'As if it were 30 minutes ago': Bill Clinton on 30th anniversary of Oklahoma City bombings

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Bill Clinton, at the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, remembered the tragedy and his friend Alan Whicher, a victim. He cautioned against modern political polarization, linking it to the 1995 attack. Clinton urged Americans to embrace the “Oklahoma Standard” of unity and service.

Former US President Bill Clinton on Saturday delivered the keynote address at a remembrance ceremony on the 30th anniversary of the deadly Oklahoma City bombings, the worst homegrown attack in America’s history, one which occurred during his presidency.

Clinton was president on April 19, 1995, when a truck bomb exploded, destroying the nine-story Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, and killing 168 people. The victims included 19 children.

The Democrat, now 78, said at the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, “I still remember as if it were 30 minutes ago, coming here with (wife) Hillary to that memorial service and saying: ‘You have lost too much, but you have not lost everything. You have certainly not lost America, and we will be with you for as many tomorrows as it takes’.”

Clinton has spoken at previous remembrance ceremonies since 1995, most recently at the 20th anniversary in 2015. .

On Saturday, the ex-president also cautioned about the “polarising” nature of modern-day politics and how such “divisiveness” can lead to violence, just as it did on that fateful day. He also called on Americans to “learn” from the “Oklahoma Standard,” a term coined to reference the city’s response to the bombing by uniting in service, honour and kindness.

He stated, “Today, Oklahoma City, America needs you. I wish to goodness every American could just see life unfold here, hearing these stories.”

Among victims, a friend of Bill Clinton

However, Clinton has another connection with the Oklahoma City bombings. Among the 168 victims was his friend Alan Whicher, a US Secret Service agent who initial security detail before being transferred to Oklahoma City.

Whicher had lived there for seven months before April 19, 1995.

In a recent interview with The Oklahoman, Clinton remembered his deceased friend.

He said, “You know I liked him a lot and I missed him when he left. So I was determined to do what I could to help Oklahoma City become the place he thought it was when he went there.”

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