April 19th marked the 15th anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.I remember that day very well.
We were stationed at Tinker Air Force Base at that time and living in base housing. The Colonel was away from home on a mission, so it was just Yam (almost 4), Spud (almost 2) and I at home.
The bombing happened at 9:02 AM...I had just gotten the kids breakfast dishes cleaned up when I heard a loud boom and felt a slight shake as the windows rattled. (Our base house was roughly 8 to 10 miles from the bomb blast).
"Hmmm...odd", I thought. We lived on a military installation, but I had never experienced this before at Tinker. "Maybe they are having an exercise and executing a mock bombing raid", I thought again.
Just as I finished my thought the phone rang. It was my good friend Darla.
"Do you have the T.V. on?"
"No."
"TURN IT ON ...THERE HAS BEEN A BOMBING DOWNTOWN AND IT LOOKS LIKE BEIRUT!"
"Okay...Oh my God...I'll talk to you later, bye."
Darla was right, the bomb's aftermath was terrible. I sat in front of the television watching in disbelief. Just a couple of months earlier I was inside that building applying for Spud's Social Security Card and I had both kids with me.
The phone rang again. It was The Colonel.
"Are you and the kids Okay?"
"Yes, fine, just a little shook up, literally."
"The base has been shut down for security purposes and I will not be able to get home for a couple of more days."
"I expected that, don't worry we're fine and safe."
"Love you, see you soon."
"Love you too, bye."
The bombing claimed 168 lives, 19 of them children under 6 years old. Who could forget this picture?
680 people were also injured due to the blast. 324 buildings within a 16 block radius were destroyed.
86 cars were burned or destroyed. The glass in 258 buildings was shattered. It was estimated the bomb caused $652 million worth of damage.
When The Colonel made it home a couple of days later, we drove downtown to see what we could of the damage. Understandably we could not get very close with all of the cleanup and investigations still on going. What we could see was horrible, sad and unbelievable. You could see the path and force of the bomb's blast by looking at the damage done to the buildings down town.
About a month after the bombing Darla and I, with our kids in double strollers made a trip the bomb site. The Murrah building was fenced off, even so, we were able to get fairly close to ground zero.
I took these pictures, which I later put into a scrapbook.
Being this close to ground zero was a bit over whelming. Seeing first-hand the destruction and subsequent loss of life caused by some one's hatred saddened me.
Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn!
-Robert Burns
The Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial at ground zero
I have tears in my eyes. I hope no one comes into my work cubicle. I, too, think of the past bombings. I work in a multi-story government building, and think many times about potential for attack. JMK
ReplyDeleteI remember that day all too well. Especially that heartbreaking photo. I sat at my kitchen table and sobbed when I saw that photo of the fireman carrying that child. That child looked to be the same age as my boy and it was all too easy to imagine the anguish and loss of so many families.
ReplyDeleteAll I thought was please God keep my sister and family safe. Another great blog sister. K
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