Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum

Since moving to Oklahoma last year, I've wanted to go visit this memorial. It's one of those horrific events we will never forget.

The explosion occurred on April 19, 1995.

The Gates of Time frame the moment of destruction. The explosion occurred at 9:02 a.m. The 9:01 on the East Gate depicts the innocence before the attack. The 9:03 on the West Gate marks when the healing began.

The Reflecting Pool was once NW Fifth St. Now it is gently flowing water meant to soothe and calm.

The Survivor Tree is a century old American Elm which stands at the highest level of the memorial. This is what the tree looked like after the explosion.

This is what it looks like now. It stands as a symbol of strength and resilience. 

A rescue worker painted this on the wall during search and recovery.

Children's Plaza. This is a wall of hand-painted tiles from children around the world.

This fence was built to enclose the crime scene, but has turned into a place for people to express their sorrow by leaving tokens of love and hope.

The survivor wall has more than 600 names of those who lived through the blast. This picture is only one of the sections.

The Field of Empty Chairs. The chairs are arranged in nine rows. The rows reflect the floor where victims were working or visiting. There are 168 chairs. Each is etched with the name of a person killed in the blast. The 19 smaller chairs represent the children. There is also a row of five chairs set away from the others. These represent people who were killed outside the building.

My next post will be pics from inside the museum.