27.+Oral+History+Reflection

This event hit close to home because of the fact that our friends and family were involved. We knew that the bombing was a terrible incident, but we didn’t know the details or how it affected families, which is why this topic intrigued us. In history class we learn a lot about wars and the number of casualties, but don’t learn about specific families and how they were affected. The number 241 is the number of casualties in the bombing, but you reach the thousands when you think about each 241’s families and friends that were impacted. Also, this topic gave us an insight on how we would be affected if another war broke out and our family was sent. This is why it was so important for us to learn about.

The bombing had a huge impact on many people, including Nancy Phillips. Her son, John, was one of the 241 killed. We learned how it felt to have your loved one killed in war and that you don’t expect your loved one to be one of the men killed. We also realized that you stay involved, like Nancy does with the lawsuit and going on Oprah, and that you will always feel the pain. This experience caused us to put ourselves in the shoes of millions of people who have lost their loved ones in war.