《真正的英雄》的英文演讲稿 里根

Ronald Reagan

January 28, 1986

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Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d planned to speak to you tonight to report on the

state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those

plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained

to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this

pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible

accident on the ground. But, we’ve never lost an astronaut in flight; we’ve

never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we’ve forgotten the courage it took

for the crew of the shuttle; but they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the

dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven

heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison

Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a

nation together.

For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this

tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we’re thinking about you so very much. Your

loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that

special spirit that says,

’ll meet it with joy.

a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve,

and they did. They served all of us.

We’ve grown used to wonders in this century. It’s hard to dazzle us. But for

twenty-five years the United States space program has been doing just that.

We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we’ve only

just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the member of the Challenger crew,

were pioneers.

And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were

watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s takeoff. I know it is hard to

understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the

process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance

and

expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it

belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and

we’ll continue to follow them.

I’ve always had great faith in and respect for our space program,

and what

happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don’t hide our space program.

We don’t keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public.

That’s the way freedom is, and we wouldn’t change it for a minute. We’ll

continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle

crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space.

Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue. I want to add that I

wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked

on this mission and tell them:

moved an impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share

it.

There’s a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great expl

orer Sir

Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the

great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said,

died on it, and was buried in it.

Their

dedication was, like Drake’s, complete.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which

they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them,

this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and

--------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ---

Three days later, President Reagan delivered the following remarks at a

memorial service held in Houston following the Challenger disaster, Jan. 31,

1986.

We come together today to mourn the loss of seven brave Americans, to share

the grief we all feel and, perhaps in that sharing, to find the strength to bear our

sorrow and the courage to look for the seeds of hope.

Our nation’s loss is first a profound personal loss to the family and the friends

and loved ones of our shuttle astronauts. To those they have left behind - the

mothers, the fathers, the husbands and wives, brothers, sisters, and yes,

especially the children - all of America stands beside you in your time of

sorrow.

What we say today is only an inadequate expression of what we carry in our

hearts. Words pale in the shadow of grief; they seem insufficient even to

measure the brave sacrifice of those you loved and we so admired. Their

truest testimony will not be in the words we speak, but in the way they led their

lives and in the way they lost those lives - with dedication, honor and an

unquenchable desire to explore this mysterious and beautiful universe.

The best we can do is remember our seven astronauts - our ChallengerSeven

- remember them as they lived, bringing life and love and joy to those who

knew them and pride to a nation.

They came from all parts of this great country - from South Carolina to

Washington State; Ohio to Mohawk, New York; Hawaii to North Carolina to

Concord, New Hampshire. They were so different, yet in their mission, their

quest, they held so much in common.

We remember Dick Scobee, the commander who spoke the last words we

heard from the space shuttle Challenger. He served as a fighter pilot in

Vietnam, earning many medals for bravery, and later as a test pilot of

advanced aircraft before joining the space program. Danger was a familiar

companion to Commander Scobee.

We remember Michael Smith, who earned enough medals as a combat pilot to

cover his chest, including the Navy Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air

Medals - and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, in gratitude

from a nation that he fought to keep free.

We remember Judith Resnik, known as J.R. to her friends, always smiling,

always eager to make a contribution, finding beauty in the music she played on

her piano in her off-hours.

We remember Ellison Onizuka, who, as a child running barefoot through the

coffee fields and macadamia groves of Hawaii, dreamed of someday traveling

to the Moon. Being an Eagle Scout, he said, had helped him soar to the

impressive achievement of his career.

We remember Ronald McNair, who said that he learned perseverance in the

cotton fields of South Carolina. His dream was to live aboard the space station,

performing experiments and playing his saxophone in the weightlessness of

space; Ron, we will miss your saxophone and we will build your space station.

We remember Gregory Jarvis. On that ill-fated flight he was carrying with him a

flag of his university in Buffalo, New York - a small token he said, to the people

who unlocked his future.

We remember Christa McAuliffe, who captured the imagination of the entire

nation, inspiring us with her pluck, her restless spirit of discovery; a teacher,

not just to her students, but to an entire people, instilling us all with the

excitement of this journey we ride into the future.

We will always remember them, these skilled professionals, scientists and

adventurers, these artists and teachers and family men and women, and we

will cherish each of their stories - stories of triumph and bravery, stories of true

American heroes.

On the day of the disaster, our nation held a vigil by our television sets. In one

cruel moment, our exhilaration turned to horror; we waited and watched and

tried to make sense of what we had seen. That night, I listened to a call-in

program on the radio: people of every age spoke of their sadness and the

pride they felt in `our astronauts.’ Across America, we are reaching out,

holding hands, finding comfort in one another.

The sacrifice of your loved ones has stirred the soul of our nation and, through

the pain, our hearts have been opened to a profound truth - the future is not

free, the story of all human progress is one of a struggle against all odds. We

learned again that this America, which Abraham Lincoln called the last best

hope of man on Earth, was built on heroism and noble sacrifice. It was built by

men and women like our seven star voyagers, who answered a call beyond

duty, who gave more than was expected or required, and who gave it with little

thought to worldly reward.

We think back to the pioneers of an earlier century, and the sturdy souls who

took their families and the belongings and set out into the frontier of the

American West. Often, they met with terrible hardship. Along the Oregon Trail

you can still see the grave markers of those who fell on the way. But grief only

steeled them to the journey ahead.

Today, the frontier is space and the boundaries of human knowledge.

Sometimes, when we reach for the stars, we fall short. But we must pick

ourselves up again and press on despite the pain. Our nation is indeed

fortunate that we can still draw on immense reservoirs of courage, character

and fortitude - that we are still blessed with heroes like those of the space

shuttle Challenger.

Dick Scobee knew that every launching of a space shuttle is a technological

miracle. And he said, if something ever does go wrong, I hope that doesn’t

mean the end to the space shuttle program. Every family member I talked to

asked specifically that we continue the program, that that is what their

departed loved one would want above all else. We will not disappoint them.

Today, we promise Dick Scobee and his crew that their dream lives on; that

the future they worked so hard to build will become reality. The dedicated men

and women of NASA have lost seven members of their family. Still, they too,

must forge ahead, with a space program that is effective, safe and efficient, but

bold and committed.

Man will continue his conquest of space. To reach out for new goals and ever

greater achievements - that is the way we shall commemorate our seven

Challenger heroes.

Dick, Mike, Judy, El, Ron, Greg and Christa - your families and your country

mourn your passing. We bid you goodbye. We will never forget you. For those

who knew you well and loved you, the pain will be deep and enduring. A nation,

too, will long feel the loss of her seven sons and daughters, her seven good

friends. We can find consolation only in faith, for we know in our hearts that

you who flew so high and so proud now make your home beyond the stars,

safe in God’s prom

ise of eternal life.

May God bless you all and give you comfort in this difficult time.

Ronald Reagan

January 28, 1986

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中文

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今天，

我们聚集在一起，

沉痛地哀悼我们 失去的七位勇敢的公民，

共同分担内心

的悲痛，

或许在相互间的安慰中，

我们能够得到承受痛苦的力量并坚定追求理想

的信念。

对家庭、

朋友及我们的太空宇航员所爱着的人们来讲，

国家的损失首先是他们个

人的巨大损失。对那些失去亲人的父亲、母亲、丈夫和 妻子们，对那些兄弟、姐

妹，

尤其是孩子们，

< br>在你们悲痛哀悼的日子里，

所有的美国人都和你们紧紧地站

在一起。

我们今天所说的远远不 够表达我们内心的真实情感，

言语在我们的不幸面前显得

如此软 弱无力：

它们根本无法寄托我们对你们深深爱着的、

同时也是我 们所敬佩

的英勇献身的人们的哀思。

英雄之 所以称之为英雄，

并不在于我们颂赞的语言，

而在于他们始终以 高度的事

业心、

自尊心和锲而不舍地对神奇而美妙的宇宙进行探 索的责任感，

去实践真正

的生活以至献出生命。我们所能尽力做 到的就是记住我们的七位宇航员七位

“

挑

战者

”

，记住他们活着的时候给熟悉他们的人们带来的生机、 爱和欢乐，给祖国

带来的骄傲。

他们来 自这个伟大国家的四面八方从南加利福尼亚州到华盛顿州，

从俄亥俄到纽

约州的莫霍克，从夏威夷到北卡罗来纳和纽约州的布法洛。他们彼此很不相同，

但他们每个人的追求和肩负的使命却又是那样的一致。

我们记 得迪克

?

司各比，

我们从升空的

“

挑战者

”

号听到的 最后一句话就来自这位机

长之口。

在参加太空计划之前，

他曾是一名战斗机飞行员，

后来成为一名高空飞

行器的试验飞行员。对机长司各比来说，危险从来就是一位熟悉的伙伴。

我们记得迈克

?

史密斯，作为战斗机飞行员 获得过的奖章戴满了胸前，其中包括

海军特级飞行十字勋章和来自一个国家的敢斗银星十 字勋章。

我们还记得被朋友们称为

J.R.

的朱蒂丝

?

莱 恩尼科，她总是对人们微笑着，总是

迫不及待地想对人民有所贡献。

在工作之余，

她喜欢在钢琴上弹奏几曲，

从中获