Oklahoma City Event April 2012

The 17th Anniversary Remembrance Ceremony took place on Thursday April 19, 2012 in Oklahoma City which honored the 168 victims of the 1995 bombing. 19 of those victims were children all under the age of 6. Strength to Strength Director, Sarri Singer was invited by 419 Outreach, one of our partner organizations, to join the annual Oklahoma City Exchange. Along with Sarri were other survivors and first responders including Ron Vega, Director of Design of the National 9/11 Memorial and his wife Judy, Tom Canavan, survivor of 9/11, Mike Kenny, Charlie K. and Glenn Radalinsky, all first responders of 9/11. On the day before the anniversary, the group joined with the campus of Oklahoma Christian University for a tree-planting ceremony and dedication of a memorial plaque. The survivor tree made it from ground zero to Oklahoma, just in time for the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. For the last seven years survivors of 9/11 have come to Oklahoma for the anniversary of the bombing and now a part of the New York survivor tree is right next to an offspring of Oklahoma's survivor tree. This is a bond that will last forever. The remembrance ceremony on the morning of April 19th included the reading of the mission statement of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum by Christopher Nguyen. On April 19, 1995, Nguyen was one of six children in the America's Kids Child Development Center who survived the blast at the Murrah Building. The 22-year-old is graduating with a bachelor's degree in business marketing from the University of Oklahoma. At 9:02 a.m., the ceremony included “168 Seconds of Silence” and the reading of the names of those 168 individuals who died. The week included a visit to the National Memorial Museum and Survivors Tree, The Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT) and incredible hospitality from the members of 419 Outreach. We look forward to joining our extended family in Oklahoma City for the next anniversary.