September 11th: A Day of Remembrance

Introduction 

The 9/11 event refers to the September terror attacks that took place in the year 2001 and included a series of suicide attacks carried out by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group Al Qaeda against US targets. The attack transpired on American soil and remains the deadliest attack in the history of the United States. The attacks against the city of New York and Washington, D.C caused sever deaths and destruction triggering an all-out war against terrorism. 

The attack left 2,750 people killed in the city of New York, 184 at the Pentagon and 40 in the town of Pennsylvania (BBC, 2014). The emotional distress that the attacks caused and particularly that of the collapsed twin towers left a visible landmark in the city of New York. Hundreds of thousands of people were witness to the attack first-hand with many onlookers taking photos and videos while millions watched the unfolding of the attack on television. Many Americans and people across the world would come to relive the dreaded memories over and over again with those directly affected not being able to fully get out of the trauma (BBC, 2014). The following paper examines the memories of actual interviewees in relation to the 9/11 attack in comparison to the traditional interpretation received or deduced rather from textbooks, newspapers, movies, music and magazines, to mention but a few. 

Comparison of Interviewees Memories and What Is Interpreted From Secondary Sources 

The interviewees for the research included neighbours, friends, relatives and random people that are of age and those that have definitely lived in the era of the attack. The primary purpose of the questions of the interview was to get a clear understanding of what the popular culture, lifestyle and social ingratiation was before, during and immediately after the attack. The examination or interview rather focused on these participants reliving of the memories of the attack and proceeded to compare their memories from what one interprets when reads or listens to secondary material relating to the 9/11 attack. 

According to many of the interviewees that experienced the 9/11 first-hand, the event caught them off guard. Each as going about their business. Weiss, for instance, a neighbour, was running late for work and would have most probably be in the WTC but since it was the Election Day for the mayoral primary, Weiss was still at her Gateway Plaza apartment. Suddenly, she heard a loud noise and thought that her neighbour’s furniture upstairs was falling. She did not bother to look outside the window until she heard people scream outside. It was then that she turned on the TV and saw that a plane had hit the WTC. Later, Weiss heard another noise one that was louder than the first one and at that point she realized the first plane crash was not an accident but intentional terrorist attacks. The lights in her apartment flickered then suddenly went out and the building began to shake in a manner resembling an earthquake shake and soon Weiss was thrown the floor. 

A similar story is detailed by Dittmar, a relative. Dittmar details of how his decision-making ability was put to test during the narrow escape from the doomed south tower of the World Trade Centre. Just like Weiss, Dittmar was going about his business having a meeting with insurance executives when they were interrupted and asked to leave the meeting courtesy of an explosion in the next tower. Dittmar and the other executives were upset if not offended by the request and began to exit the conference room and building slowly. 

A few seconds passed and Dittmar began going down floors with the assurance of a companion that the problem was just a minor issue that would soon be resolved. At the 90 th floor, all changed when the stairwell fire door was prop opened and he walked to a window facing the North Tower where he came face-to-face with the other tower gaping black hole. Dittmar witnessed people fall from the tower, an image that has stuck with him to date and the horror he felt gave him extreme fear making him want to go home. As fate would have it, he was among the six of all 54 executives he was working with that got out alive. 

The thoughts of most Americans turn to the 10 th anniversary of the 9/11 attack with memories of that day coming back like it was just a day ago. Actual people on the ground shed emotions and deep fear when reliving the day of the event and such can be seen and felt in their elaboration and description of what took place. It is with great clarity that people recall what they were engaged in or whom they were talking to when they became aware of the crisis whether via a phone call, an alert from a colleague or by first-hand glimpse of the WTC fire. Psychologists insist that such details are imprinted into the memory of the brain like a photograph especially when people learn of a sudden tragedy (Chen, 2011). The highly emotional memories are regarded flashbulb memories but hardly does the photographic accuracy bear out in interpretation of secondary materials. 

Listening to a primary source recollect the details of the event makes one feel the situation because it actually puts one in that situation. Unlike in the secondary sources where one thinks of a traumatizing situation with people running from one point to another without any proper discern or plan, the actual description of events accounts for even the most left out and minute details. It is unbelievable that the interviewees can even recall the colour of clothes they wore on that day, the type of coffee they were drinking, the number of their apartments and the last car they saw on the road before they heard the first bang or noise rather. It is clearer and more emotional with the actual interviewees as compared to the secondary sources because the secondary sources lack the catchy part of emotions in their documentation. 

If asked, what the event 9/11 was like according to books, music and videos, one would be quick to say that people were confused, they run without any discern to all corners and were fearful of their lives. Moreover, one would focus primarily on the structural collapse of the event and completely disregard or miscommunicate the collapse of mental ability and emotional stability of people that witnessed or experienced the event at a first-hand glimpse on the dreadful day. 

The thing with these secondary sources is that they tend to focus more on the attack and even when talking about the personal experience, they usually paint the picture of people that suffer from trauma hence do not really relate the actual emotions of that day but rather express how people have fared on to suffer from the recalling the dreadful event. However, it is different with actual person and especially when one pays attention to them. It is a complete reliving of the day and that has a way of putting one in the exact position of the person on the 9/11 date. 

Differences 

As pointed out, the memories created by the other sources are different from the ones painted by the actual persons that experienced 9/11 in that the latter detail and show that expressive touch and side of the event while the other sources fail to bring out the emotional bit. The effect of the above, is that secondary sources make it look like the noise and sudden fall of the WTC building was the centre of life forgetting to detail about how people would meet up in cafeterias, restaurants or stand outside buildings and have a conversation (Yoo, 2008). 

It forgets to document how people that were not in the adjacent vicinity of the WTC were affected and how the effect they experienced came about solely because of the manner in which reports got to them. Moreover, secondary sources forget to mention the points of concern for the survivors in ways that show the points of turns of these persons and areas where the shock of the terror attacks hit them. For instance, a close observation from the actual interviewees indicate that they were aware of the noise but they became shocked when they realized that it was an act of terror. The point of realization of the falling buildings being a terrorist attack is what brought forth confusion to the persons that experienced the 9/11 event. However, one cannot feel this aspect when reading or interpreting from secondary sources. 

Reason for the Difference of Subjects from the One’s elsewhere 

The memories of my subjects could be different because of the locations they were at during the unfolding of the event. Other sources could detail of experiences of persons that were either near the building, far away from the buildings that were bombed or receive the news of the terror attack from different sources from the ones my subjects received from. For instance, a good number of the subjects I interviewed experienced the unfolding of the event first-hand as most of them were either in the town centre going about their businesses and normal routines or were actually in one of the WTC buildings conducting businesses. Therefore, they were first-hand witnesses to the pain and death of the people that were first hit by the first plane crash and saw it take place right before them having nothing they could do about the situation but stand and watch as other beings cried out for help being unable to save themselves from the agony that was before them. 

In addition, the difference could be because of the manner in which people responded or acted to and in the midst of the situation. The subjects I interviewed showed to have gotten into a paroxysm of fear and extreme nervousness but were lucky enough to have had people besides them that sought to encourage them. Therefore, they did not lose themselves in the entire chaos but rather found a way of going through the situation to find haven and walk or run out of the places they were safely. 

Other sources could detail of people that were confused by the sight of the crumbling building and as such did not know what to do or how to act and ended up getting into harm’s way with some not being able to recall what happened to them as they woke up in hospitals not knowing how they got there (De Goede, 2008). Such things make the memories of the subjects of the interview and those from other sources different but hardly does that invalidate either or make any inaccurate. However, the interviewed subjects are able to give a direct and coherent account of the step by step occurrence of the events that took place in 9/11 while those from other sources may not be able to do so. 

Accuracy and Validity of the memories 

Indeed, it is observable that the memories from the subjects give a first-hand and coherent account of the events that led to the 9/11. The interviewees are correct and accurate in their information and the same could also be said about the memories from the other sources. However, it feels or it is substantial that the interviewees give a more accurate account than the interpretation received or deduced rather form the other sources. The validity is similar and not very different because depending on the positioning of people during the event, people can say different things about how they experienced the event but everything else or rather the key points such as the crumbling of the building, the noise and how loud it was and the earthquake like shake remain constant in all memories and that validates the information from both sides. 

Conclusion 

The 9/11 event refers to the September terror attacks that took place in the year 2001 and included a series of suicide attacks carried out by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group Al Qaeda against US targets. According to many of the interviewees that experienced the 9/11 first-hand, the event caught them off guard. Each as going about their business. Listening to a primary source recollect the details of the event makes one feel the situation because it actually puts one in that situation. Unlike in the secondary sources where one thinks of a traumatizing situation with people running from one point to another without any proper discern or plan, the actual description of events accounts for even the most left out and minute details. Both the subjects of the interview and the other sources give accurate and valid arguments or recollections of the 9/11 event. 

References 

BBC. (2014). the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 March 2018, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/the_september_11th_terrorist_attacks 

Chen, I. (2011). How Accurate Are Memories of 9/11? Scientific American, 1, 1 Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/911-memory-accuracy/# 

De Goede, M. (2008). Beyond risk: Premediation and the post-9/11 security imagination Security Dialogue, 39(2-3), 155-176. 

Yoo, J. (2008). The powers of war and peace: The Constitution and foreign affairs after 9/11: University of Chicago Press.