Where Are the Survivors of the Oklahoma City Bombing Today? Here’s How Young Victims Remember the Day, 30 Years Later

The most devastating act of domestic terrorism in United States history occurred 30 years ago.

On the morning of April 19, 1995, a bomb exploded in a rental truck parked outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City — killing 168 citizens, including 19 children, and injuring 680 in total.

Only six of the 21 children enrolled at America’s Kids Daycare inside the building that morning survived. In 2015, PEOPLE reunited five of them at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, now home to a reflective pool and chairs commemorating the lives lost.

Some survivors live with minor scars, while others continue to deal with the lasting effects of their injuries. At the time of the bombing, the children were between the ages of 1 and 5, making it difficult for most of them to remember the event all these years later.

“Subconsciously, I know that the connection to everyone on the grounds is of a melancholy nature,” Christopher Nguyen, who was 5 years old at the time of the bombing, told PEOPLE in 2015.

Nguyen recalled “having absolutely zero knowledge” when interviewers asked early on about the attack carried out by Timothy McVeigh. So, he researched the incident and visited the bombing site and museum to increase his awareness.

“I read the newspaper articles my parents had saved and looked up information online to fill in the gaps,” Nguyen said before adding, “I make small but significant choices every day to not waste the gift of life.”

McVeigh, a former member of the U.S. Army and security guard, was executed in 2001 for his role in the tragedy. His accomplice, Terry Nichols, was found guilty in 1997 of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and involuntary manslaughter, per The New York Times. He is serving multiple consecutive life sentences without parole.

To mark the 30th anniversary of this antigovernment attack, revisit the stories of the survivors and their families.

Christopher Nguyen, now 35; age then, 5

At first, when Nguyen asked about the bald scar on the back of his head, his parents told him it occurred in a fall. However, as he learned the truth of his injury, he also came to understand what he’d been feeling.

“As a child, I could only describe my emotions as far as ‘feeling bad,’ whereas I can now readily restate it as survivor’s guilt,” he said. “Yet through the darkness, I found a silver lining. Although my outlook is still periodically pessimistic, I find myself to be cautiously positive. I see and believe the best in people.”

Nguyen continued, “Each year on the anniversary, I get a reminder of how lucky I am to be alive. Nineteen children did not survive that day. I have no right to be apathetic, coarse and ungrateful.”

He added: “I’m very appreciative that I’m alive and that my parents can see me grow. The other people, they won’t ever get that chance.”

P.J. Allen, now 31; age then, 20 months

Nothing about P.J. Allen’s broad-shouldered appearance hinted at the blows his body took in the blast. His right lung collapsed. Second- and third-degree burns covered half his body. His left arm was broken in three places. Cinder block pieces were embedded in the back of his head.

After years of surgeries, Allen finally had his breathing tube removed when he was 11.

“It was almost like I was being set free,” he said before adding, “I realize how blessed I was to make it, how thankful I am to God.”

Allen continued, “I’m really thankful for every day. The bombing affected us all, and we can’t forget that. To push it out of my head would be disrespectful to those that weren’t lucky enough to have their family member come out.”

His unintended celebrity included meeting former President Bill Clinton and a hospital hug with Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, which launched a years-long friendship.

“I’d trade all my experiences to make that tragedy never happen, to just go back in time to make sure no one was hurt,” Allen said.

Nekia McCloud, now 34; age then, 4

Nekia McCloud has enjoyed an independence few expected when a traumatic brain injury from the blast left her in a coma for a month.

“I guess at that time, I was thinking she was going to be okay, she could relearn everything because she was so young,” said her mom, Lavern McCloud. “It was hard, but you pulled through it.”

According to her mom, the quiet and sweet Nekia was “at the level of a 6- or 7-year-old,” but her ambitions aimed higher. In 2015, Nekia rode public transit to work five days a week at a center for young people with disabilities. She also enjoyed bowling, shopping and visiting the library; she knew how to cook her favorite meal — tacos.

“She understands that she’s different from, like, her older brother and sister,” said her mom at the time. “She’s not able to live on her own like they are.”

Still, Lavern said that didn’t diminish Nekia’s dreams of someday driving a car, having a boyfriend and maybe getting married.

Lavern added, “She could have been one that didn’t make it. She’s one of God’s angels that He kept here for a reason. I know she’s going to do good things.”

Joe Webber, now 31; age then, 20 months

The bombing broke his jaw and left arm, but for a long time, the imprint on Joe Webber went no deeper than the slight scar above his left eye and another that curved across his cheek.

Then, on a random practice run as a high school hurdler, the magnitude of what he’d endured suddenly took hold. Stopping on the track, he realized “that I was in a tragic event so terrible that it’s amazing that I escaped alive,” he said. “I am so lucky to be here and even thinking about this.”

“For someone who doesn’t remember anything, it’s just an incredible story that’s hard to believe, and so I just have to keep reminding myself that it’s true and how significant it is in my life and other people’s lives,” Webber said.

He added, “The sense of purpose, the sense of awe that comes with this whole story, has just made me a more thoughtful, faithful and compassionate person.”

Rebecca Denny, now 32; age then, 2

For a while, Rebecca Denny, who missed the rare survivor reunion in 2015 as she readied to graduate from Oklahoma State University, used the bombing as a yardstick to measure her life — and found herself failing.

“I am constantly bashing myself and telling myself that [the victims] would have done a better job if they were here,” she wrote in a 2011 high school graduation essay. “So many lives were taken away that day, innocent lives. The only way I have been able to cope with this is to take everything in my own life and hold on to it.”

One of those things is her brother, Brandon Denny, who was the most seriously injured child to survive the blast. He required four major brain surgeries, hampering movement on his right side and making it tough for him to get his words out.

“Brandon spoke more until he was 3 than I’ve heard him speak in 20 years,” dad Jim told PEOPLE in 2015.

Still, Brandon’s easy, good humor and determined attitude — an NBA and NASCAR fan, he then worked four days a week at a Goodwill distribution center — helped his sister heal, too.

“I was worried about the past getting in the way of my future,” Rebecca wrote in 2011. “Bad things will happen, and I have learned to accept that, but if bad things didn’t happen to us, if we didn’t have those moments of weakness, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the good nearly as much.”