Mcveigh Family History & Genealogy

Domestic Terrorist. He planned and implemented the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on April 19, 1995, in which 168 people were murdered in the explosion. He would state that this bombing was in retaliation for the Waco Siege, Ruby Ridge, and for other governmental activities and policies that he considered tyrannical. Born into an Irish Catholic family in Lockport, New York, he was the son of William and Mildred Noreen Hill McVeigh. His parents divorced when he was ten years old. Quiet and shy, he was picked on by school bullies while he was growing up. He had only one girlfriend during his high school years, which he attributed to his inability to talk to girls. While in high school, he became interested in computers and guns, and in his senior year, he was voted the school's "Most Promising Computer Programmer." He learned to love guns when his grandfather introduced him to shooting, and during his late teen years, he became interested in gun rights and the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. Politically, he supported the Libertarian political party, and voted for the libertarian candidates. Following his parent's divorce, he lived with his father, while his sisters remained with his mother. His father, a devout Roman Catholic, tried to instill the religion in his son, but he later reported that after leaving of his father's house, he had lost contact with religion, never resuming it, and at one point, claiming to have become an agnostic. In May of 1988, he enlisted into the US Army, and would later serve in the Gulf War as a top turret gunner on a M-2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle with the First Infantry Division, for which he was awarded a Bronze Star Medal. Following the Gulf War, McVeigh tried to join the Special Forces, but was rejected after failing the physical fitness requirements for the program. Failing to live his military dream, he left the Army on December 31, 1991 with an Honorable Discharge. Initially transient, he worked near his hometown of Pendleton, New York as a security guard, then quit his job to move around the country doing odd jobs and finding old Army buddies. Over the next several years, he failed at many things important to a young man: he had a dead-end job, he failed at romantic relationships, the Army billed him for $1,058 that they claimed they overpaid him, he started to gamble and had insufficient money to pay his gambling debts. In 1993, he went to Waco, Texas during the siege to show his support. He began to believe that the government was turning socialist, bigger and more controlling of the people's lives. Following the end of the Waco Siege, he began working at gun shows, and moved around the various states, visiting and working at some 80 gun shows across the country, where he distributed survivalist items such as "The Turner Diaries" and would talk to people about what he perceived as the federal government threat to American liberties. While living with his former Army buddy Terry Nichols, he learned to make explosives from normal, standard household materials. Upset over what he believed was government tyranny in the siege of Ruby Ridge and Waco, he and Nichols began to stockpile weapons, ammunition and ammonium nitrate fertilizer, for fear that the government would start banning their sales. He and Nichols constructed a 5000-pound bomb made of ammonium nitrate or an agricultural fertilizer and nitromethane or a motor racing fuel in a rented Ryder truck. After parking the truck in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, McVeigh lit two fuses, with one being a backup, and at 9:02 am the bomb exploded, destroying the north half of the building. The blast killed 168 people and injured 450 others. Nineteen of the victims were infant children in a daycare on the ground floor of the building. While driving away from the building and the time bomb, McVeigh had removed the license plate from his car to avoid possible identification from witnesses. A state trooper noticed the missing plate and pulled his car over. McVeigh had also left a pistol on the back seat in plain sight, and the Oklahoma trooper arrested him for carrying a concealed weapon. While still in jail on the gun charge, McVeigh was identified as the renter of the Ryder van used in the bombing, and was quickly rearrested on the bombing charges. McVeigh was indicted on 11 federal counts, including conspiracy, use of a weapon of mass destruction, destruction by explosives, and first-degree murder. The Federal District Court agreed with a defense motion to change venue, and the case was tried in Denver, Colorado. Showing no remorse over his actions, McVeigh was convicted of all 11 counts and sentenced to death. While awaiting execution, McVeigh would write many essays about his beliefs. His best essay is considered a letter he wrote to Fox News entitled "I Explain Herein Why I Bombed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City" in which he makes it clear his reasons for the bombing, and ending with the statement "If people say 'The Turner Diaries' was my Bible, then 'Unintended Consequences' would be my New Testament. [It] is a better book." McVeigh was executed by lethal injection at the Federal Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. He selected William Henley's poem, "Invictus," as his final statement. A newly passed Federal Law prohibited McVeigh from being buried in a military cemetery, and no one claimed his body, so he was cremated and given to his lawyer, who scattered the ashes at an undisclosed location.

Josephine Lorraine (Harris) McVeigh was born to Peter C. Harris (1881 - 1942) and Anna Louise Jardine (1880 - 1972). She had siblings Elizabeth Corrinne, Eleanora "Ellie" Honora, and Bernadette Harris. Josephine Lorraine Harris married Francis Joseph McVeigh (1917 - 1967) on October 24, 1942 in Highland Park, Michigan. They had two sons, Bob and David. See Lorraine J Mcveigh: Obituary.

William A Mcveigh of Huntington, Hampshire County, MA was born on July 27, 1915, and died at age 77 years old on May 6, 1993.

William B Mcveigh of Westminster, Orange County, CA was born on August 12, 1920, and died at age 78 years old on February 13, 1999.

William L Mcveigh of Kent, Portage County, Ohio was born on August 1, 1913, and died at age 68 years old in June 1982.

Kenneth A Mcveigh of Roslyn Heights, Nassau County, NY was born on August 27, 1916, and died at age 66 years old in June 1983.

Aloysius C Mcveigh of North Royalton, Cuyahoga County, Ohio was born on October 3, 1905, and died at age 72 years old in March 1978.

George Andrew Mcveigh of Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio was born on November 22, 1920, and died at age 55 years old in July 1976.

Arthur S Mcveigh of Salem, Marion County, Oregon was born on January 5, 1910, and died at age 73 years old in September 1983.

Thomas F Mcveigh of Southington, Hartford County, CT was born on September 18, 1913, and died at age 71 years old in March 1985.

Thomas A Mcveigh of Yarmouth Port, Barnstable County, MA was born on July 12, 1917, and died at age 65 years old in May 1983.

Howard O McVeigh of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, WI was born on January 24, 1922, and died at age 47 years old on March 28, 1969. Howard McVeigh was buried at Wood National Cemetery Section 43 Row 4 Site 16 5000 West National Ave. Bldg. 1301, in Milwaukee.

John N Mcveigh of Pacifica, San Mateo County, CA was born on January 14, 1925, and died at age 80 years old on June 20, 2005.

John E Mcveigh of Flushing, Queens County, NY was born on October 26, 1924, and died at age 86 years old on April 8, 2011. John Mcveigh was buried at Calverton National Cemetery Section 25 Site 3716 210 Princeton Boulevard - Rt 25, in Calverton.

John J Mcveigh of Whitestone, Queens County, NY was born on August 14, 1927, and died at age 54 years old in May 1982.

John F Mcveigh of Viola, Mercer County, IL was born on October 20, 1913, and died at age 81 years old on October 26, 1994.

John E Mcveigh of Spring Hill, Hernando County, FL was born on February 5, 1928, and died at age 72 years old on December 30, 2000. John Mcveigh was buried at Florida National Cemetery Section 443 Site 33 6502 Sw. 102nd Ave., in Bushnell.

John T Mcveigh of Saint Petersburg, Pinellas County, FL was born on May 17, 1934, and died at age 63 years old on March 12, 1998. John Mcveigh was buried at Bay Pines National Cemetery Section 60 Row 8 Site 1 P.o. Box 477, in Bay Pines.

John J Mcveigh of Babylon, Suffolk County, NY was born on July 22, 1912, and died at age 74 years old in December 1986.

John W Mcveigh of Rochester, Monroe County, NY was born on July 4, 1904 in Irish Free State, and died at age 60 years old in July 1964.