Oklahoma City Federal Building Memorial Page

Oklahoma City Memorial

On Saturday, March 10th in the year 2001, The Adventure Group visited the Federal Building Memorial in Oklahoma City. The following is their pictorial account and written report of that experience.

Our Trip Report
"...May this Memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity." When we chose to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial we had no idea what to expect. It was basically an afterthought as we drove toward our eventual destinations out west. What we found left an impression on us that will last a lifetime. Such sadness is hard to put into words. It was a very humbling experience to say the least. About an hour before sunset we finally arrived at the memorial. We had made some mistakes with our directions and since the memorial wasn't on the map we had a difficult time trying to find it. The memorial is at the site of the original federal building. Remnants of the foundation are used as borders on the south and east sides. A reflecting pool is in the center of the memorial, which is "intended to help soothe wounds." The Gates Of Time are located at each end of the pool. The times 9:01 and 9:03 are on each gate respectively, one minute before and one minute after the destruction on April 19th 1995. To the south of the pool is the Field Of Empty Chairs. There are 168 bronze chairs that signify each life that was lost on this horrific day. They are placed in such a way that they denote where each victim was at the time of the explosion. 19 of the chairs are smaller than the rest to represent the children that lost their lives. To the north is a large tree called The Survivor Tree, a tribute to those who survived the blast and those who must live on without their loved ones. Along the western sidewalk is a memorial fence which is filled with wreathes, stuffed animals, cards and many other items placed by friends and families to remember their loved ones. As the sun set in the western Oklahoma sky, we stood above the field of symbolic chairs and were overcome with grief. With the survivor tree silhouetted in the early evening as a testament to those who live on, the lights under each chair began to illuminate the field of emblematic and silent epitaphs in memory of those who did not live on. As the daylight was replaced by the luminaria, we wiped our eyes and left this sad, sad place. It is regrettable that we have to write about such a tragic event. On a website devoted to adventure, we remember those whose lifelong adventure was cut catastrophically short. May God keep near those who lost their lives this day. This is one place that we will not soon forget.

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