Oklahoma City National Memorial

Hundreds of family members of victims of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building tour the Oklahoma City National Memorial, April 19, 2000, during a dedication ceremony. The $24 million memorial was opened on the fifth anniversary of the bombing, which killed 168 people, including 19 children. It came about as a result of an unprecedented and emotional journey driven by thousands of survivors, rescuers and others affected most by the bombing.

People surround the Survivor's Tree, an American elm that survived the Oklahoma City bombing, following the dedication ceremony of the Oklahoma City National Memorial, in Oklahoma City, April 19, 2000. Surrounding the Survivor Tree is the Helpers' Orchard, an army of fruit trees meant to symbolize those who rushed in to help after the bombing.

Workers assemble chairs that are part of the Oklahoma City National Memorial, in Oklahoma City, April 6, 2000. Sitting in nine rows, one for each floor of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, the chairs represent the 168 victims of the bombing. Each is made of stone and hand-crafted bronze, and rests on a glass base etched with the name of the victim it represents. Smaller chairs represent the 19 children killed in the bombing.

Standing in front of one of the Oklahoma City National Memorial's "Gates of Time," Hans and Torrey Butzer talk about their design for the site, April 16, 2000, in Oklahoma City. The gates are intended as both a physical and symbolic transition into the site, said Butzer. One is marked "9:01" and the other emblazoned "9:03," in reference to the moments surrounding the 9:02 bombing.

A worker puts the finishing touches on the reflecting pool at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, in Oklahoma City, April 6, 2000. The 3/4-inch deep pool is lined with black granite and features constantly running water. Co-designer Torry Butzer said the pool is supposed to symbolize a void. "It looks very dark and is supposed to be a kind of mysterious place," she said.

Visitors tour the Oklahoma City National Memorial site, August 25, 2000.

Joan Branyon, of Waco, Texas, reads a sign outside the Oklahoma City National Memorial Center, in Oklahoma City, June 10, 2001. The inscription on the wall was written by rescue workers who searched bomb damaged buildings in the downtown area of Oklahoma City when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was bombed.

A lone teddy bear sits on the memorial chair dedicated to bombing victim W. Stephen Williams, at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, May 12, 2001.

Deb Ferrell Lynn rests next to the memorial chair honoring her cousin, Susan Ferrell, following the execution of bomber Timothy McVeigh, June 11, 2001, at the Oklahoma City National Memorial in downtown Oklahoma City.

Virgina Moser pauses to touch one of the chairs at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, April 19, 2002, the seventh anniversary of the bombing. Her husband was in the building during the bombing and survived.

Visitors to the Oklahoma City National Memorial are mirrored in a reflecting pool, June 6, 2002, in Oklahoma City.

An armed services color guard presents the colors at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, Sept. 11, 2002. The first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was marked in Oklahoma City with patriotic music and speeches at the memorial.

A security guard walks along the edge of the reflecting pool at the Oklahoma City National Memorial in Oklahoma City, April 16, 2003.

The field of empty chairs at the Oklahoma City National Memorial is seen after family members of the victims held a memorial service on the eighth anniversary of the bombing, April 19, 2003.

The grounds of the Oklahoma City National Memorial, at the site of the 1995 Murrah Building bombing, in Oklahoma City, Monday, Oct. 6, 2003.

Vice President Dick Cheney, center, talks with the media after signing a tile to be placed on the wall at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, during a visit to the memorial in Oklahoma City, Okla., Oct. 9, 2003. At left is Don Ferrell, father of Murrah Building bombing victim Susan Ferrell. At right is bombing survivor Polly Nichols.

Bill McEntire, from Little Rock, Ark., pauses at the chair of Danielle Nicole Bell, at the Oklahoma City National Memorial in Oklahoma City, April 19, 2004. McEntire, a rescue worker who spent four days at the site of the bombing, was making his first trip back on the ninth anniversary of the bombing.

Mourners visit the field of chairs at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, in Oklahoma City, April 19, 2004, the ninth anniversary of the bombing.

Jane Fanning looks over a display of memorabilia left at the fence along the bombing site, during a preview of a new display at the Memorial museum in Oklahoma City, April 13, 2005.