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We Were On Duty

From: Richard Paul
Length: 00:53:37

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An oral history of the survivors of the September 11th attack on the Pentagon Read the full description.

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Piece Description

A first-person oral history of the September 11th attack on the Pentagon. One Hundred Eighty Four people died at the Pentagon while hundreds more crawled through choking smoke and over burning wreckage to safety. But because the Pentagon attack was dwarfed by the tragedy at the World Trade Center, America has yet to hear the stories of the valiance and tenaciousness of the Pentagon employees; about the horrendous physical and psychic toll the attack has taken on them and their families -- and about how they have overcome and are moving on. This hour-long program tells these stories in the voices of the people who lived them. Without narration. Many of these survivor stories are devastating. Many are inspirational. And as America looks to move forward from the trauma of 9-11, they offer important lessons. ------------------------ Voted Best Radio Documentary by The Society of Professional Journalists. Recipient of 2002 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Excellence in Journalism.

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Review of We Were On Duty

A great look at a story that has not been frequently told about September 11th. The feature allows the interviews to set the
entire pace of the program. Without narration, except to identify
the speakers, each speaker flows naturally into the next.

The descriptions vividly portray the scenes as they unfolded. While Most of the listeners have never been in the Pentagon, we are brought into that massive stucture during a day never to be forgotten. And it is a tour that we hope never to have to again take.

Caption: PRX default User image

Review of We Were On Duty

First off, before I speak about the content, I like most of the production quality here. The draw of this piece is the underexposed voices of those victims in the Pentagon phase of the terrorist attack, and hearing what that morning was like and how they are dealing wtih it. That said, in listening to this piece, notably produced before the Iraq started about seven months later, the voices contained within give me a bit of the shivers, partly because the multiple Christian voices here remind me of many people with views that I don't agree with. While that is painful, it's always interesting to hear the other perspective. The piece ends on kind of a rah-rah U.S.A. note, which I don't care for either, but this piece is driven by the voices of the people who were there, and these were the people who were there. Overall a good flow and production, featuring compelling voices, albeit voices that I'm not entirely comfortable with.

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Review of We Were On Duty

this is an amazing story... one that's not told often enough.

this should be distributed as much as possible...

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Timing and Cues

CLOCK:
:00-:01 "This is a story
OQ: " this news (music decay)"

:01-:06 NPR Newscast (silence)

:06-:21 Program Segment I

IN: Support for 'We Were on Duty'"
OQ: "will continue in a moment. (music decay)"

:21-:22 Cutaway (music)

:22-:41:30 Program Segment II IN: "(music) I remember saying 'Thank you'"
OQ: " will continue in a moment."

:41:30-:42:30 Cutaway (music)

:42:30-:59 Program Segment III IN: "(music) I think now, nine months later"
OQ: "at the Pentagon September 11th, 2001"

TAPE LENGTH: 59:52
MODE: Mono, sum left

Musical Works

Title Artist Album Label Year Length
All music composed specifically for this program Lenny Williams 00:00

Additional Files

Related Website

http://wewereonduty.soundprint.org/