911 Oral History

For History 390, I was instructed to find an interview that intrigued me. I chose Annie Bratcher Oral History. The interview was conducted on November 17th 2017. During this interview, Rebecca Brenner sits down with Annie Bratcher to discuss Annie’s experience at the Pentagon on September 11 2001. Annie Bratcher worked in the Pentagon as a secretary during the historical September 11th terrorist attacks.  

The interview is broken into two sections named Annie Bratcher and Annie Brratcher two. The length of section one is 0:00 and section two is 12:07. The interview belongs to The September 11 Digital Archive: Saving The Histories of September 11, 2001. The interview can be located at the URL: https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/98504. On the web page, the oral interview is displayed with transcripts below each section. The interview is only accessible through audio. The September 11 Digital Archive also provides the output formats which are atom, dc-rdf, dcmes-xml, json, and omeka-xml. 

This interview piqued my interest because the interview was conducted with a survivor of September 11th. In the interview, Annie Bratcher discusses that she had believed that the planes had hit the trade center by accident. Her coworker then explained that it was not an accident. Soon after the plane had hit the Pentagon which she had not known about since she did not hear it. She was instructed to leave and evacuate. Bratcher further explains how 911 affected and will continue to affect her life. Bratcher states, “I will talk about it. It will make me feel better to talk about it. It is one day that I will not forget. Things happen in your life, and you just but it behind you. But this one day, I will always remember.” Annie talks mostly about how her faith continued to grow because of the events. The interview ends with Annie saying “God always took care of me.” The first section of the interview is harder to listen to since there is a lot of background noise. Brenner has to stop the interview to relocate due to the background noise during the interview. This oral history was delightful to listen to get a better understanding of the forever effects of 911 on individuals, the community, and our country. 

As there is a lot of emotion-based on the dramatic events that the interviewee has the experience, I do believe it is essential to warn/support the audience that accesses this material. This traumatic event could be a trigger for some, such as other survivors. Attached is the World Trade Center Survivors’ Network information.

http://www.survivorsnet.org

“Annie Bratcher Oral History,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed February 17, 2020, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/98504.