Volunteers with ties to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing have stepped up to give tours at the National Memorial there as park rangers are furloughed during the government shutdown.
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The federal government shutdown has affected tours of the National Memorial to the 168 victims of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. These tours are usually led by park rangers who are now furloughed. But volunteers who were directly affected by the bombing have stepped in as temporary tour guides. Abigail Siatkowski with member station KOSU tagged along.
ABIGAIL SIATKOWSKI, BYLINE: A group of about 25 people gather around Susan Winchester at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
SUSAN WINCHESTER: I think we’re going to go from here over to the wall.
SIATKOWSKI: She points to the 168 chairs set up in nine rows across the grassy lawn, each row representing one floor of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombed in 1995 – the deadliest homegrown terror attack in U.S. history.
WINCHESTER: The chairs are each – were each individually created, and they have the name of a person lost on each one. Every single chair is a little bit different because they were handmade.
SIATKOWSKI: With the rangers furloughed, family members and even survivors are stepping in to give these tours. Winchester lost her sister, Margaret Clark, in the bombing. That’s why she wanted to make sure they continue during the shutdown.
WINCHESTER: It’s a story we – that we really want to put in front of everyone each and every day. So as a volunteer, I’m more than happy to be here and be outside on a beautiful, sunny Oklahoma day giving a tour. This is perfect.
SIATKOWSKI: Today, she’s showing around an RV group traveling Route 66. Among them is Brenda Mable. She appreciates learning Winchester’s connection to the tragedy.
BRENDA MABLE: It means so much more, just knowing that she had to go through this and live through her sister being lost and then helping raise her three nieces and watching them grow up without a mother. It just – she makes it even more real.
SIATKOWSKI: For her part, Winchester says one of the lessons of the memorial is that political violence is never the answer. She wants to make sure tourists who come here during the shutdown still get that message.
WINCHESTER: If we have the opportunity to say, make a difference, make a – be positive, do something for the good and the good of all, I mean, that’s what it’s about.
SIATKOWSKI: The museum next to the National Memorial also remains open. That’s because the entire site is run by a nonprofit, which isn’t funded by the government.
For NPR News, I’m Abigail Siatkowski in Oklahoma City.
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