The Night of the Sparrows: A True Account of the 1995 Murrah Building Bombing

By Herman O. Laskey Jr. LPQ CFI

Told from the perpective of a Marine serving in the Oklahoma National Guard, this account of the Oklahma City bombing in 1995 gives readers a behind-the-scenes look of events.

Herman O. Laskey Jr., who earned numerous medals and commendations serving in Operation Desert Storm and later as a member of the National Guard, recalls what he saw during the two weeks he was activited to respond to the attack.

In the Oklahoma National Guard, he started as a military police officer and then joined a military intelligence unit. He received his heavy vehicle operator license and drove numerous two-ton and five-ton vehicles, but none of his jobs prepared him for what he saw after the bombing.

In this account, he begins by recalling that fateful day before giving an account of what led him to the point when he was activated as a Guardsman to respond to the crisis. The carnage he witnessed still haunts him, and he reveals how he’s coped with post-traumatic stress disorder ever since.
The bombing of the Murrah building largely goes unnoticed except in Oklahoma. Get the facts about what happened and why it still matters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781663201966

Herman O. Laskey Jr. LPQ CFI

Herman O. Laskey Jr. has spent twenty-two years in the loss prevention field, working for four major retailers and operating his own loss prevention consulting company. He earned his Associate of Arts degree in criminal justice from Rose State College in 1996 and holds various certifications. He has been a licensed private investigator and is a regular published contributor to Loss Prevention magazine. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1990-1994 during Operation Desert Storm and in the Oklahoma National Guard from 1994 to 2000. He earned numerous medals and commendations.

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Copyright © 2022 Herman O. Laskey Jr., LPQ, CFI.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-6632-0195-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-0196-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021923751

iUniverse rev. date: 04/08/2022

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Getting It Straight

The Day It All Started

Duties

Atf Mission

My Walk In The Cornfields Of Iowa

Spirituality

No Smell

Geraldo Rivera

Fascination With The Ega (Eagle, Globe, And Anchor)

My Dreams Of Sniper School

My Time In Cuffs

The Breakdown

The Effects It Had On Me

Night Of The Sparrows

Path Of The Sparrows

The Body Bags

The Church

Career In Lp: Why I Was So Good And What Role Ptsd Played

Risk Vs Gain Theory

Time Vs Theft Ratio

Burnout In Lp/Ptsd

Early Reports By The Media

Many Questions Unanswered

My Return To The Murrah Building

My Return In 2016

About The Author

What Took So Long?

Dr. Jeckyl And Corporal Laskey

The Murrah Building Foundation

Oklahoma Media

Where I Wrote The Book

A Reason To Attend A Military Ball

Dispelling Myths And Stereotypes

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

M any books I’ve read include a long list of people to thank. You read about people being thanked for giving information, for writing information, and for giving inspiration to the author. I only have two thank yous to write about in this book. I want to thank the man upstairs for keeping this idea of the book in my brain for many years and allowing me time to properly process my thoughts and get them on paper. My relationship with God truly inspired my creative writing in this book. Without God’s inspiration and grace, this book would never have been completed. Once again, thank you, God, and may you bless me and inspire me to write many other books to further your cause and help others in this world.

My second and last thank you goes to Mickey Fisher. I’m sure this passage will be a big shock to Mickey, as I have not discussed this acknowledgement with him. Mickey is an avid reader and writer. He is also a fellow published author who has completed many books. I can browse over my Facebook feed and see the countless times Mickey inspired me to finish my book. I can truly say that no other person on this planet has inspired me and pushed me like Mickey did. I met Mickey years ago when I was working for Academy Sports and Outdoors. Mickey was a greeter/janitor who always had positive words to say. Whenever I was down, I would go up front and talk to Mickey, and I was guaranteed to be uplifted and entertained. I guess you never really know who your true lifetime friends will be until you get older or until you complete a book. I have numerous friends and family, and none of them inspired me to complete this book. Thank you very much Mickey Fisher. I appreciate all of your help. Thank you for revising and editing my rough, rough drafts. Thank you for reorganizing my thoughts on paper and making them more readable. Thank you for inviting me to your house and allowing me to meet your great parents. When I met your parents, Mickey, I truly knew where you get your good heart from.

Last of all, I would like to thank all of the readers of this book, whether it was purchased, downloaded, or borrowed. May it inspire you to do great things. If you are inspired by this book, make sure you pass it on to someone else. Thank you very much and have a wonderful life.

INTRODUCTION

T his book is written to honor and represent all the heroes who served in support of the 1995 Murrah Building Bombing. Many brave firefighters, policemen/women and National Guardsmen answered the call to duty on April 19, 1995. The story is mainly from a National Guardsmen’s point of view. The book leads off with an account of the very day the event took place and then slowly backs off to give an account of my life and how I ended up serving my country in copious ways. Later in the book, there are accounts of my early military career and jovial tales meant to lighten the mood, since this event was so damaging to the community. The last thing desired is that victims’ families and survivors have bad memories arise that cause further complications in their lives. I sincerely apologize if this book does cause any issues for the survivors or families of victims.

In 1995, I was attending Rose State College and working at a juvenile counseling facility. I was a van driver for Eagle Ridge. My job was to provide a reliable form of transportation for juveniles to attend drug and abuse counseling. It amazed me to see how young some of these kids were; but