The 1920 Wall Street Bombing

On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh set off a truck bomb outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The attack under McVeigh left 168 people dead and more than 650 people injured. More than 300 buildings surrounding the area were damaged due to the explosion. “Until September 11, 2001, the Oklahoma City bombing was the worst terrorist attack to take place on U.S. soil” (http://www.history.com/topics/oklahoma-city-bombing). This bombing was a major eye opener to the US.

That was my thought when I got to the first floor of the World Trade Center. In the building, the mezzanine or the lowest point of the tower was a huge mall. I thought being down and actually know that I had a chance to get away from that horrid place after the bombing was a relief but it is not. I was horrified when I got to the mezzanine level of the tower. There were dead bodies lying around everywhere outside the building. It is as if I was in a war and they were the casualties. Those bodies lying on the floor got blown to pieces by the impact from falling down. It was an unbelievable sight. To think that during a normal day your life could be over in just one snap. A part of felt like an over inflated balloon ready to explode. I had made it safe down to the ground. But seeing the things that happened around the plaza did not feel like I was in a safer place. The mall was in ruins, pieces of the building and airplanes were falling off, and windows were battered. As I make my way out, I saw my coworker, Alice, that one I saved from the jammed bathroom door looked very mortified. She cried while moving away from the building. We then saw signs that say “head this way” and so we headed that way. on the other hand, I heard another another crack and I saw the other tower collapsing. I decided to go back inside the building because if I go further out the second building would fall on me. All I could think of during that moment was my family; my wife Jenny, and my son Ben. I did not know what to do anything else but cry. The debris from the building dropped on top of us. Everything was pitch black. It is like when you go to the beach and decided to pack yourself into sa sand. My mouth, my nose, my ears, and my eyes were covered by rubbish. I threw up and checked myself if all of my body parts were still connected to me. Several people were also trapped in this scene. I took some cloth from my clothes and wrapped it around my nose and mouth to keep me from

around the world. The explosion took place at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in

The Oklahoma City Bombing would be considered the worst terrorist attack on America prior to the 9/11 World Trade Center attack. Just outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, on April 19th, 1995 a truck exploded, killing 168 people. 19 of those 168 being children. The explosion caused damage to 300 surrounding buildings. Oklahoma City was going through a tragedy and needed guidance from a leader.

On February 26, 1993 at 12:18 pm in New York City, the first call was received at the Central Office from a street alarm box at the corner of West and Liberty Streets. The call was reporting a possible transformer vault (or manhole) explosion on West Street near the World Trade Center. As manhole explosions are common in wet whether, there was no hint of a major catastrophe until the phones never ceased to ring after aid had arrived to the site. Numerous phone calls continued, now reporting smoke in the towers of the Trade Center as far up as the 33rd floor within the first three minutes of the explosion (http://members.aol.com/fd347/wtc.htm). The ceiling then collapsed in the train station, which

At 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, a 5,000-pound bomb, hidden inside a Ryder truck, exploded just outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The explosion caused massive damage to the building and killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children (Rosenburg, 2011). On April 23, four days after the bombing, President Bill Clinton addressed the public and gave an effective, excellent speech.

On April 19th, 1995 a homemade bomb made of a concoction of agricultural fertilizer, fuel, and other dangerous chemicals was left in a truck parked outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City. At 9:02 in the morning, it’s blast damaged over 300 buildings surrounding the vehicle and even flattened a third of the federal building. (Strom, 2015) The bomb took the lives of 168 people, including 19 children. It was found that two men, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Lynn Nichols were the ones who planted the device. Both men were found to be associated with a radical militia movement that sought revenge for a siege in Waco, Texas two years prior. The siege killed 82 Branch Davidians, of whom, multiple were related to the militia movement.

April 19, 1995, 9:02 a.m: a bomb was set off beneath the Alfred P. Murrah Building. The bomb damaged the structural support beams and the Northern support columns. Half of the building collapsed. 168 people died (Cook 5). Eric McKisick, a district manager, recalls the incident, ¨I made an assumption that, hey, everybody is out, everybody is good, and I left at that point. It wasn't ´till much later that I saw the devastation and understood they didn't respond because they couldn't.” Not only were there a large number of casualties, 300 people were also injured, some of whom were physically impaired for the rest of their life. A child who was in the building at the time of the explosion states, “I have no recollection of that day, but I’m reminded everyday about it because of my breathing problems (Brandes, Heide, Schapiro).”

The Oklahoma City Bombing was a very special event in American history, it was the biggest act of domestic terrorism until 9/11. The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which was an office complex in Oklahoma City, was bombed and 168 people were killed. Timothy McVeigh, the subject of my paper, was behind the bombings, and later executed.

From the street there were people screaming and running it was mass chaos. At this time you could see the media and firefighters everywhere. I got the hell out of there went home hugged my wife. I realized God had spared me that day. A lot of my friends and coworkers died that day. I’m truly sorry, sometimes I feel guilty that I didn’t do my part to help but I was afraid for my life. A couple of my friends that made it from a bit higher up said it sounded like a bunch of explosions. I remember thinking after hearing from them and seeing the video footage what the heck happened? In my opinion it felt like a bomb (Jones).

When the Oklahoma City bombing happened, it remained the largest terrorist attack to happen on American soil until the attack on 9/11. On April 19, 1995, a rental truck was loaded up with 4,800 pounds of explosives and detonated just after 9:00 am (Krung, Nixon, & Vincent, 1996). The attack was focused on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. This tragic event killed one hundred sixty-eight people and also injured hundreds more (Nacos, 2016). A dare care facility was also located within the building and nineteen children perished in the attack (Nacos, 2016). There were hundreds more victims which were treated by area hospitals and private doctor offices. This explosion was so large, a shockwave was sent across the city which damaged or destroyed an additional 300 buildings in the immediate area (History, 2009). Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nicholas were the two men responsible for this devastating attack.

At 9:03 a.m. a massive bomb resting inside a rented Ryder truck destroyed half of the nine story federal building in downtown Oklahoma City. It also claimed the lives of 169 men, women, and children, while injuring hundreds

A truck bomb explosion occurred on April 19, 1995. Prior to 9/11, this event was the worst attack on American soil in our history because it killed or injured approximately 700 civilians. By analyzing the historical, social, and cultural perspectives, one can better understand the significance of the Oklahoma City Bombing in American history.

At 9:02 a.m., a truck that Timothy McVeigh had rented, which was filled with all of the explosives, detonated in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The explosion was extremely powerful. It blew off the entire north wall of the building. Many buildings in the immediate area were also destroyed. The blast killed 168 people. 19 of the 168 people were young children who were in the building’s day care center during the time that the bomb went off. Along with the deaths, 650 other people were injured.

New York Times reports that this event killing nearly 1100 people, because the building was unstable in their giant cracks in the foundation and walls.