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Oklahoma City Marks 22nd Anniversary of Murrah Bombing

Oklahoma City Marks 22nd Anniversary of Murrah Bombing

The terrorist attack killed 168 people, including 19 children.

https://twitter.com/OKCPD/status/854703691168985088

Twenty-two years ago today, at 9:02 AM, a homemade bomb exploded at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK. The bomb killed 168 people, which included 19 children. The attack at the time was the worst terrorist attack on American soil until 9/11.

Every single year, us in Oklahoma City remember this tragic attack at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. Survivors and family members of the victims decorate the beautiful chairs that adorn the memorial, one for each victim.

I did not live in OKC at the time, but the city has become my home and trust me, you do not have to be from around here to have it affect you.

168 Seconds of Silence

At 9:02AM, the memorial observes 168 seconds of silence.

Ben Carson

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson arrived in OKC yesterday and toured the museum. The bomb killed 35 HUD employees.

Carson left a note on every HUD employee’s chair.

Carson also spoke at the memorial service:

He became very emotional as he spoke. Carson considers the memorial a national memorial because it affected the entire country. He mentioned that HUD in D.C. has a garden and memorial to honor those who died, including the children.

Carson encouraged people to make America the one those who died would appreciate calling home. Will we become the compassionate country and the one that lends a helping hand? Or will we become the nation that listens to those who preach hate, obviously referring to Timothy McVeigh, the man who committed this terrorist attack?

He also explained how HUD has taken steps by not only placing a roof over a person but nurturing them to guide them on a different route from McVeigh.

James Lankford

Senator James Lankford (R-OK) spent a few minutes at the microphone:

Lankford reminded everyone that God remains with us and every time we come to pray together, we are reminded that evil does not win.

He also acknowledged that the attack forever changed Oklahoma City that day, but remains impressed how the city continues to rejuvenate and works every day to make sure the attack is not forgotten along with the victims.

The Victims

One of the hardest parts of the ceremony? Listening to people read out the names of the victims, especially when they announce the names of the children who died and the pregnant females with the names of their unborn child.

Other Reactions

Former President Bill Clinton usually visits OKC on April 19. He didn’t today, but still tweeted about it.

This image remains on the neighboring building, written by a first response team.

https://twitter.com/RiahMiles/status/854697710653497344

Please do not ever forget.

[Featured image via Twitter]

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Comments

I have a friend and former graduate econ. professor whose brother defended McVeigh, solely because everyone accused of crime deserves an effective defense under our system.

McVeigh was a monster.

Thank you for posting this. Here is the link to the OKC National Memorial – https://oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/

If you were in OKC, you remember the day. You either knew someone who was there or a friend who knew someone. There are stories that you don’t forget.

I heard/felt the explosion. My first reaction was that there was a really bad traffic accident outside. A couple of us ran outside to check. A policeman was writing a ticket, but he listened to his radio and left.

Our public affairs person turned on the TV in the main conference room and we watched all day. I called my parents to tell them I was at the office, 10 miles away from the bombing. They couldn’t get hold of me for several days afterward. After a while, we couldn’t watch it anymore and we all went to the local blood bank, along with half the city.

One person was in shock since her friend’s office was no longer there. Later, she found out that her friend was late for work that day because she forgot something and had to go back to her home. She survived. Another friend worked night shift at a hospital. The staff didn’t know that they had lost someone until she didn’t show up. They realized that it was the day she was going to the Social Security office.

Another friend was a MP for the Guard. He spent every day at the site until it was imploded. He quit his teaching job and went full time military.

I’ve been to the Memorial – it is beautiful. I haven’t been able to go into the museum, yet. Maybe someday.

I watch the service each year on TV since I feel that being there belongs to the families.

The Thunder GM has new players go to the Memorial and Museum since he thinks it helps explains the people who live here in OKC.

    Mary Chastain in reply to Liz. | April 20, 2017 at 9:38 am

    Plus visiting teams always go to the memorial and museum. I love that they do this.

Not to take anything away from the Oklahoma tragedy, but if it’s 22 years to the day since the Murrah bombing, it’s 24 years to the day since Janet Reno murdered all those children in Waco for no reason.

She was just as big of a criminal as McVeigh. At least they’re both dead.

    VaGentleman in reply to Tom Servo. | April 20, 2017 at 8:30 am

    One can easily argue that it was Waco and Ruby Ridge that radicalized McVeigh and unleashed the monster.

    It’s also true that he was the only one to pay a price for his actions.

    His crime was used to divert attention from the other, equally horrific, crimes.

Just think, if it weren’t for McVeigh the apologists for islamic terror would have nothing to keep coming back to and saying “Well McVeigh was a Christian terrorist so all religions do it”. I am still amazed at how anyone can connect the two under the banner of religion.

My step-father was an aeronautical engineer that wrote airworthiness directives for the FAA. The only reason he didn’t die that day is because there was a park across the street from the Murrah Federal Building, and the Federal Building in my home town is packed in the middle of downtown. McVeigh thought the destruction wrought on the Murrah Building would film better for TV, because of the park providing better/less obstructed visuals for the news cameras.

On an unrelated note, my grandfather was scheduled for leave in early June, 1944. The Allied commanders decided not to cancel leave and recall soldiers before embarking on D-Day, as the Germans would have noticed the recalling of soldiers on leave, and thus known an attack was coming. My grandfather didn’t arrive in France until D-Day +9.

Looking back at things like this just strikes me with awe at how much of life is directed by mere happenstance.

In the 80s this type of terrorism was unthinkable, but the 90s was the decade where that all changed unfortunately. I think sometimes people forget how turbulent those times were and how much innocence we lost in just a few years. I remember in ’98 or ’99 how confusing and strange it was that someone had managed to hit bomb two US embassies in a single day. Thanks to the authors & comment writers.

buckeyeminuteman | April 20, 2017 at 10:43 am

If one or two lone wolf wackos could inflict that much pain and damage in the heartland, just think what an organized, foreign government-funded ISIS cell could achieve. What the ATF did at Waco is inexcusable and those at the agency should pay for their sins, but in no way does that justify what happened in OKC.

McVeigh may have bumbled his way through this but the real culprit with the HE was BATF who were waging a campaign for their very existence. They got wind of this nutbag and oversaw the outcome. Fertilizer bombs (LE) do not shear steel columns. This entire fiasco, while deadly, is as crooked as the Warren Commission report.

MaxWebXperienZ | April 20, 2017 at 2:04 pm

Actually this the 23rd anniversary of the unnecessary showy assault on Waco that was designed to send a message to people like Timothy McVeigh.