Memory of nation's tragedy like that of JFK assassination & terrorism collapse of Twin Towers seared in memory banks of Dorothy Lytle Kirby
YouTube video uploads / Headline Surfer® / DAYTONA BEACH -- Dorothy Lytle Kirby certainly remembers where she was on this particular day 28 years ago today to be exact, the day millions in Central Florida and countless more glued to television sets to witness the horror that was the space shuttle Challenger.
73 seconds. Just 73 seconds for cheers to turn to tears and then pronounced grief.
Certainly, today was remembered by Dorothy Lytle Kirby, then in rookie cop training at Daytona State College known back then as Daytona Beach Community College.
"Wow, 28 years ago," Kirby, four-plus years now since retired as a cop with the New Smyrna Beach PD, told Headline Surfer® earlier today. "I was in the stair well at DBCC in rookie school. We weren't allowed to use the elevator. We all watched from the window when it took off, then ran down the stairs. When we got outside to go to lunch, the trails from the explosion were in the sky."
"Wow, 28 years ago," Kirby, four-plus years now since retired as a cop with the New Smyrna Beach PD, told Headline Surfer® earlier today. "I was in the stair well at DBCC in rookie school. We weren't allowed to use the elevator. We all watched from the window when it took off, then ran down the stairs. When we got outside to go to lunch, the trails from the explosion were in the sky."
Like those with her, Kirby, now 57, said she remembered thinking aloud, "This doesn't look right. When we got to the cafeteria everyone was crying and we found out what happened. It was a sad day."
For Kirby, who would graduate from the DBCC police academy and report for patrol duties with the NSBPD later that year, the lone law enforcement job she ever worked for 23 years before retiring in 2009, has the tragic events of Challenger seared in her memory banks nearly three decades later.
When that happened, as soon as I graduated, I applied in NSB and was hired," she said. "Like (President) Kennedy being shot, and the Twin Towers going down, it's something you never forget where you were. Even though I was a kid when Kennedy was shot, I still remember being in elementary school. Some things you never forget."
When that happened, as soon as I graduated, I applied in NSB and was hired," she said. "Like (President) Kennedy being shot, and the Twin Towers going down, it's something you never forget where you were. Even though I was a kid when Kennedy was shot, I still remember being in elementary school. Some things you never forget."