Where were you 11 years ago today?

BBC ^ | 4/19/95 | Unknown

[Coop]

BBC archive:

1995: Many feared dead in Oklahoma bombing

A huge car bomb has exploded at a government building in Oklahoma City killing at least 80 people including 17 children at a nursery.

At least 100 people have been injured and the number of dead is expected to rise.

In an emotional speech, President Bill Clinton vowed "swift, certain and severe" punishment for those behind the atrocity.

"The United States will not tolerate and I will not allow the people of this country to be intimidated by evil cowards," he told a White House news conference this evening.

Trapped in the rubble

The blast happened just after 0900 local time when most workers were in their offices. It destroyed the facade of the ten-storey Alfred Murrah Building.

One survivor said he thought there was an earthquake: "I never heard anything that loud. It was a horrible noise...the roar of the whole building crumbling,"

There were scenes of chaos as paramedics treated the wounded on the pavement and rescue workers battled to dig out those still trapped in the rubble.

The building housed a children's nursery on the second floor as well as social security, customs, agriculture and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).

Some federal agents noted that the ATF mounted the operation two years ago today which ended the siege of David Koresh's Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas. However members of the cult commemorating the siege have angrily denied any connection.

The State Department would not discuss the possibility of this being a terrorist attack but the FBI and Oklahoma police put out an alert for three men believed to be of Middle Eastern origin driving a brown Chevrolet pick-up truck.

Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and ten of his supporters are currently on trial for the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993.

Government buildings in Washington and all over the US have been put on high alert. Federal offices in Wilmington, Boston and Rochester were evacuated after bomb scares.

[No Truce With Kings]

I was at work, at what was then called a CALS Shared Resource Center. This was supposed to be a group that helped the Federal Government, and Government contrators make the jump from using paper-based to computerized procurement systems. (Ebay and Amazon now being two examples of today's computerized procurement and purchasing, but back then they were just abornin'.)

We had been to a big conference in Little Rock selling our sservices. Our region included Oklahoma, so we spent a lot of time with a group of federal employees from Oklahoma City.

Fortunately for them, their offices were on the far side of the building from the blast.

[Sunshine Sister]

I graduated from college in 1973. Got cha!

[stayathomemom]

We were getting lunch at a Subway on the way back to Alton, IL after having made a trip up to the top of the Arch in St. Louis. It was Easter break and we were visiting my husband's family.

[7thson]

My wife and I were in Buffalo, NY, visiting her sister-in-law.

[Sunshine Sister]

Does anyone remember that Waco happened on the same day in 1993?

[yobid]

For the life of me, I can't remember where I was. But I'll never forget that clown in the White House calling "right wing militias" the most dangerous people in the country.

He should have looked in the mirror.

[mass55th]

Sorry to hear about your loss okkev. Your mother is in Heaven keeping an eye on you and your kids. I will say a prayer for you all.

[doug from upland]

In my car listening to Rush.

[wideawake]

God bless you and keep you.

[T.Smith]

I was stationed at Altus AFB, OK. We went on Threat-con Charlie and locked down the base. A couple of weeks later a few guys from our shop went to OKC to see the building. I regret not going with them.

[reagan_fanatic]

My thoughts and prayers are with you in your loss. Even though a number of years have passed, it still seems fresh, almost like it had happened last week.

[Rightly Biased]

I was hooking up cable in a customers home I was flipping through the channels making sure they all worked correctly and saw it as Breaking News on cnn.

[blau993]

I remember exactly where I was. I had varied my usual commute into Washington to swing by my golf club and pick up my gear, because I was going on a golf trip that weekend. From my golf club, the route into DC is via Maryland Route 4, which becomes Pennsylvania Avenue once you are in the city. In those days, Pennsylvania Avenue was completely open to cars (that changed because of the bombing), and I had just reached 16th Street, next to the White House, when the traffic ground to a total halt. I saw uniformed agents with dogs walking among the stopped cars, and every car was getting a real good sniff. I turned on the radio to see if I could figure out what had happened, and that's when I heard of the bombing.

[Shelayne]

I was at work, all alone, no radio or TV, at this small employment agency. I had no idea. When my new boyfriend (now my husband :^)) called me at work later that day, he told me about it, but knew only sketchy details.

I had to wait until 4:30 before I could get in my car and turn on the radio. I couldn't believe it. My poor mother had been watching all the reports for hours and couldn't handle it anymore, as she couldn't stop crying. I remember that she sat and watched Disney's "The Lion King" over and over again. I went to see her, and there she was watching Timon and Pumba for about the fourth time that day.

I will never forget the photo of the fireman holding little Bailey. In fact, I still have a magazine (Newsweek?) with that cover somewhere in my memorabilia.

[Perdogg]

At my Co-op job in Raleigh.

[Ptaz]

I was in Richmond, Virginia, getting ready to teach a computer trainingclass at the bank where I worked.

[smug]

Yep, I know right where I was then to, at a local bar, sucking down morning beer after morning beer while watching CNN. We were all so shocked nobody drank for some time. Horrible just horrible.

[EQAndyBuzz]

I was with my wife at the doctor having a sonogram done about the sex of my future child when the nurse came into the room telling us what happened.

[rvoitier]

Those people were right.

Book's forward by David Schippers
Fmr. Chief Investigative Counsel of the House Judiciary Committee for the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton

Also endorsed by:
James Woolsey
Director of Central Intelligence, 1993-95

Frank J. Gaffney
Fmr. Assistant Secretary of Defense

Larry Johnson
Fmr. Deputy Director of Counterterrorism for the State Department & CIA Analyst

[Jaded]

I was at work. I remember hearing about how the blast registered on the richter scale. I remember hearing that there were at least 2 blasts. That story changed within days. I called my dad to get his input b/c he was working for the DOD at the time, playing with ordinance. I miss him.