By David W. Burns
June 28, 2010

Mayors gathered at the Oklahoma City National Memorial in downtown Oklahoma City in the early morning of June 13, during the 78th Annual Meeting in Oklahoma City, to remember those who were lost and those who survived the terrorist act that took place just over 15 years ago.

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett hosted the mayors who had a chance to walk around the grounds and listen to stories about the fateful day when the Oklahoma City bombing took place. Joining the mayor were John Richels, Chairman of the Oklahoma City National Memorial; Polly Nichols, a survivor of the attack; and Susan Winchester, sister of Dr. Peggy Clark who was killed that morning.

Winchester, when talking about the blast occurring remarked, "We didn-t know any of the details at first. We thought it was a gas line that exploded." She continued to explain that with no internet and with no cell phones, information was for the most part completely unavailable when the attack occurred. Winchester's sister, Clark, was supposed to be on business travel for the day; however, she had stopped at the Federal Building to pick something up and was killed while doing so.

The memorial, located at the former site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, was completed in 2000, just five years after the domestic terrorist attack occurred. On April 19, 1995, 168 people were killed, including 19 children who were at the day care center in the Murrah building. More than 680 others were injured.

The memorial site's key feature is the reflecting pool, which is sandwiched between the "Gates of Time." To the east, "9:01" is inscribed to mark the last moment of peace; the west says "9:03," the first moment of healing; 9:02 am was when the bombing occurred.

To the south of the pool is the field of empty chairs, where a chair for every person who was killed in the attack permanently sits. The chairs are arranged in rows representing the nine floors of the building and where each person killed was at the time of the attack.

On the north side of the memorial, the Survivor tree stands. The tree, of which Nichols talked about in her story, stood prior to the attack, and caught on fire when the blast occurred. To this day, the tree continues to grow. The tree is now a symbol for the community, representing its ability to recover and heal.

"As you can see, we-re very proud of our city and we appreciate all the mayors being here at the memorial," concluded Richels before inviting mayors to water the Survivor tree. The watering of the tree was symbolic of the support that many cities and state governments showed after the bombing had occurred.