Main article: Oklahoma City National Memorial

The site of the Murrah building is occupied today by a large memorial. This memorial, designed by Oklahoma City architects Hans and Torrey Butzer and Sven Berg, includes a reflecting pool flanked by two large 'doorways', one inscribed with the time 9:01, the opposite with 9:03, the pool between representing the moment of the blast. On the south end of the memorial is a field full of symbolic bronze and stone chairs - one for each person lost, arranged based on what floor they were on. The seats of the children killed are smaller than those of the adults lost. On the opposite side is the 'survivor tree', part of the building's original landscaping that somehow survived the blast and the fires that followed it. The memorial left part of the foundation of the building intact, so that visitors can see the scale of the destruction. Around the western edge of the memorial is a portion of the chain link fence erected after the blast on which thousands of people spontaneously left flowers, ribbons, teddy bears, and other mementos in the weeks following the bombing. On a corner adjacent to the memorial is a sculpture titled "And Jesus Wept" erected by St. Joseph's Catholic Church. St. Joseph's, one of the first brick and mortar churches in the city, was almost completely destroyed by the blast. The statue is not part of the memorial itself but is popular with visitors nonetheless. North of the memorial is the Journal Record Building which now houses the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, an affiliate of the National Park Service. Also in the building is the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, a non partisan think tank.

Tenth anniversary

From April 17 to 24, 2005, the Oklahoma City National Memorial held a series of events to mark the tenth anniversary of the bombing in Oklahoma City. The week was known as the "National Week of Hope."

On April 19, 2005 the tenth anniversary observances took place. As in the years past the service began at 09:02 CDT, marking the moment the bomb went off, with the traditional 168 seconds of silence - one second for each person who was killed as a result of the blast. The service also included the traditional reading of the names. As on the 9th anniversary children read the names of those killed because they symbolized the future of Oklahoma City .

Vice-President Dick Cheney, former president Clinton, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry, former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating, and other political dignitaries attended the service and gave speeches in which they emphasized that "goodness overcame evil" on April 19, 1995, and has done so since. The relatives of the victims and the survivors of the blast also made note of it during the service at First United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City.

President George W. Bush made note of the anniversary in a written statement. Part of his statement was what he said in his remarks on the execution of Timothy McVeigh in 2001: "For the survivors of the crime and for the families of the dead the pain goes on." Bush was invited but did not attend the service because he was en route to Springfield, Illinois to dedicate the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Cheney presided over the service in his place.

Note

The date of the bombing, April 19, is the same day as the end of the stand-off in Waco, Texas 2 years earlier in 1993, and is Patriot's Day, marking the battles of Lexington and Concord which started the American Revolutionary War. The next day, April 20, would be the date of the Columbine shooting 4 years later and was also Adolf Hitler's birth date in 1889.

See also

    * Jayna Davis - Oklahoma City TV-Station's investigative reporter

    * Ronald Griesacker

    * Michael William Brescia

    * Morris Wilson

    * Midwest Bank Robbers

    * Chevie Kehoe

    * Elohim City

    * Carol Howe

    * Oklahoma City bombing conspiracy theories

    * Domestic terrorism in the United States

    * Jose Padilla

    * List of terrorist incidents

References

   1. ^ Some doubt[citation needed] that the term "terrorism" is applicable to this case, because McVeigh's stated motive was retaliation for the Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas, and the target was a federal government office building. See the definition of terrorism for more information.

   2. ^ a b Talley, Tim (April 17 2006). Experts fear Oklahoma City bombing lessons forgotten. Retrieved on 2006-04-18.

External links

    * Oklahoma City National Memorial website

    * Oklahoma City Bombing Internet Sympathy Card

    * Oklahoma Bombing Investigation Committee, exploring various conspiracies and theories on the bombing.

    * The Oklahoma City Bomb Report by Brigadier General Benton K. Partin, USAF (Ret.) and dated July 30, 1995. The report was submitted to the U.S. Congress and is a matter of the Congressional Record.

    * Crime Library - Timothy McVeigh