OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Vicki Hamm forgave Timothy McVeigh for killing eight co-workers six years ago when his truck bomb blew off the face of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

But it may have been harder to forgive herself for being at the doctor's that day instead of the U.S. Army recruiting office on the building's fourth floor.

''I've had six years now and I cried the first four years,'' said Hamm, a volunteer who handed out flyers Saturday at the bombing memorial and explained its symbols to visitors.

Her tears stemmed from survivor guilt, an overwhelming sense that she didn't deserve to live while 168 others perished. Her faith in God and prayer enabled her to forgive McVeigh, Hamm said.

''I know if things had been different that day, someone else would have been here telling the story,'' she said.

On a sultry day in central Oklahoma, Hamm and hundreds of others turned out to stroll through the memorial as McVeigh's early Monday execution in Terre Haute, Ind., approached.

Standing on a ledge near an American elm that survived the blast, Sue Ivey and her husband, Jim, gazed across the expanse at the empty bronze and stone chairs symbolizing the lost lives.

The 14th chair from the end, the third row back, is for Ivey's cousin, Karan Howell Shepherd, who perished on the third floor.

The April 19, 1995, explosion rocked the Iveys' home in the nearby suburb of Moore. The couple spent that day with Sue Ivey's aunt and uncle as they awaited word of their daughter's fate. Twelve days later, authorities confirmed what family members already knew.

''It was 12 days of torture,'' said Ivey, who plans to return Monday ''just to be here when the word comes down, to see justice done.''

She said she hopes the family gets a sense of peace from McVeigh's death.

Sharon Grant drove to the site with her family from Amarillo, Texas, 260 miles west.

''This is very emotional. You can put yourself in the position of the families with loved ones who died here and think about what they are going through today and what they'll be going through Monday,'' she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Grant said McVeigh deserves his punishment, but Marlin Gwaltney, who traveled down from Augusta, Kan., wondered whether he should be made to suffer more.

''He's probably getting a little more humane punishment than what he deserves,'' Gwaltney said.