Excerpts of Chris oral history interview conducted by Dr. Benjamin Luft, August 23, 2010

About

Chris was a manager and co-owner of an environmental cleanup company, who worked on clean-up efforts post-9/11. Immediately after the attacks, he could not bring himself to go to Ground Zero to solicit work. Given that he had done previous work at the World Trade Center, he expected that he would be contacted. Indeed, he was called for clean-up work soon after the attacks. Initially, he says that the difficult part of the clean-up was doing the appropriate testing of hazardous materials. He remembers pictures of those missing from the 9/11 attacks, and contact information if anyone had seen the missing, being posted around Penn Station. Near Ground Zero, he did not hear a taxi beep its horn for three months – a silence that was inconceivable pre-9/11. At the beginning of the clean-up efforts, Chris worked long hours. He says that, because there was such high demand for laborers at the time, many would not show up for work on his team. In the first months of the clean-up, he remembers a feeling of camaraderie among clean-up crews, a departure from their normal competition. He also remembers fire departments from other cities -- including Chicago -- sending firefighters and cadaver dogs to look for bodies in the rubble. Chris did not think that 9/11 initially affected him. Yet, after problems at work, a divorce, and significant weight gain, he thinks the attack had a major effect on him. He feels like he is “living in the shadow of the person [he] used to be.” A positive…

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Library of Congress

Language

English

Country

United States

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