BILL McVEIGH bears no ill will toward government that killed his son

PENDLETON, N.Y. (AP) _ Bill McVeigh says he has no hard feelings toward the government that executed his son. <br><br>A day after Timothy McVeigh's death by injection at a federal prison in Indiana,

Wednesday, June 13th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PENDLETON, N.Y. (AP) _ Bill McVeigh says he has no hard feelings toward the government that executed his son.

A day after Timothy McVeigh's death by injection at a federal prison in Indiana, the man's father was back at the rural home north of Buffalo where he raised his son.

He'd spent Monday with out-of-town relatives, saying earlier his son did not ask him to witness the execution, nor did he want to.

``They may not have handled it perfectly,'' the retired auto worker said Tuesday of the FBI, ``but the bomb shouldn't have been set. That's the bottom line.''

``You've got to have government, there's no two ways about it,'' he added.

Timothy McVeigh cited his hatred for the government, which he viewed as a bully, in setting off the truck bomb that killed 168 men, women and children at the federal building in Oklahoma City six years ago.

McVeigh, 33, called one of his two sister, Jennifer, for a final time Saturday, Bill McVeigh said. He spoke with his son for the final time a month ago.

After preparing for the possibility of execution for six years, in the end he had relatively little time to think about it, the father said. Everyone had thought a federal judge would grant a delay late last week, he said.

``When (the bombing) first happened, the FBI said this will probably mean the death penalty,'' he said, ``but I really didn't think about it until after (Judge Richard Matsch's) decision Wednesday.''

He said life would go on and turned to everyday chores, tending his sprawling backyard garden and large well-kept lawn.

``I knew when I got home the strawberries would have to be picked,'' he said, ``and the grass would be long.''

The American flag that normally flies over the ranch house remained down Tuesday _ McVeigh did not want it flying during his son's execution. He said he would raise it again soon.

McVeigh's mother, Mildred Frazer, and Bill McVeigh were divorced while their son was in high school.