Participant Name: Ayush Agarwal Congressional Award Level: Gold Medal Activity/Activities: 9/11 Memorial Museum Tour Location(s): Virtual History of some of your favorite pieces and how each influenced the history and culture of your chosen country: Three artifacts fascinated me the most. The first was the 20-foot-long object which was 5% of the antennae from the top of the North tower. This influenced the history of the United States as, during the time that the tragic event of 9/11 occurred, broadcast engineers were working on this antennae at the top of the building. When the planes crashed into the building, they were all trapped under this part of the antennae. Another artifact was the elevator motor that helped move the elevators in the twin towers at speeds of 1600 ft per minute, meaning that someone could get from the top of the building to the lobby in less than a minute. However, during 9/11, an elevator shaft was blown off, resulting in the cables getting exposed and protruding all over the shaft. The final artifact was the big red fire truck. This represented the history of the United States because of how many of our first responders (police, firefighters, and EMS) have died throughout the decades to protect the citizens. In particular, 343 firefighters died during 9/11. 1) I think the most significant thing that interests me about 9/11 is how the US influence in the Middle East economically and culturally before 2001 resulted in the creation of Al Qaeda. I am fascinated by the US-Saudi Arabia relationship that has been a stronghold on our Middle East foreign policy for almost a century. I am interested in US involvement in Kuwait, Iraq, the Gulf War, and the Iranian Revolution, all of which were a buildup to jihadism and the formation of Al Qaeda. Another exciting thing about this topic is the US response to the 9/11 attacks, mainly the endless wars on terror that began under the Bush administration. I like analyzing the incentive structures of the players involved in getting the US into Iraq and Afghanistan and how those wars have continued to impact communities in those countries decades into the future. I do not have a personal connection to New York or the Middle East, but I think that New York is a place I want to travel to simply because it is a beacon of the American economy for the entire world. 2) I chose the specific activity of a museum visit because I wanted the ability to, despite doing this virtually, actually talk to someone and ask them questions. If I had just watched a documentary or movie about 9/11, while many of my questions would be answered, those would only spur new questions without allowing me to ask those questions to anyone and engage in discussions about them. Having a tour guide who is knowledgeable about the subject will enable me to not only ask them questions but engage in debates and talks about the topic, which I think is much more productive. 3) I started by researching if there were any tours of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and it turns out they were doing virtual tours. I booked one for Monday, Feb 15, at 12PST and just joined the zoom link to complete the activity. 4) I think the main question that this activity raised for me about the topic is to what degree the US is responsible for the attacks on 9/11. Another question is if the US response to 9/11 regarding the war on terror was justified, particularly the invasion of Iraq. I would not have done anything differently, as I thought I did a good job asking questions and discussing with the tour guide. I did not miss any crucial details in my original plan, and if someone followed them, I think they would be fully immersed in the topic. 5) If I were traveling to learn about the topic in person, my experience would have been different because I would have seen many artifacts and historical figures shown on the camera in person. This would have been different compared to learning it from home because there is a lot more engagement and walking around necessary, so it overall makes it easier to pay attention the entire time as online, there were some seconds where I lacked the motivation to pay attention. I would not face a significant language barrier, as even when the tour guide was talking into a microphone, I could understand and hear them perfectly. I did not learn more about a part of the world that is hazardous and hard to reach because New York has plenty of modes of transportation, so it is easy to get to. Traveling in person would have changed the kind of immersion I was willing to take on because I probably could have done some simulations in person about what it felt like to be in the building on 9/11 and overall more interactive activities. 6) My activities did open a topic I would like to explore more in the future and it is how much should the US get involved militarily in regions such as the Middle East, as we saw the consequences of anti-american sentiment play out with 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq which created ISIS. I feel motivated to engage with this topic in person in the future by maybe talking with soldiers who served in these conflicts and seeing what their perspective was. Were they proud to serve the US despite not believing in what they were fighting for? Did they believe in what they were fighting for? What did they think they were fighting for in the first place? These are all questions I would ask soldiers who served in these wars on Terror. 7) One interesting fact I learned during the tour was about how the raid was conducted in May of 2011 against Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda and organizer of the 9/11 attacks. I learned about how the seal 6 agents saw a pacer figure that represented bin Laden in many ways, so even though they did not know 100% that it was him, they went and did the raid anyway. After autopsies and genetics testing, it was confirmed the killed man was indeed Osama Bin Laden. Another interesting fact I learned during the tour was about the slurry wall technique. Essentially, since these trade towers were built next to the Hudson River, the construction company had to be careful not to take away so much land that the river would flood the whole city. Thus, they decided to create a giant wall of concrete to retain water, called the slurry wall technique. This ensured that water wouldn’t get in while building the Twin towers, and the destruction actually damaged part of this wall on 9/11. Thankfully, responders could patch it back together to prevent flooding quickly. Another thing I learned was that the events of 9/11 were foreshadowed. Apparently, in 1993, a group of terrorists drove up to the twin towers with a truck full of explosives and detonated it, which killed 6 people and left over 1000 injured. Those six people were put on a fountain memorial, but then on 9/11, that memorial was destroyed so their names got added to the 9/11 memorial. Another thing I learned was about the destruction of an elevator shaft on 9/11, where the cables became exposed and protruded because the elevator motor was blown off. These elevators at the Twin towers were incredibly fast, moving at 1600 ft per minute. This meant one could get from top to bottom in less than a minute. I also learned about a 3-year investigation that happened about 9/11 after the attack done by a subagency under the Department of Commerce. This agency analyzed how these plane attacks could destroy and collapse entire buildings, and there were a couple of reasons why. The first was the sheer plane speed, as they traveled at speeds of 400 mph. This destroyed not only external columns but columns at the core of the building, which ended up dislodging fireproofing. This left the building vulnerable to the second event, where fires ignited by the jet fuel in the plane burned down the twin towers. In the south tower, the plane hit the building at more of an angle and at a lower part, which is why even though it was the 2nd one hit, it was the first to fall.
