Terror victims gather in Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Several World Trade Center families and those who lost loved ones in the Oklahoma bombing comforted each other Friday at ceremonies marking the seventh anniversary of what had been until Sept. 11 the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil.

About 20 Sept. 11 relatives, survivors and rescue workers stood with Oklahomans for 168 seconds of silence in memory of the 168 people killed in the bombing of the federal building on April 19, 1995. Church bells broke the quiet.

"Today they look just as sad as us," said Nicole Petrocelli, whose husband, Mark, died at the trade center. "I can see from the expressions on the faces that the pain is never going to go away. But it gives me hope to see that they are a little stronger than we are."

Standing under the branches of an elm tree that survived the blast, many wiped away tears as a guitarist played "Amazing Grace" and a bombing survivor sang "Let There Be Peace on Earth."

Families of New York victims placed one white carnation on each of the empty bronze chairs where the Alfred P. Murrah Building once stood.

"There are no words to really describe how peaceful a place this is," said Anthony Gardner, whose brother died in the twin towers. "My hope is that we make something as beautiful as what you have made for your loved ones."

William Rodriguez, who was pulled from rubble of the trade center, said he came to thank the Oklahoma City bombing victims who visited New York last fall.

"The support that they gave us was very important because we didn't have any cathartic, emotional exchange with anyone who had gone through what we were going through," he said. "They are actually teaching us how to keep going."

Survivors of both tragedies said they share a bond that is unbreakable.

Jacquetta Lair, who placed a bouquet of yellow roses on a chair for her cousin, Oleta Biddy, said she knows how it feels to wait while rescuers search through the rubble. Biddy's body was not recovered for weeks.

"They are going through now what we tried to get through then," Lair said. "It was always there in your face and you couldn't get past it."

After the ceremony, many toured a new exhibit in the memorial museum that focuses on the similar experiences of terrorist victims. It includes photographs of people running from the bombed-out federal building, the flaming twin towers and the smoking Pentagon.

It also contains pictures and mementos of six Oklahomans killed in the Sept. 11 attacks and nine rescuers who helped after the Oklahoma City bombing and died at the World Trade Center.

The wife and 7-year-old son of William Lake, one of the rescuers who died, came to Oklahoma to see the exhibit.

"Bill was first and foremost a fireman and would have given the shirt off his back for anyone," Dorothy Lake said. "The week he spent in Oklahoma, he became obsessed with helping people and getting to know all of the victims."

She said she hoped the trip to Oklahoma would help her heal.

"Our wounds are still open," she said. "We didn't have time or the opportunity to celebrate our loved ones."