Chi! Chi! Chi! Le! Le! Le!

As I watched the coverage of the Chilean mine rescue last evening, (it continues today) it evoked so many memories of days past when I found myself mesmerized by not only the event itself but our ability to watch it.
Live.
As it was unfolding.
From all corners of the world.
To the moon and back.
Probably the first memory seared in my mind was the assassination of President Kennedy and the days following where a world in mourning was glued to their television sets - most, if not all, black and white.

School had been cancelled and I sat home watching the live perp walk of Lee Harvey Oswald when Jack Ruby came out of the shadows and shot Oswald to death - on live TV - thus making us all witnesses to the murder. The image haunts me to this day.
And of course I'll never forget the images of the spirited, riderless horse and little John John saluting as President Kennedy's casket passed by during coverage of his funeral. Live television took us there to witness and watch. Who did not cry?
Flash forward to July 1969 when Neil Armstrong made history as the first man to set foot on the moon.
TV brought us there.

In 1972 the world watched in horror as hooded terrorists held Israeli Olympic athletes hostage during the Munich Olympics. Eleven Israeli athletes died.
1974 brought us Richard "I am not a crook" Nixon's resignation.
In 1975 we watched the fall of Saigon which brought an end to the endless war in Viet Nam.
While at work at our local paper in January 1986 I had some business to take care of that required a visit to our newsroom where a TV was on at all times. I lingered long enough to watch yet another ho hum live space shuttle launch but this one was different because 73 seconds into launch the Challenger exploded killing 6 astronauts and the first teacher in space.
October 14, 1987 (23 years ago tomorrow) brought another two and a half days of round the clock television coverage (cementing newcomer CNN as a player in the global media market) as rescuers worked to save a toddler named Jessica who had fallen down an 8 inch wide well in Midland, Texas. The whole world cheered as she came to the surface.
In November 1989 we watched as The Berlin Wall leaked like a sieve and eventually crumbled.
One hot summer evening in June of 1994 as we dined with friends, we watched the infamous "Slow Speed Chase" of a white Ford Bronco with a murderous coward crouched down in the back seat. Tabloid crap yes, but everyone watched 'til the end.
And then there's September 11, 2001.
The ongoing rescue of the 33 miners in the San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile is noteworthy not only because the world is watching live as they slip to the surface in the sporty tube constructed specifically for this rescue, but we are also treated to the camera coverage 2000 feet below where the miners were trapped 70 days ago.
This is an amazing story of survival. Ernest Shackleton would be proud.
I don't know about you, but I feel sorry for all those idiots driving around with bumper stickers on their cars that read: Kill Your TV!
They miss so much!