Today is the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. I can still remember the day it happened. I was in college and I remembering rushing back to the Annex to watch the coverage on TV. I remembering them talking about how there was a day care center at almost the center of the blast. People pulling kids out of the rubble. So incredibly sad.....
The information that came out in the following days and weeks was shocking. The truck was rented in Junction City. The blasting caps that were used in the bomb were stolen from a rock quarry not far from my parents' house. The FBI/ATF actually made a visit to the farm to ask Dad questions. He said they were pretty much like you see them on TV, black cars, black suits, sunglasses.
That summer I had the opportunity to go to Oklahoma for the International Clarinet Convention at OU. There was a group of us that drove down together and one of the first things we did was go to the site. They had imploded the building 3 days before we got down there. As we got closer to downtown, we started seeing orange circles painted on the streets and on buildings. We found out later that these circles marked the spots where debris was found. The shockwaves from the explosion were felt as far away as Norman. We walked the fence that was constructed around what remained of the building. The entire thing was covered with memorials for the people who had lost their lives. Somewhere I have the pictures that I took on that trip. I remember that in the surrounding blocks were a YMCA, an apartments building, and a church. I think the church is the only structure still standing. Most of the windows in a 3 block radius were all blown out out.
We went through OKC a few years ago and visited the memorial. Garth Brooks made a video for his song "The Change" with footage from 15 years ago. Being a native Oklahoman he felt he needed to do something. It is a great video and song.
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