OKC National Memorial

This morning Ben, Reese and I went to the Oklahoma City National Memorial.  This is where the OKC bombing took place in 1995.  They have a museum that you can go in and see but we chose to just go to the memorial because it is free and because of time.

When you drive up to the memorial the first thing you see are these big gates.  I loved what was written on the outside of the gate.

 Next to this gate are fences where people bring wreathes, pictures, necklaces, pretty much anything and hang it on the fences to remember those that lost their lives in the Oklahoma City bombing.

You walk inside the gates and there is a reflecting pool that occupies what was once the N.W. Fifth Street.

There are twin gates at the monument.  They both have a time on them.  The gate in the east represents 9:01 on April 19, and the innocence of the city before the attack.  The West Gate represents 9:03, the moment we were changed forever, and the hope that comes from the horror in the moments and days following the bombing.

 

We were lucky enough to be there while a school was going through.  They had a man telling them all about the monument so we sat off to the side and listened to him explain about the monument and all of its symbolism.  He reminded us of Mr. Pendanski from the Disney movie Holes.

This is called the Field of Empty Chairs

Each of the 168 chairs symbolizes a life lost.  The smaller chairs represent the 19 children killed.

 

They are arranged in nine rows, one for each of the nine floors of the building, they are placed according to the floor on which those killed were working or visiting.  Each chair rests on a glass base etched with the name of a victim.  There are a few with two names on them, they are names of women who were pregnant at the time and were killed.  

The Survivor Tree

This is a 90+ year-old tree that bears witness to the violence of April 19th.  This tree was there during the blast.  They thought that it was going to die because of the severe damage that was done to it.  The guy said that it was completely black from having caught on fire during the blast.  But after a few months they saw green coming out of it and knew that it was going to survive.  It now stands as a symbol of human resilience.  

The message by the tree reads:  The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us.

The memorial building is right next to the monument.  This building survived the blast but there was quite a bit of damage done to it from the bomb. 

They keep parts of the building black to show were the original windows were.  It also shows the ones that were blown out or blackened from the bomb.  

 

Before we left the man said to make sure to put our hands in the water and leave our hand prints on the gate to show our support.

Reese thought this was the best part

I am really glad we had time to go this morning.  I didn't know much about the Oklahoma City bombing and learned a TON today.  I can't wait until we have time to go back and check out the museum.  How grateful I am for those who fight for our freedoms and fight against terrorism.