The memorial to the victims of the terrorist act in Oklahoma City. On April 19th, 1995, Timoth McVeigh detonated a truck bomb and blew up the Oklahoma City Federal Building.
Sad day fifteen years ago. A day when a lot of lives were lost, a lot of people were injured, and a lot of hate spread by another fringe character who was motivated by intense hatred for the federal government.
On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh parked his truck next to the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in downtown Oklahoma City and proceeded to detonate a massive bomb that killed 168 people including nineteen under the age of six. Hundreds more were injured. All for hate, all for nothing.
McVeigh was stopped by Oklahoma State Trooper Charlie Hanger less than two hours later for a missing license plate and arrested for unlawfully carrying a weapon. Evidence later pointed directly at McVeigh and his accomplice, Terry Nichols.
A memorial was built on the site of the federal building and opened five years to the day after the bombing. As you can imagine, it’s a somber site with chairs symbolizing all those lost in the bombing, a reflecting pool and a ominous clock that goes from 9:01 to 9:03, the time during which the blast occurred.
On June 11, 2001, I was assigned to spend a day with a survivor as he went about his life on the day McVeigh was put to death by lethal injection. It’s tough to say how he felt that day, but on this day I always think of him and the hundreds of others who were attacked by a pair of cowards.
Oklahoma State Trooper Charlie Hanger apprehended bomber Timothy McVeigh 90 minutes after he blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
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