencing. Sequencing the human genome took a decade, we can do the same now in a week. Many species are sequenced at a stunning speed. This technique came to maturity in 2006 and still improving. Is supposed to have a huge impact on medicine and food developments. This'll change the world in time.
 
The only ones I can think of are-
- Being in the Persian Gulf for the start of the Iraq war
-seeing the first Qantas A380 land at Adelaide airport (big news in Adelaide anyway :lol:)
-Narrowly missing the Port Lincoln bushfires that killed 9 people a few years ago.
 
Well, I can't think of anything historically signifcant, besides seeing the bluffs of Omaha. Still, I've got a long way in my life to go, so who knows.

Jeez TO, I thought it was bad enough to see the towers collapse on tv, but with your own eyes?!
 
still at work at 7 pm so all I can think of right now is watching the Challenger disaster from my backyard.

I know there's more.... I was the daughter of a diplomat in the 80's....but brain is fried.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back