"THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING"

          On the morning of Wednesday April 19, 1995 around 10 o'clock a.m. central time, a rental truck pulled up in front of the Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and parked.  This building accommodates many businesses and Agencies such as the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation, a federal credit union and a day care center. 
          On that particular morning, people were coming in and out of the Murrah building.  Many were in their offices, taking  care of business as usual.  Nothing out of the ordinary to indicate what was about to happen.  All of a sudden there was a big explosion and the whole front of the building was blown out.  People were running trying to get to safety.  It was utter chaos.  In their minds they were wondering if it was a terrorist attack?  Why was this happening in downtown Oklahoma City, in the heartland of the state?
          Firemen, State Troopers, Police officers, EMTs, FBI and ATF agents came to the scene.  A rescue operation began.  Medical staff taking care of the injured on the street.  Lots of blood and people walking around in a daze.  Some people were able to get out of the building on their own, but many were trapped under the rubble.  There was a Day Care Center on the second floor.  Some of the children were rescued, but many children and teachers were found deceased.  A mother of two young boys rushed to the scene when she heard what had happened at the Murrah Building. She had dropped off her two sons at the Day Care Center on her way to work.  She arrived at the building to find her sons and make sure they were safe.  She couldn't get into the building, so she began searching for them outside.  She kept calling their names,  without any response.  As she continued to look for the boys, she ran into her brother-in-law on the sidewalk.  He comforted her and told her to get to safety.  He would continue looking for the boys and let her know when he found them.  He located them inside the Day Care Center.  They were together, but both deceased.  
          I was 150 miles North East of OKC when the bombing happened.  I have visited OKC many times over the years.  I just began working at the Inola Public Library as a volunteer in January of 1995.  We were taking care of business when the news of the bombing was announced.  I was in shock.  A team of our local students were in Oklahoma City, five blocks away from the Murrah Building for a competition.  The students in the building for the competition heard the explosion and felt the building shake.  At the time they did not know it was a bomb and had no idea where the bomb was.  I was concerned for our students and my nephew.  I didn't know how far away from the Murrah Building my nephew worked.  Thank God the students and my nephew were safe and unharmed. 
          There have been many documentaries over the years about the Oklahoma City Bombing.  Our youngest daughter was talking to some of her contacts on face book about it a few years after it happened.  They thought it was made up and really didn't happen.  She quickly told them it wasn't made up.  It did happen.  With so many documentaries out there, you truly do not know which one is the most accurate.  My husband and I recently started  watching the latest video. We learned of many things that took place that day that we weren't aware of before.  It was a very sad and heart-breaking tragedy.   
          There was a woman who worked on the ninth floor, when the bombing took place.  After she heard the explosion the floor underneath her began to collapse.  She was still in her chair.  She finally came to a stop on the first floor, still sitting in her chair, but buried under the rubble.  She could hardly breathe.  She heard no sound.  Where were her co-workers?  Was she the only one alive?  She was in shock and scared.  She doesn't know how long it was before she thought she heard voices.  She began to yell, I am here alive.  Please help me!  Finally she saw someone trying to get to her through the rubble.  One of her legs were trapped.  It was a AFT agent trying to dig her out.  He was almost to her, when he was told to get out of the building immediately.  He felt bad leaving the woman trapped there but he needed to get to safety.  He turned to her and said, I am sorry but I have to leave.  She was sobbing and said, please do not leave me!  He said I have to obey orders.  I will come and get you out when it is safe.  In her mind, she would never see him again and would die under the rubble. 
          The agent got a call to evacuate the building because another device had been found and it was very likely another bomb.  When the other device was found and investigated it was a missile used for training purposes and was not active.  So the rescue workers immediately went back into the building to continue to get those trapped under the rubble out.  The woman that was still trapped under the rubble doesn't know how long she was left alone half awake.  To her is seemed like forever.  She thought she heard voices again.  She looked and saw the man who said he would be back.  He finally dug her out and took her to safety.      
          The most significant information told on the latest doc-umentary was that McVeigh planned the bombing to take place on April 19, 1995.  Another incident occurred on April 19, 1993 in Waco, Texas and McVeigh was there.  He was outside the Davidians  Compound in Waco the day of the invasion of the compound by authorities took place.  McVeigh was protesting against the government.  He had served his country and had been awarded the Bronze Star.  He wasn't happy with how the Federal Government was being ran.     
          Investigators began looking for and collecting clues.  It took them some time to find any clues.  The best clue they found was the rear axel of a truck with a VIN number on it.  The VIN number led them to a Ryder Rental Service,  where the truck had been rented from.  The problem was the person who rented the truck, used a fake name.  So they could not find any information on the person who had used a fake name.  The employee that rented the truck was able to describe the man to a sketch artist.  After he was shown the sketch, he was able to say that was the the man that had rented the truck.  When the sketch was put into a face recognition data base, the face was match to the face of a man named Timothy McVeigh. 
          While this was going on several miles away, a highway patrolman, came up behind a car with no tag.  He flashed his lights for the car to pull over.  The driver complied.  The officer told the person to step out of the car with his hands up to make sure he wasn't armed.  The driver never got out nor opened the door.  So the officer drew his gun and came up the side of the car to the driver's door.  He looked at the man and said do you know why I pulled you over, he said No.  You have no tag on your car.  I am going to have to take you into custody for driving with no tag.  He then asked, are you armed? The driver said, Yes I am.  The officer told the driver to put the weapon down and step out of the car.  He did so.  McVeigh was  handcuffed and taken into custody.  The trooper drove Mc Veigh to Perry Oklahoma Police Station and booked into the  jail.  The officer had no idea the investigators were looking for McVeigh for the bombing of the Murrah Building.  (note: 
In my church in OKC there is a member there.  He lived at Perry at the time and the arresting officer is his dad-in-law.)     
          The investigators were becoming very discouraged because they thought the bomber had gotten away.  I am not sure how the trooper heard that McVeigh was being hunted down as a suspect of the bombing, but when the trooper found out he contacted the authorities and told them he had McVeigh in custody at Perry.  The investigators rushed to Perry and took McVeigh into custody.  
          In one of the interviews with McVeigh, he was asked why he had bombed the Murrah Building.  Without showing much emotion, he said he had targeted the Day Care Center, because he knew the best way to get the federal government's attention was to target their children.  He was a heartless, evil person.  It sent chills down my spine because of his emotion-
less answer.  He showed no remorse. 
          McVeigh's trial was held in Denver, Colorado.  The authorities knew he wouldn't get a fair trial in Oklahoma.  He was found guilty and convicted of 168 counts of murder.  He was convicted for the bombing a federal building.  His verdict was death by lethal injection.  The trial didn't last very long, only a week.  To me his sentencing was to light.  Being put to death, doesn't give him the punishment he deserved.  Boom and he is finished.  No more suffering.  He deserved life in prison without the possibility of parole.  Make him do hard labor.  No comforts, such as tv, computers, lifting weights, playing football and things like that.  McVeigh didn't suffer enough in my opinion.  He died from lethal injection.  It was over for him.  He truly didn't pay for those 168 lives he took.  
          At the time of the bombing the President of the USA was Bill Clinton, Governor of Oklahoma was Frank Keating and the Mayor of OKC was Ron Norick.  The President and the Governor knew each other.  They went to the same university.  When the President received word of the bombing, he and his wife flew to Oklahoma City to speak to the people that were affected by the bombing of the Murrah Building.  President Clinton conveyed the Federal Governments condolences to the people for the loss of their loved ones.  
          In place of the Murrah Federal Building a memorial has been built, in memory of the 168 people who lost their lives that day.  Most of the deaths were children.  I think it is about 140 lives taken were children.  I have driven by the memorial only once, but my husband who has only driven by and others that have been there, told me I do not want to go see it.  It is very upsetting to most who view it.  One chair sits at the memorial for each lives lost. 

Thank you for reading my blog.  *STARLIGHT*

written by Connie James, April 14, 2025