27 Years Ago Today

[dennishoddy]

I was walking through the break room of the company I worked for at the time and saw the first footage of the building after the explosion and thinking that was the worst natural gas explosion in history. Never thought it was caused by a domestic terrorist. No audio on the TV, and had to get back to work.
The company like many others later was involved in donating supplies to the rescue workers..

 

[rawhide]

I think he turned out to be a friend of a guy in Manhattan, KS that rented the same truck the day before McVeigh/Nichols

Here is my contribution.
We recorded motel lists as an SOP. We wrote tags down and ran them as tests not an actual query through NCIC because you had to be present with the tag when doing so in case of a hit.

This test was noticed by the FBI and it turned out to be my list since I was south side officer that night and all of our lists are filed for future reference. I was briefly interviewed by this agent. She told me Nichols registered under his name and our list was a big help in tracking their whereabouts. On this particular trip, they were en route to Kingman, Arizona.

View attachment 267214

I know an OHP trooper that told me he wrote John Doe 1or 2 ( I don't recall which now) a speeding ticket on the Turner Turnpike and that JD was given 2 more tickets between OKC and somewhere in Ohio. I asked if he knew what happened to him. He said JD is either in witness protection or in a hole in the ground.

 

[Seadog]

I was on board my ship pierside, Pier 7 San Diego Naval base. Some shipmates we’re watching the news in the berthing rec room. When they heard they came and found me to let me know. We had just got off of a Westpac and barely been back in Port for a week or so.

had to correct some spelling because I’m a dummy

 

[Shadowrider]

I had planned on being there that day and at that time. But on a whim I went the Federal Employees Credit Union the day before on one of my breaks during work. I often parked right where the bomb truck was if there was a spot open and the day before I parked on the far side of Robinson and right at 5th Street. To this day I don't really know why I went the day before I had planned.

 

[Snattlerake]

Two questions about the entire mess.

What I want to know is who belongs to the additional leg they found. Apparently, they found one too many legs at the scene for the 168 people killed.

I would also like to know where that license plate is from McVeigh's Ford. I have always called this divine intervention.

 

[AKguy1985]

I would also like to know where that license plate is from McVeigh's Ford. I have always called this divine intervention.

I thought he intentionally didn't have a plate on the car. I could be wrong.

 

[LBnM]

Changed my life. I was the ASAC in the DoD Security office on the 3d floor next to the credit union. I had been at our Houston field office teaching them for a couple days. I was standing next to the secretary's desk when she handed me the phone. My son was on the line and he said 'Dad, they just blew up your building.' Turned the TV on to see the first reports. Was back in OKC by 1pm and at the FBI TOC. Killed my boss, the SAC and my secretary along with the agent sitting in for me and two others. Got a blood stripe, then the next few years subsequent promotions and moves around the country. On 9/11 I had been on a trip to my FO's throughout the central US and had just landed in Chicago. The SAC gave me and my XO a govt car and we drove back to our HQ in Irving TX. Finally got tired of the bureaucracy and retired back to OKC.

 

[Snattlerake]

I thought he intentionally didn't have a plate on the car. I could be wrong.

That is a cop magnet, especially a state trooper.

 

[wawazat]

I was in the 5th grade. Mrs. Claiborne's class reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in Jones, OK. We thought it was a sonic boom when it went off. My mom was working in El Reno and they also felt the blast. My dad was OKCFD and off shift that day but called in almost immediately. I remember the school scrambling to find alternative plans for any kids whose parents were called in to work in the aftermath.

For someone that was fortunate enough to not lose anyone directly in the bombing, my dad never really bounced back from what the emergency workers lived in during those weeks of recovery. As I get older, he will slip and share a little bit here and there when it is really eating at him but we still avoid discussing the news, memorial events, etc. the week leading up to the anniversary.

We aren't the tallest people, my dad is about 5'3 - 5'4 and so he made the cut to crawl down to the basement during the initial recovery efforts. He said after the first day or so, it starts really sinking in that you are just trying to find something for the parents to say goodbye to so they can have a little bit of closure.

So many people's lives had a pivotal moment that day under so many different situations that it can't even be fathomed.

 

[DavidMcmillan]

Thank you @LBnM, I felt like there was something special about you when we recently met. I could tell you were a good man