My Dearest Regan Memory

Something Barack Obama certainly has going for him is his superb ability as an orator. His ability to inspire through the spoken word has, for me, brought to mind another “great communicator.” About fifteen years ago I found myself in Arizona inside the learning center at Barringer Crater. Playing on a monitor, was the address Ronald Regan gave the nation on the eve of the Challenger shuttle disaster. Within that speech was, to this day, the most stirring thing I’ve ever heard a public official say:

“And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s take-off. I know it’s hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them.“

I stood there in public, openly weeping.

This was in the early 90s when political correctness and the culture of hypersensitivity was getting a firm footing. If there is anything that I believe has dulled the razors edge of our nation it is the notion that we must spare everyones feelings, and that a human life is to much to sacrifice for any outcome. Feelings based educational outcomes are noble in principal, but the fact is, not everyone is intelligent enough to be a doctor. Don’t hold back more able students to spare the feeling of those not as capable. As much as I feel for anyones loss, I cannot see loss of life in the pursuit of exploration a tragedy. If nomadic tribes stopped migrating every time an untimely death befell a traveler, our species could not have left Africa. The same thing applies for the early sea travelers, astronauts, skyscraper construction workers, test pilots, human medical test volunteers, even firemen and police officers.

I have not doubt that today there are men a women who, like countless other pioneers before them, are willing to apply their complete dedication to their chosen field of exploration. it doesn’t matter if it is stem cell research, environmental studies, experimental medical techniques, deep sea research, or human space travel; the whisper of exploration calls to us as a species. It is inevitable that these avenues will be well traveled, but will it be by our nation? Perhaps the best we can do is get out of our braves’ way and let them claim their future.

Ronald Reagan – The Space Shuttle “Challenger” Tragedy Address (text & video)