Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial Ladd-Whitney Monument It was April 19, 1995 at 9:03 that the lives of thousands were affected by one singleexplosion. The explosion took the lives of 168 men, women, and children. The explosionphysically injured 600 individuals and emotionally injured numerous amounts of peoplearound the world. The explosion took place at the Alfred P.
Murrah Federal Building inOklahoma. A staff writer for a newspaper was quoted stating the bomb was colorblind ( Yumi Wilson, Chronicle staff writer, Langston University). It didnt matter whatage, race, or background the victims came from. The one attribute that all of the victimshad in common was the fact that they were all innocent targets affected by the hostilityof hate and terrorism. The primary individual responsible for this tragedy is a man namedTimothy McVeigh.
A 27yr old white man who possed a great hostility toward thegovernment. He constructed a deadly bomb made of fertilizer and fuel oil, placed it inthe back of a Ryder truck and drove and parked it at the state building. He was laterarraigned on charges of 11 counts of conspiracy and murder charges. He was convictedand sentenced for the crimes on June 2, 1997.
The other man who was suspected ofhaving been involved in the bombing was Terry Nichols. Though he was involved in theplanning he did not actually help McVeigh transport or set off the bomb. He was foundguilty and was charged with involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy; Nichols was lateracquitted from the murder charges. Though the justice system punished the criminals fortheir crimes and may have provided the family and friends of those who died with somedegree of solace, the grief and, fear, emptiness, and loss of security can never bereplaced. It was an unfortunate tragedy to those who lost their lives it brought togetherthe people of our nation and showed no discrimination, only unity among a mass ofpeople who could not get through this atrocity alone. Due to the immense impact that theevent had on our nation, and the wide responses received on ideas of how to create amemorial at the site, the Mayor, Ron Norick appointed a 350 member Memorial TaskForce.
They were responsible to develop a memorial in order to honor those touched bythe event and the families of those killed the survivors, and volunteers. The memorialresulted in a quote that summed up all of the responses, feelings , and suggestionsrecived. The final product read: Oklahoma City Memorial Foundation Memorial MissionStatement Murrah Federal Building Memorial, Inc. 1996 We come here to rememberthose who were killed, Those who survived and those changed forever.
May all wholeave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength,peace, hope and serenity. The Ladd and Whitney monument was constructed in order tocommemorate Luther C. Ladd and Addison Otis Whitney who were generally recognizedas the first of our fallen soilders. It was the day of April 19,1861 when these two Lowellmen lost their lives. Although there were two other men who lost their lives in this tragicCivil war they are not as historically recognized like Ladd and Whitney.
There nameswere Needham of Lawrence, and Charles A. Taylor formally from Boston but latermoved to Lowell. The monument was originally dedicated to Ladd and Whitney, Taylorwas added to the monument later though it is unclear exactly when it is estimated that itwas in the 1900s. The dedication of the monument occurred on Saturday, june 17th,1865. The monument is located in front of the Lowell city hall at the junction ofMerrimack and Moody streets marking their burial spots.
The monument is a lightcolored granite which is about 25 feet.
