"September 12th on the S. S. Universe Explorer"photo
Elroy Christenson
We didn't find out about the events in New York until we were about two
days out of Kobe, Japan. Since we had already crossed the international
dateline we were ahead in calendar time but behind in information on
what had happened. Some of the staff had found out at 3:00am so there
were postings when we awoke for breakfast. We had a meeting in the
morning to summarize the facts as we understood them and tried to deal
with the emotional downs and consequences of the events. Much debate
took place about what would happen to the voyage. The day was left free
for personal grief and trying to get information on relatives in the
states through the email link we had. Other groups made 1000 paper
cranes as an appropriate peace symbol for the day which hung throughout
the voyage in the Union. We were reminded frequently of the plight of
our loved ones at home since this is where our main lectures and
meetings were held.
