Anniversary Of Hope

A decade after its greatest tragedy, Oklahoma City shares a message of resiliency through an exhibit at the National Memorial.

The American elm on Harvey Avenue continues to weather year after year of Oklahoma City history. Despite a terrorist blast a decade ago that took 168 lives and eventually leveled the nearby Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, the tree stood tall and became known as the Survivor Tree.

This month, the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum not only remembers and honors those lost in the bombing, but it also continues to celebrate the steadfast resolve of the community, country, and world in the face of terrorist attacks.

"Changed Forever-Forever Changing," an exhibit opening this month at the museum, tells 10 years of stories with artifacts, photographs, text, and videos. Alongside Oklahomans directly affected by the bombing, other Americans and citizens from around the world give personal testimonies on how their lives changed and then continued to change each day.

Among the numerous pieces displayed hangs a small American flag that once hung on the memorial fence outside the museum. Two thousand of those flags were shipped to Oklahoma soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq with the message, "This flag is not new. It is from the fence, and it brought us hope. We hope it will bring you hope as well." Returned by a soldier who had worked the site of the bombing, the flag-like the Survivor Tree-symbolizes resiliency.

Oklahoma City National Memorial: 620 North Harvey Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73102; 1-888-542-4673 or www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org. Note: The exhibit "Changed Forever-Forever Changing" opens April 19 and runs through the end of the year.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Apr 2005
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