Oklahoma City

We had to spend the night in the parking lot of the Cummins dealer here in Oklahoma City.  We were able to plug in for electricity, our heat runs off propane, and Mike filled the water tank and empty the sewer tank in Dallas, so it was no problem.   The inconvenient part was having to be out of the RV by 7 am so they could begin working on it.  They discovered  we needed a new turbo thingy (hence the Check Engine light usually coming on when going up an incline).  Back in November, in Tampa, they replaced the harness the turbo thing fits in.  This time they are replacing the whole turbo..  We got a donut and sat in the car while Mike had an hour phone call with work.  That got us to the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum when it opened at 9.  It is comprised of 2 parts – a museum housed in the Journal Records Building across the street from where the Federal Building stood and the outside memorial area.

Visiting both spaces was extremely worthwhile and deeply moving.  We spent over 3 hours there. (partly because I am the type who stops and reads EVERY display).  They honor the victims, the survivors, the rescuers and helpers who came from near and far in such a meaningful way.  As Mike said, the focus is really all about the people.  We began by viewing pictures and scale models of what downtown OKC looked like and what was happening downtown prior to 9:02 am on April 19,1995, Then we went into a room where they played an audio tape of a meeting at the Water Resources building  (across the street from the Murrah Building) that began at 9 am that morning.  Two minutes into the recording you hear the actual blast.    The rest of that day and the weeks following – the chaos, the confusion, the rescues and recoveries and survivor experiences are told in videos, pictures and displays of actual items.  One of the last rooms we entered was The Gallery of Honor.  Here there is a picture in a glass box of each of the 168 men, women and children who were killed.  The families of each of the victims are able to put in the clear box any meaningful item or items about that person.  We read each name, stared at each photograph and looked at all the momentoes.  It is what each of them deserve.  It is also a somber thought – what would your loved ones put in your box for all the world to see?

We then walked outside – a beautiful, sunny, 50 degree day.  The area is flanked by two large entry gates which frame the moment of destruction.   One gate says 9:01 and the other gate says 9:03, the moment the city was forever changed.  (The bomb went off at 9:02)  Between the two gates is a long reflecting pool on what was 5^th St.,  which ran in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and is where the truck was parked that was loaded with the explosive fertilizer.  On the actual footprint of the building is the Field of Empty Chairs.  What a powerful visual display.  The 168 chairs have bronze seats and backs and rest on a glass block that is inscribed with the name of a victim.  The chairs are arranged in nine rows, each row representing a floor of the building and the chairs are placed where the person was at the time of the blast.  The 19 smaller chairs represent the children who were lost.  There is also a large elm tree – the Survivor Tree – which survived the destruction.  A low granite wall around it reads: The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us.”

The pictures are of a clock recovered in the rubble that stopped at 9:02; what the building looked like after the blast; the iconic picture of fireman Chris Fields carrying Baylee Almon, the chairs  and the gateways.

Mike says we need to start visiting happy places.  I’ll leave you with a chuckle:  We ate lunch at a downtown BBQ place.  The restrooms were identified as “Cowgirl” and “Cowboy”.  Mike said in the Cowboy  bathroom, there was a sign above the toilet that said, “Don’t squat with your spurs on!”