I, too, was living near
Oklahoma City when the blast went off five years ago today. Here are a few more details: the building blown up was the Alfred P. Murrah
Federal Building. The explosion occurred at 9:02 am (Central Time). People came from all over the world to help us dig our friends and relatives out of the
rubble.
Connie Chung had the poor taste to remark, "Not bad for a bunch of
hillbillies." Timothy McVeigh was captured, tried, convicted, and sentenced to
death for the
murder of the Federal
agents, and Terry Nichols was sentenced to
prison as an
accomplice.
Today, April 19, 2000, is the official opening of the Oklahoma City National Memorial, which includes a
park, an
interactive museum, and the Memorial
Institute for the
Prevention of
Terrorism. President
Clinton and Vice-President
Al Gore are both attending the
dedication services.
Now is the time for healing to begin. The victims and victims' relatives, when asked about a Memorial five years ago, responded in favor with one
stipulation: they wanted to somehow prevent this
horror from ever happening on
American soil ever again. That is why the Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism is part of the Memorial. It is not enough to
learn from our past; we must also take the
future into our own hands and ACT upon what we learn. We must work through the sorrow to build a better tomorrow.