When the visit was scheduled, he couldn't have known that he would bring a new portion of grief for his friend Ron Brown. He urged his audience to pray for those downed over Croatia along with their own lost loved ones. A lot of people are very on guard. The physical rebuilding of Oklahoma City proceeds slowly, if at all. The fate of the actual bomb site remains unclear while a committee deliberates about what sort of permanent memorial to build.
Some Federal employees work out of temporary quarters in a mall complex.
About 10 buildings have been razed, and many others are still in need of major renovations. Some 150 businesses have applied for grants or loans so far. For some businesses the bombing was a death knell. A small dry cleaner, for instance, found that 16 of the 29 customers who had left clothes there were killed. The two brothers who ran the store did not have enough insurance to cover damages.