Oklahoma City Bombing Commemoration Day

In order to commemorate the memory of killed people due to the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 199, National Oklahoma City Bombing Commemoration Day was founded.

Each year, many tourists visit at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum in central Oklahoma City to remember those who lost their lives, those who survived, and those who changed forever after the bombings.

History of Oklahoma City Bombing Commemoration Day

The Bombing as well as the terrorist Attack in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma State, USA, on April 19th, 1995 concealed a large homemade bomb consisted of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and oil fuel in a rental truck exploded, made the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building damaged severely. There were 168 killed people including 19 children, and more than 500 injured people. The building was later razed and a park was built on the premises. The bombing remained the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil until the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon outside Washington, DC, in 2001.

At first, the investigation Middle Eastern terrorist groups was false, later, the attention quickly changed to Timothy McVeigh who was arrested shortly after the explosion for a traffic violation and his friend the Terry Nichols. Both were members of the United States Army and were associated with the far-right Patriotic and militant movements. After the bombing ended, McVeigh was arrested and Nichols later turned himself in police. McVeigh was convicted of murder. Moreover, he was also conspiratorial and used a weapon of mass destruction and executed in 2001, the first person executed for a federal crime in the United States since 1963. In spite of not being sentenced to death, the guilty of conspiracy and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter are impossible to avoid, therefore, he sentenced to life in prison. Other associates were found guilty of not informing authorities of their plot in advance, and some observers believe there are still other participants involved in the attack.

Although McVeigh and Nichols and some major political groups had no relationship, they shared views characteristic of the broad Patriotic movement, which feared the authoritarian plots of the United States federal government and business elites. The legitimacy of the federal government and law enforcement has been denied by the Patriot movement. The establishment of armed militia groups was a manifestation of the rise of the right, which had some 30,000 national members by the mid-1990s according to some sources. The militia explains their increase in existence by demanding the right to arm themselves in self-defense against a perceived oppressive government. In that circumstance, the Oklahoma City attack day is extremely significant with two notable anniversaries. April 19th is considered as Patriots' Day and the anniversary of the American uprising against British rule in Lexington, Massachusetts, in 1775 as well, and the day when federal agents brought the siege Waco siege culminated by raiding the armed Branch Davidian religious compound cult in Waco, Texas, in 1993. McVeigh announced that the building in Oklahoma City was the target of revenge for the more than 70 deaths in Waco. After the attack at Oklahoma City, some investigations were done by the media and law enforcement officials into the militia movement and other radical armed groups.

A link fence was created shortly after the bombing in order to protect the makeshift memorial for people killed in the incident and was appeared with messages of condolence, poetry, and inscriptions, other souvenirs. Gradually, it played an important part of an Iconic Monument which also includes a reflective pool and a courtyard of 168 empty chairs that was dedicated in 2000. A year later, the museum section of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum is opened.

What do you do in Oklahoma City Bombing Commemoration Day?

Each year, let gather all people and spend time in order to join the activities that take 168 seconds of silence for the 168 people killed in bombings. Show support for EMS and humanitarian volunteers. Learn more about the bombing, the memorial, and how Oklahoma City recovered from the aftermath.

Use #OklahomaCityBombingCommemorationDay to post on social media.