On Challenger Day, I was sitting Indian Style in 1st grade watching the launch live on the little rolling TV from the library room. I don't recall how I felt on that day when it happened because I had never been exposed to something so violent. I think my mind blocked the memory of the shock out.
On 4/19/95, I was a sophomore in high school up in Missouri (from here but went to school there for three years). We found out about lunch time and just went into our current issues class and stayed there the rest of the afternoon watching the TV. After that I went home because being 450 miles away from OKC I really didn't know the extent of the damage. I tried to call all my friends and family members back here to see if they were safe and what not. Obviously with all the emergency transmissions and everyone down here using any bandwidth available, there was no chance in hell for me to get a hold of my friends, just 'all circuits are busy'. I believe it was a day and a half to two days before I was able to get through to anybody. Not knowing the status of anyone is pretty scary when you're left in the dark.
I was somewhat around, I was in my mothers womb and was born two months later.
Challenger, I was working at Triangle A&E.
OKC Bombing: Third floor at One Benham Place, we thought maybe one of the news helicopters crashed because we heard it and it shook our building until we heard the news report on KTOK that someone was listening to.
I was in college when the Challenger exploded. I was home between classes and was watching it on TV. How awful. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and was thinking, at least for a moment - that can't be right... is that supposed to do that? I just stood there with my hand over my mouth staring at the screen saying, oh my god, oh my god. It made a big impact in a different way because I was studying to be a teacher and the teacher was on board. I was worried sick that her kids were there and watched it happen.
I was at Pearls Seafood when the Branch Davidian Compound was reported to be on fire. I'd run over to Pearls between lawschool classes to grab some gumbo, to go. The scenes on the screen were horrific and we, of course, were all worried about the kids.
I lived in Dallas during the time of Waco standoff, so we had a full dose of news about it all the time, every day.
I was in the 5th grade when Kennedy was shot. One of the teachers came
into the classroom and told ours. The TV was on for the rest of the day.
When the Murrah building was bombed, I was a few blocks west doing some
charity work at the Christian church on NW 7th & N Lee. I was walking down
a hall and it felt like the floor fell from under and I was tossed back and forth.
I thought it was a car bomb.
On 911 my father in law and I were fishing farm ponds when it happened.
I was in the fourth grade when Kennedy was shot, but was home ill that day. I was lying on the living room downstairs, watching TV; my mom came down from upstairs, saying the radio (likely KTOK) had reported JFK had been shot. A few days later, I remember my paternal grandfather telling me to pay close attention to all the events, because it was probably a once-in-a-lifetime event.
When the Murrah building went up, I was sitting in my office in the basement of University Hospital; didn't hear or feel a thing. My wife called me to give me the news.
I was at my grandmas just minding my own business house when everything started shaking. Then to my complete suprise my mom yells " (insert my name here) what did u just do?"
I was a junior in college at OCU but on the day of JFK's assassination I was selling stock for an IPO I had helped organize. I was working for AG Edwards under my boss, Bob Staples, and was promoting the stock for a new company located in Pauls Valley.
My routine became that every day after either my 11:00 o'clock or my 12:40 class ended, I'd put my salesman pants on, hop in my car and drive down to the Pauls Valley area chasing prospects. I'd been doing this for two weeks prior to the shooting and my car radio was very weak and very spotty. Most of the time I didn't bother turning it on. The stock was just starting to gain momentum so I had hopes this dreary day would result in a number of sales.
Like I said, when I got twenty miles outside of Oklahoma City my radio would fail, so I didn't bother turning it on. I had made one sale and the next place I stopped was an oil field company in Maysville. I walked in, high spirited and and optimistic, and the guy turned to me and said "Good God, man, don't you know the president has just been shot!? Are you stupid?"
I ran out of there, drove as fast as I could back to OKC, hoping to get to a spot where my car radio would work. Around Norman it started coming in (this was prior to I-35) and the traffic was horrendous but I made it back to catch the TV news, crying most of the way.
Needless to say, sale of the stock came to a screeching halt. The whole world had fallen off a cliff. Everyone was engulfed in grief.
On a side note, my broadcast journalism teacher at OCU that year, Bob Flournoy, was very much involved in the Warren Report, among other things. He was on the parade route and was recording it on his recorder when the shots went down. He felt he had recorded shots coming from different directions. His tape was turned over to the FBI. He was dead two years later, one of several "suspicious" deaths connected to the assassination as noted by Jim Garrison.
On a further side note, it was several years before I would meet my wife, who was from Dallas, but she had a close up view of the investigation. Her neighbor across the back alley was Abraham Zapruder. Suits coming in and out for days. Both of Abe's kids played with her brothers and one of them went to school with my wife. By the way, Henry Zapruder graduated from OU.
I was in 3rd grade at Sacred Heart when they took all students into the gym,sat us down and announced what had happened. School was dismissed. I only had to walk one block to get home. For some reason I remember it snowing but not totally sure! I also remeber when Oswald was shot. Inside Humpty Dumpty on Commerce and Walker.
It wasn't snowing. In fact, it was a clear day in OKC.
Sidebar - I remember there was no TV for over a week. While it was an
historic event, we kids were irritated that there was nothing to watch except
Kennedy getting shot over and over and over and over and over...
Being only 12 I didn't get it at all.
I don't remember them showing it for a week but I do know there were no cartoons that saturday. I was a thrid grader
I was a debater for OSU and was on a debate trip to Wichita University. Pow! The shock of it all. I was very annoyed when, during lunch, I overheard a conversation between a couple of young profs and one of them said, "That makes us just like any South American country." Asshole. Probably, he still is.
here's a "Where were you" reminder....Can anyone remember the Tornado that hit the south side of OKC in April of 1960?...If so what do you remember?
Like DUH! I've only mentioned this on EVERY list on the OKC Talk Forums.
We were playing dominos in the kitchen when "The STORM" hit. Mom was
scared out of her senses and we kids were clueless. Dad went outside THEN
came running into the house and crammed all of us into the bathroom. Mom
was shivering and we kids didn't know what to think. Suddenly this HUGE
thunder crash hit. Dad had this terrifying look on his face. We all started
crying UNCONTROLLABLY. The roof had been lifted off of our house and
put back on.
It was amazing. It was the LORD who protected us through that night.
I'll never forget that night as long as I live.
Does anyone remember the smell of Coleman fuel? It was everywhere!
I was in the third grade when Kennedy was shot. I'm telling you this because a situation evolved that I have never been able to live down. I was greatly excited when the t.v. reported that the funeral procession would wind it's way through "Capitol Hill". I did not know there was more than one!!!
When this thread was first started it was an attempt to hear stories from people that remember where they were during a special part of History both National and local. For Instance:
"Where were you when the May 3rd, 1999 Tornado hit the OKC area?
Me, I was right in the middle of it. I was headed to Kansas City, Kansas on a business trip and my wife (not afraid of anything) asked me to stay for a little while longer or until the Storm passed... O.K. I said and then the entire bottom fellout. We own some buildings in the West side of Moore, Oklahoma and when we got there we were very blessed that the buildings were still there but the neighborhood was GONE....I saw damages that I don't ever want to see again. I saw friends and customers of mine in a complete DAZE...Their homes were destroyed and they were still looking for family members....We organized a way to feed the people we could and for 7 days and nights (with volunteers) we prepared 10,000 plus meals....How do we know???that's all the styrofoam plates we had....I have never seen people jump in and help like they did. Within a few hours we had a command post set up...There were Highway Patrol and the city of Moore Police departments men and women everywhere. OG&E...now that was something to write a book about. I can go on and on...that's what some of us would love to hear about...No therapy just OKIES interested in others....
Where were you during the Katrina Hurricane or Rita Hurricane??? I was there....Don't want to remember anything about that....O.K>????
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