Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum

Saturday June 6th, 2015

Oklahoma City National Memorial Wikipedia - Recalling the events of April 19th, 1995 - Can you believe it was over 20 years ago!!!

The link above gives a very detailed description of the memorial and what it signifies.  It is far better at describing than I can put into words. I have copied parts of it below to help describe the areas and the pictures.

From the moment I heard about the winning design, I liked the way this memorial was created and the thought that went into it.  I guess it appeals to my detail orientated mind.  I never envisioned the impact visiting this site would have and how surreal it was to be here on what was such a scene of devastation caused by home soil fanatics.

How anyone can justify doing this to anyone is beyond me.  As Bryan said, "You can not believe the devastation caused by one fanatic and a rental truck" with a little help from a friend(s).

As soon as we stepped inside this memorial site and saw the Gates of Time, Reflecting Pool and Field of Chairs, it was like stepping back in time and remembering that day.  The only difference was that the scenes of devastation from that day have been replaced with a beautiful serene, quiet place of remembrance.

It made me feel as though the people that lost their lives that are represented here are truly at peace now.

Major thanks to everyone responsible for creating this memorial, it is truly unique.

The next four pictures show our first views of the memorial as we approached it.

9:03 Gate of Time from the street

One of the Memorial Fences

9:01 Gate of Time taken at street level from outside on the sidewalk through the railings

Field of Empty Chairs taken at street level from outside on the sidewalk through the railings

I will separate the pictures up into separate categories with a description of each taken from Wikipedia.  The Wikipedia references are in italics.

• The Gates of Time: Monumental twin bronze gates frame the moment of destruction - 9:02 - and mark the formal entrances to the Outdoor Memorial. 9:01, found on the eastern gate, represents the last moments of peace, while its opposite on the western gate, 9:03, represents the first moments of recovery. Both time stamps are inscribed on the interior of the monument, facing each other and the Reflecting Pool.

The outside of each gate bears this inscription:

We come here to remember Those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.

9:01 Gate at the Eastern end of the Reflecting Pool 

9:01 etched in the gate

I love the next picture.  The reflections are amazing, almost a mirror image and so clear.  The water looks like glass, it is so smooth. 

9:03 Gate at the Western end of the Reflecting Pool 

9:03 etched in the gate

9:03 Gate taken from under the Survivor Tree

• Reflecting Pool: A thin layer of water flows over polished black granite to form the pool, which runs east to west down the center of the Memorial (also see reflecting pool) on what was once Fifth Street. Although the pool is flowing, visitors are able to see a mirror image of themselves in the water. Visitors seeing their reflections are said to be seeing "someone changed forever by what happened here."

The building that houses the Museum reflected in the pool

Sue admiring the Survivor Tree from a distance.  The reflecting pool behind her

Sitting in the shade of the Survivor Tree gazing at the reflecting pool and empty chairs

Church overlooking the memorial & pool

Field of Empty Chairs: 168 empty chairs hand-crafted from glass, bronze, and stone represent those who lost their lives, with a name etched in the glass base of each.  They sit on the site where the Murrah Building once stood.  The chairs represent the empty chairs at the dinner tables of the victims' families.  The chairs are arranged in nine rows to symbolize the nine floors of the building; each person's chair is on the row (or the floor) on which the person worked or was located when the bomb went off.  The chairs are also grouped according to the blast pattern, with the most chairs nearest the most heavily damaged portion of the building.  The westernmost column of five chairs represents the five people who died but were not in the Murrah Building (two in the Water Resources Board building, one in the Athenian Building, one outside near the building, and one rescuer).  The 19 smaller chairs represent the children killed in the bombing.  Three unborn children died along with their mothers, and they are listed on their mothers' chairs beneath their mothers' names.

Flags in the background are in the original flag poles.

Smaller chairs represent children 

Taken from the back corner

Bryan looking at the chairs

Closer look at a child's chair.  Names are etched on the front of the glass base.

A squirrel overlooks the chairs

He posed for us, moments before he was drinking from the reflective pool.  It was good to see wildlife here.

Security walks around the site

Survivors' Wall: The only remaining original portions of the Murrah Building are the north and east walls, known as the Survivors' Wall.  The Survivors' Wall includes several panels of granite salvaged from the Murrah Building itself, inscribed with the names of more than 600 survivors from the building and the surrounding area, many of whom were injured in the blast.

• The Survivor Tree: An American elm on the north side of the Memorial, this was the only shade tree in the parking lot across the street from the Murrah Building. Commuters arrived early to get one of the shady parking spots provided by its branches. Photos of Oklahoma City taken in the 1920s show the tree to be about 100 years old. The tree was taken for granted prior to the blast. Heavily damaged by the bomb, the tree survived after nearly being chopped down during the initial investigation, when workers wanted to recover evidence hanging in its branches and embedded in its bark.

The force of the blast ripped most of the branches from the Survivor Tree, glass and debris were embedded in its trunk and fire from the cars parked beneath it blackened what was left. Most thought the tree could not survive. Almost a year after the bombing, family members, survivors and rescue workers gathered for a memorial ceremony by the tree noticed it was beginning to bloom again. The Survivor Tree now thrives, and the Outdoor Memorial design includes a mandate to feature and protect the tree. For example, one of the roots that would have been cut by the wall surrounding the tree was placed inside a large pipe, so it could reach the soil beyond the wall without being damaged. The decking around the tree was raised several feet to make an underground crawlspace; workers enter through a secure hatchway and monitor the health of the tree and maintain its very deep roots.

The inscription around the inside of the deck wall around the Survivor Tree reads:

"The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us."

Hundreds of seeds from the Survivor Tree are planted annually and the resulting saplings are distributed each year on the anniversary of the bombing. Thousands of Survivor Trees are growing in public and private places all over the United States. 

Survivor Tree

Inscription around inner wall surrounding Survivor Tree

Bryan under the Survivor Tree

The Memorial Fence: A 10-foot-tall chain link fence was installed around the area that is now the Reflecting Pool and the Field of Empty Chairs to protect the site from damage and visitors from injury.  The Fence stood for more than four years, becoming notable as the place where visitors left stuffed animals, poems, keychains, and other items as tributes.  During the construction of the Outdoor Memorial, 210 feet of the Fence was moved to the west side of the Memorial, along the 9:03 side or the 'healing' side.  The remainder of the Fence is in storage.  Visitors may still leave small items along and in the Fence; the mementoes are periodically collected, cataloged, and stored.

Rescuers' Orchard: A grove of Oklahoma redbuds (Oklahoma's state tree), Amur Maple, Chinese Pistache, and Bosque Elm trees are planted on the lawn around the Survivor Tree. The trees represent the rescuers who came to the aid of the survivors; hence the rescuer's orchard surrounds the survivor tree. The non-native species represent those rescuers who came from outside Oklahoma to help. 

Children's Area:  More than 5,000 hand-painted tiles, from all over the United States and Canada, were made by children and sent to Oklahoma City after the bombing in 1995.  Most are stored in the Memorial's Archives, and a sampling of tiles is on the wall in the Children's Area.  Chalkboards provide a place where children can draw and share their feelings. The Children's Area is north of the 9:03 gate, on the west side of the Museum.

See our reflections as we looked at the painted tiles

Children can chalk on the chalkboards

Journal Record Building: North of the memorial is the Journal Record Building, which formerly housed the offices of The Journal Record. It now houses the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, which features numerous exhibits and artifacts related to the Oklahoma City bombing. Staff of the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, a non-partisan think tank created shortly after the bombing by family members and survivors, also work here to spread knowledge of terrorism and its prevention. 

Message written by rescue worker

The day started out like any other.  The Journal Record Office had scheduled a public meeting which started at 9am.  As it was a public meeting it was recorded.  They managed to salvage the recording and as part of the tour of this building you go into a mock up of the meeting room and they play what they have of the recording.  You can clearly hear the bomb explode and the confusion following this.  It was quite something to sit and listen to.

The rectangular building in front is the Alfred P Murrah Federal building that was destroyed.  Behind that past the green trees is the Journal Record Office

Remains of cars that were destroyed

Rooms were destroyed

The crest from the Murrah building

The damage done

Do you remember the picture of the firefighter carrying the baby out?  Here is a statue of that.

This area has been left as it was to show the damage caused by the blast.  This was part of the Journal Record Building across from the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building.

 Pieces left of the sign on the building.

                                      

 Standing inside the former Journal Record Building, now the museum, looking out over the memorial.

How peaceful does that look

and the church overlooking it all.  The church was heavily damaged by the blast and has been repaired.

Bryan signing the Visitor Book                                     

What a way to get preserved into the History books

We left this place glad that we had visited and experienced the atmosphere that is here and will never forget that moment when we first stepped into the memorial garden and saw the empty chairs.

Oklahoma City National Memorial - To learn more go to the official memorial site.