‘Next stewards of the Oklahoma Standard’: Gov. Kevin Stitt shares message to younger generations
Saturday marks 30 years since the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City killed 168 people, including 19 children.
Updated: 10:29 AM CDT Apr 19, 2025
THANK YOU SO MUCH, DOCTOR CHAMBERS, AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORDS. MAYOR. WE GATHER HERE TODAY WITH HEAVY HEARTS AND UNWAVERING GRATITUDE AS WE MARK THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING, AN ACT OF UNIMAGINABLE VIOLENCE THAT CHANGED OUR CITY, OUR STATE, AND OUR NATION FOREVER. ON APRIL 19TH, 1995, AT 9:02 A.M., 168 INNOCENT LIVES WERE TAKEN FROM US. AMONG THEM WERE CHILDREN, GOVERNMENT WORKERS, VETERANS, MOTHERS, FATHERS, AND FRIENDS. BUT AMID THAT HEARTBREAK, SOMETHING POWERFUL EMERGED IN THE SMOKE AND RUBBLE. IN THE CHAOS AND SORROW WE SAW THE VERY BEST OF OKLAHOMA. WE SAW HELPERS, PEOPLE WHO DIDN’T WAIT TO BE ASKED WHO RAN TOWARDS DANGER, WHO GAVE WITHOUT HESITATION. FIREFIGHTERS, POLICE OFFICERS. EMTS. NURSES. CLERGY AND EVERYDAY CITIZENS ANSWERED THE CALL. PEOPLE LIKE TERRENCE YEAKEY AND JIM RAMSEY OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT AND JOHN HANSON OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT. THEY RAN INTO THE RUBBLE TO SAVE THEIR FELLOW OKLAHOMANS. DOCTOR WILLIAM FABRY AND DEBBIE ATTERBY. THEY WORKED TIRELESSLY TO TREAT THE WOUNDED. DOZENS OF PASTORS AND CHAPLAINS SHOWED UP AND PRAYED WITH THE GRIEVING AND THE HOURS AND THE DAYS AFTER THE TRAGEDY. OKLAHOMANS GAVE BLOOD. THEY OPENED THEIR HOMES. THEY OFFERED THEIR STRENGTH. THIS SPIRIT OF COMPASSION AND COURAGE CAME TO BE KNOWN AS THE OKLAHOMA STANDARD, A COMMITMENT TO SERVICE, HONOR, AND KINDNESS THAT HAS SHAPED WHO WE ARE AS A PEOPLE. AND AS SCRIPTURE REMINDS US IN GALATIANS SIX TWO. CARRY EACH OTHER’S BURDENS, AND IN THIS WAY YOU WILL FULFILL THE LAW OF CHRIST. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT OKLAHOMANS DID ON THAT DAY AND EVERY DAY SINCE. WE HONOR THE HEROES OF APRIL 19TH. WE ALSO HONOR THOSE WHO CONTINUE TO HELP THOSE WHO STAYED, THE MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELORS, THE TEACHERS, AND THE PASTORS, THE CITY WORKERS, AND ALL THE VOLUNTEERS. THOSE WHO CARRIED THE BURDENS OF THAT DAY QUIETLY, FAITHFULLY, YEAR AFTER YEAR. AND TO THE FAMILIES, TO THE SURVIVORS, THE CHILDREN WHO GREW UP WITHOUT A PARENT, TO THE SPOUSES WHO REBUILT LIFE IN SHADOWS OF LOSS. YOU ARE THE EMBODIMENT OF RESILIENCE. YOU HAVE TURNED PAIN INTO PURPOSE AND SORROW INTO STRENGTH. THE OKLAHOMA CITY NATIONAL MEMORIAL STANDS AS A TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO LOST. WHO THOSE WE LOST, BUT ALSO TO THOSE WHO HELPED. IT REMINDS US NOT ONLY OF THE HORROR OF THAT MORNING, BUT OF THE HOPE THAT FOLLOWED. AS ROMANS 1221 SAYS, DO NOT BE OVERCOME BY EVIL, BUT OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD. OKLAHOMA DID JUST THAT. WE CHOSE HOPE OVER HATE, UNITY OVER FEAR. COMPASSION OVER CHAOS. WE ALSO REMEMBER THAT THE HELP THE HELPERS DIDN’T STOP IN 1995. THE OKLAHOMA STANDARD CONTINUES. EVERY TIME A NEIGHBOR STEPS UP, EVERY TIME A TRAGEDY IS MET WITH OPEN ARMS, EVERY TIME WE CHOOSE KINDNESS OVER INDIFFERENCE TO THE YOUNGER OKLAHOMANS HERE TODAY. YOU MAY NOT REMEMBER THAT MORNING, BUT YOU LIVE IN A STATE FOREVER SHAPED BY IT. YOU ARE THE NEXT STEWARTS OF THE OKLAHOMA STANDARD. SO TODAY, LET US PAUSE AND REFLECT NOT ONLY ON WHAT WE LOST. BUT ON WHAT WE BUILT IN THE WAKE OF TRAGEDY. LET US RECOMMIT OURSELVES TO HELPING OTHERS, TO SERVING WITHOUT SEEKING RECOGNITION. TO CARRY ONE’S ONE ANOTHER’S BURDENS AND TO LIVING WITH THE SAME COMPASSION THAT DEFINED. APRIL 19TH, 1995. TO THE FIRST RESPONDERS, THE FAMILIES, THE SURVIVORS, AND THE CITIZENS WHO SHOWED US THE POWER OF LOVE IN THE FACE OF EVIL. WE THANK YOU. WE HONOR YOU. MAY WE NEVER FORGET THE 168 LIVES LOST. MAY WE NEVER FORGET THE CHILDREN. AND WE NEVER. MAY WE NEVER FORGET THE LIGHT THAT BROKE THROUGH THE DARKNESS OF THAT DAY. MAY GOD BLESS THEIR MEMORY. MAY GOD BLESS ALL WHO CONTINUE TO SERVE. AND MAY GOD
‘Next stewards of the Oklahoma Standard’: Gov. Kevin Stitt shares message to younger generations
Saturday marks 30 years since the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City killed 168 people, including 19 children.
Updated: 10:29 AM CDT Apr 19, 2025
Saturday marks 30 years since the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City killed 168 people, including 19 children. The community gathered on Saturday to honor the victims, the survivors and the lives forever changed during a remembrance ceremony. One of the speakers during the 30th anniversary remembrance was Gov. Kevin Stitt. The governor shared a message to the younger generations who have the task of carrying on the Oklahoma Standard and sharing the lessons of the Oklahoma City bombing. “To the younger Oklahomans here today, you may not remember that morning, but you live in a state forever shaped by it. You are the next stewards of the Oklahoma Standard,” Stitt said. “So today, let us pause and reflect not only on what we lost but on what we built in the wake of tragedy. Let us recommit ourselves to helping others, to serving without seeking recognition, to carry one another’s burdens and to living with the same compassion that defined April 19, 1995.” Open the video player above to watch Gov. Kevin Stitt’s full speech.
OKLAHOMA CITY —Saturday marks 30 years since the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City killed 168 people, including 19 children.
The community gathered on Saturday to honor the victims, the survivors and the lives forever changed during a remembrance ceremony. One of the speakers during the 30th anniversary remembrance was Gov. Kevin Stitt.
The governor shared a message to the younger generations who have the task of carrying on the Oklahoma Standard and sharing the lessons of the Oklahoma City bombing.
“To the younger Oklahomans here today, you may not remember that morning, but you live in a state forever shaped by it. You are the next stewards of the Oklahoma Standard,” Stitt said. “So today, let us pause and reflect not only on what we lost but on what we built in the wake of tragedy. Let us recommit ourselves to helping others, to serving without seeking recognition, to carry one another’s burdens and to living with the same compassion that defined April 19, 1995.”
Open the video player above to watch Gov. Kevin Stitt’s full speech.
