I experienced a very moving and emotional time while visiting the Murrah Memorial, home of the OKC bombing.
I was struck by the sensitivity around me and the respect that each person visiting there had. It was fairly silent or at least the visitors were soft spoken.
The people of Oklahoma City are to be praised and commended for their outstanding and truly beautiful memorial that they have built. It was done with taste, honor, and respect.
The museum that has just recently opened was... well, I was speechless while touring it. The horror that these victims endured was beyond my comprehension. While they displayed several items from the wreckage, they were not too graphic. Once again, tastefully done. Enough to allow you to share in the horror, but not enough to give you constant nightmares. I was not the only person leaving the exhibits with tears in my eyes.
Citizens of OKC.... may you find closure and some kind of peace.
The wall reads 9:01 am. The reflective area on the ground is water. They salavaged some of the granite from the Murrah building and laid them here. A constant flow of water is on top... the water is 3/4" deep, but with the dark granite underneath, it appears to be deeper. This is where the street once was that was in front of the Murrah Building and where the truck carrying the bomb was parked. The street itself no longer exists.
At the other end of the memorial wall reads 9:03 am. The bomb exploded at 9:02 am.
A plaque across the street from where the Murrah building once stood explaining scripture.
Statue of Jesus with the inscription, "Jesus wept"
One of the walls outside the memorial in honor of those who lost their lives
News media from all over the world was parked outside the Memorial since it was the weekend before the execution.
This is the building that was sitting in front of the Murrah building. It suffered major damage, as well all of the windows being blown out. People inside this building also received many injuries, some critical from the flying glass. The fire escape on the side was damaged and bent. The Museum is located in this building.
A message that was spray painted on the side of the building from one of the rescue workers.
One Oak tree survived the bombing. This is the symbol of their strength and they have chosen the motto, "On American Soil" as the "theme".
A plaque explaining the order of the chairs.
The chairs represent the victims. There is one chair per person killed, smaller chairs for the children, and five chairs off to the side a little for those who were killed while on the sidewalk when the bomb exploded. The base of these chairs have a soft light and are lit up at night.
Some of the remaining wall from the Murrah Building.
The backside of what was once the Murrah Building.
The Memorial is opened 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We need to never forget what happened here and how vulernable we really are.