News On 6 Journalists Remember Coverage Of OKC Bombing, 29 Years Later

In 75 years of covering Oklahoma’s news, few stories have been as difficult to cover as the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

News On 6 journalists rushed to the city after initial reports of an explosion downtown. Chief Photojournalist Oscar Pea remembers when video from the scene first reached the station.

“When the video showed up, there was just silence in the newsroom,” Pea said. “It looked like a dinosaur had taken a bite out of the building.”

Former News On 6 anchor Glenda Silvey was sent to lead coverage from Oklahoma City that day.

“It was chaotic,” Silvey remembered. “It was absolutely unbelievable because as were listening to the radio on the way to OKC, we learned it wasn't a natural gas explosion but was indeed a bomb.”

Former anchor Terry Hood was sent to the site of the explosion shortly after Silvey. Hood described “a sense of unreality” about the scene.

The three journalists each describe the story as the most memorable of their careers.

“The interviews the scenes, sticks with you for life,” Pea said.

“Nothing prepared me for the look of the building,” Silvey said. “No matter what picture you saw, nothing could really convey the violence and the horror of what that bomb did to that building.”

The bombing killed 168 people. The story dominated the news for years, from the capture of suspect Timothy McVeigh through his trial and execution. The building was demolished on May 23, 1995.

“I didn't realize how much it would affect me what a relief it was that it was gone,” Hood said. “I think partly it's because you're carrying emotions that you don't let yourself even acknowledge and how I felt when that was gone, it was really profound for me.”

The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum was completed in 2001.

“It's a sacred place,” Silvey said. “They did such a masterful job of creating something so worthy and fitting of the people who lost their lives and those who lost their friends and loved ones.” 

“We've talked to so many survivors over the years and people have been brave and deal with it in their own ways but all you try to do is put one foot in front of the other but there's no way you ever recover from something like that,” Hood said. “How could you possibly?”