Where were you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing)

At 9:02 am local time on Wednesday, April 19, 1995, in the street in front of the Murrah building, a rented Ryder truck containing about 5,000 lb (2,300 kg) of explosive material exploded. The car bomb was composed of ammonium nitrate, an agricultural fertilizer, and nitromethane, a highly volatile motor-racing fuel. Timothy McVeigh, a Gulf war veteran, was arrested by an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman within an hour of the explosion after coincidentally being pulled over for having no license plate. At his trial, the United States Government asserted that the motivation for the attack was to avenge the deaths of Branch Davidians at Waco, Texas, whom McVeigh believed had been murdered by agents of the federal government. McVeigh called the casualties in the bombing "collateral damage" and compared the action to actions he had taken during the Gulf War. The attack was staged on the second anniversary of the Waco incident. McVeigh is thought to have modeled the bombing on a similar event described in The Turner Diaries, a white supremacist novel that was found with McVeigh when he was arrested.

The effect of the bombing on the city was immense. Beyond the death toll of 168 (including 19 children and one rescue worker), the bomb injured over 800 people and destroyed or seriously damaged more than 300 buildings in the surrounding area, leaving several hundred people homeless and shutting down offices in Downtown Oklahoma City. Over 12,000 people participated in relief and rescue operations in the days following the blast, many of whom developed post traumatic stress disorder as a result. The national and worldwide humanitarian response was immediate and overwhelming, as was the media response. The area was flooded with rescue workers from around the nation and aid agencies coming to assist the survivors, as well as hundreds of news trucks coming to cover the story.

The national focus climaxed on April 23rd, when President Bill Clinton spoke in Oklahoma City. In the weeks following the bombing, rescue efforts ceased and the building was imploded, and media interest quickly shifted to the trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

I thought "Oh hey, one more horrible event to chalk up on the calendar next to my birthday."

Actually, I don't even remember that at all. I was 7.

I remember the Oklahoma City bombing from when I was about 15 or 16.

I was 22 and still in college when that happened. It was an exciting time for me as I was preparing for a trip to Europe for the upcoming summer. When I first heard about it I was sitting in the rec room at the college reading a story in the newspaper about Elizabeth Montgomerys passing when I overheard some kids behind me talking about it. I really didn't think that much about it or realize how bad the situation was until i got home that day and saw the news coverage on tv.

I was a 20 year old college student, and I heard about it on the radio. At first I was in shock then once I got home, I was glued to the tv set.

I thought you meant that the city was going to bomb it's 10th anniversary...which I didn't think was physically possible...and then I realised that's not what you meant, so I'm leaving now...

That's sad though. I don't remember anything about it, I was 6.

I thought "Oh hey, one more horrible event to chalk up on the calendar next to my birthday."

Actually, I don't even remember that at all. I was 7.
It does seem all the bad stuff happens in April.

Where were you?

In Australia :p

It does seem all the bad stuff happens in April.

Anniversary of Columbine is Wednesday. 6 years ohno:

I was on spring break of my senior year of high school.
I was on my way to Tennessee.

Anniversary of Columbine is Wednesday. 6 years ohno:I remember Oklahoma City well. I remember feeling confused at first and the sad. But Columbine really hit me hard I was scared for days.

I was at work and one of my co-workers came in and said that a bomb exploded in Okie City. I just didn't realize how much damage it caused until I saw it on TV.

where was i? at kindergarten, without a clue anything happened.

I was 22 and still in college when that happened. It was an exciting time for me as I was preparing for a trip to Europe for the upcoming summer. When I first heard about it I was sitting in the rec room at the college reading a story in the newspaper about Elizabeth Montgomerys passing when I overheard some kids behind me talking about it. I really didn't think that much about it or realize how bad the situation was until i got home that day and saw the news coverage on tv.
Didn't Elizabeth pass away on May 18th? Anyway...

I was 9 going on 10 and in fourth grade when it happened. I remember one of our teachers leading a bunch of students into her room so we could sit around the TV and watch the footage on TV as it happened (it was a small preschool - 12th grade school and each level only got one TV that had to be shared). I remember being sad for everybody that got hurt. :(

i was 9, i remember my parents watching the news a lot and knowing that something bad had happened in oklahoma- and my aunt talking on the phone a lot with her sister who lived out there.

There was a thread about this on carriefans message board, and yeah it was sad :(

I was only 3 1/2 yrs old at the time

Didn't Elizabeth pass away on May 18th? Anyway..
You know. I think your right. Maybe I was just reading something about her being ill. I just remember there were a bunch of magazines and newspapers on the table beside me and I was reading something about her when I first heard about the bombing. It was shortly there after that she died though

I was home when I heard. I remember telling my husband when he walked through the door. It was just so heartbreaking, that daycare...

I never thought an event would shake me as much as the Oklahoma City bombing...until 9/11 happened.

I was living with my parents and I was unemployed at that time.
I was completely shocked by that tragedy and it still haunts me.

I was in the livingroom watching TV, I watched the coverage all day. Seems like just yesterday.

I was in 2nd grade and thought that it meant another world war.. yeah.

I remember that day very well. There is some suspicion/speculation that McVeigh was involved with terrorists. But it was covered up. That the terrorists had to do something bigger to get noticed(9/11) I don't know. :confused:

But whatever really happened it was horrible. All those little kids! :(

I was living in Mentor, Ohio.

It does seem all the bad stuff happens in April.
Hitler's Birthday, Columbine, National Let's-All-Get-High Day....all on April 20.

Brent88:
Where were you?


At 9:02 am local time on Wednesday, April 19, 1995, in the street in front of the Murrah building, a rented Ryder truck containing about 5,000 lb (2,300 kg) of explosive material exploded. The car bomb was composed of ammonium nitrate, an agricultural fertilizer, and nitromethane, a highly volatile motor-racing fuel. Timothy McVeigh, a Gulf war veteran, was arrested by an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman within an hour of the explosion after coincidentally being pulled over for having no license plate. At his trial, the United States Government asserted that the motivation for the attack was to avenge the deaths of Branch Davidians at Waco, Texas, whom McVeigh believed had been murdered by agents of the federal government. McVeigh called the casualties in the bombing "collateral damage" and compared the action to actions he had taken during the Gulf War. The attack was staged on the second anniversary of the Waco incident. McVeigh is thought to have modeled the bombing on a similar event described in The Turner Diaries, a white supremacist novel that was found with McVeigh when he was arrested.

The effect of the bombing on the city was immense. Beyond the death toll of 168 (including 19 children and one rescue worker), the bomb injured over 800 people and destroyed or seriously damaged more than 300 buildings in the surrounding area, leaving several hundred people homeless and shutting down offices in Downtown Oklahoma City. Over 12,000 people participated in relief and rescue operations in the days following the blast, many of whom developed post traumatic stress disorder as a result. The national and worldwide humanitarian response was immediate and overwhelming, as was the media response. The area was flooded with rescue workers from around the nation and aid agencies coming to assist the survivors, as well as hundreds of news trucks coming to cover the story.

The national focus climaxed on April 23rd, when President Bill Clinton spoke in Oklahoma City. In the weeks following the bombing, rescue efforts ceased and the building was imploded, and media interest quickly shifted to the trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.


I think I was in school that day. It was my senior year of high school and my great
grandmother in Montgomery County Tennesee had just died. We were going to go
down to her funeral after school ended that day. We lived in Bluefield, West Virginia
at that time.

I was six and didn't understand what went on. But I do remember images of the debris of the federal building and wounded, blood covered victims on TV and in the magazines. Those horrifying images have always stayed with me.