Senate Update by Sen. Rick Brinkley
(On 20th Anniversary of OKC Bombing)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Talk to just about anyone who was old enough to remember the events of December 7, 1941, and they’ll tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when Pearl Harbor was attacked. It’s the same for the assassination of President Kennedy, and when we first walked on the moon. When they remember that event, it is almost frozen in time.

That’s exactly how it is as I look back on the Oklahoma City Bombing. I happened to be in Oklahoma City on business when it happened, just about a mile from downtown. Rather than drive away from the explosion, I headed straight to it—probably the first instinct of anyone who had ever worked in television news as I once did.

Probably the best word I can use to describe the scene is surreal. Even standing in the midst of everything, it was hard to get my head around exactly what I was seeing. As far as the eye could see there was shattered glass from every window in every building. There were news crews and emergency responders and people who were obviously hurt but likely in shock. Many people thought perhaps a gas line had ruptured, but seeing the Murrah Building, it was clear this was something much bigger—something much worse.

It wasn’t too long before the story was pieced together. This was an act of home-grown terrorism; the worst in American history. Those who were behind the attack wanted to punish the federal government. But what they did was murder 168 innocent people—men, women, children and babies. More than 800 others were injured. For many of us, this act was proof that there is evil in the world.

But what we saw in the aftermath of the Murrah bombing proved something just as true—that there is good in this world and in the hearts of men, women and children, and that good is far more powerful than the evil we encounter.

Oklahomans immediately lined up to donate blood. They gave supplies, cash and volunteered to help in any way they were needed. And they kept on giving. For those of us who were Oklahomans, this wasn’t a surprise. It’s simply what being a good neighbor is about, whether your neighbor lives next door or halfway across the state. But for rescue and recovery crews from other states, it was something many of them hadn’t encountered before. They couldn’t get over the generosity of our citizens, how well they were taken care of, and how we all pulled together. The Oklahoma response, or “Oklahoma Standard” as it came to be known, changed the way people across the country and around the world viewed the people of our state, and I think in the midst of this terrible crime, it lifted spirits and inspired hope.

Dennis Compton was part of the Arizona Task Force that came to help, and he summed up what his crew and those from other states experienced: “We went to Oklahoma City to assist with a horrible situation that centered around death and destruction, but we went home with a life lesson on how a community should react to adversity.”

This Sunday, please remember the victims of the Oklahoma City Bombing in your prayers. Pray for those who died, those who were injured, and those whose lives were forever changed because of what they or their loved ones experienced that day. But also give prayers of thanks for that spirit of perseverance, compassion, generosity and hope that has always defined the people of this state, and pray that it continues to define us as Oklahomans, whatever the future may bring.

As always, please feel free to contact me at the state Capitol by calling (405) 521-5566 or by emailing brinkley@oksenate.gov.