Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Oklahoma City Bombing 16th Anniversary

by Douglas V. Gibbs

Today marked 16 years since the deadliest domestic terror attack in U.S. History before the 9/11 terror attacks. The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building killed 168 people, including 18 children that were being cared for in a child care center on the second floor.

Survivors of the attack, and family members of the victims, attended a ceremony at the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum in downtown Oklahoma City, today.

The ceremony included the reading of the victims' names, and 168 seconds of silence in honor of the dead. A Marine Corps honor guard placed a wreath between chairs dedicated to Capt. Randolph A. Guzman and Sgt. Benjamin LaRanzo Davis, who were killed in the Marine Corps recruiting office on the federal building’s sixth floor.

Timothy McVeigh was convicted on federal murder and conspiracy charges in 1997 and executed in 2001. The original story by investigators claims that Timothy McVeigh planned the attack as revenge for the deadly standoff between the FBI and Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. That conclusion led some to believe that McVeigh's act was in the name of Christianity. However, a recent release of FBI memos have confirmed that the Oklahoma City bombing was planned by Islamic terrorists, in addition to McVeigh.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is one incident that a lot of people have forgotten after 9/11 and everything that has happened since. I remember this. I was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico when this happened. I thought then this was horrible, and still do. But what I think is even more horrible is our government's denial that we have a problem. As long as they feel that way, we DO HAVE A PROBLEM.

Thanks Doug, for posting this one. We are doomed to repeat it, if we forget the past.