duckman
04-19-2005, 09:45 AM
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,153845,00.html
Oklahoma City Marks 10 Years Since Bombing
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
http://www.foxnews.com/images/service_ap_36.gif
OKLAHOMA CITY — A moment of silence, one second for each victim. On each chair, a yellow ribbon.
Political leaders, survivors and victims' family members planned to gather Tuesday for a ceremony at the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building (search (javascript:siteSearch('Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building');)), 10 years after it was destroyed in the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.
Vice President Dick Cheney (search (javascript:siteSearch('Dick Cheney');)) and former President Bill Clinton (search (javascript:siteSearch('Bill Clinton');)) also were scheduled to speak at the event commemorating the deadly attack on American soil.
Clinton was president when Timothy McVeigh's (search (javascript:siteSearch('Timothy McVeigh's');)) truck bomb blew off the north side of the Murrah building, killing 168 people and injuring hundreds more.
McVeigh was convicted of federal conspiracy and murder charges and executed on June 11, 2001. Conspirator Terry Nichols is serving multiple life sentences on federal and state charges.
For more on the Oklahoma City bombing anniversary, read FOX News' examination of conspiracy theories (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153635,00.html) surrounding the explosion and a reporter's notebook from correspondent Rita Cosby (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153644,00.html).
Jenny Parsley, who seldom visits the memorial on the grounds of the destroyed federal office building, planned to attend Tuesday's ceremony. The memorial site consists of 168 chairs that represent each person who died in the blast.
"I knew most of the people killed," Parsley said. "I lost a lot of good friends, too many."
Her decision to go in late on April 19, 1995, saved her from the blast that killed 35 people in the Housing and Urban Development (search (javascript:siteSearch('Housing and Urban Development');)) office where Parsley worked.
"My workday began at 7 a.m. and I had a doctor's appointment at 10 a.m., so I could have worked for almost three hours, but for some reason I decided to go in after my appointment," she said. "I got up early that morning and got dressed and got ready to go to work and just decided not to go."
McVeigh's fertilizer and fuel-oil bomb went off at 9:02 a.m.
Parsley, 57, was driving her car and noticed thick black smoke over downtown. She thought it was a fire at a tire plant until she turned on the radio and heard that it was the federal building.
She drove to her husband's office and discovered that her college-age son also was there. Both her husband and son thought she was in the building when the bomb exploded.
"They were crying," she said. "When I got there, I just fell apart."
Parsley and fellow employees returned to work at a different building in Oklahoma City. When the new federal building was dedicated last year, near the bombing site, Parsley took early retirement.
Joseph Allbaugh (search (javascript:siteSearch('Joseph Allbaugh');)), the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (search (javascript:siteSearch('Federal Emergency Management Agency');)), was chief of staff for then-Texas Gov. George Bush during the Oklahoma City bombing. Allbaugh, a Blackwell native who lived and worked in Oklahoma City for 17 years, said he lost a lot of friends in the bombing.
"Yes, it was a terrible day," he said. "We will always celebrate those 168 lives and you'll be glad to know the city and the state have rebounded ... Life does go on."
Jon Hansen, an assistant fire chief at the time of the blast, was preparing for a meeting at a fire station five blocks west of the federal building when the bomb went off.
"It shook our building," he said. "We looked to the east and saw an enormous mushroom cloud.
"We drove toward the building and I'll never forget how when we topped the hill with the sun low in the east, the street and sidewalks just glistened with broken glass."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Even after ten years, I can still remember what happened that day like it was yesterday. I was a senior in high school at the time. I had been in the library working on an assignment when one of the teachers came in and said there was an explosion at the federal building.
One of the librarians turned on the TV and we watched in horror as we saw the front side of the building billowing out smoke. You couldn't even see the full extent of the damage when the first minutes of the broadcast was shown. They shown people walking aimlessly down the street with cuts and blood on their faces.
When the reporters said the daycare was badly hit, I was especially upset. Those kids never got a chance to live a full life. It was violently taken away from them. I don't think ever cried so much. Those kids' parents (the ones that survived) will never be the same again. Your children are supposed to bury you and not the other way around.
The part that is unclear is when they found out that Timothy McVeigh was sitting in our county jail in Perry. I want to say it was two days later, but I'm not certain. Once the news got out, parents called the principals and superintendent demanding their children be sent home. People were afraid that someone would bomb the school (seems silly as time past) to divert attention away for some escape attempt.
I was out in the courtyard of the courthouse when they brought McVeigh out surrounded by federal marshalls and FBI agents. They delayed bringing him out due to an armed lynch mob waiting for him. The FBI confiscated weapons, but no one was arrested. When they brought him out, people were yelling "murderer" and "baby killer" while others ring in boos.
I was happy when McVeigh waived his remaining appeals to be executed. If anyone deserved to die, it was Timothy McVeigh. If you ever hear one of the stories from one of the parents that lost a child, you would understand about deserving the death penalty.
I pray those affected will eventually find closure, but I have my doubts.
Oklahoma City Marks 10 Years Since Bombing
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
http://www.foxnews.com/images/service_ap_36.gif
OKLAHOMA CITY — A moment of silence, one second for each victim. On each chair, a yellow ribbon.
Political leaders, survivors and victims' family members planned to gather Tuesday for a ceremony at the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building (search (javascript:siteSearch('Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building');)), 10 years after it was destroyed in the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.
Vice President Dick Cheney (search (javascript:siteSearch('Dick Cheney');)) and former President Bill Clinton (search (javascript:siteSearch('Bill Clinton');)) also were scheduled to speak at the event commemorating the deadly attack on American soil.
Clinton was president when Timothy McVeigh's (search (javascript:siteSearch('Timothy McVeigh's');)) truck bomb blew off the north side of the Murrah building, killing 168 people and injuring hundreds more.
McVeigh was convicted of federal conspiracy and murder charges and executed on June 11, 2001. Conspirator Terry Nichols is serving multiple life sentences on federal and state charges.
For more on the Oklahoma City bombing anniversary, read FOX News' examination of conspiracy theories (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153635,00.html) surrounding the explosion and a reporter's notebook from correspondent Rita Cosby (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153644,00.html).
Jenny Parsley, who seldom visits the memorial on the grounds of the destroyed federal office building, planned to attend Tuesday's ceremony. The memorial site consists of 168 chairs that represent each person who died in the blast.
"I knew most of the people killed," Parsley said. "I lost a lot of good friends, too many."
Her decision to go in late on April 19, 1995, saved her from the blast that killed 35 people in the Housing and Urban Development (search (javascript:siteSearch('Housing and Urban Development');)) office where Parsley worked.
"My workday began at 7 a.m. and I had a doctor's appointment at 10 a.m., so I could have worked for almost three hours, but for some reason I decided to go in after my appointment," she said. "I got up early that morning and got dressed and got ready to go to work and just decided not to go."
McVeigh's fertilizer and fuel-oil bomb went off at 9:02 a.m.
Parsley, 57, was driving her car and noticed thick black smoke over downtown. She thought it was a fire at a tire plant until she turned on the radio and heard that it was the federal building.
She drove to her husband's office and discovered that her college-age son also was there. Both her husband and son thought she was in the building when the bomb exploded.
"They were crying," she said. "When I got there, I just fell apart."
Parsley and fellow employees returned to work at a different building in Oklahoma City. When the new federal building was dedicated last year, near the bombing site, Parsley took early retirement.
Joseph Allbaugh (search (javascript:siteSearch('Joseph Allbaugh');)), the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (search (javascript:siteSearch('Federal Emergency Management Agency');)), was chief of staff for then-Texas Gov. George Bush during the Oklahoma City bombing. Allbaugh, a Blackwell native who lived and worked in Oklahoma City for 17 years, said he lost a lot of friends in the bombing.
"Yes, it was a terrible day," he said. "We will always celebrate those 168 lives and you'll be glad to know the city and the state have rebounded ... Life does go on."
Jon Hansen, an assistant fire chief at the time of the blast, was preparing for a meeting at a fire station five blocks west of the federal building when the bomb went off.
"It shook our building," he said. "We looked to the east and saw an enormous mushroom cloud.
"We drove toward the building and I'll never forget how when we topped the hill with the sun low in the east, the street and sidewalks just glistened with broken glass."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Even after ten years, I can still remember what happened that day like it was yesterday. I was a senior in high school at the time. I had been in the library working on an assignment when one of the teachers came in and said there was an explosion at the federal building.
One of the librarians turned on the TV and we watched in horror as we saw the front side of the building billowing out smoke. You couldn't even see the full extent of the damage when the first minutes of the broadcast was shown. They shown people walking aimlessly down the street with cuts and blood on their faces.
When the reporters said the daycare was badly hit, I was especially upset. Those kids never got a chance to live a full life. It was violently taken away from them. I don't think ever cried so much. Those kids' parents (the ones that survived) will never be the same again. Your children are supposed to bury you and not the other way around.
The part that is unclear is when they found out that Timothy McVeigh was sitting in our county jail in Perry. I want to say it was two days later, but I'm not certain. Once the news got out, parents called the principals and superintendent demanding their children be sent home. People were afraid that someone would bomb the school (seems silly as time past) to divert attention away for some escape attempt.
I was out in the courtyard of the courthouse when they brought McVeigh out surrounded by federal marshalls and FBI agents. They delayed bringing him out due to an armed lynch mob waiting for him. The FBI confiscated weapons, but no one was arrested. When they brought him out, people were yelling "murderer" and "baby killer" while others ring in boos.
I was happy when McVeigh waived his remaining appeals to be executed. If anyone deserved to die, it was Timothy McVeigh. If you ever hear one of the stories from one of the parents that lost a child, you would understand about deserving the death penalty.
I pray those affected will eventually find closure, but I have my doubts.