Oklahoma City bombing

===Children affected===
[[File:Firefighterbabyocb.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=A firefighter is holding a dying toddler in his arms, and he is looking down at her. The toddler has blood on her head, arms, and legs, and is wearing white socks.|Charles Porter's photograph of firefighter Chris Fields holding the dying infant Baylee Almon won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography]] in 1996.<ref name="PorterLaRue">{{Cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=A Mother's Pain For Ever Frozen in Time|work=[[The Star (South Africa)|The Star]]|date=April 19, 2005}}</ref>]]
In the wake of the bombing, the national media focused on the fact that 19 of the victims had been babies and children, many in the day-care center. At the time of the bombing, there were 100&nbsp;day-care centers in the United States in 7,900&nbsp;federal buildings.<ref name="Apocalypse578"/> McVeigh later stated that he was unaware of the day-care center when choosing the building as a target, and if he had known "...&nbsp;it might have given me pause to switch targets. That's a large amount of [[collateral damage]]."<ref name="DayCareKnew">{{cite news|title=FBI: McVeigh knew children would be killed in OKC blast |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/03/29/mcveigh.book.01/ |date=March 29, 2001 |publisher=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510065143/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/03/29/mcveigh.book.01/ |archive-date=May 10, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The FBI stated that McVeigh scouted the interior of the building in December 1994 and likely knew of the day-care center before the bombing.<ref name="TimeWeight"/><ref name="DayCareKnew"/> In April 2010, Joseph Hartzler, the prosecutor at McVeigh's trial, questioned how McVeigh could have decided to pass over a prior target building because of a florist shop but at the Murrah building, not "...&nbsp;notice that there's a child day-care center there, that there was a credit union there and a Social Security office?"<ref name="Prosecutor">{{cite news|last=Schoenburg |first=Bernard |url=http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x57956772/McVeigh-prosecutor-Focus-on-victims-of-Oklahoma-City-bombing |title=McVeigh prosecutor: Focus on victims of Oklahoma City bombing |work=[[The State Journal-Register]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229112840/http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x57956772/McVeigh-prosecutor-Focus-on-victims-of-Oklahoma-City-bombing |archive-date=February 29, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Schools across the country were dismissed early and ordered closed. A photograph of firefighter Chris Fields emerging from the rubble with infant Baylee Almon, who later died in a nearby hospital, was reprinted worldwide and became a symbol of the attack. The photo, taken by bank employee Charles H. Porter&nbsp;IV, won the 1996 [[Pulitzer Prize]] for Spot News Photography and appeared on newspapers and magazines for months following the attack.<ref name="TouristsHistory98">{{cite book|title=Tourists of History|last=Sturken|first=Marita|page=98|isbn=978-0-8223-4122-2|date=November 2007|publisher=Duke University Press }}</ref><ref name="PorterPPrize">{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/works/1996,Spot+News+Photography |title=1996 Pulitzer Prizes-Spot News Photography |publisher=[[Pulitzer Prize]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524173224/http://www.pulitzer.org/works/1996-Spot-News-Photography |archive-date=May 24, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
Aren Almon Kok, mother of Baylee Almon, said of the photo, "It was very hard to go to stores because they are in the check out aisle. It was always there. It was devastating. Everybody had seen my daughter dead. And that's all she became to them. She was a symbol. She was the girl in the fireman's arms. But she was a real person that got left behind."<ref>{{cite web|last1=West|first1=Lance|title="It's still tough to talk about," Firefighter from iconic Oklahoma City bombing photo retires|url=http://kfor.com/2017/03/21/its-still-tough-to-talk-about-firefighter-from-iconic-oklahoma-city-bombing-photo-retires/|website=News Channel 4|access-date=March 22, 2017|date=March 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322052242/http://kfor.com/2017/03/21/its-still-tough-to-talk-about-firefighter-from-iconic-oklahoma-city-bombing-photo-retires/|archive-date=March 22, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

The images and media reports of children dying terrorized many children who, as demonstrated by later research, showed symptoms of [[post-traumatic stress disorder]].<ref name="ChildPTSD">{{cite journal|title=The impact of the Oklahoma City bombing on children in the community|last=Pfefferbaum|first=Betty|author-link=Betty Pfefferbaum|format=Fee required|journal=Military Medicine |url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=13422617 |volume=166 |issue=12 |date=April 23, 2009 |pages=49–50 |access-date=March 3, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219163129/http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=13422617 |archive-date=February 19, 2014 |url-status=live |doi=10.1093/milmed/166.suppl_2.49 |pmid=11778433 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Children became a primary focus of concern in the mental health response to the bombing and many bomb-related services were delivered to the community, young and old alike. These services were delivered to public schools of Oklahoma and reached approximately 40,000 students. One of the first organized mental health activities in Oklahoma City was a clinical study of middle and high school students conducted seven weeks after the bombing. The study focused on middle and high school students who had no connection or relationship to the victims of the bombing. This study showed that these students, although deeply moved by the event and showing a sense of vulnerability on the matter, had no difficulty with the demands of school or home life, as contrasted to those who were connected to the bombing and its victims, who had post-traumatic stress disorder.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pfefferbaum|first=Betty|author2=Sconzo, Guy M.|author3=Flynn, Brian W.|author4=Kearns, Lauri J.|author5=Doughty, Debby E.|author6=Gurwitch, Robin H.|author7=Nixon, Sara Jo |author8=Nawaz, Shajitha|title=Case Finding and Mental Health Services for Children in the Aftermath of the Oklahoma City Bombing|journal=Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research|year=2003|volume=30|issue=2|pages=215–227|doi=10.1097/00075484-200304000-00006|pmid=12710374}}</ref>

Children were also affected through the loss of parents in the bombing. Many children lost one or both parents in the blast, with a reported seven children losing their only remaining parent. Children of the disaster have been raised by single parents, foster parents, and other family members. Adjusting to the loss has made these children suffer psychologically and emotionally. One orphan who was interviewed (of the at least 10 orphaned children) reported sleepless nights and an obsession with death.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Leland |first=John |title=The orphans of Oklahoma City |magazine=Newsweek |date=April 22, 1996 |volume=127 |issue=17 |page=40 |url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9604167868 |access-date=November 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510130442/http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=5&sid=707c93db-5d99-4077-abc0-8b54065a360e%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=9604167868 |archive-date=May 10, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

President Clinton stated that after seeing images of babies being pulled from the wreckage, he was "beyond angry" and wanted to "put [his] fist through the television".<ref name="Apocalypse54">{{cite book|title=Apocalypse in Oklahoma|last=Hamm|first=Mark S|page=54|isbn=978-1-55553-300-7|year=1997|publisher=Northeastern University Press }}</ref> Clinton and his wife [[Hillary Clinton|Hillary]] requested that aides talk to child care specialists about how to communicate with children regarding the bombing. President Clinton said to the nation three days after the bombing, "I don't want our children to believe something terrible about life and the future and grownups in general because of this awful thing&nbsp;... most adults are good people who want to protect our children in their childhood and we are going to get through this".<ref name="DMN">{{cite news|last=Loe|first=Victoria|title=Berlin-Based Team's Design Chosen for Bomb Memorial; Winning Entry Evokes Images of Reflection, Hope |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D9275A9192BE&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|format=Fee required|date=July 5, 1997|work=[[The Dallas Morning News]]|access-date=June 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609012558/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D9275A9192BE&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|archive-date=June 9, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> On April 22, 1995, the Clintons spoke in the White House with over 40&nbsp;federal agency employees and their children, and in a live nationwide television and radio broadcast, addressed their concerns.<ref name="ChildrenBroadcast">{{cite news|last=Martin|first=Gary|title=President demands execution for bombers|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SAEC&p_theme=saec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAFE75716F22FFF&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|format=Fee required|date=April 24, 1995|work=[[San Antonio Express-News]]|access-date=June 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609012612/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SAEC&p_theme=saec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAFE75716F22FFF&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|archive-date=June 9, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ClintonProve">{{cite news|last=Thomma|first=Steven|title=With his swift response, Clinton grabs center stage|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB32BDB4248171F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|format=Fee required|date=April 23, 1995|work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|access-date=June 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609012635/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB32BDB4248171F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|archive-date=June 9, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>