16.+Oral+History+Interview


 * 1) When the first aircraft struck the World Trade Center, could you hear the explosion? If so, what was your initial thought to what had happened?

I didn’t actually see the explosion. I was on my way to work when the first plane struck, and the second plane hit when I got into the office. I worked about a mile south of the World Trade Center. When I got into the office everyone was looking out the window. We had a perfect view of the buildings and we saw them collapse. My roommate was in the second building hit, but his building went down first. When the second tower was hit, the second tower was told to evacuate. Then an announcement came on that said, “ It was nothing, just a minor building fault. Many people didn’t know the severity of the situation.”

I was in great disbelief that this had happened. After the first tower had fallen, it seemed like it crumbled like a block of towers. It was even more unnerving because the towers were such a dominant sight in NYC. New Yorkers were very scared because after the towers were hit, people were scared worse attacks were to come. There was much paranoia.
 * 1) After the towers had fallen what was your reaction to what had happened? Were you in disbelief that something like this could happen to the U.S?

4. After hearing about all 4 attacks, who did you suspect was behind the attacks? If you only felt there was one particular "group" that was behind it, did you have any doubt that there would be more attacks sometime in the future? When they happened, we had a feeling they were coordinated because they were so closely planned. We were certain that future attacks were going to happen. Although we didn’t know if they would attack NYC, they would attack elsewhere. After I had heard that the Pentagon was hit, we couldn’t believe what other attacks would happen.

5. Do you think the U.S responded appropriately to the attacks? If not, then what do you think they did wrong? I think that how responded was reasonable considering what had happened. I do not think that going into IRAQ was completely necessary, but catching Bin Laden was right.

6. How do think that the attacks were able to be accomplished? How were a series of deadly attacks able to be carried out on U.S soil? The group that planned this had immense determination and planning and resources and the desire to attack. Also, it’s partly due to our ignorance and how we underestimated our defense. We did not feel this could happen because even though Pearl Harbor was attacked it was during war time and it was far off the coast.

7. How do you feel about the fact that Americans forced the 4th plane that was headed for the white house into a field? Do you think they knew where the target was and they didn't want that target to be hit, or did they do it out of courage? I think those people had a sense of where the 4th target was. Also, some might have known the other targets. They were pretty brave people who did not want the white house to be hit and they did it out of pride in their country.