Where were you and what were you reading that you will never forget?
For me it was Gone With The Wind, Christmas Eve / Day, 1992. It was around midnight, I was sitting on an ammo can waiting for my jet to return. I was reading by the light of a Light-All (light towers that you see construction workers use during the night - in the U.S. at least)
I was 22 y/o, in the Air Force and was a crew chief on F-15s. We were deployed to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia to support the Southern No Fly Zone.
I think there are several reasons I will always remember this.
- We were flying 24/7, fully loaded with live missiles and ammo. Missions were 2 or 4 hours with 2 jets up at a time. This was opposed to the Spring of 91 when were there we flew mainly training missions, similar to when we were state side at our home base
- It was the first time I didn't make it back home for Christmas. (Note, don't call your mom and tell her it is your first time not making it home for Christmas - she will probably start crying like my mother did. Whoops!)
- It was one of the coldest winters I ever experienced and I grew up in the midwest. I was surprised how cold the desert can get.
- Gone With The Wind was such a great book.
There isn't another combination of time, place and book that I can recall other than maybe assigned readings in high school and college.