| Nazi Terror Attack on Oklahoma City - April 19, 1995 - Never Forget |
Oklahoma City Bombing
Charles Porter IV
Pulitzer Prize, 1996
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On April 19, 1995, at 9:02 a.m., just after parents dropped their children off at day care at the Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, the unthinkable happened.
A massive bomb inside a rental truck exploded, blowing half of the nine-story building into oblivion.
A tragedy of unimaginable proportions. The magnitude of this incident was so great that local resources were immediately overwhelmed. It became the largest act of domestic terrorism in our country. As a result, the Federal Government activated 11 of its 28 USAR teams to assist with the Rescue and Recovery efforts.
Just 90 minutes after the explosion, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer pulled over 27-year-old Timothy McVeigh for driving without a license plate.
Shortly before he was to be released on April 21, McVeigh was recognized as a bombing suspect and was charged with the bombing. When McVeigh's ex-Army buddy, Terry Nichols, discovered that he, too, was wanted for questioning, he voluntarily surrendered to police in Herington, Kansas, and was later charged in the bombing. McVeigh and Nichols are awaiting trial in Denver, Colorado, and could receive the death penalty if convicted of terrorism, murder, and conspiracy charges.
Rescue workers toss chunks of concrete April 24 as they continue digging toward the day care center located in the federal building.
Authorities have confirmed 78 people killed by the blast and they estimate 150 people are still missing.
A stunned nation watched as the bodies of men, women, and children were pulled from the rubble for nearly two weeks. When the smoke cleared and the exhausted rescue workers packed up and left, 168 people were dead in the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City is seen from the air Thursday, April 27, 1995. According to city engineers, more than 220 downtown Oklahoma City buildings suffered some kind of damage in the April 19 explosion that rocked the building, and at least eight buildings collapsed.
A worker removes debris from the shell of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Monday, May 1, 1995. The mission of the workers evolved Monday, eleven days after the bomb blast, from a search and rescue mission to recovery.
A wreath leans against a fence in memory of the victims of the car-bomb blast at the federal building.
The bomb exploded at 9:02 AM in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The death toll was 168. And the casualties of body and spirit have numbered in the tens of thousands. What Timothy McVeigh caused to happen that morning reverberated around the United States for weeks and months afterwards. It continues to affect the lives of many Oklahomans and their families.