NATION/WORLD The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 19, 1996- 5 OKAHOMA CIT ONE YEAR LATER Children symbols of explosion's *horror Los Angeles Times OKLAHOMA CITY - The wheez- ing echoes likea foghorn, one raspy gasp after another, signaling his presence long before he comes into sight. It is an unset- tling noise, guttural and frantic, a battle for air that sounds all the more tortured oming from such a tiny child. But P.J. Allen, the most critically in- jdred toddler to survive the federal build- ing attack last April 19, is as delightful andbedeviling as anormal 2 1/2-year-old boy can be. Sprinting through the house, he seems mercifully unaware of his con- dition, of the singed lungs that rob him of oxygen, of the tracheotomy tube that de- livers each breath through a small, surgi- cally fashioned hole in his neck. 0 "This is P.J.'s ball," he puffs, buf- feting a visitor wvith a well-aimed pitch. Only after several hours of whirlwind play does he finally re- quire a break: Performing a ritual re- peated six times every day and night, P.J.'s grandparents tether him to a vaporizer, pumping a soothing me- dicinal mist into the incision at the base of his throat. "People ask, 'Will he ever have a ormallife?"'says Deloris Watson, P.J.'s *randmother and legal guardian. "Well, this will have to be normal for him. This is as normal as it's going to get." A year ago, even such a grave prog- nosis would have been considered opti- mistic. As one ofjust sixchildren pulled alive from America's Kids, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building's ravaged day-care center, P.J. was little more than a bundle of gauze, his charred *ody sustained only by an ominous maze of wires and tubing. It was an image of fragility, a viola- tion of innocence, that struck at the heart of Oklahoma City's loss. With 168 dead, 19 of them children, these six were the lucky ones - a notion some- House OKs snti-terrorism legislation The Washington Post WASHINGTON -The House yes- terday gave final approval to a compro- mise bill aimed at fighting terrorism andcrime, sending the measure to Presi- A ent Clinton in time to mark today's frst anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. Clinton plans to sign the bill early next week even though it does not in- clude some of the most stringent anti- terrorism proposals he sought, accord- ing to senior White House adviser George Stephanopoulos, who said Clinton will push for their passage in separate legislation. The legislation includes unprec- dented curbs on federal appeals by death-row inmates as well as tougher penalties for terrorist crimes and strengthened governmental powers to exclude suspected foreign terrorists from the United States. The bill was approved by a bipartisan vote of 293 to 133 in the climax of a year-long struggle during which it al- most fell victim to an unlikely coalition of liberals and conservatives who found *ommon cause in opposition to expan- sion of government law enforcement powers. Mysteries still haunt bombing The Washington Post OKLAHOMA CITY - In the fran- tic days following the bombing of a federal building here - even after the FBI had two prime suspects in custody - dozens of witnesses continued to insist that another man was involved. John Doe No. 2 was seen driving the yellow truck allegedly used in the blast and even emerging from the vehicle just moments before it exploded. But a massive manhunt for this mys- tery man with olive-skin and a baseball cap turned up nothing. And today, the government admits it still has no idea who John Doe No. 2 is, or whether he even exists. This is just one of the many mysteries and unanswered questions that swirl around the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, in which 168 people were killed in the worst case of mass murder in U.S. history. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols await trial on I I counts of conspiracy and murder in Denver, where a judge moved the case after deciding the two men could not get a fair trial in Okl& homa. A court date has not yet been set. With no consistent eyewitnesses from the scene and no confessions, the enigmas loom large. Among them: Was a second truck involved in the bombing and if so, who drove it? If Nichols was part of the conspiracy, why do two friends, who have turned state's evidence, say Nichols wanted out of the conspiracy months before the bombing? If the two orchestrated a robbery to finance their plot, as the government alleges, then why is the case officially unsolved and no rob- ber identified? Government sources acknowledge that unresolved questions could create doubt in the minds ofa death-penalty case jury, when the case eventually comes to trial later this year or early next year. Jamie Humphrey (right) of Prue, Okla., weeps at the site of the former Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City, yesterday morning. At left is Brandle Millbum, holding Jamie's 5-year-old sister, Kelsey. times hard to reconcile with the swol- len, expressionless faces framed like masks by their swaddled heads. Today, as a cavalcade of tributes and prayers marks the one-year anniversary of the bombing, the six youthful survi- vors remain sym- bols - of Oklahoma'sregen- This it erative spirit and of the many shattered normal a lives that may never fully mend. going to Each of the six has overcome im- posing obstacles, Survivor testing the limits of technology and faith. Finally freed from the paralysis of catheters and ven- tilators, some have graduated to tram- polines and pony rides. Silenced by the loss of brain tissue, others have learned to speak anew, thrilling their parents with "mama" and "papa" as if it were the first time. As inspiring as their stories are, they also mirror all that is unresolved about Oklahoma City's recovery, the physi- m s sC cal wounds as well as the psychic scars. Some of the children still have debris lodged in theirbodies, metal pinsjoining their bones, chunks of skull missing un- der their scalps. Others still require plas- tic surgery to restore disfigured faces and occupational therapy to retrain deadened limbs. A few have been it'S rushed back to the emergency room, t _infection threaten- ing to undo all of eloris Watson their gains. 5 grandmother Even if those ered with more attention than 4-year- old Brandon Denny, who was pulled from the rubble along with his sister, Rebecca. Her wounds were mostly su- perficial, the explosion having scorched her left side like a sandblaster. But Brandon was less fortunate, losing por- tions of his brain when the bomb ripped a hole through the back of his skull. Still, he is now able to walk, albeit with the aid of a brace on his right leg. He has begun to talk again, even if he struggles to string together sentences. More importantly, he can throw his arms around his father and kiss him on the lips, finally returning the affection that Jim Denny lavished on his son in those first anguished days. "This is kind of the success story out of all the death and destruction," Denny says. "This is hope and healing right here," his wife, Claudia, adds. Eager to share theirjoy over Brandon's continued recuperation, they have been granting interviews nearly every day for the last month, even jetting to New York this week, courtesy of NBC and CBS. A chance to MAKE YOUR POINT to the University.. I.i wounds heal, the memory of what they have endured will not soon fade. The media spot- light, shunned by some families and embraced by others, has transformed several of the children into pint-sized celebrities. It also has ensured that their identities, like so many other as- pects of life in post-bombing Okla- homa, remain inextricably linked to the horror of last April 19. None of the children has been show- what the Survey of Gradusting Seniors is all about! ,.That's Please take the time to complete and return the survegl All expected May graduates were mailed a survey. Didn't get one? Contact Graduates.Survey@umich.edu raJiteI rC II'N 0