So if this date does not ring a bell for you, perhaps you should Google it and see as you are one of the many who have forgotten what happened...I have stewed on this for a few days, taming my emotions, and well have been a little busy to be able to post this. For some of you, you will say this blog post is full of jealousy. Some of you will say I am trying to minimize the events of 9-11. Neither is true, it just seems as though America has forgotten the first terror attack on this nation. All be it, "homegrown" or actual "trial run," it happened none the less. And the pain of this event has not been forgotten by all. In case you can not access Google, let me refresh your memory!
On the morning of April, 19, 1995 at 9:02 a.m., a coward, named Timothy McVeigh cased the streets of Oklahoma City in a rented truck filled with explosives. Mr. McVeigh, parked the rented truck outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building which housed, numerous federal, state and local offices as well as an on site day care center. He parked got out and walked away to watch as the truck blew killing 168 people including 19 children and injuring over 800 people before taking off. Co Conspirator, Terry Nichols, ( It is not clear if Nichols was actually at the scene or just waiting near by) had a car waiting by to get McVeigh out of the scene. Michael Fortier was found guilty of knowing of the plot and was charged as an accessory.
I will not forget just as with 9-11 what I was doing. It is just as it happened yesterday. Frankly, I had a 2 year old, had just lost baby number 2 and was at home doing dishes. I caught a glimpse of something on the TV and quickly read the underlying caption that it was from Oklahoma City. I stood frozen as people, some covered with blood and debris, were running screaming with no destination in mind. It was about this point that the first responders began to shove people further back as they suspected there was going to be another explosion. In the background you could see the building, shattered glass, and pieces hanging. This was the first time I, in my life had witnessed something this horrific and terrifying. I remember thinking what has happened? It did not sink in. Just as another explosion occurred, my phone rang. I suspected it was my Granny and answered with a hey. It was not. It was my best friend. Jen he said and my blood went cold is the TV on he asked. Yes it is, what has happened in OK city? So I breifely told him what was going on and before I could ask why he told me something I was not sure I understood. His Aunt, whom I loved as one of my own was in that building. She worked for Social Security. My blood went even colder in fact it froze. I asked him what he wanted me to do and he said pray, I am headed north. I told him just to hold off and let us see what happened. He argued back and forth with me and none of my persuasion would do. He went. As the news went on, and I learned that there was a chance someone I cared about was injured or worse, it was learned that the main impact of the explosion was under the on site day care center. I grabbed my little blondie and hugged him a little tighter as the tears began to flow. We learned a few days later that Aunt Dink had perished. With that news, I packed and we went to be with "family."
It has been speculated over the years that McVeigh and his "partner" Terry Nicholas had ties to the same folks that master minded 9-11. It also needs to be said that there is speculation that McVeigh cruised the streets in Fort Worth, in that same truck that morning early before he made the trek to Oklahoma. I understand the mass causality count was not as high or the event itself was as horrific as 9-11 but still it seems as though we have as a nation forgotten about Oklahoma and that in reality it was a terrorist attack on our nation. I know there had been bombings at the World Trade Centers before this date but it was just bombings as they say and they never honestly could say those were terror attacks. Oklahoma City seems forgotten but the majority of this nation. The 10th Anniversary warranted about a 30 second clip on the local and national news. There has been no fan fare and pomp and circumstance in the remembrance of it as a nation as a whole. The state of Oklahoma has done there own. In fact they sent teams of folks to help.
My point is this, and I really do not care whom it angers, Oklahoma will always be near and dear to my heart, just as much as 9-11 and New York City will be. We need not forget what happened that day. We need not forget how many innocent just as that fateful day in September how many innocent people lost their lives and how many children were affected by the event. Here is a little bio in case you are curious:
168 Deaths
19 Children
1 Resuce worker
30 Children Orphaned
219 Children lost one Parent
462 people homeless
7000 left with a place to work
387,000 people knew someone who was killed or injured
Over 300 buildings were destroyed by the blast.
So now that you look at it that way, it is just as horrific as 9-11. Oh not on the grand scale but none the less it is. Over 1,000 people survived-some with emotional scares, some with physical scars, some with both. Both events should serve as a reminder to us, American, One Nation under God, that life is precious no matter how less the loss or how great the loss. Oklahoma has continued to recover just as New York has and both have helped each other in the healing process.
So just as "We never forget 9-11, we should never forget 4-19-95."
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