I feel honored to have been able to report on the remembrance ceremony of the Oklahoma City bombing every year since I have been a reporter.
This year's crowd was one of the largest I've ever seen! It was so wonderful to see so many survivors, family members of those who lived and those who were killed and those who simply remember where they were on that incredible day.
Today I was able to interview PJ Allen, a little boy who was burned on over 50% of his body and suffered severe lung damage because of the bombing. He's now 16!! He was only 18 months old when the bomb went off. Today he's getting prepared to get his driver's license and he's making plans to go to college. To this day he has breathing problems because of the damage the bombing caused to his lungs.
I also met Corey Levy, another child survivor who is now 17. His mom was killed in the bombing. He brought a boot with him. It was the boot his mom was wearing that day. He said searchers only found one of her legs. The boot he had was the boot searchers found. It was covered in ash and torn badly. Just an incredible piece of history. He said he looks at that boot every day when he leaves his house reminding himself to become the young man his mom would want him to be.
The speakers were wonderful and the whole ceremony beautifully done. I hope someday I can take Brixton down there with me so he can learn the importance of that moment in history.
Every year on this day they give away saplings from the Survivor Tree. They typically run out very quickly! However, this year I finally got one. I have no idea where we will plant it, but I really want to have it in my yard.
So, where were you that day?
I was in seventh grade, Mrs. Carroll's class. The school I was in burned down a couple of years ago (I got to cover that story too). A girl in my grade lost her mom that day. I saw on Facebook that she and her sisters will be on NBC Nightly News tonight.
You can see my interview with PJ and Corey on Channel 4 at 6:00.
2 comments:
I was in Pennsylvania that day, but I remember I was doing stuff in my room when I got a phone call from my mom telling me what happened. It was a day I will never forget!
I was in class at OC, didn't learn about it until I arrived over at MRCC to babysit for CWBS. It was horrible. Everyone was glued to the TV. I remember there were women who were worried about their loved ones that worked down there, we didn't know much at that point and there was almost no communication being made. Phone lines were all busy etc...We visited the site about a week later before departing to Brazil for LST. Those images are ingrained in my mind forever. I was actually in that building touring the DEA office a week before the bombing, at the same time of day. I have never forgotten that either.
Thanks for covering the story. You have dome some heart wrenchers! Love ya!
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