Oklahoma City

A few years ago Lu and I bought a house in the tiny town of Wetumka, Oklahoma. It was going to be our retirement place. Later, we decided to settle in Utah and sold the Oklahoma house. While there for a visit and some renovation, Lu, I, The Sarge and Mom-In-Law went to Oklahoma City and visited The Memorial.

It was a bit surreal. My first visit to the site where a large number of people were murdered. Yes, Murdered. No other word will suffice. You could feel the spirit like a weight on your shoulders. I exchanged looks with The Sarge. No words were necessary. I knew he felt the same thing I did. Evil on a vast scale had been done here and the sensation was palpable. It is a quiet place, hushed. Even the children seem to sense that something of import took place here. There are no yells of recognition. No giggles. No laughter.

At the entrance is this sign.

At one end of the memorial is this. It is the time the bomb went off. 9:01 AM

And at the other end is this which memorializes when the destruction ended. 9:03 AM. In that time 168 Americans; men, women and children, were killed by evil.

There is a still, reflecting pond in between, on the spot where the Murrah Building stood.

These are the empty chairs. One in honor of each person who died in the building and outside.

The building across from the Murrah building was damaged in the blast.

It has never been repaired and now houses the Memorial Museum.



Outside you'll find a living memorial where visitors write and leave their own testimonials and prayers.

The setting is beautiful.

Even park like in that uniquely mid-western way that Americans living in the heartland know and understand.

The defenders are there yet. Waiting and watching and woe betide those who would seek to replicate this act of mindless violence and murder. Here or anywhere. For America is still America and her Warriors are more numerous than the stars in the sky. We will see you and we will destroy you and every trace of you from the face of the Earth.

If you ever find yourself in the area I strongly encourage you to visit this site. Like me and The Sarge, you will feel the weight, the sheer presence of The Memorial. You'll also see and feel the strength that is America. We can be hurt, we can be damaged, we can be killed but we cannot be destroyed. We will endure. No force, no attack and no person can undo what we are.

Americans.

We are equal to Any challenge, Anywhere, Anytime. Terrorists and Tyrants alike have discovered this to their sorrow for more than 230 years. I believe this with every fiber of my being. With all my heart. All my soul. Visit this Memorial and you will too. We lose only when we surrender and I can assure you the people of Oklahoma City have not surrendered.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all Americans today but most especially to those directly touched by this heinous act. May the enemies of America, foreign and domestic, taste the ashes of defeat and ignominy.

Six