KTRE.com | Lufkin and Nacogdoches, Texas Amateur Radio Club remembers fallen astronauts

Army Curtis describes a Saturday morning in February nearly a decade ago, when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over East Texas.

"The noise was incredible and it literally shook the house like we were in an earthquake," said Army Curtis, Secretary/Treasurer Nacogdoches Amateur Radio Club.

"It was very emotional, it got very personal very quickly," said museum board member, Marsha Cooper.

Nine years later members of the Nacogdoches Amateur Radio Club gather at the Patricia Huffman Smith Museum, to honor the volunteers who served as the only means of communication in a time of tragedy.

"In a matter of a few hours you couldn't use a cell phone. We're completely independent; everyone has their own equipment we were still able to communicate," said Curtis.

With over 2 thousand volunteers, officials needed order to recover debris from the fallen shuttle.

"Everybody had the same feeling that we had to get those and return them back to their families you know, It was very important to us to  find them as quickly as possible," said Cooper.

DPS officers from all over the state came to East Texas but once they got there, their radio systems lost service. They had to depend on the volunteer radio amateurs.

"We literally put an amateur in each of the DPS cars to provide communication for them," said Curtis.

For two weeks the use of ham radio helped recover fallen crew members as well large pieces of debris from the ship. Today their service isn't forgotten.  A special events station was set up inside the shuttle museum to contact amateur stations worldwide in remembrance of heroes.

"These are our heroes these are the volunteers who help support bringing these heroes back home," said John Chapman, PIO Nacogdoches Amateur Radio Club.

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