Reverberations from the car bomb explosion that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City have been felt by other credit unions serving federal employees.
After seeing the devastation at Oklahoma's Federal Employees Credit Union, other credit union officials fear their institutions could be hit as well.
"I feel somewhat vulnerable," said Michael Plotnick, president of Federal Employees Credit Union, Lansing, Mich. "The Michigan connection doesn't help any," he added, noting that a suspect in the Oklahoma City bombing, Timothy McVeigh, has connections to so-called militias in the Wolverine State.
"You have to wonder if there are other people still out there," he said.
Mr. Plotnick is not alone.
Kathe Munns, the employee assistance program director for CUNA Mutual Group, said she fielded calls after the Oklahoma City explosion from credit union officials seeking counseling for nervous employees.
Though nagged by fears, some credit union officials said there is little they can do to prevent a future attack if one comes, and they accept the threat as an occupational hazard.
"Credit unions and all financial institutions have lived under the threat of robberies and hostage situations," said George M. Clarke, chief executive of Federal Employees Credit Union in Atlanta. "All of a sudden we have terrorists in there."
Even officials who believe they are safe still have some lingering anxiety.
"We feel pretty secure here," said George Barger, assistant manager of Federal Employees Credit Union in Hickory, N.C. "But, then again, they probably felt the same way" in Oklahoma City.
Stan Hollen, president and chief executive of Golden 1 Credit Union in Sacramento, has been alarmed more by the "Unabomber" than whoever struck in Oklahoma City.
Last month the bomber sent a letter bomb to a trade group in California's capital; the next day the credit union issued a memo explaining how to detect letter bombs.
