Memorials Mark Anniversaries of 2 American Tragedies

Bells tolled Sunday in Oklahoma City and outside Waco, Texas, to mark the anniversaries of two different but intertwined tragedies.

In Oklahoma City, 400 people shook small brass bells after 168 seconds of silence for the 168 people killed when a truck bomb blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995.

Near Waco, a replica of the Liberty Bell was rung after the reading of the names of people who died on April 19, 1993, when the Branch Davidian compound went up in flames after a botched FBI raid.

Survivors, relatives of the victims and others gathered at the site of the Murrah building.

President Clinton observed the bombing anniversary by saluting the “courage and resilience” of the people of Oklahoma City.

“It was an attack not just on the people, a city, a state, a nation, but on what we stand for, how we govern ourselves and the values we live by,” Clinton said from Santiago, Chile, where he was attending the Summit of the Americas.

Among those participating in the observance were cast members of the CBS-TV series “Promised Land,” who are in Oklahoma City to film scenes for episodes and to draw attention to efforts to build a permanent memorial.

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Actor Gerald McRaney told the Oklahoma City mourners that former Army buddies Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols plotted and pulled off the bombing in an attempt to divide the nation. McVeigh was convicted of murder, Nichols of manslaughter.

Officials of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation said $11.8 million has been raised toward the estimated $24.1 million needed for a permanent memorial at the site. Groundbreaking is scheduled for fall.

Prosecutors said McVeigh and Nichols acted out of anger at the government’s actions in Waco.

Speakers at the Texas site said the government was the enemy.

About 80 Davidians, a religious cult led by David Koresh, died after a 51-day siege by government agents who, in pursuit of a weapon cache, first tried to storm the compound Feb. 28, 1993, then again on April 19 of that year.

Former U.S. Atty. Gen. Ramsey Clark, speaking to about 200 people at the charred ruins of the Davidian compound, called the government action “a violent military assault on a church.”