Day 1 of 168-Day Remembrance of Oklahoma City Bombing Victims

For the next 168 days, leading up to April 19, victims of the Oklahoma City bombing will be remembered. 

Day one kick started Monday with a luncheon and unveiling of a traveling exhibit.

The remembrance was created to remember the 168 people who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever.

With this year being the 25^th anniversary of the bombing, The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum said they are focusing on looking back and thinking forward.

“We are trying to reach an audience who wasn’t alive or who didn’t live here,” said Kari Watkins, the Executive Director.  

Along with educating people on what happened April 19, 1995, the goal was to also look into why we should remember an event that was so tragic. The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum brought in historian and author, Jon Meacham for that.

“I think it did matter that it was in Oklahoma City,” said Meacham. “It mattered because it was in the heart of the country and I think a lot of people at that time talked about how the heart of the country was broken.

Meacham said it can be painful to rehash memories from that tragic day, but it commemorates the lives lost, lives changed and teaches us all a lesson.

“The lesson that forces that led to such horror are forces that we have to confront and if we don’t confront them and name them, they could happen again,” said Meacham.

Meacham said the attack was meant to insight fear, but it didn’t last long in Oklahoma.

“One of the great tributes to Oklahoma City is that instead of creating fear, the attack created resilience, survival and endurance,” said Meacham.