Former President Bill Clinton paid a solemn visit to Oklahoma City on Saturday, thirty years after the worst domestic terrorist attack in U.S. history, to honor the victims and provide consolation to the families left devastated by the blast.
A truck bomb in downtown Oklahoma City destroyed a nine-story federal building on April 19, 1995, when Clinton was president. Near the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, he gave the main speech during a memorial service.
The city’s efforts to cope with the loss of 168 lives—including 19 children—followed the explosion, and Clinton, now 78 years old, received widespread appreciation for his role. It was a memorable day during his presidency, he adds.
Coming here with Hillary to that funeral ceremony and saying: ‘You have lost too much, but you have not lost everything.’ I still remember it like it was thirty minutes ago. Clinton recalled his initial trip to Oklahoma City, which was a few days following the explosion, when he addressed a memorial ceremony for the deceased, and he assured the city that America will be by their side for as many tomorrows as it will take. “I believe we have fulfilled that promise.”
In the years following the explosion, Clinton has made many visits to the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, where she has also given addresses on significant anniversaries.
Just as it did thirty years ago, Clinton warned on Saturday that the polarized character of contemporary politics might lead to bloodshed. The “Oklahoma Standard,” a phrase developed to describe the city’s response to the attack through unity in service, dignity, and kindness, is a model for the rest of the country, he added.
Today, he proclaimed, “America needs you” in Oklahoma City. “I really hope that every single American could witness firsthand how this place is shaped by the stories told here.”
Former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating and mayor Ron Norick of Oklahoma City, who was in office when the bombing happened, were among the other speakers. Members of the families of some of the bombing victims read out the names of the 168 victims.
Heavy rains on Saturday forced the relocation of the event from the memorial grounds to a neighboring church.
Following the service, a number of mourners were led across the street by bagpipers from the Oklahoma City Fire Department to the outdoor monument erected on the site where the federal building had previously stood. The monument is comprised of a museum, a reflecting pool, and 168 stone, bronze, and glass seats that bear the names of the victims. As a symbol of the children murdered, nineteen of the seats are noticeably smaller than the others.
An important goal of the monument, according to its president and CEO Kari Watkins, is to educate future generations about the effects of the bombing and to shed light on the pointlessness of political violence.
In his remarks, Watkins acknowledged that the establishment was constructed with the intention of reaching a future generation that was either not born or did not recall the tale. “I believe that instructors who are instructing those students are also increasingly making their voices heard,” the speaker said.