Thursday, April 20,1995
Page 2
Sam Kepfield
Honor dead
with justice
OKLAHOMA CITY
Tins isn’t supposed to happen in Oklahoma.
Without warning, on Wednesday morning
the northern half of the federal building in
downtown Oklahoma City disappeared. It took
a still-uncounted number of lives with it, most
them belonging to children.
My wife of eight months was almost one of
the casualties. Mindy’s office is—was—next
door to the federal building. She managed to
escaped crumblingceilings and walls with noth
ing more than a bruise and a few minor cuts. I
thank God we will be able to celebrate our first
anniversary this August.
The reality is still sinking in for both of us.
After I personally viewed the scene in down
town Oklahoma City a few hours after the
explosion, even 5 or 6 blocks away no window
was left unshattered. Glass littered the side
walks, National Guardsmen secured the down
town area and sheriff's patrol on horseback
made their presence felt.
The difference between seeingthis in person
and seeing it on television cannot be described.
If one asks “Why Oklahoma City?” then
you’ve already answered your own question.
Here out on the Great Plains, or “fly-over coun
try” to those on the coasts, we’re presumably
insulated form this sort of evil. But no more.
Make nomistake, this is evil, pure and simple.
There is absolutely no way that a sane, rational
person could justify the death of innocent by
standers, let alone children, in such an unpro
voked attack. No war was declared; no warning
given.
Theories abound as to who is behind this.
Some point to Middle Eastern terrorists bent on
waging war against a decadent western imperi
alism. Others point to the Branch Davidians,
noting that it was two years ago to the day that
the Waco compound went up in flames.
Whatever the cause, whoever the perpetra
tors, the outcome cannot be in doubt. Those
responsible must be arrested and tried If con
victed, they must be executed, though even that
would be better than they deserve for commit
ting such an atrocity.
Individuals who can, without remorse, com
mit such an act have placed themselves outside
of the boundaries of civilized society and have
thereby forfeited any right to the protections it
offers. To have them piously and righteously
stand in the witness box and proclaim their mad
theories of a holy war is an affront to any notion
we may have of justice.
A truly appropriate solution would be a bul
let in the back of the head and their bodies hung
on meathooks from the nearest streetlamp for
all to see. If this attack was state-sponsored, the
nation behind this should be turned into a smok
ing, glowing expanse of molten glass.
Does this sound harsh, insensitive? Well, of
course it is.
But in ages past, wars were started over far
less. Acts such as this must be met with swift,
sure and severe retribution. Yet such extreme
action is unlikely in an age where one can find
plenty of apologists for any sort of unprovoked
violence like this.
That there can be any debate on this sent of
thing speaks volumes on the state of our society.
Let others with more information and more
expertise pontificate upon the geo-political and
national-security ramifications of this incident.
Let decision-makers take the appropriate mea
sures in response.
The immediate reaction from here, however,
is that this bombing has hit too damn close to
home. And I just thank God it didn’t hit closer.
Let us pray for the souls of those who died
and let us also pray that justice be done.
Editor’s note; Sam Kepfield, a longtime
Daily Nebraskan columnist, was asked to
his perspective on this tragic event.
' in history at the
i;
Area buildings tighten security
By Paula Lavigne
^^SoF™R6j30ft6r
While rescuers searched for bodies at the
federal office building in Oklahoma City on
Wednesday, the mood at the Robert Denney
Federal Building in Lincoln was quiet but tense.
No guards were visible in the lobby, and
people were entering freely.
But the Edward Zorinsky federal office build
ing in Omaha was evacuated about 1 pjn. after
receiving a bomb threat, said Bond Faulwell,
deputy regional administrator in Kansas City,
Mo.
About 1,200people were evacuated. A bomb
unit with dogs searched the building and found
a suspicious package, which was examined and
found to contain papa- towels.
The building was declared safe for re-entry
about 3 p.m.
“There probably would not have been a
bomb threat here if it hadn’t been for the Okla
homa City incident,” said Lt. Gary Becerra,
head of die Omaha police braid) unit. “We
probably would have swept the building and we
probably would not have found that box.”
Federal buildings in Boston, Oregon and
Delaware also were evacuated after the explo
sion.
Sen. James Exon, D-Neb., who was in his
Lincoln office on the second-floor of the federal
building Wednesday afternoon, said security
needed to be tightened there.
“I don’t think we have any security measures
here, even,” Exon told the Daily Nebraskan.
Security measures fra-federal buildings across
the United States should be closely studied to
avoid making any rash decisions, Exon said.
“When you get up in the morning and walk
across the street, you’re taking a risk,” Exon
said. “We just have to keep our heads screwed
on.”
Lincoln building administrators made sure
the loading dock doors were locked to ward off
a potential car bomber. The building's day care
center also closed early, and day care adminis
trators called parents to pick up their children.
A day care center also was located in the
Oklahoma City building, where at least 12 chil
dren were killed.
The Lincoln building’s first-floor day care
center was dark Wednesday afternoon, and
supervisee were screening people who entered.
Renee Gross, an employee at the federal
building, picked up her infant son, Prett.
The bombing scared her, Gross said, and she
was worried about friends who worked at the
offices in Oklahoma City.
Gross said she was concerned about the
potential of a bomb in Lincoln, but she said she
still would use the building's day care because
of the convenience.
No threats or violent incidents were reported
at the federal offices in Lincoln. But some
people who work in the building said a terroris
tic act easily could happen in Lincoln.
“It could happen here without a whole lot of
trouble,” said Fete Picard, who works in the
department of transportation. “There’s a good
smoke alarm system here, but it doesn’t find
bombs very easily.”
The fourth and fifth floors of the building,
which house federal courtrooms, are secured by
the U.S. Marshal’s Office, said Ryan Thomp
Bomb throats
Telephone bomb threats led authorities
to evacuate government buildings in
several US. cities. A federal building in
Boston and Boston City Hall were also
evacuated.
©Wilmington, Del. ©Cincinnati
© Dallas © Steubenville, Ohio
©FortWorth,Texas ©Boston
AP
son, the supervising marshal deputy in Lincoln.
Thompson said he was advised by marshal’s
offices in Omaha and Washington to increase
security. His staff, which normally uses metal
detectors and x-ray scanners, was advised to be
more alert, Thompson said.
Editor Jeff Zeleay aid The Associated Press coa
trtbated to this report
At least 12 children among victims
By Julia Prodis
The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY—Wednesday’s blast
occurred at the start of the work day, as parents
were dropping off their youngsters at the day
care center in the federal building.
Before the smoke had cleared, Paramedic
Heather Taylor had tagged the feet of at least a
dozen children at the morgue.
Two were burned beyond recognition. The
bodies of the rest, up to 7 years old, were
mangled.
Ten to 20 other children were unaccounted
for late in the day. Taylor knew of only two who
had survived. One was in surgery, the other in
intensive care.
“The day-care center is totally gone,” said
Dr. Carl Spengler, who helped Taylor with the
victims.
The center was on the second floor of the
nine-story Albert Murrah Federal Building, just
above the spot where the car bomb exploded.
Toys and gaplls were scattered amid broken
glass and ot%r debris on the street.
Parents waited.
Grandparents wondered.
Rescuers worked.
/ One woman who survived the blast stood
outside the building, screaming for her child.
Rescuers ushered her away just before they
brought out a victim they believed to be her
dead son.
Wanda McNeely searched frantically for her
6-month-old grandson’s name on the list of die
injured at Children’s Hospital. After checking
with three hospitals, McNeely decided to go to
the morgue at St. Anthony Hospital.
“We’re going to go and see if we can identify
a body,” die said. “We’ve checked all the lists,
now we’re going to the other side.”
Hours alter the explosion, rescuers franti
cally searched through the destroyed building.
“We have to crawl on our stomachs and feel
our way and we’re talking to victims who are in
there and reassuring them that we’re doing
everything within the good Lord’s power to
reach diem and get to them,” Assistant Fire
Chief Jon Hansen said.
Faith Wohl, director of federal building’s
office of workplace initiatives in Washington,
said 41 children were enrolled in the day care
program, with about 30 attending cm any given
day.
‘We don’t know yet, and may never know, how
many children were there today,” Wohl said.
Witness
Continued from Page 1
served were cuts to a few people’s heads.
“Most people were fine, but I could tell they
were extremely shook up,” Kepfield said.
Firefighters used ladders to retrieve people
stranded on the second floor of The Journal
Record because the stairwell had collapsed.
Outside the building, people were in chaos.
“There was no way to find out anything,” she
said.
Kepfield said she did not realize the explo
sion came from the federal building until she
and a co-worker went to a nearby law firm to
wadi her wounds and call her husband, Sam
Kepfield. He also is a farmer NU student and
Daily Nebraskan columnist.
When they left, a man approached them cm
the street and told them the news.
“He told us, ‘The federal building is no
more. It’s leveled,’” she said.
Kepfield gave her account of the incident chi
Oklahoma City’s CBS affiliate KWTV, which
CNN also broadcast nationwide.
That was when her father, watching televi
sion from the federal building in Lincoln, knew
she was OK.
Robert Leiter got a call at 10:30 a.m. fromhis
wife, Theresea, saying that their daughter was
alive. But he said he was unsure ofher condition
until he saw her an television in the employee
lounge.
“I found myself pacing a lot at the office,” he
said.
Leiter said a co-worker told him about the
explosion earlier that morning, and he became
concerned when he remembered his daughter
Travis Heying/DN
Robert and Theresea Letter stay tuned to coverage of the bombing Wednesday.
Their daughter, Mindy Kepfield, was in the area at the time of the explosion.
worked in the area.
“You pray for the phone call and sit and
worry” he said.
Robert Leiter said he felt relieved when he
heard the news his daughter was safe.
Mindy Kepfield said she was dismayed so
many people were hurt in the blast and afraid for
the people trapped inside. The worst tragedy
was the 17 children killed in the building’s
second-floor day care center, she said.
“I don’t see how anyone in that section ofthe
federal building could have survived ”