Memorial events are being held throughout the rest of the week and the weekend to commemorate the 17th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. I remember where I was the moment I learned about the horrific tragedy. My colleagues and I decided to write our personal accounts of where we were when we learned about these tragedies!

January 28, 1986 – The Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion

Here is my own remembrance of this day:

"I don't remember ever being a huge fan of the space program, but I, along with the rest of the nation, was very excited about the first civilian going into space.  For whatever reason, I wasn't at home to watch the lift off, but I remember being in my car at the corner of Ft. Sill Blvd. and Gore, when the news came on the radio that the Challenger had exploded.  I could not believe it.  My hands started shaking and it took all I had to get to a safe place and pull off the road as I fell apart.  As a new Mom, by heart was breaking for all of the school children that watched in horror as their beloved teacher lost her life."

April 19, 1995 – The Bombing of The Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City

Shotgun Steve Kelly had an Up Close experience with this event:

"I was in Manhattan, Ks working at KXBZ B-104.7 when the bombing happened, I remembered gathering around the TV and watching to footage and just openly being in shock. Then about 3 weeks later our news director Ken Scott came to me and said let’s take a ride, so we jumped in the station van and headed 15 miles west of Manhattan to Junction City, KS where we sat on a ridge overlooking nothing but a Ryder truck store. Then the news come on the radio and Ken had broken the story that McVey had rented the Ryder truck at the store at which I was now staring , within 30 minutes ATF, FBI, News trucks and the whole world had descended upon Junction City, KS. I will never forget how I felt that day!"

April 20, 1999 – The Shootings at Columbine Colorado High School

Nancy Mace recalls the news of the shooting:

"I remember the news of the Columbine shooting.  I have family that lives in Colorado and I knew that my cousins’ children went to that school!  It was the next day before we got word that all of her children were OK but her oldest son was deeply affected by it.  He was running away from the school as bullets were still being fired and one of his classmates fell right next to him.  It was an awful thing to hear."

May 3, 1999 – F5 Tornado Rips Through Oklahoma Towns

Jeri Anderson: "I was on the soccer field on the east side of Lawton, and I looked at the sky and thought that is a big storm!  The clouds continued to move to the north, and it was until I got home after practice that I heard of a motorist trapped under an overpass as the tornado passed on the highway, and the total devastation in Moore and Oklahoma City.  As I remember it now, it makes me so sad for those in Joplin MO, and what they must have gone through just last year."

September 11, 2001 – The Terrorist Attacks on The World Trade Center, and The Pentagon

Frank Seres remembers where he was on the morning of 9/11:

"I was home in the Nashville area with my 2 youngest girls. Kendal was 2 1/2, Karley a month old. We were watching Blues Clues when my wife called and said, " you need to turn on the news, America is being attacked". I went back to the bedroom and turned on the TV and couldn't believe what I was seeing. Just minutes after I turned it on the 2nd plane hit the twin towers.

I did an afternoon show at WSM-FM in Nashville at the time, but I wasn't on the air that afternoon. Our morning show and news staff stayed on well into that evening, so I helped with gathering information and making coffee."

Z94's Critter on 9/11:

"I'll never forget where I was when 9-11 happened. I was here at work helping our morning show at the time "Jon & Zack". It started off like any other day, then I heard them talking about a plane that hit the Twin Towers in NY. I remember thinking how could this happen and thought it was a horrible accident. I turned on the news in the break room and started watching the coverage. Then the second plane hit the other tower and it was obvious we were under attack. From that moment on the entire staff was reporting on the news and working to obtain information and details.

It was unbelievable and unthinkable. I vividly remember being on air and trying to relate the horrific news to our listeners. We spent days at the station 24/7 doing what we could and providing coverage as well as relaying updates from various news sources. I hope and pray I never have to report something like this again..."

When disasters strike our state or our nation, they cause a ripple in the lives of the citizens, a tiny monument in time.  That place where time stands still if only for a moment, then starts again, because that’s what time does.  During the most important times in our history, those monuments in time will be forever remembered, and we can tell you exactly where we were when we heard the news.  Each of the events were devastating, because of the lives lost and because of the way that they changed our lives forever.

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