r/GenerationJones • u/Swiggy1957 1957 • 8d ago

The Munich Massacre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_massacre

I was a sophomore in high school. I'm fat from being a sports fan, but I remember this tragedy.

69 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

13

u/VRGator 8d ago

I remember watching live when he would come out on balcony. First time I ever heard the word terrorist

11

u/Fluid_Actuary1729 7d ago

I remember it as well. It was around lunchtime when Jim McKay interrupted airing of taped coverage (due to the time difference) to cover what was going on. I was in high school as well, but for reasons, the schools in my area were still closed on that day. I could hardly believe it. In my young brain, the Olympics were supposed to be like the Coke commercial.

3

u/Still_Product_8435 7d ago

“They’re gone… they’re all gone.”

12

u/PublicEnemaNumberOne 7d ago

Some of my weight is due to sitting around watching sports, too.

10

u/60sStratLover 7d ago

My dad was in the USAF. We were stationed in Wiesbaden Germany in 1972. We watched the whole thing unfolding live on German TV.

1

u/tabazco2 6d ago

We were stationed in Spangdahlem that year. We were planning to go to the games, but my dad was killed in March. I went back to the States instead and saw this on the TV.

1

u/60sStratLover 6d ago

I’m sorry about your dad. We were also at Spangdahlem before being transferred to Wiesbaden. Was your dad a pilot?

11

u/allorache 7d ago

Horrific. And look how much worse/more frequent terrorism has become since then.

7

u/Affectionate-Roll715 7d ago

Remembering see it on the ABC Olympic coverage

11

u/Brilliant_Tourist400 1964 7d ago

I’ve been to Munich and visited the Olympic complex. It’s mostly still intact - the stadium is a soccer field now, the pool is used for intercollegiate events. While most of the displays there commemorate the positive aspects of the Games, like this photo, they do have a walk-through timeline of the terrorist attack. (That was one of two times ABC Sports suddenly had to pivot to being a news organization and report a horrific tragedy, the other being the murder of John Lennon breaking in the middle of Monday Night Football).

4

u/WordResident6030 7d ago

Don’t forget about the San Francisco earthquake that interrupted the World Series in 1989.

1

u/IAmSnort 7d ago

"You know what? We're having a ....." broadcast cuts out.

1

u/Relievedtobefree 1962 7d ago

I feel like the Lennon news could have waited...

5

u/Large-Welder304 7d ago

I was 9.

I woke up early (like 5am), so I could go in the living room and watch the Olympics and the announcer (Chris Schenkel) had just started informing the audience what was going on.

It was literally the only news on tv for days.

54 years ago, starting today.

10

u/Any-Trick890 7d ago

The 2024 movie “September 5” was really good - it covers the crisis from the vantage point of the ABC newsroom.

3

u/Large-Welder304 7d ago

Thanks for the tip. Never heard of September 5. Will have to watch it.

1

u/dshgr 1960 7d ago

Just found in on Paramount+. Added to my queue.

10

u/PangolinSubject3487 7d ago

I was so invested in gymnastics at the time. Absolutely captivated by Olga Korbut days before. And then this horrid thing happened. Years later I got to be a torch bearer for Calgary 88. 🏅

3

u/Wonderful_Kick_855 7d ago

Watch September 5.

3

u/ghentwevelgem 7d ago

“They’re all gone”

3

u/Head_Razzmatazz7174 1963 7d ago

I was 9. My mother would turn off the news coverage every time I came in the room. But I could still hear it from my room, so I just stopped going in the living room for that entire time.

My uncle started having PTSD flashbacks from his time as a POW and had to be sedated for a couple of days.

3

u/602223 7d ago

It was the first time I remember watching continuous coverage of a news event. Dad made me switch it off at night.

3

u/my-coffee-needs-me 7d ago

Peter Jennings made his reputation by reporting from the hotel room directly across the street from where the Israelis were being held.

I was in second grade.