3rd grade.

TVs had been rolled into every classroom so we could all see the school teacher we had learned all about throughout the fall blast off into space right alongside NASA’s finest. I was still of the age where you still loved your teachers, recess was the thrill of the day and astronauts were in the pantheon of mythical “what do you want to be when you grow up?” professions. It was the first time I personally felt the United States of America fail.