Topics: 9/11, 21st Century, Virginia, School, Education, Terrorist Attack, United States

Interview with Mary Charlotte Sterling, Witnessing and Adapting to Life After 9/11, History 150 Spring 2022, Conducted by Forrester Sterling, March 18 2022.

Overview:

It seemed like a normal day for every American, but it wasn’t. On September 11th, 2001, America was under attack. Members of Al Qaeda, a broad-based militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in the late 1980s, flew two planes into the twin towers. A third plane hit the pentagon, and a fourth crashed  in a field when passengers fought back against the hijackers. While this plane did not hit a building, all passengers on it died when it crashed.

The twin towers soon collapsed. Overall, almost 3,000 Americans lost their lives on this tragic day. September 11 remains an impactful day in US history. It remains one of the worst attacks on American soil. It is a day that most Americans who were alive then will not forget.

 It is an especially important date since it united and brought together our country.  Many changes occurred after the event as security was increased, specifically airport security, and relations with foreign countries were changed based on if the country had ties to Al Qaeda. Many people who lived through it, have witnessed the changes that took place, but many of the changes have been beneficial with the main goal of making sure something like this never happens again. Coming from a student’s perspective is beneficial to learn about 9/11 and many of the people around us and those closest to us lived through the event. 

This interview opens up with someone very important to me who lived through and was alive during 9/11.

Biography:

My older sister Mary Charlotte Sterling is in her 20’s and has been through a lot in the early stages of her life and has witnessed what it’s like to be a true American. She grew up in Richmond Virginia, and was in school when the attacks on September 11th, 2001 occurred. She remembers hearing about the attacks of 9/11 that morning in the classroom and seeing the shock and seeing the faces of everyone around her as it took awhile for everyone to process what had just happened and finally come to the conclusion that America was under attack. 

Research That Contextualizes the Interview:

The attacks that took place on September 11th, 2001 were known as the deadliest attacks on American soil and devastated the lives of all Americans and left everyone in shock. Two planes left from the Boston airport that morning and were eventually hijacked by two terrorists working for Al-Qaeda under rule from Osama Bin Laden. After this tragic day in American history, the whole nation was shook. President George Bush and his team took action to seek out the terrorist group and make sure something like this would never happen again. This tragic event brought the whole nation together and even after it happened specific changes took place. Airport security was improved and changed immensely and more checkpoints and security checks were set in place. The government increased its surveillance to prevent terrorists from entering the country so easily and to monitor and make sure nothing crazy happens again. Relations with foreign countries changed and all drastic measures that were needed to be taken by the government were taken. This research helped contextualize my interview because it gave me important background to make questions and have a good flow with my interview. It helped me create important questions that talk about the history of 9/11 because it’s such an important date in our country’s history. These sources stated any information about one of America’s most important days in its history. 

Transcription:

Forrester Sterling 00:01
Alright, so today, I’m joined with my sister, and we are going to be discussing slash interviewing about the events that transpired on September 11 2001. I’m sure everyone knows that. But at least for me, I was not alive. But my sister was alive. She’s in her 20s. Now, so she’s a little bit younger when it happened, but she was able to process it definitely growing up to, she was able to kind of witness it and see what happened. And so thank you for your time. And I’m glad she’s able to answer any questions,

Mary Charlotte Sterling 00:30
yeah of course, glad to be here.

Forrester Sterling 00:32
So we’re going to start off with the first question right here, how the events that transpired on September 11, 2001 affected your view on other foreign countries, such as Iraq, and other countries that maybe were seen as, like, how those relations with countries how have you seen that? Like, how’s the government kind of stepped up in that sense?

Mary Charlotte Sterling 00:50
Um, yeah, so 9/11, I’d say has definitely changed relationships with foreign countries, it especially strain our relationships with countries such as Iraq. And it really forced the United States to take action and prevent any further incident from happening in the future. And it’s definitely completely changed the way they communicate with other countries and our views and other countries.

Forrester Sterling 01:11
Right, and I feel like trade has almost changed. And I guess just obviously, like, who were siding with, and like, what has to be done after that event was huge. So another question, so government surveillance has become a hot topic, specifically after 9/11. And it’s become more apparent as the government tries to survey or even protect the citizens because obviously, they’re not trying to have something like that happen again, using all their power, obviously, it’s their countries, our leaders taking action, has it become noticeable to you what the government’s been doing? With government surveillance and everything

Mary Charlotte Sterling 01:43
Yeah, I would definitely say it’s become more apparent that the government is doing everything they can to help protect our citizens. But I also almost feel like it’s gotten to the point where they’re invading our privacy, or sometimes going too far past what people really want. I remember, as a child, I didn’t use technology a lot. And I didn’t really feel like it was invading. I just played a lot of games on my phone. But now they’ve definitely become a lot more involved in technology. And I definitely don’t feel I have nearly as much privacy as I did as a child, or especially not even close to what my parents did when they were younger. And technology didn’t exist yet.

Forrester Sterling 02:16
Right, our world is definitely changing with technology. I’m sure I’ve been we’re both living through I’m sure you’ve noticed it too. But its definitely kind of crazy. You don’t know like, what’s behind like, even the phones, computers, like everything meets other governments trackings or not like, you don’t have to listen right now. It’s just I mean, that’s a friendly conversation. But yeah, it’s

Mary Charlotte Sterling 02:33
definitely scary to think about.

Forrester Sterling 02:35
But whether I mean, I know they’re looking out for us, but it’s just you know, it’s a lot. It’s a lot. And then so moving on. 911 was a day that left many Americans in shock and disbelief, obviously, with what happened to Twin Towers falling. And I mean, even they also had, like, plan on attacking DC to do you remember how it made you feel after learn about school had made you feel I mean, also, now I’m like, well, two hours away from DC. Like, it’s crazy. We’re all close to New York to do or have made you feel?

Mary Charlotte Sterling 03:03
Yeah, it was definitely very scary. I was really young, there’s a lot to process at the time, I was really confused and scared. I remember, one of my teachers in the class across the hall started crying. And we were all like very confused, because we didn’t really know what was going on. We were younger kids. And then I remember my parents were very scared. Since we were that close to DC, they weren’t really sure what was going to happen. So they took me out of school as soon as possible. And it was just very chaotic. And it was very scary. And my parents weren’t really sure what to say or how to explain anything to me. So that was definitely a lot to deal with. And obviously, when I was younger, I wasn’t really sure why this happened or like the background behind it. But throughout high school, it was really important for us to watch a lot of documentaries that explained our background with Iraq. And it kind of helped me give a better understanding of what caused them then to carry out this tragic event. And a lot of Americans died that day. And it was definitely tough years later to read or see clips about the event. But honestly, seeing the light in this, it helped bring the country together. And I remember the just pure intensity of American spirit that happened for months following this tragedy and especially like, a few days after,

Forrester Sterling 04:05
right, Yeah, that makes sense. I know, at least for me, I was born a little bit after 9/11. So I was technically a post, 9/11 baby. But it’s definitely I mean, it’s important to learn about it in the school system everything and like you said kind of relate following up the same path you had learning about in school clips like I wasn’t there to see like teachers currently but like I remember I had teachers are telling me stories like they were in shock washing on the news, like crying like it’s it was definitely a lot for many Americans. It was a lot in school that day. Yeah, especially the younger. Kids. Definitely a lot. So going off that last one. She said, you’re talking about how 9/11 united many Americans and how it brought our country together. Was it evident clear for you how the country kind of came together? Maybe some examples you saw?

Mary Charlotte Sterling 04:48
Yeah, definitely. I just remember seeing so many American flags everywhere. They, you know, were off people’s trucks off of people’s cars. Pretty much every store had an American flag. That’s kind of really when the American Like merch kind of came out if that makes sense. Because before, that wasn’t really like a common thing to see. But now like, you know, throughout the years that I’ve grown up, like I’ve seen a lot more, but especially like during those couple days, and a few weeks after that was like, really when I saw it the most. And especially to this day, whenever September 11 comes around, is a day of amendments for everyone in our country. And I just kind of see everyone coming together to remember those who lost their lives in this tragic day. And I remember my parents talking to me about the importance of our country remaining united and supporting each other through the difficult times we face. And I even see that today with everything that’s going on in the other countries and our support for them. And it’s just really important, I think, for everyone to come together between our country and other countries, and just really helps everyone to stay united.

Forrester Sterling 05:44
Right. I like what you said about day remembrance for like, at least for me, everyone definitely does come together. Because everyone’s like, the American flag is always out in spirit. Everyone remember the loved ones they had in here, if they knew anyone who got affected by that, I mean, a whole country is affected. But it’s totally cool to see everyone uniting. I really remember seeing close up, like be like sports games, and just like, what it means to be an American that makes I’m sure you can see that. Yeah. Which means coming together that day.

Mary Charlotte Sterling 06:09
Yeah, it was definitely different before because again, like I didn’t really see that. And I didn’t really understand what it meant to be American. I mean, obviously, I was younger. But like immediately after that, like it really helped me to understand what it meant to be an American.

Forrester Sterling 06:23
Yeah. So also, how much is the country changed since 911? How is it better for the country today, since then,

Mary Charlotte Sterling 06:30
um, I definitely feel like it’s safer. Because especially like airport surveillance checks have changed drastically. I remember my mom telling me stories about how when she was a child, she would just be able to walk through the airport with her friend when she was bored. And she would people watch, which is very interesting, because she didn’t have a boarding pass and didn’t have to go through security. I kind of remember this as a child, it was very easy for me to go through public transportation. And it didn’t really take long at all. But now sometimes it takes sometimes as close to an hour just to get through the airport security because of how long the lines are, and how they have to do random checks all the time. And they have to take swabs anytime they see something different or bag like it’s definitely very different than before. And also our country, I’d say has taken different approaches, specifically in Congress to make sure it won’t happen again. And we’ve definitely changed our relations with foreign countries, as well as we’re to make our country better after what happened. So it definitely feels a lot safer. Even though before like the idea of something tragic didn’t happen. I think now if we didn’t have airport security, I would feel very scared to go on any kind of public transportation.

Forrester Sterling 07:37
right, I completely get that it didn’t like didn’t really cross me or any Americans mind that something would happen. And as you’ve seen a huge role technologies played like many chambers here at all that to keep an everyone safe. And all that taking the event takes a while the appropriate measures we need which is definitely great for our country. So finally, we’ve got one more so 9/11 will go down as historical event that has shaped our country. Do you think it should be taught in the education system and be taught to everyone so we don’t forget, or obviously this event, just remember to be important for the youth to see , what do you  have to say about that?

Mary Charlotte Sterling 08:08
Yeah, I definitely think it should be taught in the education system. And I think a lot of people would agree with that I don’t think anyone really be against that is definitely something that future generations need to know about. And it helps us understand the importance of coming together through difficult times. I remember even though I did live through it, I still learned about it constantly in the education system. So I think especially for the kids who weren’t there and didn’t experience it, it’s really important for them to know about the effect that 911 had on everyone that day. And also it helps give the children like an understanding of why our security is the way that it is today. And just like background of our country since I think that was like a really big event that completely shaped and changed our country.

Forrester Sterling 08:49
Right I completely agree. I know as a current student in college I know obviously i learned about in high school but it’s nice to reiterate learn about and see everyday are country come together. Something that I think I agree that like it should be taught. So thank you again. So we thats all we have but thank you for taking time out of your day. Appreciate Thank you.

Overview of Technology and Process:

The interview took place in person, when my sister and I were both home. We had both gone home for the weekend in Richmond, and agreed it would be best to conduct the interview in person and have it flow almost like a normal conversation. It was easier to interview in person and to have a good conversation and really gauge and understand what my sister had to say. I did not run into any technological issues because it was done in person and it made it so much easier to talk to because we were talking in person. I did just a little bit of editing on the actual interview and transcript to make it sound and flow better and got rid of the errors on the transcript. 

Bibliography:

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). September 11 attacks. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/event/September-11-attacks

Hartig, H., & Doherty, C. (2021, December 15). Two decades later, the enduring legacy of 9/11. Pew Research Center – U.S. Politics & Policy. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/09/02/two-decades-later-the-enduring-legacy-of-9-11/

History.com Editors. (2010, February 17). September 11 attacks. History.com. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/9-11-attacks