Clone of tree damaged in Oklahoma City bombing tribute to survival, determination

Singing "The National Anthem" in front of the tree that sported a red-white-and-blue ribbon, were, from left, Josiah Hegwood, Emily Arp and Lexi Gross. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

McCOOK, Neb. -- Twenty-one years ago, an old American elm tree in the parking lot of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Okla., seemed insignificant.

The tree, while it provided the only shade spot in the parking lot, was still largely unappreciated.

Until the day, April 19, 1995, when terrorist Timothy McVeigh parked a rental truck in front of the Murrah Building, walked away, and detonated a 4,800-pound bomb. The blast disintegrated the front third of the Murrah Building, killing 168 people -- including 19 tots in the building's daycare -- injuring nearly 700 and destroying and damaging vehicles and buildings within a 16-block radius.

At noon Tuesday, McCook City Manager Nate Schneider, left, and Mayor Mike Gonzales place plaques during the dedication ceremony of a clone of the American elm tree that survived the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Okla., on April 19, 1995. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

In the Murrah Building parking lot, that lone elm tree was stabbed with debris and glass, and finally caught fire among burning cars.

As the city recovered from the attack, and terrorists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were sentenced -- McVeigh to death, Nichols to life in prison -- people working to clean up the area around the Murrah Building thought to tear out the scorched tree.

But survivors of the attack and family members of those killed realized that the tree's determination to leaf out after the attack was very significant. "Look at the tree. It's leafing out. It's surviving."

Amy Seiler, Community Forester Specialist with the Nebraska Forest Service, spoke of the significance of the original tree -- "with a funky lean to it" -- in the Murrah Building's parking lot. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

Amy Seiler of Gering, Neb., a Nebraska forest specialist who spoke in McCook Tuesday, called the elm tree "a silent witness" to the hatred and fear of that day, but also, as it survived the bombing and the fire, a very significant symbol of America's hope, courage and resilience.

Seiler was a guest speaker at the dedication ceremony of a clone of that Oklahoma elm tree that has now been planted on the front lawn of the City of McCook administration office. The clone tree was developed by Nebraska horticulturalist Harlan Hamernik of Clarkson, and nurtured for the past two years by McCook arborist Bruce Hoffman.

Seiler said, "A tree that seemed so insignificant became a significant valuable symbol in the recovery of Oklahoma City and many lives ... a beacon of hope in their trials."

How does this clone tree and its planting in McCook correlate with Nebraska's yearly celebration of Arbor Day on Friday, April 29, Seiler asked. J. Sterling Morton, a Nebraska transplant from Michigan in 1854, felt that trees had abundant significance, she said. Morton realized that Nebraska had no trees, and felt his new home could not prosper without trees. "Morton said the state must plant trees," she said.

On the first organized planting of trees, April 10, 1872, an estimated 1 million trees were planted in Nebraska. "In a territory of less than 5,000 people, these people planted more than 1 million trees," Seiler said. From that day forward, Nebraska became known as the home of "Arbor Day," and National Arbor Day is celebrated each year on the last Friday in April.

"Trees make life comfortable. Trees make life prosper," Seiler said.

Harlan Hamernik, who developed the Oklahoma elm clone, was another believer in the value and significance of trees. Addie Kinghorn of Metropolitan College in Omaha, who worked with Hamernik, said that Hamernik refused to give up on growing things. "Harlan said, 'If there's a chance it's a seed ... if a cutting could grow .. don't throw them away. He believed it would grow. The miracle of life is a seed.'" Kinghorn said.

Kinghorn said that Hamernik started at least 500,000 trees in Nebraska, and gave them all away. "He always said his favorite tree was the one he was planting now," she said.

Justin Evertson, green infrastructure coordinator for the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum, told those gathered at the clone tree dedication at the city building, "I love it that we're dedicating an elm. Look up and down this street at the elms -- trees planted by people looking to the future."

City manager Nate Schneider read the city's proclamation to the value and significance of trees: "Trees reduce erosion, cut heating and cooling costs and clean the air; trees are a renewable resource; trees increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas and beautify our community; trees are a source of joy and spiritual renewal." He and Mayor Mike Gonzales urge all citizens to plant trees in recognition of Arbor Day 2016, and to support efforts to protect trees and woodlands.