Todd Smith and Jude Wilkes Smith

Recorded December 9, 2021 24:08 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id: ddf000558

Description

Jude Wilkes Smith (13) interviews his father, Todd Smith (53), about his first-hand experience with the September 11th, 2001 tragedy.

Subject Log / Time Code

- Jude asks Todd about his first experience with the World Trade Center.
- Jude asks Todd about his work as a Custom Services Lawyer in the World Trade Center.
- Todd gives an account of what September 11th, 2001 was like for him from the beginning of the day until the end.
- Todd describes the chaos of his office at 6 World Trade Center.
- Todd talks about stepping out of the building and walking onto the footbridge to the World Financial Center.
- Todd remembers the second plane hitting what it was like to witness this.
- Todd shares the moment he told his parents and wife, Jude's mother, that he was okay.
- Todd talks about the chaos of the NYC streets and trying to escape the city.
- Jude asks his father how New York has changed since 9/11.
- Jude talks about learning about 9/11 in school and asks Todd what he thinks about the collective memory of 9/11 and how it is fading with the passage of time.
- Todd talks about the similarities between New York City days after 9/11 and at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants

  • Todd Smith
  • Jude Wilkes Smith

Recording Locations

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum

Venue / Recording Kit