Arlington National Cemetery
The Space Shuttle "Challenger" Memorial was dedicated on May 20, 1986, in memory of the crew of flight STS-51-L, who died during launch on January 28, 1986. Transcribed on the back of the stone is the text of the John Gillespie Magee, Jr. poem "High Flight", which was quoted by then President Ronald Reagan when he addressed the disaster. Although many remains were identified and returned to the families for private burial, some were not, and were laid to rest under the marker. Two crew members, Scobee and Smith, are buried in Arlington. On February 1, 2004, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe dedicated a similar memorial to those who died when the Shuttle "Columbia" broke apart during reentry on February 1, 2003. Astronauts Laurel Clark, David Brown and Michael Anderson, who were killed in the "Columbia" disaster, are also buried in Arlington.
Columbia County, Washington
Columbia County is one of the most conservative counties in Washington State. It has not been carried by a Democrat for President since Lyndon Johnson's 1964 landslide victory, and the last time it backed a Democrat for Governor was as far back as 1936 when Clarence D. Martin swept every county in the state. Popular, conservative Democratic Senator "Scoop" Jackson did carry the county during four consecutive county sweeps (the last in 1982), but since then it has been powerfully Republican in those contests too.