Clinton honored the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing and called on Americans to emulate the service, honor and love demonstrated in the aftermath.
Former President Bill Clinton is located in Oklahoma City to mark the 30th anniversary of the country’s most deadly domestic terrorist attacks.
Speaking at the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum on Saturday, Clinton recalled that Oklahoma City bombed April 19, 1995, honoring those killed that day.
The former president recalled that he had poured out special support from cities and states in the wake of the attacks and attacks that volunteers provided food, clothing and services.
The Oklahoma City bombing became one of the most important events of Clinton’s presidency, and the former president, now 78, was widely praised for how he helped him tackle his grief after the bombing.
Now, 30 years later, he expressed hope that Oklahoma City could help America heal political divisions.
“The bombings really shook the country… but ultimately brought out the best in America,” Clinton said.
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“Oklahoma City, America needs you today. I hope that every American can hear life unfolds here and see life unfolds here and hear these stories and see it unfolds.”
The Oklahoma City bombing remains the most deadly domestic terrorist attack in the country.
Timothy McVay and Terry Nichols, who served together in the US military, used a rental truck loaded with 4,800 pounds of fertilizer and fuel oil, to destroy the Alfred P. Marer federal building, killing 168 people and injuring more than 500 people.
The pair was motivated primarily by radical rebel views, exacerbated by federal law enforcement officials engaged or involved in the murder of American civilians after seeing deadly sieges in Idaho and Waco in Texas.
Clinton praised people from Oklahoma and elsewhere who have come to serve in the aftermath of the attack, citing evidence that “we can still find a way to move forward together” after immense polarization and tragedy.
“The terrorists who did this terrible thing believed it would cause a nationwide upheaval for the US government and ultimately destroy the government, democracy and our way of life,” Clinton said.
“Instead, you gave them… the “Oklahoma standard.” You gave them service, honor and kindness. ”
Clinton said he hoped that other America could learn from examples of service, honor and love demonstrated by the people of Oklahoma City in an era defined by rampant polarization and hostility.
To that end, Clinton said responsiveness to promote the modern media landscape, and often justifying what Americans have, can be justified that it can be overcome by those who responded to examples of love and tragedy demonstrated in the lives of those killed 30 years ago.
“We don’t know what all 168 of them have done for the rest of their lives, but we know what they have done, we know the love they have created.
“America needs the Oklahoma standards you and the US. If we all live by it, we’d be better.”
