11 Years ago today

[underpants]

http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/




The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was a United States Government complex located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and the target of the Oklahoma City bombing.

The federal building was constructed in 1977 at a cost of $14.5 million, and was named for federal judge Alfred P. Murrah, an Oklahoma native. By the 1990s the building contained regional offices for the Secret Service, the Drug Enforcement Agency (D.E.A.), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and other agencies.

On the morning of April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh parked a rented Ryder truck with explosives in front of the complex and, at 9:02am, a massive explosion occurred which sheared the entire north side of the building, killing 168 people.

Following an investigation and recovery of victims' bodies, the surviving structure was demolished with explosives on May 23, 1995. The Water Resources Board and Athenian Building were heavily damaged and later destroyed. The site later became home to the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.


http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/docs/Symbols%20of%20Hope.pdf

[seabeyond]

1. 10 days before i gave birth to first child. that was the headlines

only 4 hours from where i live. a painful time

[underpants]

2. I was on my way to an Econ. test

I saw the first image (that one basically) but didn't understand the size of the building that I was looking at. When I got home that afternoon I just sat in silence and stared at the TV.

[LisaLynne]

3. Such a frightening thing ...

Such a senseless thing. :cry:

[Cerridwen]

4. And the media immediately began reporting that a "middle

eastern looking" man or men was seen leaving the scene.

A friend and I were having a beer after a women's studies class and discussing what had happened.

I was heavily involved in women's rights activism. The anger and hatred I encountered each day from "angry white guys" afraid of losing jobs, status, "rights", whatever, was palpable. Limbaugh was just hitting the scene and stirring up hatred during this time. Women's health clinic bombings, shootings and harrassment were "everywhere."

I told my friend that it had nothing to do with "middle eastern looking" men and that it was probably an "angry white guy" or guys.

A few hours later, we learned I was right.

Sometimes it sucks to be right.

edit: for additional thought

[Nicole]

5. The worst terrorist act on American soil

I remember that phrase being repeated over & over in the media for weeks.

I live in Oklahoma & the news coverage here was the OKC bombing 24/7 for a couple of weeks.

No one dreamed that what was then referred to as the worst terrorist act on American soil would dwarf in comparison to 9/11.

[paparush]

6. This is what Gulf War I wrought back home..What will the current insanity

bring home to roost..?

[Nicole]

12. I don't even want to think about

what the current insanity will unleash on us.

[paparush]

7. Tomorrow, 4-20 is the Columbine Massacre

[Jackpine Radical]

8. ...and 13 years ago today was the attack of the Koresh compound

at Waco.

[Rocknrule]

10. April is such a positive month, eh?

[Texaroo]

16. I've made that comment before -

April 12th through 19th mark the anniversaries of the Titanic, assassination of Lincoln, the beginning of the Dust Bowl, Waco, Oklahoma City, and Tax Day. This week in history bites.

[Roland99]

9. Hasn't been word one in the media that I've heard

[tandot]

11. I was in Oklahoma City on that day, a few miles away from it.

Lots of ignorant morons went "hunting" for Middle Eastern looking guys until it was finally reported that a white guy did it.

I knew a lot of Middle Eastern people who were afraid to leave their home for days...scared for their lives

[IndyOp]

13. My mother died a few months before it happened...

She lived in Tulsa. I remember feeling grateful she did not have to witness the Murrah bombing.

:(

[vickitulsa]

14. I'm a "born and raised" Okie who was living in Dallas at the time.

I happened to be home sick from work and the TV was tuned to CNN when the "breaking news" of the OKC bombing first hit the air waves. I was only a four-hour drive from where my grown daughter, my sister-in-law, and my niece lived in the OKC area, but I felt so helpless and so far away. I was also in shock, afraid, and shaken to the core, so I didn't find it so hard to understand how people living near the WTC and Pentagon must have felt on 9/11.

And as some here have said, this tragedy was brought about by an American Gulf War veteran; so it's troubling to say the least to think of what the current crop of vets from Afghanistan and Iraq are going to bring home with them. It is rarely easy to adjust to living in a peaceful culture after becoming accustomed in combat to seeing people killed and maimed all around you.

The more unpopular W's wars in the ME become, I hope we will all wrap our arms around the soldiers who have been forced to fight in America's name. When they come back to us, I suspect it will take a lot of understanding and alertness on our part to prevent another tragedy such as the OKC bombing, or many "smaller" tragedies in the form of suicides and homicides.

[Texaroo]

15. OK, so someone tell me...

When Timothy McVeigh did this, didn't the righties say that, although he was a militia member, he was acting alone? Didn't they whine about profiling religious extremists who gathered weapons (the fire at Waco killing the Branch Davidians, after all, was ALSO on this date, and that's what McVeigh responded to). Weren't militias a good idea, with all the "oppression" coming from the government?

Weren't they worried about "jack-booted thugs" from the government infringing upon personal freedoms?

Wasn't this act, by a Militia member, an act of terrorism? Where was the War on Terror call from the GOP in those days? McVeigh blew up a day care center, and he did it IN PROTEST OF THE GOVERNMENT, and with implicit support of rightist talk radio (I happened to catch G Gordon Liddy's broadcast that day, as I was driving in a rural area, and it was the only radio station I could pick up. Within an HOUR of the event, Liddy suggested it was the GOVERNMENT's fault for whipping up this kind of anger, and even made the "jack-booted thugs" comment).

HYPOCRISY, my friends. That the right doesn't draw the parallels between acts of terror betrays their partisanship and their ridiculousness.

[Olney Blue]

17. My thoughts go to the families and friends....

:grouphug:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

18. We now live across the street from there...

When the memorial was first built, I was really uncomfortable there. We walked thru it right after it was opened, and I felt sick to my stomach. The grounds were still reeling from the violence of the act that day. We weren't there very long. We were there just long enough to see my cousin's chair, and then we had to get out of there.
Today it is very different. It's peaceful and quiet. The souls that were so violently murdered that day are at peace. It's truly a beautiful place.

The view from my balcony.