Blog 4 Oral History Analysis

I interviewed Joe Palinsky. Joe gave me great in depth details of the events that unfolded on 9/11.
 Our interview was a little unique. Talking about 9/11 brings both us to share our feelings together. As I am interviewing Joe I could not help to reflect on what I felt that day. As I listened to Joe answer the questions I asked, he listened to my account based on those same questions. My account is denoted in dark blue font. I chose to analyze my interview with Joe and Arlene and Daniel's interview because they both in a high school setting when they found out about 9/11. Being teenagers and myself a young adult we were able to formulate our own opinions about what it meant to us, how we searched for the real events after hearing different accounts.

Coding:
Pink= Age , location and detail
Yellow=feelings after an accurate account of what happened
Green=Ways of dealing with attack after accurate information was recieved
Orange= Knowing someone directly involved in attack



How old are you and were do you live?
 Joe: 26 years old and I live in Colonia, NJ.
Me: I live in Rahway, NJ (Joe and I realize how close we live to each other, 5 minutes away.)

Where were you on 9/11?
Joe: I was 15 years old at the time, a sophmore in Union Catholic H.S. I remember being in Italian class it was about 9:30am when the anouncement came over the PA system about a small plane colliding into the world trade. We  had inaccurate accounts about what actually happpened but class went on anyway.  At 11:30 am my third period chemistry class teacher was all distraught and acting very confused. Her account was that a plane hit disney land. In Union Catholic we all had individual laptops so I went online but couldn't get any info, cause the server was down. We didn't have hi-tech connections back then. It was shear pandemonium as people started finding out what really happened.
At 11:30 in gym class people had found out that the news of what really happened and some students got picked up, the rest of the students stayed in school the rest of the day.



Me: I am can't believe you all had a full day of school. I was 24 and in college at Middlesex County, which has a large Middle Eastern population. No one new what happened initially, the professor in my first class said the world trade was bombed and told everyone to leave immediatley.


What was the sentiment of the people around you?
Joe: It was a lot of fear. I am not a person who is afraid of much. I don't usually get in a state of paranioa , but I was afraid. My religion class teacher showed us the tower falling. There were conflicting views on what happened it was overwhelming. I was hoping it wasn't as bad as it seemed. I had hope as we saw people being pulled out of the wreckage.



 Me: As I was leaving school I saw some students of Middle Eastern decent laughing and cheering about the catastrophic event. (Joe is in shock, he could not believe that anyone would cheer at the demise of others.)

Did you have a connection to anyone at the twin towers, pentagon, or on a plane that was affected by 9/11?
Joe: I wasn't really worried about my immediate family no one lived in NY at the time. I did have a friend that it was ironic that both of his parents called out of work that day, and they worked at the towers. I was a little guilty that I was happy about that but it was a small victory. I was happy they survived. I also knew  a priest who was connected with my high school who died at the towers.

Me: I didn't have anyone who directly  connected but I realized in an instant that I was going to be connected to 9/11. While people around me were thinking of others, I was thinking of how it was going to effect my family. At the time I was a reservist in the United States Army, and I knew after watching the news and hearing a war would be waged on terrorist that I may be called to go overseas.

What did you think about the attackers?
Joe: At the time it happened I didn't know anything about the attackers. I later found out that the terrorist used a computer in William Paterson, the college I was in. He used the  library to book  a ticket for one of the planes.

How has 9/11 changed the world?
Joe: The world has never been the same. The world is definitley much more bizarre. People are more fearful, there was more profiling of middle eastern groups. Muslims were being treated badly, more wrongs came from the event. The political premise was unecessary, people were patriotic and unpatriotic at the same time. I hated that people were capitilizing off of it. People were afraid to go to NY after that. My parents were not afraid of NY they went to a show in Times Square a couple of weeks later.

Me: I remember people becoming upatriotic and profiling groups that had nothing to do with 9/11. I also remember the boom in cell phones, and no contract cell phones, before that you needed a big deposit to put down if you wanted one, and phones and plans were very expensive.





Arlene and Danielle
Where were you on 9/11? Interview
On this occassion I was the interviewer. I spoke to Danielle on what her 9/11 experince was. She lived here in New Jersey, and was a senior in high school when it happened. She had a very descriptive story, and remembered the 9/11 events in more detail than myself (I was only in the sixth grade).

Q: Where were you on that day? How did you find out?
A: She walked into class and saw the news footage on T.V. As soon as the images of the plane crashing into the first building appeared, the teacher had her class shut everything off. There were people screaming, very scared and worried about what happened. Later on there was a school lock. There were students trying desperately to get out of school to get their loved ones.
Q: Compare & contrast your feelings about 9/11 from then and now.
A: At the time there was a lot of anger. There was very strong anti- Muslim sentiment, since everyone needed to put the blame on someone in order to feel (somewhat) better about what happened. However, after she found out what was really the cause of this incident (incompetence in our leaders) there was more a sense of disappointment in our leaders.
Q: What do you feel was the mood overall of the nation/others at that time? How does that vary from your point of view?
A: She says there was more of a sense of camaraderie and brotherhood following the 9/11 events. I point out that it is a travesty that these horrific events are often times what it takes for there to be sense of togetherness in a nation.

Q: Could you tell a story of a friend or someone you know and their experience?
A: Danielle's best friend lost a loved one. After they saw the footage in class, they went to the senior lounge to listen to the radio about what happened. She just remembers her friend screaming and very overcome with emotion.
Q: How do you feel about the memorials?
Danielle points out that there has been debate over whether or not these 9/11 memorials should take place anymore, since it has been eleven years since the attacks. She says that she feels it is very important to conduct memorials, since it is important to pass on to our children the significance of these events. 

After analyzing the data the seemed to be a direct correlation of the age of the subjects being interviewed and the detail of 9/11 account as well as their sentiments. The facts that I chose to focus on presented high school students and post high school. All subjects were in school at the time, and were given accounts based on what was know at the time. No information was concealed, because of the assumed maturity of students. All persons were able to get an accurate account of what happened on 9/11 either through searching for the truth and being told at a later time after events had already unfolded. One the thruth was found the sentiment of those around the subjects were fear, overwhelmed, sadness and  pandomonium. Students were upset and wanted to leave shcool, and parents came for their kids. Myself, I found that those were the sentiment of those who did not sympathize with the attackers. Where I was in middlesex county some students were cheering and they empathized with the attackers which is very interesting because we dont't think of those who support the attackers views. There were other ways of dealing with the attacks. Some blamed the attackers and the government to try to make sense of things. Joe found solice in knowing that people were being pulled out of the wreckage. Althought none of the subjects were in NY that day, all the subjects knew someone who was effected. One family called out of work and lived, and new someone who died, another subject knew someone who had a family member that died. I would be directly effected because of my military status. Together all subjects were in a state of fear and found ways to deal with it. Reading all the blogs we find that for the most part those of who live in New Jersey were effected differently than those who lived and worked in NY. We also formed our opinions of the attacked based on our age and understanding the truth of what happened. The initial reaction was fear followed by ways to make sense of it all. However one coped it was a sad day for all the subjects being interviewed...