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215: Amy's office exploded
On the morning of April 19, 1995, a former US Army soldier
parked a rented Ryder truck in front of the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building,
located in downtown Oklahoma City.
Inside the truck was everything he needed to carry out his
plan of terrorism and mass murder. He had a large bomb, which he created using
agricultural fertilizer and some chemicals, including diesel fuel. After
parking the car, he got out and walked toward his getaway car, a yellow Mercury
Marquis.
He ignited a timed fuse, and a second fuse as backup.
Inside the building, in one of the office conference rooms,
the Oklahoma Water Resources Board had just begun a 9 am meeting.
The blast effect was equivalent to over 5000 pounds of TNT,
and could be heard and felt 55 miles away. The blast either destroyed or
damaged 324 buildings within a 4-block radius. 86 cars were either burned or
destroyed, and a large section of the Federal building had been reduced to
rubble. News crews were shocked when they first viewed the damage from their
helicopter.
Inside the building, 163 people were killed. Additional
casualties were one person in the nearby Athenian building, one woman in a
parking lot across the street, two people in the Oklahoma Water Resources
building, and a rescue worker who was struck on the head by falling debris. In
total, 168 people died that day. 19 of those were children. Almost 700 other
people were injured.
My guest today, Amy, was in the Federal Building that
morning. She worked on the third floor, at the Federal Employees Credit Union.
You’re about to hear her talk about what happened to her
that day. But just as amazing is what has happened to her SINCE that day.
And on top of that – this is a Flashback episode. Amy told
this story on the podcast about 5 years ago. So at the end you’ll hear a
conversation I had with her just recently about what she’s up to recently. I’ll
just say this – she’s retired now, but she’s definitely not relaxing.
If you’d like to contact Amy, you can do that through her
website: AmyDowns.org
Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:
https://WhatWasThatLike.com/215
Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was
done by James Lai.
Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands
of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook
(many of the podcast guests are there as well)
Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio
exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That
Like PLUS.
Try What Was That Like PLUS free:
iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast
feed, click on “Try free”
Android: on your phone, go to
WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app
Sponsor deals:
Head to http://Lumen.me/WWTL
for 20% off your purchase.
Sign up today at https://www.butcherbox.com/whatwas and
use code whatwas to get chicken breast, salmon or ground beef FREE in
every order for a year, plus $20 off your first order.
Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/WHAT
Go to Quince.com/whatwas
for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!
Get 15% off OneSkin with the code [WHATWAS] at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
View all episodes
By Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media.
4.7
16361,636 ratings
On the morning of April 19, 1995, a former US Army soldier
parked a rented Ryder truck in front of the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building,
located in downtown Oklahoma City.
Inside the truck was everything he needed to carry out his
plan of terrorism and mass murder. He had a large bomb, which he created using
agricultural fertilizer and some chemicals, including diesel fuel. After
parking the car, he got out and walked toward his getaway car, a yellow Mercury
Marquis.
He ignited a timed fuse, and a second fuse as backup.
Inside the building, in one of the office conference rooms,
the Oklahoma Water Resources Board had just begun a 9 am meeting.
The blast effect was equivalent to over 5000 pounds of TNT,
and could be heard and felt 55 miles away. The blast either destroyed or
damaged 324 buildings within a 4-block radius. 86 cars were either burned or
destroyed, and a large section of the Federal building had been reduced to
rubble. News crews were shocked when they first viewed the damage from their
helicopter.
Inside the building, 163 people were killed. Additional
casualties were one person in the nearby Athenian building, one woman in a
parking lot across the street, two people in the Oklahoma Water Resources
building, and a rescue worker who was struck on the head by falling debris. In
total, 168 people died that day. 19 of those were children. Almost 700 other
people were injured.
My guest today, Amy, was in the Federal Building that
morning. She worked on the third floor, at the Federal Employees Credit Union.
You’re about to hear her talk about what happened to her
that day. But just as amazing is what has happened to her SINCE that day.
And on top of that – this is a Flashback episode. Amy told
this story on the podcast about 5 years ago. So at the end you’ll hear a
conversation I had with her just recently about what she’s up to recently. I’ll
just say this – she’s retired now, but she’s definitely not relaxing.
If you’d like to contact Amy, you can do that through her
website: AmyDowns.org
Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:
https://WhatWasThatLike.com/215
Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was
done by James Lai.
Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands
of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook
(many of the podcast guests are there as well)
Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio
exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That
Like PLUS.
Try What Was That Like PLUS free:
iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast
feed, click on “Try free”
Android: on your phone, go to
WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app
Sponsor deals:
Head to http://Lumen.me/WWTL
for 20% off your purchase.
Sign up today at https://www.butcherbox.com/whatwas and
use code whatwas to get chicken breast, salmon or ground beef FREE in
every order for a year, plus $20 off your first order.
Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/WHAT
Go to Quince.com/whatwas
for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!
Get 15% off OneSkin with the code [WHATWAS] at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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