The OKC Bombing

Thirty years later at 9:02 am, April 19.

‘You intended to harm… but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done…’ - Genesis 50:20

The before and after of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Thirty years ago this morning, on April 19, 1995, I retrieved my luggage from the airport carousel at 8:30 a.m. after flying on a red-eye flight from Phoenix, Arizona, to Will Rogers World 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 Arizona that year.

Franklin Graham held a Festival in Arizona in the summer of 1995.

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 at Will Rogers, I left the airport and drove out of the garage, heading home to Enid, 70 miles north of Oklahoma City.

Just west of downtown OKC, I felt my car shake. I thought a gas explosion had occurred in downtown OKC.

A few minutes later, my wife Rachelle called me on my car phone (a relatively new invention in 1995) and informed me that an explosion had destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

As soon as I could get to downtown OKC, I went to help.

I’d served as a chaplain for various police departments over the years. For the next few days, I worked at the temporary morgue, set up at the First United Methodist Church, and at the family center, set up at First Christian Church, just a few blocks north.

I would make trips back and forth from the morgue to the families making death notifications. At first, we thought there would be survivors. As the hours passed, we realized that 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 OKC Federal Courthouse and its flag (top) that two DEA agents and I lowered.

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 severely 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 to lower the flag.