Interview with Jodelle

Jody is originally from Bowling Green, but was living in New York when the
attack happened.

Where were you when the disaster occurred? 

Walking to the Subway (NYC) on the Upper East Side

What were you doing? 

Going to work, it was later than usual because I had worked till 3am the night before.

Why media found out? 

I was told that the subways were down because a plane had hit The World Trade Center so I walked home to waste some time and wait for the subways to re open. By the time I got home, I saw on the TV that the second plane had hit the other tower.

What was your first reaction?  

Very scared. I thought 'were there more planes? was there more coming? what were they going to hit next?"

Were you able to contact his family at that time? 

A cousin called me to see if I was okay and my sister called a couple of times then all phones were dead.

Did you know someone who was at that time there?  

I had several friends who worked for American Express in the building across the street.

How much coverage did the media in the U.S.?  

It was on most channels for about 2 days. Nothing really else was on.

Do you think the Bush administration was able to prevent the attack? 

Our government, military and task forces are so large that I am sure someone missed something somewhere, obviously. But I dont think it can directly represent who is president. Most of these agencies and the people who make them up have been there for a long time and are working there reguardless of who is in office.

 To what extent has changed the security in the country? Do you feel safe?  

Things changed drastically. Is it enough? Never will be, our boarders are huge, terrorists will think of new ways of 'terrorizing' and it is so hard to keep track of everyone's movement and activities. I feel safe knowing that our special forces are out there dealing with many actions prior to them happening to our homeland and citizens. 

What was your feeling after learning the death of Bin Laden?  

At first I felt that I didnt believe it. In all I really dont care. There are so many other anti american leaders/activists. I also feel that our country is too heavily controlled and influenced by our media so I know they would use that to lead americans to support the president more or the president's party. Dont get me wrong I feel he got what he deserved but he is not our only enemy and the terrorist community is so much larger than he alone and his followers.

Do you think there may be retaliation from Al Qaeda? I feel that is one reason they took so long to 'capture/kill' Bin Laden. They had to learn more about what those retaliations might be and head them off before going after him. Again, with our Special Forces, I am convinced that our military knew where he was a long time ago.

Are you happy with the project being arisen I deem in Ground Zero? I dont know. It will not please everyone, you cannot do that. I worked near there and could see it about 2 miles away from my office window, it was so much larger than people may think. Some of it should be dedicated to those who lost their lives and those who gave of themselves in the recovery effort but some of it has to be rebuilt and move on.

What about all those U.S. soldiers who have been more than 7 years in Iraq? 

I hate it. Too many lives taken, too many families without fathers and mothers for months and not quite sure why we are still there.

Do you think U.S. Government was right to invade Iraq? 

I am not 100% sure or convinced that we should have invaded Iraq. I think our military is spread way too thin as it is. I feel it has gone on longer than what I was and most Americans were expecting. 

Begoña Velao, Nerea Sanz, Leyre Heránde y Jana Celada