'I’m Supposed To Be Here For A Reason:' Youngest Bombing Survivor Gives Back Through Work At Tinker AFB

On this day 29 years ago, the unthinkable happened in downtown Oklahoma City, a bombing at the Alfred P. Murrah Building. On Friday, the community gathered to remember the 168 lives lost in what was the worst act of domestic terrorism in the U-S until 9/11.

More than 600 people survived the blast and were forever scarred by what happened that day. This includes even the youngest survivors from inside the daycare center. P.J. Allen was among them, only 18 months old at the time, he is the youngest survivor of the bombing. At age 30, he says he’s still on a journey to find out his purpose in life.

“I'm supposed to be here for a reason,” Allen said. “Hopefully I can figure out what God's purpose is for me.”

Allen is finding his way with every one of life’s milestones. His latest was a job at Tinker Air Force Base. “This is something like my office,” Allen said looking at the KC-135 inside a hangar at the base.

He says stepping into this massive refueling tanker aircraft never gets old. “I'm excited to come in every day to work on something new,” he said.

This week, he’s working on flight displays inside the cock pit, with his trainer, Avionics Technician Donast Smiley. “If it has a knob, a switch, a button, it's ours to take care if,” Smiley said. “We don't just work here in the flight pit, we work out on the wings, we work out on the tail, in the belly, we work pretty much everywhere.”   

Allen is still in avionics training to help keep the military planes in the air. “I find working on planes is my way of helping out, doing my part,” he said. “It keeps it closer.”

Allen was just a toddler inside the daycare of the Murrah Federal Building when it was bombed, and thrown from the second floor. His mother, Deloris Watson, remembers every detail of that day. “This boy landed in concrete debris, they had to dig him out,” Watson said. “His entire life has been affected by his injuries from the Oklahoma City bombing.”

The blast melted the interior chambers of his lungs and left him with 2nd an 3rd degree burns over half of his body. “It was touch and go for a very, very long time,” Watson remembers. “Prayer works because here he is today.”

Allen still must do his breathing treatments, in fact, he carries a backpack to work with everything he needs, to get through the day. However, he says he never wants to be treated differently. “I understood the severity of my damages as I got older, there's not a day I’m not thankful for the opportunity to keep going,” he said.

Looking through photo books of his childhood, Watson said she made sure her son never missed a thing, from playing baseball to swimming. “I tried to make him as inclusive and a normal life as possible even though he had limitations,” she said. “I’m proud of P.J., very proud of P.J.”

“It will always be a part of me,” Allen said about the bombing. “Nothing I can do to change that.”

However, he says he feels blessed to survive and will always remember the first responders who helped that day, as he goes to work each day. “Tinker was one of my goals and I’m happy to be out there,” he said. “I feel like my way of giving back and showing appreciation is me making sure that these planes are ready to help protect our country.”