The unfinished bombing

323 Pages·2003·3.568 MB·English

by  Edward T. Linenthal

THE UNFINISHED BOMBING
OTHER BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Preserving Memory: The Struggle To Create America’s Holocaust Museum
Sacred Ground: Americans and Their Battlefields
Symbolic Defense: The Cultural Significance ofthe Strategic Defense Initiative
History Wars: The Enola Gay And Other Battles For The American Past
(co-edited with Tom Engelhardt)
American Sacred Space(co-edited with David Chidester)
A Shuddering Dawn: Religious Studies and the Nuclear Age
(co-edited with Ira Chernus)
THE
UNFINISHED
BOMBING
Oklahoma City
in American Memory
EDWARD T. LINENTHAL
1

3
Oxford New York
Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotá Buenos Aires Cape Town
Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi
Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi
Paris São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw
and associated companies in
Berlin Ibadan
Copyright © by Edward T.Linenthal
Published by Oxford University Press,Inc.,
Madison Avenue,New York,New York 
Oxford is a registered trademark ofOxford University Press
All rights reserved.No part ofthis publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval
system,or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,
or otherwise,without the prior permission ofOxford University Press.
Some ofthe illustrations in this volume,found by the author in the archives ofthe Oklahoma City
National Memorial Foundation,are the copyright ofproprietors whom the author has been unable to
locate.Such proprietors should contact the author in care ofOxford University Press,Madison
Avenue,New York,N.Y.,.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Linenthal,Edward Tabor,‒
The unfinished bombing :Oklahoma City in American memory / Edward T.Linenthal.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ---
.Oklahoma City Federal Building Bombing,Oklahoma City,Okla.,Psychological aspects. .
MemorialsOklahomaOklahoma CityPsychological aspects. .Oklahoma City National Memorial
(Okla.) .National characteristics,American.I.Title.
. 
.'dc 
Book design & composition by Mark McGarry,Texas Type & Book Works
Set in Minion
       
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
on acid-free paper
To the memory ofmy father
Dr.Arthur J.Linenthal
and to the memories of
Walter H.Capps
Lisa Capps
Robert S.Michaelsen
Ninian Smart

Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IX
INTRODUCTION:APRIL 19,1995 1
1. FALLING INTO ISTORY 15
H
2. TELLING THE TORY:
S
THREE NARRATIVES 41
3. “A NEW WORLD :
”
THE NNER IFE OF A WOUNDED OMMUNITY 81
IL C
4. “A INGLE HORD OF ORROR”:
SCH
THE EMORIAL VOCABULARY OF MERICAN ULTURE 109
M AC
5. “WE OME ERE TO EMEMBER”:
CHR
REATING THE EMORIAL IN KLAHOMA ITY 175
CMOC
ONCLUSION BONDS OF FFECTION 231
C: A
POSTSCRIPT 239
NOTES 242
NDEX 293
I