The McVeigh Tapes

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I was watching tv over Easter break and saw this on a commercial.  It is a documentary about the Oklahoma City Bombings.  It will air Monday, April 19th at 9pm. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36135258%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20/

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I watched this show last night and found it very intriguing. I remember the Oklahoma City Bombing and sitting on the couch watching the events unfold. Being so young, it was quite scary to me because I could not understand why somebody would hurt all those people.
From the interview tapes, Timothy McVeigh was very clear and somewhat adamant about not blaming his parents or upbringing for the way he turned out. However, the show talked about the troublesome time he had growing up which made me wonder just how much "fact" and "truth" this show was portraying.
I found very disturbing that McVeigh's anti-government views had began in the military when he met Terry Nichols (an older soldier that McVeigh looked up to). McVeigh and Nichols hit it off because they were both pro-Second Amendment and Nichols would discuss different conspiracy theories with McVeigh.
When McVeigh was deployed to Desert Storm, he and his company had participated in some ground combat where McVeigh actually had killed some enemy soldiers. His interview tapes talked about how he struggled with this because he began to feel as though American government was becoming a bully (which he resented because of being bullied as a teenager).
When he returned from Desert Storm, McVeigh had an incredibly difficult time adjusting back into civilian life and suffered a nervous breakdown. This made me wonder whether some extensive counseling to help McVeigh reintegrate and manage his PTSD symptoms would have perhaps prevented the tragedy that McVeigh caused later.
The final straw that broke McVeigh was the Waco, Texas incident involving the Branch Davidians. Seeing the government come in with such force and the collateral damage that occurred because of it finally pushed McVeigh over the edge. That's when he began to plan the Oklahoma City Bombing.
This show was difficult for me to watch at times because of the graphic pictures that they showed of the victims (children included). The show also made me think a lot about the lack of psychological services the military provides to it's soldiers once they return home. I find this extremely ironic since so much of the psychology discipline has been advanced because of the military. Could Oklahoma City been prevented? Nobody will ever be sure about the answer but part of me would like to think it could have. Maybe not by changing McVeigh's mindset but I like to think it could have been stopped during its planning stages had McVeigh been in counseling. Then again, it could just be some wishful thinking.

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