Oklahomans gather to pray, remember on 28th anniversary of OKC bombing of Murrah Building

When guests at a popular prayer gathering sat down for breakfast on an April morning 28 years ago, "unspeakable evil was heading our way down Interstate 35," Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt said Wednesday.

"By the time that guests exited this breakfast around 8:30 a.m., that evil was within sight of downtown," Holt said at the 2023 CBMC Metro Prayer Breakfast.

A crowd of about 1,100 listened Wednesday as the mayor reminded attendees that the Oklahoma City bombing occurred shortly after CBMC prayer breakfast guests had walked out to greet the sunshine of a new day on April 19, 1995. His remarks were among the highlights of several special events held Wednesday to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

Two anti-government extremists and white supremacists, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, planned and executed the domestic terrorist truck bombing, which resulted in the deaths of 168 people, and “the fabric of our state would be changed forever,” said Gov. Kevin Stitt during the annual remembrance ceremony Wednesday morning.

“People dropped their kids off at school, they rushed to work, they said goodbye to their loved ones, unaware of the tragedy that day would bring,” Stitt said. “The world turned to Oklahoma during our darkest hour, in our deepest mourning, and we showed our strength. We showed resiliency, community, courage.”

Oklahoma City bombing: The names and faces of victims

Oklahoma City ‘had nowhere else to turn but God and prayer’

The mayor noted that this year's breakfast marked only the third time that the prayer gathering has been held on April 19.

"Oklahoma City would never be the same after that bomb went off at 9:02 a.m.," Holt said. "So, inevitably this morning our thoughts turn to the historic connection the two events will always share."

He said people felt helpless and overwhelmed in the wake of the bombing and "an entire city had nowhere else to turn but God. And prayer, no doubt, carried many Oklahoma City residents through those dark hours. April 19, 1995, started in prayer right here at the breakfast and no doubt it ended in prayer in homes all across the city."

The mayor said these days, many people are working to set an example of how to talk about issues, how to resolve differences and how to recognize their shared humanity and find common ground.

"And if we ever feel overwhelmed by those challenges, we can find some comfort in knowing that we've been there before," Holt said. "And when we reached that point, we fell to our knees and we prayed."

Oklahoma City bombing: Survivors share their stories of the aftermath

Chief Justice Steven Taylor, ‘face of justice’ for Oklahoma, speaks about Terry Nichols trial

As has been done each anniversary since the 1995 bombing, except in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the city from holding an in-person ceremony, hundreds gathered Wednesday to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever by the terrorists’ actions.

The annual remembrance ceremony, moved this year inside First Christian Church due to forecasted high winds and possible drizzle, was attended by many survivors and friends and family members of those killed. Attendees filed in leading up to the 8:45 a.m. start time, carrying bouquets of flowers and hugging as members of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic brass section played onstage.

More: OKC Philharmonic honors Oklahoma City bombing anniversary with milestone new album

In the morning's keynote speech, retired Chief Justice Steven Taylor — called “the face of justice in our state” by Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation Chairman John Kennedy — articulated the meaning of justice and how it played out in the state trial through which Nichols was convicted of 160 counts of first-degree murder and one count of fetal homicide.

Taylor was district judge in Pittsburg and McIntosh counties and presided over Nichols’ trial, which was held in McAlester due to a change of venue ordered from Oklahoma City.

On Wednesday morning, Taylor recalled the reason the bombing happened was Nichols and McVeigh’s “hatred” for the government.

“At the time of sentencing I looked straight at the defendant and told him that it was ironic that the Constitution he hated so much was the constitution that was strong enough and good enough to give him a fair trial,” Taylor said during Wednesday’s ceremony. “And that is the essence of justice.”

Finding the truth and carrying out justice was the first “debt owed” to those who lost their lives on April 19, 1995. The other, Taylor said, is “to teach and practice non-violence, and to work toward better conversations.”

Even 28 years later, this obligation is still relevant, Taylor said.

“Compromise was a basis for our country's founding and continued strength,” Taylor said. “And today compromise has become a bad word. We have forgotten how to disagree with one another.”

Mayor Holt often reminds people of the necessity of pluralism and did so again Wednesday.

“We cannot stamp out those with whom we disagree,” Holt said. “We must put in the hard work of finding common ground, of compromise. … We will then move forward together, still holding our individual principles, but recognizing that our neighbor has a right to theirs, as well.”

More: A timeline of the Oklahoma City bombing

Almon family remembers 'Miss Baylee,' who would have been 29 this year

Along with the horrific news of what had taken place in Oklahoma City that April day, a photo spread throughout the world of an Oklahoma City firefighter carrying the body of Baylee Almon, who had turned 1 the day before.

Baylee’s chair was decorated for what would have been her 29th birthday with balloons and flowers by her mother, Aren Almon, who called her daughter "Miss Baylee."

Almon and Baylee lived in The Regency apartments near the Murrah Building, and Baylee attended the America’s Kids child development center.

“We decorate every holiday,” Almon said. “The security guards here (say), ‘We wish you could decorate every day, because people come here just to see her decorated chair.’”

Almon, who once again lives in The Regency, was joined by her family Wednesday and said they hope that the tradition of remembering Baylee will be carried on for years to come, even by those who never knew her.

‘I thought it was the end of my life’

Carol Beranek reunited with old co-workers as they walked past the memorial chairs of deceased colleagues from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Beranek, whose last name at the time was Latimer, was at her desk on the eighth floor of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in HUD’s Office of Native American Programs when the explosion hit.

“I thought it was the end of my life, but it wasn’t,” Beranek said. “I looked up, when I came to my senses. There was blue sky. I thought smoke, but it wasn’t. It was dust from the building.”

Beranek and a group of her co-workers found one another through the debris and together walked down the stairwell and out onto NE 4.

“I was able to walk, I was bleeding,” Beranek said. “One of my co-workers that I walked down with, Kathy, gave me a sweater and I held it up to my face. … We didn’t know what happened.”

A group of rescue workers told Beranek and her co-workers to walk to a designated area where they were picked up by a van that drove them to Southwest Medical Hospital. Beranek had 143 stitches and lost a third of her blood.

She returns to the memorial every year.

Oklahoma City bombing: The attack, the aftermath, and a city's resilience

Remembering a father, a teacher searching for the children of parents killed

Maria Tapia was surrounded by family of all ages to honor the memory of her father, Emilio Tapia, by placing flowers, a baseball and other decorations on his chair at the bombing memorial.

Emilio Tapia, 50, was a customer at the Social Security office at the time of the explosion. His funeral was held in Oklahoma City and his body was buried in San Felipe, Guanajuato, Mexico.

“My father was an excellent man, a fighter, he always fought for us until his last moment,” Maria Tapia said. “He was my hero. Always putting us first before himself. He was a loved man by everyone.”

The hope of reconnecting with former students drew Nadine Smith, a retired teacher of 35 years, to the memorial grounds Wednesday. Smith taught the children of Castine Deveroux and Mary Leasure-Rentie, victims of the bombing, at Corpus Christi School.

“They were very supportive of the school and they were very supportive of their children,” Smith said. “I would see them every morning bringing their children and dropping ‘em off.”

She stood by Deveroux and Leasure-Rentie’s chairs Wednesday morning, hoping to see their daughters in the crowd of visitors. Those hopes were not realized Wednesday, but she said she won’t give up on trying to find them.

“I want to let them know that I cared about their (mothers) and care about them, as well,” Smith said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC bombing 28th anniversary remembered in annual ceremony