20 years later, some lessons learned from OKC bombing

[SoonerTraveler]

As Susan Winchester states in the quote below, "Oklahomans are a kind and generous people." I experienced this firsthand when my family was impacted by the May 1999 tornado. The amount of help provided by churches and other local people was unbelievable. You never truly get to know the character of your community until it is affected by an event of this nature. Over many weeks after May 3, 1999, I spent a great deal of time at my sister's home (which was badly damaged by the storm) and observed the kindness, generosity, and roll-up-your-sleeves helpfulness of Oklahomans. My home was without electricity for about 10 days. Utility workers from around the country were also there to help repair the infrastructure. (Sadly, some looters were also on patrol, but nothing in life is perfect.)

April 19, 1995: Now, it is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the OKC bombing. I was working on the 15th floor of a downtown OKC building about 4 blocks away when the bomb went off. No one knew what happened, but everyone evacuated down the staircases and into a downtown park. After a few minutes, a few of us went and took a look at the terrible scene, still not knowing what had happened. The first responders were already there helping all they could. It seemed the entire downtown area became a crime scene, so no one could move their cars from the downtown parking garages. To get home from work that day, we walked over to the Bricktown area and a co-worker's wife drove downtown to pick us up. I found out later that a very nice woman that I used to work with at a previous job had been killed in the blast. So sad.

Anyway, I hope some of you, like me, take away the positive things that the following article points out. There are so many good people in the world. You should click on the link and read the entire article, but I include two excerpts below.

20 years later, some of the lessons learned from Oklahoma City bombing
http://newsok.com/20-years-later-so...ed-from-oklahoma-city-bombing/article/5411202


Oklahomans are kind and generous people. We help; we share; and we give until there is nothing more to give. There is a goodness that I’ve seen firsthand from the moments after the bombing until today. As I returned to Chickasha the morning of April 19, I was met by a solid stream of rescue teams coming into Oklahoma City. These selfless volunteers, firefighters, sheriff’s officers, EMT personnel, dropped what they were doing and immediately came to help. As the days progressed and the search for my sister continued, my family was wrapped in the arms of friends and strangers who were willing to do anything and everything they could to take away the pain my family was suffering. Today, the same sense of generosity that existed 20 years ago is as strong as ever. I feel so fortunate to be an Oklahoman.

— Susan Winchester, chairwoman of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation Board of Trustees. Her sister Peggy Clark, a veterinary medical officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, died in the bombing.


Civic goodness is an imprecise term. Definitions vary. But on April 19, 1995, and the days that followed, Oklahoma City defined it. The FEMA team from New York said that at the first World Trade Center bombing, they paid $5 for a sack of ice. It was free in Oklahoma City. Massages were free. Food was free. In the early cellphone era, calls were free. Clothing, boots, laundry, supplies. Everything that our hundreds of out-of-state rescue workers needed. All free. When workers visited area restaurants, the check frequently never came. If the guests inquired, they were told that the city was grateful for their heroism. There would be no check. A California firefighter told me that the only thing missing from his bunk was a rose on his pillow. A day later, every bed of every rescue worker was graced with a rose. Wife Cathy saw to that. Later, when the Virginia team was departing for home, a firefighter showed me a dollar bill. Laughing, he said that it was an Oklahoma dollar. It was the dollar he came with and the dollar that he left with. He didn’t spend money on anything.

Kindness. Brotherhood. Civic goodness and Oklahoma City. Together forever.

— Frank Keating, who was governor at the time of the bombing.