Flash Bulb Memory is a memory is a vivid memory that is in result to a situation or event that embeds that memory in your brain. Situations like September 11th 2001 when someone can tell you every detail of that day that had occurred in some cases 15 to 30 years ago as if they happened yesterday were on the same note they can’t recall where they left their car keys when they got home yesterday.
My topic that I will visit today will take us back to lesson 9. I am going to recall an evening on board my ship in the navy. On September 14th 2014 I was carrying out a normal days routine starting out at 0600 I went to breakfast. That morning I enjoyed pancakes and some cocoa puffs. 0730 rolled around and it was time to meet up with my division to inform them what was going on that day and what they had to accomplish. It was a normal light load day we were finishing up combat operations and heading home from our deployment. Everyone was in a type of laid back we are tired of being here type of mood. The evening before we decided that our sailors needed to remove Non Skid flooring from a re-fueling station that had taken a lot of damage from heavy usage on the past months. Once they accomplished this task they were off for the day with nothing else we wanted them to have a day to themselves to unwind. After this information was put out I left to go to my office to accomplish the administrative work that needed to be done for the day which took me 45 minutes. at 0900 I decided it was time to take a minute away from my division to go wander around my watch section to make sure nobody was asleep or not standing a proper watch. I made my way up to the Bridge and my Helmsman ( the person driving the ship) called me over and informed me that something awesome was supposedly happening that night that he overheard being discussed. He informed me that we were going to launch our first strikes on isis directly from our battle group. Naturally being in the Military this was something that was exciting to the young gentleman. I decided that I needed to know more about this so I went over and asked the officer of the deck what I needed to know. The officer of the deck informed me that I may want to stay up till approximately 0230 the following morning, he assured me it would be worth it. At that point I was baffled that we were on our way home but still participating in campaigns. After all the work was accomplished on that day I decided it was time to let everyone go do things for themselves and told them that I would see them tomorrow. I was greedy with my information because I did not know if it was sensitive information at that point or if it were even true because in the navy people love to make up stories to see how far they can get. I went to dinner with who is now my wife and a few of our friends on the ship. After dinner I went to my office and decided it was time for some video games to kill time. The video games lasted about 2 hours at 1900 I had what was called an evening meeting which was something that our department’s leadership had to go to too discuss problems from the day and plans to fix them and move forward as well as personnel issues and upcoming events. 2000 rolled around and I decided if I needed to be awake so early that I would benefit from a nap. I decided my nap would be best fit for my office couch since no one was in there it worked out. 0230 hit and I woke up a little late at 0230 on the dot to be exact. I ventured out to the deck outside which conveniently was right outside my office. To my surprise there were two of our ships not more than 2 miles away from us which on the water is abnormally close. 0243 rolled around then I heard a boom and from that moment for about 30 minutes I watched tomahawk cruise missiles launch from these ships. I remember that day and the events of it as if I had just experienced them an hour ago to this day.
Goldstein, B. (2011). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience (3rd ed.).