Western Parks Trip--Day 21, Saturday, August 29, 2015

We had a very leisurely departure (for us, that is), not leaving camp until 9:30.  Our destination was  Tinker Air Force Base’s Family Camp (FAMCAMP).  We’ve not stayed there before. They don’t take reservations, so I called about noon to ask if they had room for us.  I was assured we likely could get in.  So we continued on driving mile-upon-mile.  Lots of wind and oil wells pumping.  Speaking of oil, we’ve enjoyed the continuing drop in gas prices.  The most we paid in Utah was $2.99/gallon.  That’s a far cry from the >$4/gallon we paid in 2012’s trips out west. Today we actually tanked up for $1.99/gallon!

We arrived at the FAMCAMP about 3 PM and were parked and on our way by 3:30.  We were headed to the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum for the Murrah Federal Building bombed by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols on April 19, 1995.  Our Camp Host (a unique way campgrounds get volunteers to be available to answer questions and do bookings when paid staff isn’t there, in exchange for free camping) was very helpful with information on how to get to the memorial.  He advised us to drive to a nearby Bass Pro Shop and take the trolley.  So we parked there and got on a trolley which we learned was FREE! We got an angst-free tour of downtown Oklahoma City on the trolley! 

Neither of us was prepared for the emotional impact of the memorial and museum.  The wall in front of the memorial is lined with toys, shirts and different memorabilia to the 168 killed, 19 of them children in the daycare center on the second floor.  

Memorabilia are attached to the wall in front of the Memorial entrance.

There are two tall stone monoliths (Gates of Time) at either end of the Reflecting Pool.  The front gate has 9:01, representing the time just before the bombing and the other has 9:03, the time the building exploded and collapsed.  

On the inside the Gate says 9:01.  David is standing in front ready to enter the memorial grounds. 

This gate inside the memorial, across the Reflecting Pool, is inscribed 9:03 when the bomb went off. 

The Reflecting Pool occupies what was once NW Fifth Street, a shallow depth of gently flowing water which helps soothe wounds with calming sounds providing a peaceful setting for quiet thoughts. 

To one side of the Reflecting Pool are chairs representing  all 168 who died, the shorter chairs for the 19 children. At night the bases for the chairs are illuminated as beacons of hope.  We didn't see them illuminated, but I imagine it is most awesome!

Note the differing sizes, adult and children.

  Pine trees have been planted in rows to the right forefont of the Reflecting Pool.  A Rescuers’ Orchard is to the left  with a plaque reading: “To the courageous and caring who responded from near and far, we offer our eternal gratitude.”, The Elm Tree stands on a hill to the left of the Reflecting Pool.  The Elm Tree is called the Survivor Tree.  It is 90+ years old, having been planted next to a house which was eventually sold and the area re-developed, eventually to contain the Murrah Federal Building.   The elm tree was kept and was 150 feet from the blast area from the bomb.  Its leaves and bark were imbedded with shrapnel, but it survived.  Today it is a robust testimony with a plaque reading: “The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us.”  

There is a Survivor Wall, the only piece of the Murrah Building left, which is inscribed with the names of over 600 who survived the bombing many with permanent injuries.

We visited the museum which walks you through the bombing hour by hour showing the national and international news broadcasters' first reactions, then you enter a room after the sliding door opens, in which you hear the taped proceedings of the State Water Board hearing on a petition by a resident to sell some of his water.  This is particularly ominous because it began promptly at 9:00 AM and at 9:03 you hear the repercussions and the lights flicker in the room just as the occupants must have felt when the bomb in the Murrah Building, across the street from the hearing room, went off.  There are taped recordings of the impressions of people in the building when it happened, rescuers, firemen, chaplains, family and many others involved in the whole event.  There are very poignant vignettes and captions, and oh, so many statements in music, voice and picture of how Oklahoma City and rescuers from across the country came together over the next weeks to try to extract the last of the bodies, 168 total.

Before the blast

This is a Pulitzer-Prize-winning photo (in the background) of a fireman holding a baby pulled from the rubble of the second-floor daycare center.  Tragically the baby died. The model in the foreground was cast from the photo's image.  

Looking across the Memorial from the Museum window.

 There are many vignettes displaying the very quick process of tracking down Timothy McVey who was actually in a county jail in a nearby town having been arrested for not having a current tag on his escape vehicle.  In the pace of our justice system, it seems rather ironic that he was brought to trial in only two years and executed on June 11, 2001 by lethal injection.


We took the trolley back to our truck and went back to camp at Tinker with our hearts full of prayers for the 20-year survivors.

I had a hankering for hot dogs, so I fixed hot dogs, chips and leftover potato salad and cole slaw for supper.  David had a hankering for special ice cream since he'd seen a sign for Braum's, the local ice cream specialists.