Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 5, 1995 TAG: 9507050106
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: OKLAHOMA CITY LENGTH: Medium
``The pessimism and despair of April 19 are over,'' Gov. Frank Keating told a crowd of thousands at the first of many Fourth of July ceremonies to honor the volunteers who helped after the bombing. It was the first time the flags at the Capitol were raised to full-staff since the bombing.
Keating said the U.S. flag has a special meaning for Oklahomans.
``It flew from the damaged building, it shone proudly from the uniforms of the rescue workers, and it draped the caskets of the victims,'' he said. ``It was stained and it was torn, but it was beautiful.''
Shortly after the bombing, recovery workers gave Keating the first flag recovered from the wreckage of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, where 168 people were killed and more than 500 were injured.
At 9:02 a.m., the time of the explosion, members of military, law enforcement and relief groups raised clean, new flags up 14 flagpoles on the south steps of the state Capitol, accompanied by a drum roll and the roar of four F-16 fighters flying overhead.
Volunteers and rescue workers from Virginia, California, Maryland, Florida, Arizona and other states joined in the ceremonies.
``I'm overwhelmed,'' said Deborah Hartwig, an American Red Cross volunteer who served food and drinks to the rescue workers.
``It's just a lot of painful memories,'' she said.
Peggy Brawner, who used her dog, Hooch, to help comfort recovery workers and survivors, saw the celebration as upbeat.
She and a friend brought their dogs Tuesday. Brawner's dalmatian was dressed as Uncle Sam, with a beard and star-spangled top hat, and the other dog was costumed as Lady Liberty, gripping a stuffed cloth torch in her mouth.
``I think it is going to make kind of a big jumping-off point in terms of healing,'' Brawner said of the flag raising. ``It's a shame that it takes a tragedy like this for people to put aside their differences and realize they can work together.''
Mayor Ron Norick said the events signaled a time to move on.
``I think today is the best day for us ... to have the governor raise the flags so we can get back to the lives we love so well,'' he said.
Some who joined in the three-mile parade that followed said they already have moved on.
``I don't want to talk about the bombing,'' said Air Force Lt. Stephen J. Henske Jr. ``We're just happy to be out here supporting the community - that's the most important thing, to support the community.''
At the site where the federal building once stood, a handful of people strolled the perimeter.
``I can't believe the hate,'' said Judy Jones Thompson, who traveled through Oklahoma City on the way to her home in Massachusetts. She stood a few feet from the fence, where a laminated newspaper photograph of a baby girl was tucked, along with flowers and poems, into the 8-foot-high chain link fence.
Linda Rhodes came from North Carolina for the holiday to visit her husband, Julius, who is studying at the Federal Aviation Administration training center.
``That's what's so sad to me,'' she said, glancing at the photograph. ``The children who died.''
by CNB