First responders from OKC bombing, 9/11 to meet in emotional tribute at Knicks-Thunder game
For two weeks, 16 hours a day, 25 years ago, Oklahoma City police officer Scott Samuel worked at the check point of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing site, making sure anyone who entered the crime scene was supposed to be there.
And for two weeks, 16 hours a day, 25 years ago, New York Fire Department deputy chief Ray Downey served as the operations chief for FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue teams at the Murrah site.
Then, 6½ years after the Oklahoma City bombing, Downey died on 9/11 trying to save lives at the World Trade Center buildings.
On Friday, first responders from Oklahoma City and New York, including several who helped in Oklahoma City and died on 9/11, will be honored when the Thunder play the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Samuel will meet Downey’s son, Joe, who is also a firefighter in New York and was off-duty and not in Lower Manhattan on the morning of 9/11.
“It’s just going to be very emotional,” Samuel said, who still works for the OKCPD and is assigned to the U.S. Marshal’s federal task force that tracks down state and federal fugitives. “We want to let them know how important they were to us.”
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Said Downey: “To remember my dad and the guys we lost is the most important thing. There are eight guys who were killed in 9/11 and responded to Oklahoma City."
For Downey, being a first responder is more than a job. His brother, Chuck, is also a firefighter.
“We enjoy what we do,” he said. “We enjoy helping people; we enjoy going above and beyond. Risk-taking is in the nature of a first responder. When we're called, everybody who goes wants to be there. They want to make a difference. They want to have an impact. It’s like a vocation. It’s not really a career."
Said Samuel: “We’re the ones who respond to tragedy when it happens, and most people run away from it. We run to it. That’s just what we do. We don’t think about our own safety. We think about saving others. That’s why we all signed up to do what we do.”
The Thunder also will wear their city edition uniforms, which are “inspired by and designed in partnership with the Oklahoma City Memorial” to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing in which 168 people were killed on April 19, 1995.
The jersey includes the Gates of Time on the side panels with timestamps of 9:01 which represents innocence and 9:03 which represents the city’s unity. The bombing happened at 9:02. The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum’s logo is an elm tree, emblematic of a 90-year-old elm that survived the blast. That logo is on the waistband of the shorts.
The inside of the neck of the jersey features a blue ribbon and an inscription of remembrance. It reads, “We remember those who were changed forever. April 19, 1995.”
The memorial and museum has a conscience committee comprised of survivors, first responders and victims’ families, and they are a vetting group for all activities that the memorial is involved in. The team received permission from that group to create these city edition uniforms.
“They immediately saw the platform as a great opportunity to help teach the next generation of Oklahomans and really across the country, if not the world, about what happened in Oklahoma City in 1995, how we will never forget the people who died that day and how Oklahoma City has responded from that day to become what it is now,” Thunder vice president of sales and marketing Brian M. Byrnes said.
The NBA regularly honors first responders at games, but this is a special gathering that will include first responders from both cities and former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating and his wife, Cathy. Some will hold the flag during the national anthem, and during the first timeout, reps for the Knicks and Thunder and memorials will exchange jerseys to honor the connection.
It is expected to be a moving moment when the first responders from both cities meet.
“Being a first responder for this event is rewarding because they’re remembering special people who set the path for us,” Downey said. “A lot of people who died worked for my dad and they were quality firefighters. We try to emulate good people like that, especially my father, and carry out their ideals. It’s important to remember because people could easily forget, especially 25 years after Oklahoma City.”
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