I was on that plane the flight before it crashed! I was on my way to basic training, landing in Chicago on American FLT191. I then got onto an Eastern Airlines plane and went on to South Carolina. When I called home to let folks know I had arrived, they were all screaming and at first I couldn't figure out why. "What do you mean, my plane crashed?" I didn't have any idea what had happened until the call home. All they knew was that FLT191 was on my itinerary and that it had crashed in Chicago. Needless to say they were very relieved when I called. It's still sad to me as I can to this day, visualize that flight attendant who was very nice to this scared kid on his way into the world.

--Bob