Stitt, Holt condemn hate in OKC bombing remembrance event: 'We must each be ambassadors of kindness'

The family of Sonja Lynn Sanders stood around their lost loved one’s dedicated seat in the Field of Empty Chairs on Friday, remembering Sonja’s outgoing personality and love for the “The Lion King.”

The 1994 Disney film had been released nearly a year before Sonja died on April 19, 1995, during the Oklahoma City bombing. Sonja’s little sister, Kristi Sanders, remembered how Sonja’s friends sang “Hakuna Matata” to the eldest Sanders sister every time they ran into her.

Sonja, 27, was the chief teller of operations for the Federal Employees Credit Union, which lost 18 employees that day.

Reflecting on Sonja’s life 29 years later, Kristi said she feels robbed and wishes things were different.

“The years go by, but it hurts,” Kristi said. “You look at what she’s missed, and what I miss."

David Holt, Kevin Stitt, Deb Haaland honor victims of the Oklahoma City bombing

Sonja’s family attended the 29th Annual Remembrance Ceremony on Friday morning at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, along with family and friends of the victims, local, state and national politicians, and others in the community.

The ceremony began with a 168-second moment of silence, a second for each victim. It continued with remarks from several state and national leaders, including Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, Gov. Kevin Stitt, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Caitlin Durkovich, the deputy assistant to the president and deputy Homeland Security adviser for Resilience and Response at the White House National Security Council.

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Each speaker discussed the aftermath and what led up to the domestic terrorism truck bombing that destroyed more than one-third of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

After the speeches and performances by Point of Grace, a contemporary Christian musical trio, seven family members of victims read the names of each person who died during the attack.

Holt spoke about the polarization that led to the bombing, and used the plastic barrels filled with explosive chemicals that detonated outside of the federal building as a metaphor for the hate that fueled the attack.

“Alongside those barrels were invisible barrels that have always been present at such moments," Holt said. "Those barrels were filled with hate, intolerance, ignorance, bigotry, conspiracy theories, misinformation and dehumanization.

“Inside those barrels was an explosive combination of extreme political views and an arrogant, stubborn unwillingness to accept pluralism, democracy and compromise.”

Holt said the presence of those barrels are still being felt through words of division and hate, and that the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum serves as a reminder that those barrels should be buried like toxic waste.

“We must each be ambassadors of kindness, peace, love and understanding. Emissaries of better conversations,” Holt said. “We must be willing and able to challenge words of dehumanization, words that pass fellow Americans as enemies.”

Stitt said Oklahoma’s response to the bombing was a testament to the “Oklahoma Standard” as he reflected on how the state of New York sent aid to Oklahoma City by sending firefighters.

Oklahoma returned the favor about six years later when the Twin Towers in New York City were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.

“We show the world what it means for neighbors to walk with neighbors time after time,” Stitt said. “The people of Oklahoma and this nation prove that evil does not prosper.”

Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary, toured the museum grounds and reflected on her memories the day of the bombing.

She remembered her child Somah, a toddler at the time, sitting safely in a swing at home, while she did her best to work in her living room while monitoring the news. Images of the destruction compelled Haaland to hold her child close.

“Somah doesn’t remember the events of that day, but I will never forget the heartache I felt for the families who had lost their little ones, who had every reason to believe that they had brought their children to a safe place — or which should have been a safe place,” Haaland said.

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Haaland thanked the hard work of various local communities, state officials, and private and nonprofit partners who helped make the memorial and its museum a reality.

“Our public servants help make sites like this possible and help us tell America’s story, even when it’s heartbreaking,” Haaland said. “We at the Interior Department will live up to that sacred responsibility by being good stewards of this memorial for generations to come.”

Family and friends remember loved ones lost in Oklahoma City bombing

Maliah Harding is the great-niece of Ronald Vernon Harding Sr., 55, who was a claims representative for the Social Security Administration, but his niece wants him to be remembered for his love for music, a passion she shares with her uncle.

Maliah Harding was one of the seven people who read the names of the bombing victims. She said it was surreal to stand among the chairs, honoring her uncle and the other victims.

“I picked up a lot of traits from [Ronald]. He was a musician,” Maliah Harding said. “He played many instruments, and I do, too.”

Ida Bolden never actually met her cousin, U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Lola Bolden, who was on the fourth floor of the building when the bombing occurred. But family members tell her she has a smile just like Lola.

Yellow roses were Lola’s favorites, Ida was told, and she managed to pluck a few of them from the bush at her Spencer home and bring them to the Friday ceremony. That morning she laid the flowers atop the empty chair embossed with her cousin's name.

“I feel kind of somber, but I’m going to come every year I’m alive,” she said.

The Rev. Bill Minson, who's served as chaplain for the Las Vegas office of the U.S. Secret Service, has visited Oklahoma numerous times. He said Friday it was difficult for him to process the fact that it had been nearly three full decades since the bombing.

“Even though it seems like a long time, to many of these families it’s just like yesterday,” he said.

Minson has experience ministering to grieving families in the aftermath of immense trauma, including the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Parkland High School shooting in Florida. He stressed how important it was that surviving family members of these violent tragedies keep their faith and maintain solidarity with one another.

“That’s an indicator that there’s no evil that can stop us. 9/11 didn’t, the Oklahoma City bombing didn’t, Parkland didn’t,” Minson said. “Nothing will stop our resolve. We just have to be more resolved to strengthen ourselves to come towards each other rather than go away from each other — and in that, there’s healing.”

The reverend also said it was important to continue commemorating the victims and recognizing what happened, so that younger generations could understand how to overcome the pain of tragedy.

“They can understand inside all of us is the potential for evil, but also inside of us is the potential, and the absolute assurance, for good to overcome anything that attacks us, because it has every time we’ve been attacked,” Minson said. “With me, it’s always faith over fear. … and if we keep bringing enough faith, we will eventually conquer the fear.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC bombing 29th anniversary: Holt, Stitt, Haaland condemn hate