Monday, April 19, 2010

Fifteen Years Ago

Today is the 15th anniversary of the bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City which took the lives of 168 innocent people, including many small children.  The following are pictures of the Oklahoma City National Memorial taken in 2000.

Inscription.

View of the Field of Empty Chairs, one of the two Gates of Time (9:03), and the Reflecting Pool.

Field of Empty Chairs.

Part of the Children's Area.  More than 5,000 hand-painted tiles, from all over the United States and Canada, were made by children and sent to Oklahoma City after the bombing in 1995.

And Jesus Wept.  On a corner adjacent to the memorial is a sculpture of Jesus weeping 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. 

We remember.

13 comments:

  1. This was a sad day. So many people have forgotten about this day. It's sad that they forget so easily.

    It's people like you and posts like these the remind us that there are times we need to remember always to prevent them from happening again.

    Eternal vigalance.

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  2. I assume lots of people in NY can say they knew someone killed or had some relationship with someone who had a relative/friend killed in the Twin Towers. That is how I feel about the OKC bombing. I knew people...

    Thanks for remembering.

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  3. I remember.

    Although I haven't seen it in person, I think this is one of the most inspired memorials ever conceived.

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  4. RLM: Remembrance is important, even when it hurts. Or perhaps especially when it hurts.

    Lou: I have ties to OKC, too... as you know.

    Moogie: You're absolutely correct. I've seen a lot of memorials in my trips around the block and the Oklahoma City Memorial is one of the best... if not THE best. It's worth a visit.

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  5. Buck, I have been to the Memorial with my #3 son on an AIM field trip to OKC.

    I agree! It is one of (if not) the most well done Memorials I've seen. Even though it honors the dead, there is a unique reverence for human life, and a sense of hopefulness.

    I was sitting in a Diner in Bayfield, Colorado when the news came over the television. I will never forget my thoughts...and what others there shared.

    I have many thoughts about what happened there, but they are long, and boring. Thanks for the pix. Helped me remember...

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  6. I was sitting in a Diner in Bayfield, Colorado when the news came over the television.

    I'm embarrassed to admit I don't have a clue where I was or what I was doing when the news hit. But it was undoubtedly something Terribly Important, as most things were during that period of my life (/sarcasm). I DO remember watching the news that evening and having a philosophical discussion with The Second Mrs. Pennington about "just what the Hell is happening in our country?"... and then it was back to chasing upward mobility. To say my priorities were fucked in those days is massive understatement.

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  7. Well Buck, probably the only reason I remember WHERE I WAS had to do with the fact that I was working on my own "upward mobility," while schmoozing a bunch of "militia-types."

    The conversation got quite "intense." Long story...

    Those are moments you just do not forget.

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  8. Ah... your memories sound like excellent blog-fodder to me! Long stories should be told... ;-)

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  9. "Long stories should be told..."

    I'm gonna leave you alone after this one, trust me.

    Buck, you will understand. You are about as transparent a blogger as I've ever come across.

    And, I have tried to be pretty open and honest about myself...who I am, where I came from, what I've done in the past, etc.

    But there are some places I just don't want to go. That era in my life was one of them...

    I was a different person. It was a different time. It's not that I'm ashamed of it, nor proud of it...just don't want to go there.

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  10. Understand. Completely. There are some places I don't/won't go, too. It's best to let some things lie (lay?).

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  11. I do remember, I was at work. And it was like -- what? Somebody did what?
    And bec. of our job we had a TV in the office and we left it on and everybody kept coming by to see the latest reports. It was just overwhelming. And made no sense.

    Almost afraid to see the memorial. Those empty chairs are so, so sad. And what a wrenching reminder of those who are gone.

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  12. I was in a diner in Hartford, CT - having a late lunch with a co-worker. Suddenly everyone was gathered around the tiny TV over the bar - which was just about where we were sitting. We were glued and got back to work late from lunch. No one noticed.

    I don't remember what was said but I do remember how I felt - sucker punched.

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  13. Thanks for your "there I was" vignettes, Kath and Kris.

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