On February 1, 2003, we answered an alarm unlike any other. As we help work the tragic accident of the Space Shuttle Columbia, our mission became to help protect our local residents and to bring closure to the families of the astronauts, the NASA family, America and the rest of the world. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all concerned. Although this was a tragic event, we the members of the San Augustine Volunteer Fire Department have considered it an honor to have done what we could to make a difference. May God continue to Bless our Country.

They wanted to fly, to soar into the heavens,
To see Earth from afar, Those immortal Seven...
They each happily saw their hopes come true...
While nervous and eager, into that starry night they flew...
For sixteen days they lived their dream
They were awed and delighted,
The Columbia team...
It was seen on each face,
their obvious glee!
Just imagine the wonders that they did see!
I pray that each soul was still basking in glory,
And thinking of how they'd relate the story
To their husbands and wives, children and friends,
And were never aware of their untimely end.
They flew into the heavens;
In the heavens they'll stay...
We will not soon forget them, nor this black day.
May God comfort their families and help ease their grief...
They flew into the heavens,
And in Heaven they'll sleep...
Poem © Deborah Guerrero

Michael Anderson loved flying,
both in aircraft and spacecraft,
but he disliked being launched.
"There’s always that unknown,"
he said before the flight.
Anderson, 43, the son of an Air Force man,
grew up on military bases.
He was flying for the Air Force
when NASA chose him in 1994
as one of only a handful of astronauts.
He traveled to Russia’s Mir
space station in 1998.
He was a lieutenant colonel
and in charge of Columbia’s
dozens of experiments.
His hometown was Spokane, Wash.

David Brown was a Navy novelty: a jet pilot as well
as a doctor. He was also probably the only NASA
astronaut to have worked as a circus acrobat.
(It was a summer job during college.)
He said what he learned about "the teamwork and the safety
and the staying focused" carried over to his
space job. He joined the Navy after his medical
internship, and held a captain's rank. NASA chose
him as an astronaut in 1996.
This was the 46-year-old Virginia native's first space flight.

Kalpana Chawla wanted to design aircraft when she
emigrated to the United States from India in the
1980s. The space program was the furthest
thing from her mind. But "one thing led to another,"
the 41-year-old engineer said, and she was chosen as an
astronaut in 1994. This is Chawla's second space flight.

Laurel Clark, a Navy physician who worked undersea,
likened Columbia's numerous launch
delays to a marathon in which the finish line
kept moving out five miles. "You’ve got to slow back
down and maintain a pace," she said.
The 41-year-old Clark was a diving medical
officer aboard submarines and then a naval flight surgeon.
She became an astronaut in 1996.
Clark's chief task was to help with Columbia’s
science experiments. Her hometown was Racine, Wis

Rick Husband had just one other space flight
under his belt before he was given the role of
commander. "I think a lot of it has to do with
being in the right place at the right time,
for starters," Husband, a 45-year-old Air
Force colonel from Amarillo, Texas,
said during a preflight interview.
The former test pilot was selected as an astronaut
in 1994 on his fourth try.
Space flight was his lifelong passion,
along with singing. Husband, a baritone, had barbershop quartet experience
and sang in church choirs.

William McCool said one of the most nerve racking
parts of training was learning to draw blood, from others.
Columbia's two pilots were exempted from invasive
medical tests in orbit, like blood draws.
That meant he and his commander had to
draw blood from their crewmates.
McCool felt bad practicing on volunteers.
"I didn't want to inflict pain" he said
before the flight. The former Navy test pilot
became an astronaut in 1996.
This was the first space flight for McCool, 41,
who grew up in Lubbock, Texas.

Ilan Ramon, a colonel in Israel's air force,
was the first Israeli to be launched into space.
His Mother and Grandmother survived the Auschwitz
death camp.Like his Zionist Father,the astronaut
fought for his country in the Yom Kippur War
in 1973, and the Lebanon War in 1982. He took
part in the 1981 air strike that destroyed an
Iraqi nuclear reactor. Ramon, 48, was selected
as an astronaut in 1997 and moved to Houston
in 1998 to train for a flight. He called Tel Aviv home.

There were seven that left our nation, today.
Your life will add meaning and forever stay.
All those years have floated by
Since our last tragedy in the sky.
Our nation seemed to forget about your plans.
We didn't even know a mission was taking place.
We buried our heads in the sand.
Hearts are breaking, as we feel the loss.
We are in a haze and touched,
And tragedy leaves us in a daze.
Left all alone will be Fathers,
Mothers, wives, and little tikes.
Yes, the United States and all the world
Mourn for the Seven and families, alike.
Your dedication, your hearts,
And love will be missed.
We gather in prayer and give
Your family a hug and a kiss.
You were gone sixteen days,
Sixteen minutes away from home.
In Heaven, now, you all will roam.
We will be searching for
Answers and reasons why
The Columbia Shuttle
Exploded in the sky.
We ask for Space and Science
Research to live on. For the
Seven's honor we must pay homage.
For, now they are gone.
?2003 Nancy Hoback
"The same creator who names the stars also knows the
names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of
the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to earth
but we can pray that all are safely home."
President George W. Bush - February 1st., 2003

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