What major historical events do you remember?

We all have them—those moments when a global event stops the world in its tracks, and the memory of where you were and what you were doing is forever etched into your mind. These aren’t just dates in a history book; they are the backdrop to our personal lives, intertwined with our own stories of joy, grief, and the mundane.

For me, three events in particular stand out, not just for their historical significance, but for the indelible personal marks they left.

The Shadow of 9/11: My Father, Vietnam, and the Invasion of Afghanistan

My memory of 9/11 is not of the planes hitting the towers, but of the eerie silence that followed. I slept through the attacks, having been scheduled for the second-shift at General Motors (GM). My morning was a comedy of errors—locking my keys in the car while checking my mail, a frantic call to the police and a tow truck, a trip to McDonald’s for lunch. I was utterly oblivious.

It wasn’t until I finally got home, greasy bag in hand, that the world came crashing in. I called my dad. He had just retired from GM. He came over immediately, and we spent the day together, glued to the news that the towers fell and the world changed.

That day was the last significant chapter I shared with him. He died not long after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan. My dad was a Vietnam War veteran with PTSD, a part of his life we were never allowed to talk about as kids. In the years after his death, I couldn’t shake a terrible, private guilt. I blamed myself. Had watching the invasion, with its live coverage and talk of a new war, triggered traumatic memories of his old one? The memory of 9/11 is, for me, forever linked to the memory of losing my father.

The Challenger Disaster: A Classroom Witness to Tragedy

Earlier in my life, another national tragedy unfolded on a television screen, but this time, I was in a classroom full of expectant children. The teacher had wheeled in the big TV cart, a signal for a special event. We were excited to watch Christa McAuliffe, a teacher like ours, launch into space.

Instead, we witnessed the unthinkable. The hopeful plume of smoke split into a horrifying, jagged pattern in the blue sky. The confusion in the room was palpable. The Challenger disaster was the moment I learned that even our brightest, most celebrated endeavors could end in tragedy.

The Iran Hostage Crisis: A Glimpse into a World Beyond

My first brush with a major geopolitical event was the Iran hostage crisis. To be honest, as a kid, I didn’t care about politics. I remember a classmate asking if I was excited about it, and I had no idea what she was talking about. My world was much more concerned with my friend’s new chameleon and its fascinating, color-changing skin.

It was only years later that the significance of that event clicked into place. I learned about the long, tense 444 days, and how President Jimmy Carter worked tirelessly for the hostages’ release. I read about the October Surprise that clouded the election of Ronald Reagan. That early, naive memory became a touchstone for my later understanding of how complex and often hidden the machinations of world power can be.

Conclusion

These events are my history. They are not just news clips, but moments tangled with car keys and fast food, with a father’s presence, a child’s confusion, and a chameleon in a classroom. They remind me that history isn’t something that happens “out there.” It happens to all of us, right here, in the middle of our own messy lives.

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—T.A.

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