Essay/Term paper: Oklahoma city bombing

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Humanities

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial Ladd-Whitney Monument

It was April 19, 1995 at 9:03 that the lives of thousands were affected by one single

explosion. The explosion took the lives of 168 men, women, and children. The explosion

physically injured 600 individuals and emotionally injured numerous amounts of people

around the world. The explosion took place at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in

Oklahoma. A staff writer for a newspaper was quoted stating " the bomb was color

blind" ( Yumi Wilson, Chronicle staff writer, Langston University). It didn"t matter what

age, race, or background the victims came from. The one attribute that all of the victims

had in common was the fact that they were all innocent targets affected by the hostility

of hate and terrorism. The primary individual responsible for this tragedy is a man named

Timothy McVeigh. A 27yr old white man who possed a great hostility toward the

government. He constructed a deadly bomb made of fertilizer and fuel oil, placed it in

the back of a Ryder truck and drove and parked it at the state building. He was later

arraigned on charges of 11 counts of conspiracy and murder charges. He was convicted

and sentenced for the crimes on June 2, 1997. The other man who was suspected of

having been involved in the bombing was Terry Nichols. Though he was involved in the

planning he did not actually help McVeigh transport or set off the bomb. He was found

guilty and was charged with involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy; Nichols was later

acquitted from the murder charges. Though the justice system punished the criminals for

their crimes and may have provided the family and friends of those who died with some

degree of solace, the grief and, fear, emptiness, and loss of security can never be

replaced. It was an unfortunate tragedy to those who lost their lives it brought together

the people of our nation and showed no discrimination, only unity among a mass of

people who could not get through this atrocity alone. Due to the immense impact that the

event had on our nation, and the wide responses received on ideas of how to create a

memorial at the site, the Mayor, Ron Norick appointed a 350 member Memorial Task

Force. They were responsible to develop a memorial in order to honor those touched by

the event and the families of those killed the survivors, and volunteers. The memorial

resulted in a quote that summed up all of the responses, feelings , and suggestions

recived. The final product read: Oklahoma City Memorial Foundation Memorial Mission

Statement Murrah Federal Building Memorial, Inc. 1996 We come here to remember

those who were killed, Those who survived and those changed forever. May all who

leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength,

peace, hope and serenity. The Ladd and Whitney monument was constructed in order to

commemorate Luther C. Ladd and Addison Otis Whitney who were generally recognized

as the first of our fallen soilders. It was the day of April 19,1861 when these two Lowell

men lost their lives. Although there were two other men who lost their lives in this tragic

Civil war they are not as historically recognized like Ladd and Whitney. There names

were Needham of Lawrence, and Charles A. Taylor formally from Boston but later

moved to Lowell. The monument was originally dedicated to Ladd and Whitney, Taylor

was added to the monument later though it is unclear exactly when it is estimated that it

was in the 1900"s. The dedication of the monument occurred on Saturday, june 17th,

1865. The monument is located in front of the Lowell city hall at the junction of

Merrimack and Moody streets marking their burial spots. The monument is a light

colored granite which is about 25 feet.