Timothy McVeigh masterminded the worst terrorist act ever perpetrated by an American citizen, the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. He was raised in a rural community in upstate New York after his parents separated [Page 303]in 1978. A loner in high school, McVeigh enlisted in the army in 1988 and rose through the ranks to platoon leader. In 1991, after winning a Bronze Star in the Persian Gulf War, he failed to complete Green Beret school, increasing his dissatisfaction with the government.

In 1993, McVeigh began a nomadic life, selling guns at shows throughout the United States. He traveled to Waco, Texas, during the standoff between federal agents and the Branch Davidian cult and was incensed at the ...