Tag: Oklahoma City National Memorial

How the Oklahoma City bombing changed 4 women’s lives

The 24th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing was marked on April 19, 2019. 168 people died, and hundreds were injured, changing the state and the nation forever. The memorial and museum tell stories of hope, including a bombing survivor who became a doctor, and three women who studied trauma and helped survivors worldwide.

updated April 15, 2024

April 19, 2019 marked the 24th anniversary of the terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Oklahoma City is the capital of my home state and was my home for 7 years while I attended medical school and completed my residency in Family Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

From the bombing, 168 people died, hundreds were injured, and our state and our nation were changed forever. Never had there been such an act of horror and carnage on U.S. soil.

I’ve written here about the bombing and showed you pictures from the site which is now a memorial and museum. I’m doing that again but this time with news about 4 women who have turned the event into something positive.

OKLAHOMA CITY NATIONAL MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM

A woman survived to become a doctor

Twenty-three-year-old Madison Naylor was among the infants being cared for at the YMCA daycare located next door to the federal building at the time the bomb exploded. The building was heavily damaged but she and the other children survived.

“I remember when I was very young, I had a feeling that I had been really close to death, …I hope I can be something good that came from something so horrific.”

Madison Naylor, bombing survivor
some of the memorials hung on the fence that surrounded the bombing site have been left intact.

Madison grew up learning about the bombing and medicine. Her father and aunt are both physicians and now she is a first-year medical student at my alma mater, the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. (She graduated, and is now a resident physician in pediatrics.)

“I know the bombing is still a part of people’s lives here. It’s humbling to be associated with such a tragic event. I hope that I can be a positive face going forward.”

Madison Naylor, medical student
The SURVIVOR TREE remained standing when everything around it was destroyed by the bomb. It survives to this day.

“I just want to be the kind of person who leaves the world a better place than I found it.”

Madison Naylor, MS1
TILES PAINTED BY CHILDREN FROM AROUND THE WORLD AND DONATED TO THE MUSEUM ARE DISPLAYED AT THE ENTRANCE

Women who treated and studied the survivors

The bombing changed not only Oklahoma City, but also our state, and our entire country. It was the worst terrorist event on U.S. soil until 9/11. All of us were touched in some way, but especially three women who worked in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

“None of us was thinking about studying disasters…But we kept studying …the Oklahoma City survivors over the years..Then started helping with disasters elsewhere.”

Betty Pfefferbaum, M.D., J.D. department chairman
This window in the museum overlooks the memorial.

Dr. Pfefferbaum, along with colleagues Phebe Tucker, M.D., and Sandra Allen, Ph.D. treated and studied trauma victims from the bombing and shared their findings with other doctors who use it to treat survivors around the world.

Lessons learned from the OKC disaster trauma

  • Disasters affect many different groups of people beyond those at the site-family, first responders, the community
  • Terrorism victims have higher than average rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression than people who never experienced it.
  • Some people develop a biological response to disaster causing a higher resting heart rate than those not affected.

Dr. Allen developed an intervention to help children of trauma process their thoughts and feelings. Sometimes children think they have to hide their feelings or act out when they are hurting. This program helps them process those feelings and learn how to cope.

At a church across the street from the memorial

The work has rippled out into the world in ways that none of them could have imagined…

OU Medicine magazine
Words written on the wall of the former Journal Record Building which sat across from the federal building. These words, painted by a rescue team who searched for survivors that day, remain as a silent witness of the horrible event.
photos in this post taken by Dr. Aletha in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Thanks to OU Magazine and KFOR for sharing these stories.

exploring the HEART of health

Dr. Aletha

lemons into lemonade

I am delighted that Janice Wald, author and blogger at Mostly Bloggging, called this her “favorite post ” when I submitted it at her Inspire Me Monday Linky Party. Please visit Janice’s blog where you can learn about writing, blogging, productivity, marketing, and more.


It isn’t often that I see news-related posts left here and even rarer that, when I do, they are so inspirational. The post really exemplifies the expression, “Turn lemons into lemonade.”

Janice Wald, Mostly Blogging

In Oklahoma, a time to mourn and a time to dance-after the bombing

At 9:02 am April 19, 1995 the bomb exploded, destroying one side of the federal building, damaging several adjacent buildings, injuring 680 people and killing 168 people, including 19 children.

Until September 11, 2001, it was the deadliest terrorist attack on United States soil; it remains the worst domestic terrorist attack.

An annual event, the Oklahoma Challenge Ballroom Dance competition draws dancers from Oklahoma, surrounding states, and as far away as Toronto, Ontario. Many return every year to compete against dancers who have now become dance friends.

The competition occurs at a hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. Nearby is the Bricktown historic district with trendy restaurants, hotels, clubs, shops, and the Paycom Center, home of the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team.

Also not far away is the site of the biggest “challenge” the city and our state has ever faced- the 1995 domestic terrorist attack on the Murrah Federal Building. On a spring morning in April, a terrorist parked a rental truck on the street in front of the building; the truck contained a 5000-pound bomb made of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil.

A morning of terror

At 9:02 am on April 19, 1995, the bomb exploded, destroying one side of the federal building, damaging several adjacent buildings, injuring 680 people, and killing 168 people, including 19 children.

Until September 11, 2001, it was the deadliest terrorist attack on United States soil; it remains the worst domestic terrorist attack.

There is a time to mourn and a time to dance.

Ecclesiastes 3:4

A day of remembrance

On April 19, 2000, the Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated; the Museum opened a year later.  I have visited several times, and always come away having seen and learned something new. If you ever travel through Oklahoma, I recommend you put this on your must-see list. When you come,  here are some of the images you will see and experience. 

OKC memorial and federal building in the distance
the West Gate of the memorial looking northwest toward the new federal building
Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum entrance
Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum entrance
window at the museum
window from the museum overlooking outdoor memorial
Memorial pool and chairs
168 lighted chairs sit on the south lawn of the Memorial.
gold statue shaped like a chair
There is a gold chair for each person who died from the bombing that day.

168 Oklahomans lost their lives there that day, including 19 children.

A lifetime of honor

In the days, weeks, and months following the attack, we learned all the details about the bombing- the perpetrators, the victims, the rescuers, the survivors.

My husband and I visited the site after the wreckage was imploded and the site was fenced off. The fence became a makeshift memorial, as people left mementos of all kinds- dolls, stuffed animals, photos, pictures, flowers, crafts, flags, shirts, and letters.  

We visited the official memorial and the museum established on April 19, 2000. Sections of the fence were left intact, and people still leave mementos; others became part of the museum collection.

2016-03-07 12.05.50
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2016-03-07 12.11.04

A long section of the original fence has been left intact, as well as parts of the original federal building wall.

sections of damaged wall
sections of damaged wall

Until 9/11, it was the deadliest act of terrorism on United States soil.

"We search for the Truth" written on a wall.
On the wall of the Journal Record Building which was also damaged by the blast; the museum now occupies part of it.

The perpetrators were caught and brought to justice. The driver of the truck was convicted, sentenced to death, and died by execution. The other remains in prison for life.

That day in Oklahoma City showed the best in our state and our country as people, some with no training, risked their lives to help rescue people who were injured and trapped inside. Firefighters and police came from all over the United States to help. People donated food and first aid supplies.

children and adults visiting a wall decorated with handprints
Schools regularly bring students to visit the memorial and museum
colorful hand painted tiles from children
Tiles hand painted by children were sent to the city as a show of support and sympathy.
bright colored flowers along a wall
Pansies are popular in Oklahoma in the fall and spring.

I was proud to be an Oklahoman then and now, and still grieve for the lives we lost that day.

The Survivor Tree
The Survivor Tree, an American elm, survived the blast and is part of the Memorial.

 

statue of Christ with head bowed
statue of a grieving Christ, in the courtyard of a church across the street from the memorial

 

“We remember that moment that is framed forever by these twin gates. Our place of remembrance is filled with those symbols (ribbons, angels, flags) and also filled with love-the love of countless Americans whose ideas and support and contributions helped create this beautiful memorial.

On April 19 five years ago the flag of our nation was flying over the Murrah building. It is flying over our memorial today, and flies proudly in our hearts.

For those who perpetrated this act, we have one message:

In America you can speak and vote and complain, but there is no right to maim and bomb and kill…and if you think you’ll bring that flag down, there is your answer.

We are all Oklahomans today, and we are all Americans. May God continue to bless our beloved land. “

Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, April 19, 2000

quote from The Official Record of the Oklahoma City Bombing, published by Oklahoma Today Magazine 

exploring and remembering the HEART of health

Dr. Aletha