The flight crew who were aboard the Challenger with the disaster occurred on Jan. 28, 1986.
From U.S. Capitol to Rocky Mountains, to the edge of space to the ocean depths, and back
By Margaret Malsam
U.S. Air Force Major Bill Tolbert stands beside the flag that flew with the Challenger space shuttle. The flag was found months later in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean and returned to the Monument Boy Scout troop.
As America celebrates Veterans Day, it is fitting that we Coloradans recall the story of a miraculous American flag that survived the Challenger shuttle’s fatal explosion and the persistence of a Colorado Boy Scout troop.
“It’s a story all Americans ought to know,” said retired U.S. Air Force Major Bill Tolbert, who told the deeply moving story of this miraculous flag – a symbol of freedom and democracy – at a Scout flag ceremony recently at Ave Maria Parish Center in Parker. Major Tolbert was scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 514 of Monument when the national disaster occurred on Jan. 28, 1986.
This Colorado Boy Scout troop had their American flag aboard the Challenger mission when the space shuttle tragically exploded and all seven crewmembers died. This was a tragedy for all Americans, but it was especially painful for these Scouts and their scoutmaster. This had been the troop’s third attempt to get their American flag on a space mission.
In 1985, Tolbert was directing the new Air Force Space Command in Colorado Springs, and he was also was serving as the scoutmaster of this brand new Boy Scout Troop.
Monument Boy Scout Troop 514 members stand beside the flag that would fly aboard the Challenger space shuttle that would be eventually recovered in the Atlantic Ocean after the tragic expolsion in 1986. Photos courtesy of Bill Tolbert
“I had an idea that I thought would give them something to build their pride around. I would get the new troop an American flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol. Then to make it something no other troop would have, I planned to get it flown on a space shuttle. It seemed like a good idea at the time,” recalls Tolbert. “I never imagined what journey we all would have.”
Repeatedly the troop and their scoutmaster tried to obtain flight clearance for their flag on a shuttle mission but were met with disappointments, setbacks and delays. Finally their persistence paid off when their flag was scheduled to fly on the Challenger.
Eagerly the troop had gathered in the home of Tolbert and his wife to watch the Challenger launch on TV since they had the day off from school to celebrate the flight of Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher scheduled to fly into space. The boys watched the slow rotation of the space shuttle as it blasted off. Then suddenly something went terribly wrong, and it exploded, scattering debris wildly through the sky.
After recovering the flag, NASA gave it back to Boy Scout Troop 514.
“The troop realized the magnitude of what had happened, and we wept together at the loss of the crew,” said Tolbert. “For a long time none of us were the same. Our troop had lost its spirit in that explosion.”
Tolbert later inquired about the possibility of recovering the flag or whatever remnants of their prized flag remained, but NASA officials gave him little hope of finding anything of the flag. He was stunned to learn in September 1986 the flag had been recovered and would be returned to the troop. Even more amazing was the fact that the plastic packet containing the flag and the flag itself, which had rested on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean for many months, was still intact.
Word of the flag’s amazing journey and recovery quickly spread and soon reached U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger’s office. Burger designated this flag as the official flag of the bicentennial of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
Tolbert told how their flag soon became a touchstone of the courage of the Challenger astronauts and a symbol of hope for a grieving nation. The troop was invited to go to Philadelphia to present the flag to the nation in a nationally televised We The People 2000 Constitutional Gala celebration on Sept. 17, 1987.
Explaining to the audience in Parker how he felt on that joyous September day, the retired major said, “It struck me that I had never stood this tall before – that after 20 years in a military uniform, the proudest moment of my life had come while wearing a scoutmaster’s uniform, standing beside that flag. I recalled the words of Lord Baden Powell when he founded the Boy Scouts: ‘On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty, to God and my country…’ The meaning of these words became truly clear to me.
“I also realized for the first time why it is that we pledge allegiance to the flag. It is more than colored cloth. It is the symbol of our nation, and the principles upon which it is founded.”
In the words of Henry Ward Beecher: “A thoughtful mind when it sees a nation’s flag, sees not the flag, but the nation itself.”
Later the troop also was invited to tour the White House and Congress. Tolbert also made a special stop to take the Challenger Flag to the U.S. Capitol building to have it re-flown. Thus the flag’s journey went full circle from our nation’s Capitol, to the Rocky Mountains, to the edge of space, to the ocean depths, and back to the Capitol. The flag now resides with Troop 514 under the careful watch of its Eagle scouts and its first scoutmaster who continue to protect it with respect and reverence.
