East Texas will never forget February 1, 2003.

20 years ago, a national tragedy unfolded in our backyard and East Texas showed the world what it means to help neighbors in need.

East Texas has vowed to never forget the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 crew. They’ll never forget the 25,000+ volunteers who came from around the country. They’ll never forget opening their homes and hearts during the recovery effort. Or the volunteers who marched through briars and brush, waded through swamps and creeks, and endured the elements for months. Or the selfless strangers who fed them three square meals a day — all without being asked by anyone.

People who barely had the ability to share, gave their all.

In the months that followed, the search and recovery grew to become the largest effort of its kind in history. The Sabine County Columbia Memorial Committee was formed, adopting the motto: “Their mission became our mission.”

To this day, that simple sentence continues to inspire and guide efforts to preserve Columbia’s legacy.

Many people, particularly those in Sabine County still refer to the STS-107 crew as “our” astronauts. Their seven names are permanently etched in the hearts of our community.

• Rick Husband
• Willie McCool
• Dave Brown
• Kalpana Chawla
• Mike Anderson
• Laurel Clark
• Ilan Ramon

The Patricia Huffman Smith NASA Museum ‘Remembering Columbia’ in Hemphill organized a multi-day commemoration of the Shuttle Columbia tragedy that thrust East Texas into the international spotlight.

While somber, it was also a special occasion that highlighted the “triumph over tragedy.” That’s how Dr. Jonathan Clark, husband of Columbia mission specialist Laurel Clark, described the anniversary to me this week.

“Even on a cold, rainy, chilly day, my heart was warm from the love and inspiration I see around me. The people that were here, the kids that were taking the torch forward and doing robotics competitions, it’s literally a tragedy has turned into a triumph. And so for me, it’s such an honor to be back in East Texas, the Pineywoods. My heart just goes out with love and admiration for the spirit of East Texas and all those who have done so much in the aftermath to bring something that’s tragic into a positive, meaningful light. I can’t say enough about being back here on this rainy, blustery day to share the love.”

Themed ‘STS-107: Still Our Mission 20 Years later,’ this year’s commemoration aimed to engage and inform members of the community and students about the tragedy.

The ‘Remembering Columbia’ Museum board and the NASA Alumni League, Johnson Space Center Chapter spent months building a full schedule of events, including an art show, NASA exhibitions, panel discussions, a solemn memorial service, reunions, a student robotics competition, guided museum tours, and guest speakers.

On Monday, a free art show featuring original works and a collection of historic NASA photographs went on display at VFW Auxiliary Post 10351 in Hemphill.

On Tuesday, nine high school teams competed in the annual Shuttle Columbia Memorial Robotics competition at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center, where they were mentored by astronauts, NASA and Boeing engineers, and NASA alumni league engineers.

Outreach to schoolchildren is so important, as this is the first major anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy where no current students would have been born when it happened 20 years ago.

Later, there was a private gathering at the VFW in Hemphill for invited guests and the NASA community. Rather than fading with time, the deep bond between NASA and Sabine County grows stronger with each passing year.

On Wednesday, First Baptist Church hosted the 20th anniversary program paying tribute to the seven STS-107 crew members, as well as the two volunteers who lost their lives during the 2003 search and recovery effort.

Guest speakers included Gerry Schumann, who was NASA’s lead safety representative and incident commander during the Shuttle Columbia tragedy; Mike Leinbach, NASA’s Space Shuttle Program Launch Director who also led the initial Columbia debris recovery efforts in East Texas; Sean O’Keefe, NASA Administrator during the Shuttle Columbia accident and recovery; Louie Gohmert, who represented East Texas in Congress for 18 years; NASA’s John Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche; and veteran NASA astronaut Jerry Ross, who flew aboard Columbia on one of his seven spaceflights.

I also had the honor of representing my fellow board members of the ‘Remembering Columbia’ Museum and delivered remarks on the history of the museum and its current projects and goals.

Following the program, the museum hosted a series of fascinating panel discussions in its auditorium.

Topics included: “NASA Happenings: Current and Upcoming;” “Making STEM for Everyone;” “Making Space for Women;” and “Why is Space Dangerous, Yet So Safe?” An impressive line-up of guest speakers includes astronauts, engineers, NASA administrators and personnel, advisors, educators, authors, and historians.

NASA also brought a traveling exhibit, which included a space suit and a moon rock.

The ‘Remembering Columbia’ Museum hosts programs year-round as part of their mission to educate and inspire future generations of scientists and Space explorers from East Texas.

KLTV and KTRE have made a commitment over the years to shine a light on these efforts to preserve Columbia’s legacy and share our community’s stories with our greater audience. It was a personal and professional privilege to lead our team’s coverage of this 20th anniversary and field anchor coverage throughout the day on our newscasts and streaming channel, East Texas Now.

The views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of KLTV/KTRE-TV or Gray Television. They are solely the opinion of the author. All content © Copyright 2023 Lane Luckie