 | The 15th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing |
(AP) Survivors and family members of the 168 people who died in the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building gathered Monday to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the
attack.
Hundreds of people attended the ceremony at the Oklahoma City National Memorial to remember those killed in the April 19, 1995, explosion. More than 600 others were injured in the attack at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
Before the ceremony – which started shortly before 9:02 a.m., the time the bombing occurred – bells tolled in Oklahoma City’s downtown and some family members visited the site of the federal building razed in the attack, where chairs to honor the bombing victims now stand.
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said the day of the bombing is recalled with reverence, “not because we can’t forget but because we choose to remember.
“We have chosen strength, we have chosen optimism, we have chosen freedom, we have chosen to move forward together with a level of unity that is unmatched in any American city,” Cornett said at the ceremony, held on a cool, overcast morning.
The north side of the Albert P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City shows 19 April 1995 the devastation caused by a fuel-and fertilizer truck bomb that was detonated early 19 April in front of the building. The blast killed 168 people and injured more than 500. Timothy McVeigh, convicted on first-degree murder charges for the 19 April bombing was sentenced to death in 1997. (BOB DAEMMRICH/AFP/Getty Images) #
An unidentified woman is restrained by relatives and police after learning her child was trapped in a day care facility at the Alfred Murrah Federal Building Wednesday April 19, 1995, in downtown Oklahoma City. A bomb blast ripped through the building early Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/David Longstreath) #
Federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents and FBI agents survey the damage to the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City Wednesday, April 19, 1995. A car bomb blast gouged a nine-story hole in the federal office building. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) #
Medical assistants, Janet Froehlich, left, Wilma Jackson and Kerri Albright run from the Alfred Murrah Federal Building after being told another bomb device had been found Wednesday, April 19, 1995, in Oklahoma City. An explosion ripped through the federal office building Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) #
An unidentified man holds a towel to his face following an explosion Wednesday April 19, 1995, at the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. At least 19 people are reported dead from the blast. (AP Photo/David Longstreath) #
An unidentifed man wipes blood from his face Wednesday, April 19, 1995, following a car bomb explosion at the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. More than 26 people were killed and another 300 were missing in the explosion that gouged a nine-story hole in the federal office building. (AP Photo/David Longstreath) #
Rescue workers (C) in a basket survey damages 20 April 1995 to the Albert P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, one day after a fuel-and-fertilizer truck bomb exploded in front of the building. The blast killed 168 people and injured more than 500. Timothy McVeigh, convicted on first-degree murder charges for the 19 April bombing was sentenced to death in 1997. (PAUL K. BUCK/AFP/Getty Images) #
An unidentified injured woman holds an unidentifed child following a blast that destroyed a large portion of a federal building Wednesday, April 19, 1995, in downtown Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/David Longstreath) #
The downtown streets surrounding the Alfred Murrah Federal Building are swamped by emergency vehicles and personnel Thursday, April 20, 1995, after Wednesday's devastating car bomb blast in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) #
People injured in the car bomb blast at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City gather near the explosion site Wednesday, April 19, 1995. At least 31 people were killed in the blast, and 200 are missing. At least a dozen youngsters were among the dead. (AP Photo/David Longstreath) #
Firefighters search the rubble of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Wednesday April 19, 1995, after an explosion ripped a nine-story hole in the federal office building. (AP Photo by J. Pat Carter) #
Rescue personnel converge on the bomb-damaged Alfred Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City Wednesday, April 19, 1995. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) #
A bloody-faced victim of the explosion that ripped a nine-story hole in the the Alfred Murrah Federal Building Wednesday, April 19, 1995, in downtown Oklahoma City, is helped from the scene. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter) #
Police and emergency workers stand outside a heavily damaged federal building Wednesday April 19, 1995, in downtown Oklahoma City. An early morning explosion rocked the downtown area. (AP Photo/David Longstreath) #
An Oklahoma City fireman walks near explosion-damaged cars on the north side of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City after a car bomb blast. More than 600 people were injured in the attack and 168 people were killed. Timothy McVeigh was executed in 2001 and Terry Nichols is serving multiple life sentences on federal and state convictions for their convictions in the bombing. (AP Photo/The Daily Oklahoman, Jim Argo) #
Oklahoma City fire Capt. Chris Fields carries 1-year-old Baylee Almon, injured in the bombing Wednesday, April, 19, 1995 at the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. The child died from her injuries. (AP Photo/Charles H. Porter IV) #
Two women wait to be rescued from the upper floors of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building Wednesday, April 19, 1995, in Oklahoma City. The building was hit by an explosion about 9 a.m. (AP Photo by J. Pat Carter) #
Alcohol Tobacco and Firearm agents look over the damage to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Sunday, April 23, 1995. A car-bomb ripped through the nine-story federal building Wednesday, April 19, killing at least 78 people. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) #
The north side of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City is missing after what federal authorities believe to be a car bomb exploded Wednesday, April 19, 1995. (AP Photo) #
An FBI agent looks over part of a transmission rod Thursday, April 20, 1995, blown more than a block from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City in Wednesday's fatal car bombing. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter) #
The Alfred Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City is the center of attention Thursday, April 20, 1995, as rescue workers continue digging through the rubble after Wednesday's fatal explosion. (AP Photo/J.Pat Carter) #
A suitcoat on a hanger and some undisturbed filing cabinets appear in a destroyed ninth floor office of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City Sunday, April 30, 1995. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta) #
Firemen look under a section of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building as it is lifted by a crane as rescue efforts continue Monday, April 24, 1995, towards the area of the child care center in the areas below. (AP Photo/Pool) #
Investigators meticulously sift through the rubble on the ground at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bomb site in Oklahoma City on Friday, April 28, 1995. (AP Photo/John Kuntz,Pool) #
Rescue workers dig through debris Monday, April 24, 1995, at Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building following the deadly bombing. (AP Photo/Greg Smith) #
Davetta Green, right, mother of James Green, 2, watches her son react to the removal of an I.V. by Brenda Middlebrooks R.N. at Presbyterian Hospital in Oklahoma City Thursday, April 20, 1995. James was undergoing treatment for injuries received in the car bombing. The Greens were in the YMCA building across the street at the time of the car blast. (AP Photo) #
Firefighters from Clinton, Okla., change shifts after a 12-hour shift, Sunday, April 23, 1995, at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. The death toll stood at 78, with 150 people unaccounted for. More than 400 were injured in Wednesday's blast, caused by thousands of pounds of homemade explosives packed into a Ryder rental truck. (AP Photo/Beth A. Keiser) #
Workers remove rubble from the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Friday, May 12, 1995, as they prepare for the demolition of the building. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter) #
Fire personnel gather at the base of the nine-story Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City Thursday, April 20, 1995, prior to a walkthrough of the area by media covering Wednesday's fatal car bombing at the center. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip,Pool) #
An emotional crowd gathers at "A Time of Healing" prayer service Sunday, April 23, 1995, where some 20,000 people overflowed the state fairgrounds. President Clinton and the Rev. Billy Graham addressed a memorial service on what the president declared a national day of mourning. The death toll stood at 78, with 150 people unaccounted for. More than 400 were injured in Wednesday's blast, caused by thousands of pounds of homemade explosives packed into a Ryder rental truck. (AP Photo/Beth A. Keiser) #
A blue-ribbon laden flower sits on police tape near the command center at the federal building in downtown Oklahoma City Monday, April 24, 1995. Wednesday's car bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Guilding killed more than 70 people and many were still missing at the time. (AP Photo/Beth A. Keiser) #
Members of the Christian Life Missionary Baptist Church in Oklahoma City hold a sunset prayer vigil Friday, April 28, 1995, near the site of the April 19 car bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. In what had become a nightly ritual, people came to the downtown location to offer thanks to volunteers and to pay homage to the more than 120 people who perished in the bombing. (AP Photo/Lacy Atkins) #
Gaylon Turner, of Smith Funeral Home, waits for people to leave the gravesite following the funeral service for Luther and LaRue Treanor at Summit View Cemetery in Guthrie, Okla., Friday, April 28, 1995. (AP Photo/Beth A. Keiser) #
Flowers and teddy bears decorate the fence surrounding the cleanup area near the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building Sunday, April 30, 1995, as efforts continued in the wake of the April 19, car bombing in downtown Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta) #
Karen Ellison of Oklahoma City looks through a chain link fence at the memorial service for rescue workers and volunteers at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. More than 600 people were injured in the April 19, 1995 attack and 168 people were killed. Timothy McVeigh was executed in 2001 and Terry Nichols is serving multiple life sentences on federal and state convictions for their convictions in the bombing. (AP Photo J. Pat Carter, File) #
Glenn Wilburn holds Kathy Graham Wilburn while she cries watching the implosion of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Tuesday, May 23, 1995, along with her daughter Edye Smith, right. Two of Mrs. Smith's children, Colton and Chase Smith, were among the 168 killed in the April car-bomb explosion at the federal building. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke) #
The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City falls in a cloud of dust as it was demolished by explosives Tuesday, May 23, 1995. The building was the site of a deadly car-bomb attack April 19, 1995. (AP Photo/George Wilson) #
Unidentified family members of victim in the OKC bombing break down in tears walking out of the courthouse after hearing the verdict against Timothy McVeigh. Kent Meireis/The Denver Post #
Martha Hite, left, and Diane Faircloth, two of the jurors from the Timothy McVeigh bombing trial in Denver, listen to jury foreman Jim Osgood talk to victims of the bombing Saturday, June 20, 1998 in Oklahoma City. The jury was visiting the bombing site and meeting victims' families. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter) #
Liz Castle, left, and Ann Aber, right, embraced while they listened to Bud Welch talk about his daughter Julie who was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing. Mr. Welch did not want convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh to die. More than one hundred people attended a candlight vigil against capital punishment on the west steps of the state Capitol in Denver. The rally was sponsored by Coloradans Against the Death Penalty. Denver Post photo by Karl Gehring. #
Mourners gather for a ceremony for the 168 killed in the 1995 bombing of the federal building April 19, 2007 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Briah Harkin/Getty Images) #
Family and friends of Lakesha Levy, one of the 168 victims of the Oklahoma City bombing, pray at her chair in the Field of Chairs, Monday, April 19, 2010 on the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) #
People gather under the Survivor Tree at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, Monday, April 19, 2010, during the memorial ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) #
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