Press Releases

OKLAHOMA CITY NATIONAL MEMORIAL BRINGS FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY CHIEF TO SPEAK

Public is invited to attend lecture, luncheon

OKLAHOMA CITY — This country’s first National Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge will be the guest speaker at a public lecture and luncheon beginning at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, February 22, at the Petroleum Club in downtown Oklahoma City.
Ridge will provide his unique perspective on terrorism in the United States in conjunction with the opening of the national traveling exhibit, The Enemy Within: Terror in America – 1776 to Today, which is on display at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum through August 6.

“Secretary Ridge provides an intimate look into the security of this nation at the highest levels,” said Kari Watkins, Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum Executive Director. “His insight is invaluable as a gauge of how far we’ve come and where we have yet to go in terms of defeating terrorism on our own soil.”
On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked and crashed four commercial airliners and their passengers into each of two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and in Somerset County, Pa. On September 20, 2001, President George W. Bush announced then-Pennsylvania Governor Ridge would head a new Office of Homeland Security. In the words of President Bush, he had the strength, experience, personal commitment and authority to accomplish the critical mission of leading this newly formed department. In early 2003, Ridge was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the nation’s first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for mitigating terrorist attacks on the United States.
Tickets are $25 per person and are available by contacting Toni Clopton at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum at 405.235.3313.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum is commemorating the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Memorial Museum by hosting THE ENEMY WITHIN. It is the first in a series of three national exhibits the Museum will display in the coming months.

The journey through THE ENEMY WITHIN is as real as history gets. Visitors explore the over 230 years of hatred and terror this country has encountered on its own soil. They will learn about attempts at revolution, sabotage, radicalism, hate and anarchy, and will emerge with pride in a nation that has stood her ground and proven time and time again she will not be defeated.
Admission to the Memorial Museum is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors and $6 for students. Special rates and programs are available for school groups of 10 or more students and adult groups of 20 or more. Memorial Museum hours are Monday – Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Ticket sales end daily at 5 p.m.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum was created to honor “those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever” by the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The Memorial and Museum are dedicated to educating visitors about the impact of violence, informing about events surrounding the bombing, and inspiring hope and healing through lessons learned by those affected.
For more information on the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, call 888.542.HOPE or visit www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org.
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