On about this day in 1983, the Soviet Union shot down a Korean airliner,
killing 269 on board. Sixty two of them were Americans. President
Ronald Reagan was on a 25-day vacation at the time it happened and
according to his diary, he was upset he would have to cut his vacation
short by 3 days.

From his diary:

"We were due to return to Wash. on Labor Day but realized we couldn't
wait so we left on Fri. It was heartbreaking, I had really looked
forward to those last 3 days."
9/2/1983

Reagan didn't want to return to the White House, and he didn't address
the nation for four days. He took no action against the Soviet Union,
but today's teabaggers think the world feared him.