The Aftermath of Tragedy

An interview took place with Andrew Dinges and his recollection of the events of Sept. 11. 

1. Where were you when you heard the news of the terrorists attack?      

      Andrew was a freshman in high school.  At the time of the attacks, he was in his history class when teacher, Mr.Ryan, ran in to turn on the television to show the class. "I just remember watching and not really understanding at first and some girl in the back of the classroom started to cry and ran out..."

2. What went through your head at that time? 
   
   "oh, snap!," Andrew commented. No one really knew what was happening at that time. No one knew if it was a terrorist attack or an accident; it wasn't until we saw the second plane come in on T.V. that we realized that it was not a mistake.

3. What did the school do?   

   "We were in Jersey, (about an hour away from the city) so naturally everyone was scared." The school sent everyone home early.

4. Once you got home, how was your family reacting? 
   
     No one really knew what was going on still so they couldnt have a complete reaction. For the next few days they worried about Jonathan Dinges (Father) who worked at the closest army base to the city. Jonathan had to go into work the next day.

5. Do you know anyone who was affected by the attack?  

  "We were just really afraid for Dad because he had to go back to work the very next day and it is a government agency." Also family friend, Megan VanHine's father, lost his life when the building collapsed on the firefighter trying to save lives.

6. In one phrase, how would you say 9/11 affected Americans as a whole?   

 "We've lost our sense of safety." We can't go on a bus with  backpack without someone questioning what is in it. We have all become too cautious and can't live our lives of freedom with this treat over our shoulder.

7.How did President Bush react?   

He was doing a story reading for a Kindergarten class when one of the secret- service men whispered in his ear what had happened. Even with a blank face, Bush finished the reading and calmly walked out of the room to address a nation in chaos.

8. How do you feel our nation's leaders rose up during the event?   

 "President Bush really kept his cool." What had to be the hard part was knowing that these people who were flying, were actually citizens. That truly is the scariest part for every American because who knows who else is out there, and who is living next door.

9. What is your views on what the nation is doing right now to prevent something like this from happening again?   

 "Honestly, I believe this 'be ready for it' mentality is crazy." Its the same thing with the issue with Syria right now; they just gassed their people and we are prepared to "write a strong letter" to them for their use of chemical weapons. "interfere with what they're doing not for how they're doing it." Like the new law in New York, racial profiling, which states that a cop can't pull someone over if they look suspicious because it is racist. 

10. What do you think we can do to prevent something like this happening in the future? Do we need to be more proactive or build up our defenses?    

"I think with this question i have to take the middle ground." We cant do nothing because it is our nation, but we shouldn't invoke people with advertising on buses which say to watch out for suspicious baggage because it implants an idea into our minds that the terrorists wanted, fear. "If we are not proactive we are reactive."