Hanson Brown oral history interview conducted by Julie Broihier, July 26, 2010

About

Hanson was a teacher for the Department of Transportation; he instructed students to drive heavy equipment. Hanson arrived at Ground Zero on 9/11/01 and spoke of a conflict between the Long Island Department of Transportation and the NYC Department of Transportation. He said the conflict was resolved fairly quickly as each department set up their own command post. He did not go home for three days and did not sleep for two nights. He was in charge of nine pieces of equipment (cranes, payloaders and state vehicles) and eight tractor trailers. Hanson did not work on the pile; he checked the identification of heavy equipment operators entering the site. He was previously trained for about six months for Y2K and said that the training help him a great deal with the 9/11 disaster. At the time he was at Ground Zero, his son, who was in the military, was at the Pentagon counseling family members. Hanson quickly developed some medical issues, sneezing, coughing and itching around the ankles but said it has since improved. He did not sleep well for a few months, but is happy he was able to help and would do it again. He did have a cousin who died at the WTC, but they were not close. He felt the Salvation Army and the Red Cross did an amazing job and kept everyone going with food, water, etc. He said the American people did a "great job."

Archive

Library of Congress, in Library of Congress

Licence or status

Rights statement at the Library of Congress, as the Library of Congress states it.

Credit

Library of Congress

Language

English

Country

United States

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