Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum

We were driving through OKC on a trip out west once when we decided to take a quick trip around downtown and stumbled upon this memorial. It is a beautiful memorial to such a tragic day in American history. A somber memorial, but seeing the Survivor Wall was an unexpected powerful moment in our road trip. Stuck with me for many miles after we left town.

Incredibly moving. Take a tour of the museum and leave you name and message to those who perished there.

A very moving memorial and museum this tragic event. A somber visit but well worth the trip.

"We come here to remember Those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever." I read this and realized I forgot how shocking this was when it happened. Great place!

Just our luck went and the museum was closed for renovations. Now we know how Clark Griswold felt at Wallyworld. The outside is very impressive. If going through Oklahoma City a must see and remember a terrible time in our history.

The Outdoor Symbolic Memorial is beautiful each aspect was chosen for a purpose. They took great care to insure every person that was within range of the bomb or ran towards the wreckage was respected and remembered. They never lost sight of the fact that day that changed their life forever. There are not traditional brochures explaining what you are experiencing, so to truly appreciate all aspects I would recommend visiting the kiosk or reading prior to your visit. There is an app that can be downloaded however, I would recommend viewing it prior to your visit and live in the moment. Our visit brought around a range of emotions that came from understanding. The end of the memorial are gates 9:01 a.m. at one end, 9:03 a.m. depicting the passage of time prior to the bombing and after. In the middle is where time is standing still 9:02, when the explosion. The water is 5th Street, the street in front of the Murrah Buildin, where the truck was parked. It is said they chose the water so everyone that visits can see their own reflection within this place, remember if it can happen here it can happen anywhere, how we can make a difference. The fifth tree is the location of where the truck was parked. The chairs represent each person that lost their life with the large chairs being adult and the small being children. The chairs are arranged by floor going vertically and horizontally location on that floor. You can see the highest concentration is directly behind tree 5. The chairs on the far right when facing them are the people that lost their lives that were not in the inside the building. The large survivor tree represents the survivors hurt yet lived to become strong. The names of the survivors are forever honored in a granite wall. The trees surrounding the survivor tree is the Rescue Orchard representing all the heroes that ran toward the survivors. The children’s area gives space not only to honor the children who lost lives but all who lost their innocence why too early. Lastly stands a portion of the fence that at one time protected the site but now links us together with items left to honor, remember and miss.

An incredibly moving memorial to one of the worst days in American history. Seeing the small chairs for all the children that died brought me to tears. We went at night which made it all the more emotional.

Even if you were not that aware of what happened when it happened, it was a wonderful & well thought out museum. Very moving.

As a team I watch these events unfold on television. But to go to the museum struck me deep. It was amazing to see the wealth of information provided in the museum. There are displays, videos and artifacts not only surrounding the event, and personal items and information about the aftermath. Then you go outside, And there is the amazing installation of chairs for each victim and bookending the chairs are two walls displaying the minute before and after the bomb (with a water installation in between them). I was in awe. We should never forget!

One of the most touching memorials I have ever been too! It affected me deeply!