Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building — Attraction in Oklahoma City

This does not reflect the memorial itself, which is completely beautiful and peaceful and is a perfect tribute to those lost in the bombing.

I want women to be aware that there is a guard who will follow you and listen in on your conversations and will remind you to “be respectful” if he hears something he doesn’t like.

I had a rather unfortunate experience, which is so disappointing as a lifelong Oklahoma City resident. I was enjoying the gardens on 07/31 at around 8:45 after having dinner at JK across the street when the security guard on duty that night began to follow my friend and I. He started off standing against the 9:03 wall and made his way over to the remembrance tree where we were sitting and having a chat about life. The guard then came over and asked if we had been to the memorial before and reminded us to “be respectful” of the space. We were simply sitting and admiring the evening and talking amongst ourselves completely away from people. The only reason this security guard backed off when we asked for clarification about what he deems “disrespectful” was because a lovely gentleman taking photos nearby overheard 2 adult women being chastised for talking, in a normal conversational tone might I add. The man taking photos reminded the security guard that we were being respectful by simply utilizing the space and there is nothing disrespectful by sitting down and talking. The guard eventually walked away and we were all left very confused and disappointed that a person appointed to protect the grounds of the memorial chose to use his power to exert authority where it wasn’t warranted. There were 6 people on the grounds in total, and this security person chose to follow my friend and I, 2 young women who had just come from a fabulous dinner, and made us largely uncomfortable and feel unsafe. I would like the company that contracts these characters to remind them what their actual duty is on the grounds, and that it is NOT to eavesdrop on the conversations of women and inject their own bias on what is appropriate versus inappropriate topic of conversation. For what it’s worth, the topic of conversation was about how our dating lives were going. Girl talk does not need to be policed when the comforts of others are not...

Heart wrenching memorial. I was living in Oklahoma City during this time. I lived 10.7 miles north from the blast and it's concussion shifted my townhome side-to-side. I would take my wife to work at the AT&T offices, (building in pictures) which the back of the AT&T building faced the front of the Murrah building, every morning at 8:30, except that morning; she was due in later. I would drop her off and drive up Harvey, to the left of the Murrah bldg., to head back home. She was stepping in the shower when the blast concussion hit our townhome. She yelled; "WHAT WAS THAT?" I replied; "That was a bomb!" We turned on the news and saw what had just happened. I got dressed. Grabbed my camera. Went downtown and took pictures; which I...

The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was destroyed by domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh in 1995. This site is a memorial to those killed and those who survived. It is well-designed and beautifully laid out. The outside memorial site is free and there was ample street parking (at a cost). The park rangers were helpful and answered all manner of questions. We did not visit the Memorial Museum next door. A park ranger told us that the PBS documentary "American Experience: Oklahoma City" gives a pretty good coverage of the event along the same lines...