Oklahoma City marks 15 years since bombing

[catlover79]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100419/..._anniversary_4

By TIM TALLEY, Associated Press Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY – Survivors and family members of the 168 people who died in the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building gathered Monday to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the attack.

Hundreds of people attended the ceremony at the Oklahoma City National Memorial to remember those killed in the April 19, 1995, explosion. More than 600 others were injured in the attack at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

Before the ceremony — which started shortly before 9:02 a.m., the time the bombing occurred — bells tolled in Oklahoma City's downtown and some family members visited the site of the federal building razed in the attack, where chairs to honor the bombing victims now stand.

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said the day of the bombing is recalled with reverence, "not because we can't forget but because we choose to remember.

"We have chosen strength, we have chosen optimism, we have chosen freedom, we have chosen to move forward together with a level of unity that is unmatched in any American city," Cornett said at the ceremony, held on a cool, overcast morning.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Gov. Brad Henry and former Gov. Frank Keating were also scheduled to speak.

Attending the ceremony was Charlie Hangar, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper who stopped bomber Timothy McVeigh on Interstate 35 the day of the bombing because his 1977 Mercury Marquis did not have a license plate. Hangar, now the Noble County sheriff, read the memorial's mission statement at the start of the service.

People across Oklahoma City observed 168 seconds of silence to honor the dead. Later, U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin, R-Oklahoma City, who was the state's lieutenant governor at the time of the bombing, read a congressional resolution commemorating the anniversary.

McVeigh was convicted on federal murder charges and executed in 2001. McVeigh's Army buddy, Terry Nichols, was convicted on federal and state bombing-related charges and is serving multiple life sentences at a federal prison in Colorado.

[catlover79]

I remember that day so well. It was spring break (I was a freshman in high school). My grandmother, who was terminally ill (and would die less than a month later), had spent the week in a nursing home. She wanted to spend her last days at home.

So, along with my mom, brother and sister, I went to her house to clean up. Just to vacuum, dust, and to make sure everything else was in order. We turned on the TV in the living room while we worked and saw what was happening. Such a sad time for my family personally as well as the country at large. God bless the survivors and families of those lost, and to the ones who died.

[MrCleveland]

Looks like it still haunts some people to today.

[catlover79]

Totally. So, so sad...especially since amongst the victims were children.

[PZelda]

Oh wow, I remember that... I was getting ready to wrap up my fourth grade year and head to fifth grade/middle school that fall the day of the OKC bombing. Was that really 15 years ago today?? That attack was the first time I really started to understand terrorism... That there are people out there who would and can do horrible things like this to innocent people.

[Family Ties Forever!]

I remember that. So sad.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by PZelda

Oh wow, I remember that... I was getting ready to wrap up my fourth grade year and head to fifth grade/middle school that fall the day of the OKC bombing. Was that really 15 years ago today?? That attack was the first time I really started to understand terrorism... That there are people out there who would and can do horrible things like this to innocent people.

Me, too...like the attack on Pearl Harbor and 9/11, April 19, 1995 will always be a day of infamy.

[Retro4Life]

To all the victims at the Murrah building and all those who have died because of terrorism everywhere...