Oklahoma City bombing survivors reflect on anger, grief and forgiveness 28 years after McVeigh guilty verdict

In the years since the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, many survivors and victims' families say they've worked hard to keep their focus on healing—not on the man responsible for the attack.

Still, for some, processing their anger toward Timothy McVeigh has been a critical part of that healing journey.

“It was a horrible time in my life,” said Ronnie Fields, who lost his mother Carrol in the bombing. “Deeply scarring. Traumatic to the to the point that I was very angry.”

The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building killed 168 people, including 19 children. In the chaos that followed, emotions ran high—outrage, grief, and disbelief flooded Oklahoma and the nation.

“A large part of my life after that was kind of a blur, like a fog,” said survivor Arlene Blanchard.

McVeigh’s arrest and the public response

Less than 90 minutes after the blast, a state trooper pulled McVeigh over near Perry for a missing license plate and found a concealed weapon. He was taken into custody, eventually linked to the Ryder truck bomb in downtown Oklahoma City. Two days later, outside the Noble County Courthouse, the public’s fury was palpable as McVeigh was led away by police.

“He couldn’t forgive the government for what they had done at Ruby Ridge,” Fields said. “His unforgiveness, his grudge that he held, is what caused him to do that.”

Fields, now a pastor, said that realization forced him to confront his own pain.

Choosing forgiveness

“There’s no such thing as ‘forgive and forget.’ It’s just like the worst saying ever,” Fields said. “You can’t forget. I mean, I can’t forget that my mom’s gone. People can’t forget the trauma that happens to them, that shapes their lives. But I can choose what to do with that trauma... I choose to forgive so that I don’t cause that same kind of hurt onto other people.”

A soldier’s perspective

Blanchard, who was serving as a personnel sergeant in the Army at the time of the bombing, said her anger became deeply personal when she learned of McVeigh’s background.

“For me, one of the hardest things was the realization that Timothy McVeigh was a soldier, like I was,” she said. “There’s something about, for me, when you take an oath, when you swear to protect and defend your nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And to think that one of our own had done that to us, and knowing that there were children in the building—was a very bitter, hard pill for me to swallow.”

That bitterness, Blanchard said, began to affect her health and well-being.

“If you hold bitterness and hatred in your heart, you become like your perpetrator,” she said. “We just don’t know what we’re capable of when things have been done to us. So—a great teaching tool for me.”

The trial and testimony

June 2025 marks 28 years since McVeigh was found guilty in the bombing and 24 years since his execution by lethal injection. For Donna Weaver McGinty, whose husband Mike was killed in the attack, justice in court brought some closure.

“It was a relief to get the trial over and the verdict found, and it was a relief to know that we would not have to hear anything from Timothy McVeigh again,” McGinty said.

McGinty, a key witness in the trial, said she wanted to honor her husband’s belief in the legal process.

“My logic was, well, Mike was an attorney, believed in the rule of law. And if I have something to offer, I will,” she said. “That was my purpose—was to bring in that evidence. And I said yes, that’s what I saw.”

Even so, she admitted to being nervous about seeing McVeigh in court.

“I was really worried about looking at Timothy McVeigh and having any eye contact,” she said. “But I did look over at Timothy McVeigh a couple of times, and as far as I know he looked down at his desk the entire time.”

“It was a small part, but I was happy to do it for my—for my husband,” she added.

The ongoing choice to heal

Fields said that justice in court wasn't the end of his journey. As a pastor, he continues to preach forgiveness and chooses every day to walk that path.

“I have to continue to choose forgiveness because there’s still those moments when I miss my mom to the point of that grudge and that hatred to begin to creep in,” he said. “So I have to choose forgiveness again.”