Throughout the last 70 years, KOCO 5 journalists have been digging to find how Oklahomans were connected to major national stories.We found several examples, including moments of crisis and war.The Vietnam WarOn May 11, 1972, Col. Bill Talley was a fighter pilot who was taken as a prisoner of war. The Vietnam War lasted from Nov. 1, 1955, to April 30, 1975. More than 58,000 Americans died, and about 1,000 were Oklahomans.The state's connection to the war runs deep at Tinker Air Force Base and Fort Sill. Tinker supplies logistics and communications aid to units in Southeast Asia. "It's an important base. It always has been. They do things here that you don't see at other places," William "Pete" Piazza," who served in Vietnam with the Air Force, said.Fort Sill supported American interventions and sent troops to fight. Through the years, KOCO 5 shared the stories of Oklahoma Vietnam veterans and the ceremonies honoring their service.President John F. Kennedy's visit with OUThe University of Oklahoma Sooners faced the University of Alabama in the 1963 Orange Bowl. One of the people who visited with OU players was President John F. Kennedy."I think we were all so awestruck by him that there's President Kennedy in our locker room," Rick McCurdy, who played for the Sooners, said. "It was a surprise visit, and he seemed to want us to win."Kennedy was in attendance supporting legendary OU coach Bud Wilkinson, whom the president appointed as director of the President's Council of Physical Fitness.Later that year, Kennedy's presence would affect an OU game again as the Sooners prepared for the Big Eight title against Nebraska. On Nov. 22, 1963, Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas.Events were canceled across the country as America stood stunned. Wilkinson then made a call."His words to us were that Bobby Kennedy thought the president would want the game to go on," McCurdy said.WatergateIn 1972, the Watergate scandal rocked Richard Nixon's presidency. Carl Albert, who was born in McAlester, served as the U.S. Speaker of the House and chose to refer presidential impeachment resolutions to the House judiciary committee.Twice during the scandal, Albert was second in succession to the presidency.Oklahoma's connection to Watergate doesn't stop there. James McCord, who was born in Waurika, served as head of security for Nixon's re-election campaign. He and four other accomplices were arrested during the second break-in. The arrests ultimately led to Nixon's resignation.Oklahoma and SpaceThe Sooner State has many ties to space exploration.In January 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight. All seven crew members died.For Charlie Dry, a former NASA test pilot from Oklahoma, the tragedy was personal. He knew and trained Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who was set to go into space that day."Yeah, it doesn't come back to me very often. But sometimes when it comes back, it's pretty tough," Dry said.In 1963, Gordon Cooper piloted the longest and last Mercury spaceflight. The Shawnee native became the first American to spend an entire day in space, the first to sleep in space and the last American on an entirely solo orbital mission.Gen. Thomas Stafford was the commander of the Apollo X Mission. Stafford, who called Weatherford home, performed the first international rendezvous and docking where three American astronauts worked with two Russian cosmonauts. When they shook hands, it was known as the "Handshake in Space."Shannon Lucid from Bethany was selected by NASA as one of the first American female astronauts. She set the record for the most hours in orbit by a woman.Oklahoma is the only state to have astronauts who have been involved in every phase of the U.S. space program.Sept. 11, 2001It's a day we'll never forget. Sept. 11, 2001, was the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Nearly 3,000 people died, including three Oklahomans at the World Trade Center and three at the Pentagon.Some of the first responders killed in the attack were part of the rescue and recovery teams that responded to the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995."I wish there had been something else there that we could have done," Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper C.L. Parkins said. "You know, discovered to arrest the man on and then found some evidence that would have clued in on what was happening."Five months before the 2001 attack, Parkins pulled over a man for speeding and not wearing a seat belt. The man was later identified as one of the terrorists on a plane that crashed into the Pentagon. His name was also identified in the indictment of a now-convicted terrorist who once attended a flight school in Norman.Hurricane KatrinaKOCO 5 was the only Oklahoma City station in New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005. Thousands of Katrina evacuees came to Oklahoma, many of them staying and making this their new home.The devastation from Katrina resulted in the New Orleans Hornets, now the Pelicans, temporarily relocating to Oklahoma City. The way the city hosted the team paved the way for the Oklahoma City Thunder when a settlement was reached with the Seattle Supersonics.For 70 years, KOCO 5 has been your source for not just local headlines. We're also there for the stories making headlines across the country. The KOCO 5 Team is dedicated to sharing all the Oklahoma connections.