Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial Ladd - Whitney Monument

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial Ladd-Whitney Monument

It was April 19, 1995 at 9:03 that the lives of thousands were affected by one single

explosion. The explosion took the lives of 168 men, women, and children. The explosion

physically injured 600 individuals and emotionally injured numerous amounts of people

around the world. The explosion took place at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in

Oklahoma. A staff writer for a newspaper was quoted stating " the bomb was color

blind" ( Yumi Wilson, Chronicle staff writer, Langston University). It didn't matter what

age, race, or background the victims came from. The one attribute that all of the victims

had in common was the fact that they were all innocent targets affected by the hostility

of hate and terrorism. The primary individual responsible for this tragedy is a man named

Timothy McVeigh. A 27yr old white man who possed a great hostility toward the

government. He constructed a deadly bomb made of fertilizer and fuel oil, placed it in

the back of a Ryder truck and drove and parked it at the state building. He was later

arraigned on charges of 11 counts of conspiracy and murder charges. He was convicted

and sentenced for the crimes on June 2, 1997. The other man who was suspected of

having been involved in the bombing was Terry Nichols. Though he was involved in the

planning he did not actually help McVeigh transport or set off the bomb. He was found

guilty and was charged with involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy; Nichols was later

acquitted from the murder charges. Though the justice system punished the criminals for

their crimes and may have provided the family and friends of those who died with some

degree of solace, the grief and, fear, emptiness, and loss of security can never be

replaced. It was an unfortunate tragedy to those who lost their lives it brought together

the people of our nation and showed no discrimination, only unity among a mass of

people who could not get through this atrocity alone. Due to the immense impact that the

event had on our nation, and the wide responses received on ideas of how to create a

memorial at the site, the Mayor, Ron Norick appointed a 350 member Memorial Task

Force. They were responsible to develop a memorial in order to honor those touched