Yeah, I worked evenings back then and was home with our 3.5 YO and 6 month old. 3.5 yo son and I were watching it live. Then it went bad and all I could do was hug the kid. At taht age he didn't really understand the tragedy of the situation (especially since his mom was at her job as a teacher).
Local mid-day news anchor came on a few minutes later. She very obviously had been crying. My faith in her reports went way up that day.
Not all the exploratory ships that put to sea come back. We forget that sometimes.