On April 19, 1995, two domestic terrorists set off a bomb in front of a federal building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring hundreds of others. I came to Oklahoma City was to pay my respects and to bear witness to an awful moment in our nation’s history. I knew it would be hard, but I had no idea.
The memorial is designed to show in large scale, not just tell in words, what happened that day. It’s visceral, like a gut bunch to stand there, understand the physical layout, and then put it all together. It’s a powerful design, one that moved me to tears then and moves me to tears as I write this post.
The reflecting pool and grassy area behind it are where the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building stood on that day in April, 1995. At one end of that space is a large dark wall with 9:01 cut out of it.
At the other end, a matching wall displaying 9:03.
The space in between represents what happened at 9:02 AM, the minute the bomb exploded.
Each chair carries the name of a person who was killed that day. Not all the chairs are the same size; the smaller ones represent the 19 little children who died in the building’s day care center that morning. Each row (left to right) represents a floor of the building, and the chairs are a physical list of each person on that floor who died. The lighter walls to the far left are part of the Murrah building, left in place and displaying the names of survivors.
I don’t know if my explanation works, so here’s a short video that gives you a panorama of the area (although it goes from 9:03 to 9:01 because I moved in the wrong direction).
There’s a very extensive museum next door to this space where you can walk through the bombing and aftermath, and it’s heartwrenching and sad and I couldn’t do all of it. Before I left, I stood in the gallery of honor, where each person who died has a small plexiglass cube containing their name and photo and mementos their families and friends provided.
I will never understand why this happened. Yes, I know the facts of the matter, what happened why and why the terrorists said they did it. But I will never understand how people can use such violence and insist it was justified. I want to believe we’re better than that as human beings. Maybe we are, maybe we’re aren’t.
I mean, look at the war in Ukraine. Some of us humans are still stuck in the belief that blowing up buildings and killing people is the way to get your point across. It’s not. The people of Oklahoma City know that, and so do the Ukranians. Despite the horrors of terrorists and the machines of war, they persist. May they always persist, because then maybe someday, the wars, the bombings, the violence, all of it, will end.
Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Maria Yon says
I resize this was difficult for you to experience and re-experience as you wrote, but thank you. Thank you for your words and your heart.
dawnkinster says
I remember where I was when that happened. I haven’t been to OK, but I will some day. I will definitely stop by this place to pay my respects too. Thank you.
Susan says
I remember that day. Thank you for sharing your visit, Annie.
Luanne says
It’s all so overwhelming. Thanks for having the courage to go. I wonder if I could.
Carol says
A poignant post. Thank you for sharing. Just the other day I was listening to the NYT podcast, The Daily, where they allowed people to prerecord their experiences with loved ones who died from Covid-19. It was so very sad and I asked myself why I was putting myself through this…and my answer to myself was ‘because they deserve to be honored’. As does the pain endured by their loved ones. I can understand how you must have felt in that spot in OK City .I remember that day – we were driving down for one of our kid’s marching band competitions and when we stopped for the night and turned on the tv, I couldn’t comprehend that the scene was real, not a movie. Very sad.
Susie says
Annie, Thank you for sharing this post and your views of your time at the Memorial. There is so much we can learn although never understand about this event. We cannot seem to eradicate evil, only show kindness to one another to help each other cope.
Karen Palm says
Thank you for your moving post. I worked for The Social Security Administration in Maryland at the time. First, our data center realized something catastrophic happened when our office in the Murrah building abruptly disconnected. As the news of the day became clear, and we realized we lost employees and children of those employees, I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. That event is one I will never forget, and I will never get the thought of those little kids dying in daycare. I also would like to believe humans are better than this. It’s so painful to think I may be wrong.