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Apr. 19 2010 - 8:56 am | 657 views | 0 recommendations | 9 comments

Oklahoma City Bombing: 15th anniversary honored at Annual Remembrance Ceremony

Oklahoma City National Memorial. Sue Frause photo.

April 19, 1995, 9:01 AM. That was the date and hour of the bombing of the Afred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. In the end, 168 people died (including 16 children) and more than 680 were injured; 324 buildings were damaged or destroyed in the surrounding area.

This year’s Annual Remembrance Ceremony at the Oklahoma City National Memorial will start shortly before 9 AM. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will deliver remarks about the department’s efforts to combat and protect against evolving threats of home grown terrorism and the traditional reading of the 168 names will be read at the conclusion of the ceremony.

President Barack Obama has signed a proclamation designating April 19, 2010 as National Day of Service and Remembrance for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism.

There is no greater evil than willful violence against innocents. On this National Day of Service and Remembrance for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism, we pause to remember victims of terrorism at home and abroad, we honor the heroes who have supported them, and we redouble our efforts to build the kind of world that is worthy of their legacy.

Fifteen years ago, terrorists bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing over 160 men, women, and children, and injuring hundreds more. Even before the dust settled, heroes had emerged. First responders, medical professionals, clergy, relief organizations, local leaders, and everyday citizens stepped forward to help victims and their families. Again, when terrorists struck on September 11, 2001, and thousands of Americans –- and scores of foreign nationals — perished in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Americans made a historic effort to assist all those affected. The dignity of those who were attacked — and the courage of those who came to their aid — reaffirmed the strength of our Nation, and the human spirit.

I visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum in 2008. It was truly one of the most moving experiences I’ve had.

The Memorial Museum takes visitors through the actual day of April 19, 1995. The chronological, self-guided tour continues through the days, weeks, months and years that followed one of the largest terrorist attacks on American soil. The story is told in chapters; it’s as if you were there. I found it both startling and moving.

The Outdoor Symbolic Memorial, located on the grounds where the Murrah Building once stood, honors the victims, survivors and rescuers of the bombing. The Field of Empty Chairs includes 168 chairs arranged in nine rows, representing the nine floors of the Murrah Building. Each individual’s chair was placed on the row (or the floor) where the person worked or was visiting when the bomb went off. There were also three unborn children killed, not part of the medical examiner’s count of 168, but listed on their mothers’ chairs below their mothers’ names. The Field of Empty Chairs is open 24 hours a day; the chair lights come on at dusk and go off at dawn.

To see a slide show from my visit to the memorial and museum, click here.


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    Former highly decorated FBI Division Chief, Ted Gunderson, a crime scene analysis expert, conducted an intensive investigation of the OKC bombing at ground zero. He concluded it to have been an “inside job” by U.S. Army Intelligence and other covert spook operatives who utilized a type of bomb which President Clinton later claimed was “a marvel of technology.” Proof of U.S. Army involvement is irrefutably shown at Gunderson’s official website: http://www.tedgunderson.net/OKC-BOMBING

    Moreover, Ted Gunderson discovered that Timothy McVeigh was a “patsy” in exactly the same way Oswald was in the JFK assassination. Ted Gunderson submitted his professional investigative report to members of Congress and it was unjustly ignored. The real villains who brought American the OKC terrorism—later planned and executed the mass-murder-spree on 911. Terrorism in America will not stop until the shadow government conspirators are brought to justice. The OKC murder conspiracy and cover-up continues while the real culprits remain at large to perpetrate further “false flag” terrorism on America.

    I know Ted Gunderson’s allegation is horrific…but, please know and understand his CREDIBILITY: he is a 27-year FBI career veteran and Private Investigator since his retirement in 1979 as FBI Senior Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Division where he had 700 Special Agents and other personnel under his command and a $22 million annual budget. Truth is “truth” and I apologize if it is disturbing. Examine the photo @ http://www.tedgunderson.net/OKC-BOMBING and YOU BE THE JUDGE!

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