The Alfred Murrah Bombing's 25th Remembrance

Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, April 19, 1995

25 years ago this morning, April 19, 1995, I retrieved my luggage from the airport carousel at 8:30 am, having flown on a red-eye flight from Phoenix, Arizona, to Will Rogers International Airport in Oklahoma City.

The night before I had spoken to a group of pastors and leaders in Prescott, Arizona, in preparation for a Franklin Graham Festival that was coming to Prescott later that year.

 For the previous two years, I'd flown all over the country on behalf of the Billy Graham Organization, laying the groundwork for Franklin Graham Festivals in cities around the United States.

After retrieving my luggage, I went to my car in the airport garage and proceeded to driving home to Enid. I was driving on Highway 74, just west of downtown OKC, when I felt my car shake. I thought a gas explosion had occurred in downtown OKC. A few minutes later, Rachelle called me on my car phone (a fairly new invention in 1995) and informed me that the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City had been destroyed by an explosion.

As a chaplain for various police departments over the years, I worked for several days after April 19 at the morgue for victims, temporarily set up at OKC's First United Methodist Church. I would make trips from First Methodist to OKC First Christian Church where the victims' families had gathered for news about their loved ones, making death notifications. At first, we thought there would be survivors. As the hours went by, we realized no medical triages were needed. Only a morgue.

I can't begin to describe the stories I heard those few days, or the people I met, or the inspiration I received from the "Oklahoma Strong" atmosphere that was all around. Though I can't describe it, I will never forget it.

The Oklahoma City Federal Courthouse (and flag)

On the day after the bombing, Governor Keating ordered all flags to be flown at half-mast. Most people don't realize that the Oklahoma City Federal Courthouse is located just across the street, south of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The Federal Courthouse was badly damaged, and so two Federal ATF agents and I made our way into the Courthouse, and climbed to the roof, avoiding debris and kicking open doors when needed, all with the purpose of lowing the flag.

When we finished our mission, we stood on the railing and looked north toward the Murrah Building. The sight was gruesome. As we pondered what had happened, the two ATF agents began telling me about the friends and fellow agents they lost in the bombing. I remember the tears in my eyes as they pointed to the floors where their friends had been killed.

It's hard to believe it's 25 years since Timothy McVeigh blew up the Murrah Building. In 1995, I did not know the Enid attorney who would eventually be appointed by the Federal government to defend Timothy McVeigh.

Since that time, Steven Jones and I have become friends, and he has told me some incredible stories of his time defending McVeigh.  I have the utmost esteem for Steven Jones and have learned to love liberty even more through the principles he cherishes.

In an age when principles are often neglected, Steven Jones continues to believe in some  bedrock principles upon which our country was founded, including "the right to a fair trial," and "innocent until proven guilty." Timothy McVeigh was guilty of a heinous crime, but what makes America great is the protection of our liberties for all citizens, including the Timothy McVeighs of this world.

The tragedy of April 19, 1995, has made  Oklahoma a strong state.

I'm a better man because I've seen firsthand how God can take the vilest and most despicable act of man and turn it for good for an entire community.

God is powerful enough to take our darkest moments and make something great from them (see my friend Berry Tramel's story in today's Oklahoman on the revival of Oklahoma City since 1995).

There's no such thing as a happy anniversary for the Murrah Building bombing.

 But there is such a thing as humble respect and gratitude for what Oklahomans have become because of what happened 25 years ago today.