Same here. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing, the smells and sounds, and how my teacher rushed to turn off the television we were all watching the launch on once it was clear what was happening. Kids crying, not understanding what was happening, the feel and look of the carpet, wall decorations, everything. It's the most vivid memory of childhood I have. I don't think I'll ever forget it.
I too remember all those details. I was in third grade, and the whole school was watching together in the auditorium. After the explosion, they just sort of shuffled us back to our classrooms.
> how my teacher rushed to turn off the television we were all watching the launch on once it was clear what was happening
Itβs funny, this is what causes trauma... if you interrupt the stress reaction and try to make it go away, you hold onto it. If animals are allowed to go through their full stress cycle, they forget the trauma.
To be fair, they might have feared what more was about to come through that tv set. Or the impending wrath from parents when little Billy can't sleep at night. Was such concerns (parents) a thing in the 80s already?
I couldn't even read through this story.