4 20 204 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I was doing housework at afriends house. I was scheduled to got to the hospital with my fiance' that morning. My Baby was due 3 days before. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Being devistated by the news and how it hurt me as an american. My wife and I are police officers and we wanted our baby to be born On 911 because of that. My wife told me the news and I turned on the radio and cried.My fiance and I both lost alot of brothers (Police officers,and fireman) that day. The meaning of my baby being born took a whole new turn when the attacks happen. My Fiance' went into labor at10 A.M that morning.And All I can remember is being hurt and trying to be happy for the Joy I was to experience later that day. Im a U.S Marine veteran of operation deny flight in Bosnia and I was mad that someone invaded My Home turf. My Baby girl will always be a part of history and I cant imagine having lost a loved one that day, instead I gained my lifes most precious achievement. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? I as a veteran have learned the true importance of my service as a Marine,and my service as a police officer. And I thank every veteran I see. The country has rebouned as our GREAT country always does. Im more proud than ever to be an American. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story212.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-01-06 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.162.94.30 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) My office is on the 10th floor of a building just a mile due south of the Pentagon. I was working in my office when my wife called to say a plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center buildings in New York. I rushed next door to my partner's office, turned on his television, and saw the second plane fly into the other tower. The tower was obviously targeted and our country was under some form of terrorist attack. Like all Americans I was glued to the television not believing what I was seeing. As I was sitting in the office watching the horrific aftermath in New York, I saw a large fireball on the horizon north of our office building. Immediately I knew the terror had spread to Washington and we started to evacuate our employees from the building. I left the office around 11:00 am to work my way through the traffic to get home. Inroute, my wife called to tell me my best friend and best man in our wedding was the pilot of the American Airlines plane that went into the Tower in New York. She told me his wife Sheri was hysterical and needed me at her home right away. It was not until later that afternoon we found out that my dear friend Chic Burlingame was indeed one of the poor souls sacrificed that day. However, his plane was flown into the Pentagon, not the Tower in New York. It was his plane that created the fireball I had seen on the horizon that morning. His loss remains heavy on my heart, but his bravery that day will live forever. BWWhitman LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story121.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-12-18 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.98.126.61 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I was working on an Army installation and a group of us were getting ready to leave to perform some charity work (painting a playground). I was getting ready to shut down my computer when an email from my supervisor came in saying that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. At the momement we turned on our black and white portable TV, we saw the second plane hit. I believe that the person in charge of our "painting group" was in shock because she wanted to leave and board the bus like nothing happened. We had to switch buses because of a glitch and while waiting for the new bus I heard that the Pentagon had been hit. It took all of us to convince our team leader that we needed to go back to our offices and wait for some official word to come from our headquarters. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? My strongest memory of the day actually happened that evening. We had beautiful clear skies and I remember going outside (I live in a rural area) and seeing no aircraft in the skies. The stars were so beautiful and undisturbed, and here we were on the ground that September 11th evening still not knowing about survivors at the WTC, if another attack was pending, etc. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Sadly, most Americans will forget the lessons of September 11th. On that day and for weeks later, I heard all these comparisons to December 7, 1941. This past year, I've heard more about December 7th than September 11th. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story79.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-12-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 136.205.16.3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I was a Chief Petty Officer (CPO) working for the Coast Guard in Chesapeake, VA. I had not long been at work when a fellow technician came to tell me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Petty Officer Melanie Easterling, who would later volunteer for duty in New York assisting the Coast Guard and others in the post recovery efforts, motioned me toward the television in the operations center where I observed the first tower smoking. My initial thoughts were that the antiquated FAA systems I had heard so much about had finally caused the damage some had feared. When the second plane hit I knew it was something different. It was still hard to fathom terrorism because most of my generation had never witnessed this type of destruction on our land. I remained optimistic about degree of damage done and then came word of the Pentagon being hit and finally the failed attempt which landed in the woods of Pennsylvania. Soon it became clear to even the most doubtful that this was an act of aggression against the United States. My awe and disbelief peaked when the World Trade Center Towers collapsed. The numbers dead are still too steep to comprehend. I didn't think my life would change much as a result of that day but as I look back now...I know it has. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? The moment I was told of the first hit and looking toward the television. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Many freedoms have been restricted if not fully revoked. Our society has lost an appreciable amount of its freedoms in many areas. We do not travel as freely as we used to, we are more suspicious of activities as being related to terrorism (mass power outages, flu epidemic, anthrax, etc.). I carried a blank bullet key chain from 1989 until I had to fly to Cozumel, Mexico in April of 2002. The key chain was store bought, the attachment swivel went through the hole where the firing pin should have been and I had carried it on at least 10 flights prior to this. I had to leave it in the airport trash that day or I would have missed my flight and my reporting date to my ship. This was a small thing but it left me with a deeper understanding of just how much had really changed. I traveled a lot during 2003 and the airport liturgy made almost every trip a dreaded chore. People all but undressing at the screeners area, shoes off, belts off, not metal buttons and all the while every is checking over their shoulder in seeming paranoia. The US Patriot Act is probably the scariest change of all because it categorically revokes right and privileges afforded to Americans by the US Constitution. Its intent is honorable but the potential for exploitation and misuse is dangerous and "Orwellian" by nature. I used to pine for the future to the extent of almost wishing my life away...but now, I fear many aspects of the future. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story262.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-01-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.26.132.101 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I has just left work to run home for a few minutes and was listening to a radio show (Bob & Sherry). They were talking about how an airplane had just hit one of the WTC buildings. Then Sherry said something like "Oh my God" another plane has hit the other building. Then of course my thoughts went from what a terrible accident to instant confusion. I never would have dreamed that someone would be so evil that they would plot such an event. Then when I first heard the words "terrorist attacks" I just became even more emotional. I cried the whole day and many times since 9/11. I kept putting myself in the place of those who were trapped in the building. What they must be thinking and feeling. I prayed for them, for my country, for all of those families that lost someone dear to them on that day. As long as I live, I will never forget that historic, tragic event. I will also never forget what my then 4 year old daughter said to me. "Momma, I wish I was a Power Puff Girl so I could've stopped those planes from hitting those buildings." I regret that she saw the footage of the crashes on TV. I had a hard time of explaining it because I couldn't really understand it myself, but she said that and she meant it with everything in her. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Probably the footage of the crashes and the images of bodies falling to the ground. That greatly disturbed me. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Well, I think that if there is a silver lining to be found in the whole event, it would be that Americans showed their true spirit by joining together, giving of their time and money. Prayers for people they've never met or seen. Just a fellowship almost of an entire nation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story223.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. anonymously Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-01-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 161.6.16.197 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) When the disaster of 9-11 happened, I was still in bed. I live in Alaska. It was still very early here with the 4 hour time difference. My girlfriend awoke me with a phonecall. She said a plane hit one of the WTC towers, she sounded very distressed. I flew out of bed and the TV was already on. I turned to FOX news just in time to see the second jet slam into the other tower. This is no accident I remember thinking. I was glued to the tube. I immediantly knew what I was seeing was history in the making. The world I knew along with everyone else had just dramatically changed, forever. I called my Dad and my sister. I called my boss. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? My most remembered thoughts of that day were how I had just witnessed a history making change in my life and of the entire world. I kept thinking to myself, 'nothing will ever be the same'. I thought of the horrible deaths of all those innocent people. I thought of the bravery of the passengers in PA. My mother had just recently died, like a month prior. I remember thinking how it was best , if she had to go, that she did before this awful event. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Those awfull events I believe have opened many peoples eyes. No longer is America protected by vast oceans. America is vulnerable now, and people realize it. Personally, I go about life normally. It has changed the way I think about the world. I now know how real the threat to the American way of life is. I now know how much hatred there is for our way of life. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story187.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-01-02 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.112.221.217 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) In Southwest Ohio the weather on September 11, 2001 was as glorious as it was in New York city on that tragic morning. I was teaching school at a large suburban Cincinnati High School. News came to me in the hallway, then down the stairwell as I hurried between third and fourth bell to study hall. A young man was telling his friend that a plane had hit the trade center. I dismissed the news and rushed along to the cafeteria. There I switched on the TV and watched history unfold. I told the students they were welcome to watch the news. I stared, whispered to myself, worried and monitored my increasing autonomic arousal. I teach US History and knew this attack was an act of war. Mentally I surveilled my knowledge of Pearl Harbor and compared the two. I knew instantly that which my students could not see, that the world they knew was bifurcated, cut in half, a time before and a time after. Looking back, and studying the days events I now know I saw the second tower (chronologically) collapse, but then in the moment I did not trust my eyes and an interesting psychological phenomena occurred. That phenomena was revealed when fifth period assembled. Chasity asked me if I had heard or seen the news. I said I had and had watched the news live during fourth bell. She said that then I saw the tower collapse as if imploded on itself. I responded with all the authority of an experienced teacher that no that did not make sense, the towers could not fall that way it was impossible... Only hours later did I know the awful truth, could I believe as I have faith in human goodness that the towers both had fallen. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? As a teacher of history I keep passive knowledge of the location of the president. My first rational insight on that day was that the president was safe in Florida. It gave me great peace to know he was not in DC. I repeated it endlessly to any who would hear me. By 7th period my classes and I had head-aches from watching the news. I asked them if they would like to watch more. They said no. Never before has the scientific method or an independent variable held such comfort (I teach AP Psychology). LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? I have been concerned for sometime about the disasterous consequences of fear as a motivator. Fear of communism - historically and fear of terrorism in my lifetime has the potential to destroy the values upon which our nation is built. The Patriot Act has the potential to destroy the liberty of the individual. Had the fourth plane hit capitol hill and had our federal legislature been destroyed, out of fear, what emergency powers might have been granted the executive branch? The most infamous demogogue of the 20th century manipulated hate and fear to achieve constitutional dictatorial powers after the Reichstag burned. I need to know that public policy is just that, reasoned policy, not an instinctive fear response. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story191.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-01-04 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.208.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I am a volunteer firefighter. I was driving into work when my fire department pager started to vibrate. I hate it when it goes off in the car because I always manage to get it tangled up in the seat belt. I managed to unholster it and read the message, which read, A small plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. I thought that was odd as I imagined a Cessna dangling from one of the top floors of one of the towers. It was probably some inexperienced pilot taking flying lessons I reasoned. The one thing I knew was that with something like this, I would probably get an update every few minutes so it was no surprise to me when my pager began vibrating again. The message was not quite what I had expected. Instead of an update on the Cessna, the pager flashed, A second plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. Boy, its a bad day for pilots. I really did not think to turn on the radio since the messages did not reflect any urgency. Now I just imagined two Cessnas dangling instead of one. At work I could just watch CNN and they would summarize the whole story in 30 seconds and I could go on with my day. As I entered the office, I noticed people huddled around the television in the glass enclosed conference room. I went in to see what was going on. The pictures I saw were far worse than anything I could have imagined. Ash falling like snow; People with frightened faces running; Fire; Confusion; Amazement. What is that high pitched noise? one woman in the office asked. It is the PASS Alarm. I informed her If a firefighter does not move for 30 seconds, the alarm sounds letting everyone know that a firefighter is down and possibly hurt. I observed that there were several activated PASS Alarms with their unique high-pitched sound. My pager went off again Report of plane crash at the Pentagon. My God! What was happening? I felt like the world was coming to an end. Within minutes, CNN had begun coverage of the Pentagon. We all watched, stunned. After a few minutes, some of us meandered to our offices. We were at work after all. As much as the wheels of business tried to turn, there was no steam in the engine. We all sat at our desks staring into space. My pager chirped again with the message All hands report to duty. As members of a volunteer fire department, we all carried the pagers to inform us of working incidents within our jurisdiction. A working incident was just that, a structure fire or perhaps a school bus accident. The volunteers responded to working incidents regularly but since the department is combined paid and volunteer firefighters many of the volunteers did not take off work to go to incidents during the day. This message was asking everyone including paid firefighters on their day off and volunteers at work to come in. I sat at my desk, still too stunned to move when it was announced that the office was closing for the day. I did not think that I could really go anywhere. Some people in the office had said that the police closed main roads and bridges. Then it was rumored that there was an explosion at the Capitol. This was later revealed to being the sonic boom of the fighter jets as they approached mach one. Within 20 minutes of the incident, the US Air Force had jets in the air ready to shoot down any threat. When I am upset, I like to go for a drive, so I decided to go home. To my glee, my path home had not been closed to traffic as previously reported. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? As I pulled into the fire station, I was not sure what I was going to find. Our station was overflowing with firefighters, fire engines, ambulances, and rescue squads. It was so cramped that everyone was parked on top of one another. Units from as far as 40 miles were here to provide a supplemental roll. While units from our station were at the Pentagon, these supplemental units were assigned to the station to make sure there was sufficient coverage in case there was an emergency in our area. At first, there was a lot of waiting. Incident Command had determined that the best way to attack the situation was to have several shifts. I waited to get onto the next shift. As I sat waiting, I couldnt help but think of the incredible nature of what had happened. A common salutation among firefighters is See you at The Big One. The Big One is the mythical 100-alarm fire that brings out all the firefighters from all the surrounding jurisdictions. It is the event where you see every firefighter you have ever met in your entire life. The Big One is a concept; it is not real. I soon realized that it had in fact become real. This became even more evident later in the day when I met an old friend I had not seen in five years. He was just standing there, next to me. I was spooked. Another phrase I recalled was training for if a plane crashed into the Pentagon scenario. This scenario seemed so far fetched that it was like training for an alien attack. I quickly decided to remove these two phrases from my vocabulary. I heard my name called. I had been given a mission. The mission was for my partner and I to go and bring back a piece of apparatus that had gotten a flat tire while in the performance of its duties. We were to repair the tire and render the vehicle operational. We did not know in what situation we would find the vehicle, so we decided to first go to the auto parts store. My partner walked in and asked to speak to the manager. I trailed behind. We explained the situation to the manager and told him that we needed a tire and a jack strong enough to lift the truck. Oh, and we also explained that we did not have any money to pay for it. Within 15 minutes we were on our way. The store and located everything we needed in the correct size. My partner and I got to the site and noticed that the tread had been sliced off the tire. We managed to change the tire with just a bit of trouble and returned to headquarters. We got back to the station and noticed that Dominos had been nice enough to deliver pizza and Safeway had sent over deli platters. Since there was nothing else to do for the moment, I grabbed a slice of pizza. The phone rang. It was the Command Line. I was asked if we had two units ready and available to which I answered in the affirmative. I was told to stand by for a dispatch. This was it, I was going to the Pentagon. I hung up the phone and recruited sufficient staff to man two units. Just then, the loud unmistakable tones that proceed a dispatch sounded. It was an incredible sight. I saw people walking around everywhere and rows and rows of military helicopters. The alphabet soup was there (FBI, CIA, NTSB, FEMA, FAA, ATF, SWAT, etc).The first thing that hit me was just the shear size of the operation. Every imaginable resource had been tapped everything from the busses and drivers from the public transportation system, to flood lights from the Department of Transportation, to equipment provided by construction companies to security provided by local and state police as well as the military. We saw a firefighter we knew so we stopped. He asked that we take him to the medic station because he was having chest pains. Since we had just gotten there, we did not really have a good lay of the land. We drove around. While driving I noticed several military units camped out including a bio-chem warfare response unit and a nuclear warfare response unit. After we dropped off the firefighter, I saw an older rugged looking man. His uniform was of an army colonel. His eyes were sad as they looked at me as if to say Thank you. They were the eyes of a broken man. I wondered what battles he had fought and what hardships he must have endured. Sometimes, when I close my eyes I can see his staring at me. Behind him, I saw it; the hole. The dark, black empty space left by the airplane. I starred at it for a while. It amazed me that there was no sign of an airplane. The plane had for the most part, disintegrated. I saw offices with papers. Some were probably marked Top Secret I thought. I saw the computers and desks, everything you need to run an office except the people. It gave me an uncomfortable feeling. For our next mission, we were instructed to drive to the middle of the Pentagon rings and collect any empty bottles of air. We were to bring them to a location to be refilled. As we drove in, I couldnt help to think that there had been a building collapse earlier today here, not to mention the WTC collapse. I prayed that the walls would not fall on top of us. Also we were driving over hoses. These hoses were highly pressurized and not designed to have a heavy vehicle drive over them. I had witnessed one hose burst earlier. If the hose burst under our vehicle, we would surly be dead. I figured another prayer was in order. We entered the center and stopped. We both got out and I first noticed the smell. It smelled like gunpowder. If war movies had smell-o-rama, this is what it would smell like I thought. There was a thick white smoke in the air. It looked like someone fired a civil war cannon and the smoke had not cleared, only worse. Finally, I noticed everything moving in slow motion. It probably had to do with the fact that everyone was tired and therefore moving slower, but the whole scene was surreal. We made many trips back and forth and each time I was nervous. I was assigned to do a few other tasks throughout the day. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Patriotism brought the country together, I fear that patriotism will seperate us. There is a deep and growing riff between democrats and republicans. I think many people are afraid of future attacks. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story172.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. anonymously Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-12-25 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.100.234.90 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I was a nuclear electrician's mate on the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). In early September, the ship was scheduled to be degaussed, a regularly scheduled procedure to reduce the magnetic signature and regulate the ship's compasses. The procedure was cancelled, and the brass decided to use the sea time to run reactor drills from Sept. 9-13. The ship went to sea with no ammunition, no airwing, and no aircraft; They were not needed for the drills. The morning of the 11th, I was just going off watch in the reactor plant, and decided to check the maintenance schedule in the office. As I opened the door, there was complete silence. The first plane had just hit, and the t.v. just happened to be on cnn. It seemed unreal, and as I stared, the second plane hit. Emotions ran through me in waves, starting with disbelief, then sadness, and finally settling on rage. I was somewhat relieved when the order was given to set sail to NY. The GW made turns for high speed, slowing down only momentarily to onload ammunition, and peices of airwing 6 from the USS John F. Kennedy. We arrived early in the morning on the 12th, and as dawn rose, the George Washington was just outside the harbor. An airborne blanket of F/A 18's, F-14's, and Seahawk helicopters provided what little relief we could offer. I rose early from an uneasy sleep to look at the sight from the relative safety of the hangar bay. The skyline was covered by an obscuring cloud of smoke. The GW provided air security in the area for the next 19 days. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Watching the second plane hit on live tv. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? It's obvious when you walk into an airport. People are no longer allowed to accompany loved ones to their gate, or meet them as they get off the plane. X-rays and metal detectors are everywhere. Heightened security is a must theese days. But the terrorists failed to learn from other's mistakes. The U.S. lies down for nobody, and we'll fight back with every resource possible. Personally, I will continue to live my life the way I want to. I feel if my lifestyle or opinions change due to 9/11, the terrorists have accomplished their goal. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story69.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. anonymously Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-12-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.59.82.172 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I was on the 23rd floor of the AJC Federal Building in Cleveland Ohio working for a Department of Defense Agency. I was on the phone when I heard the news over the radio. Someone had a tiny TV in the office and we watched the breaking news. We saw the 2nd tower get hit then heard the Pentagon was struck. It was at that point I left the building in tears and came directly home, not knowing what was in store for our country next. I figured if the Pentagon could be struck, anything would be fair game. I phoned my cousin in Los Angeles to let her know I was OK. "OK from what?" she said, I told her to turn on the TV, they were getting ready for work and couldn't believe it! LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? The intense TV coverage and watching the towers fall, but knowing our country still stood tall. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Realizing that most of us thought "It could NEVER happen here!" Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story112.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. anonymously Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-12-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 206.214.61.234 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I was in the EPA's library in the Sam Nunn Federal Building in Atlanta. At the time I was a contracted librarian. Another librarian was putting up the morning's news onto our website for EPA employees. She came to my desk and told me that a plane had hit a building in New York. That was just shortly before the second plane hit. I thought the first one was a terrible accident so I continued working. Then she came back and said a second had hit. I called my fiance and told him to turn on the television. He was stunned. When the Pentagon was hit my fiance called back and demanded I leave the building. He felt that Federal Buildings were being targeted. I waited hoping we would be given the all clear to leave. He came to the building. By that time no one was being allowed inside. I could see him from the 9th floor on the street below talking to the police. Finally it was about 11:30 and I said I was taking my lunch hour. I would return if they said everything was OK. Of course, I didn't return that day. By the time I left people were pouring out of the building. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? It took me awhile to really be convinced that this was a terrorist attack. No event in my lifetime ever hinted that something like this could happen in the U.S. It never occurred to me that I was in danger. But my fiance was so upset that I didn't leave the building immediately. Later that day it started to hit how many people had died and how many people were grieving. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? I realize that the citizens of the U.S. need to pay more attention to what happens in our government and in the world. Sometimes we grow apathetic. Sept. 11 showed that we are part of the global community like it or not. I also believe it began a chain of events that will eventually change the way the world works forever. Hopefully, the best of humanity will rise to the occasion. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story268.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-01-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 199.80.110.254 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I was in my office in Washington Square in New York City, just a mile from downtown. Going into my office building, I heard the roar of a jet. When I got upstairs a colleague told me that her husband had called, telling her that a plane had crashed in to the World Trade Center. We turned on a TV in a conference room. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Just about to enter my office building on Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village (just a mile from downtown New York) at around 9 am, I heard the roar of a jet overhead. "Funny," I thought to myself. "That's a sound I haven't heard in a long time." I hadn't heard it since I lived in Israel in fact, where low-flying military jets are an every day occurrence. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story228.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. anonymously Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-01-08 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.107.111.60 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I was in a college class in Williamsport, Pa. All I remeber is runnign back to my dorm room and turning on the tv to see the towers falling. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? When I was told that my father was missing. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Well, I personally that it affected the country for a short-time. But now most people are back to buisness as usual. Granted families of victims need to move on, but this is extremely difficult with all the legal preceding that we have to get involved in and the fact that everything that is done is public knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story82.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-12-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.252.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/nation/9-11/stories/091102dnmet911voices.10bc.html Only God can give life At 3:30 a.m., my wife's water broke. We went to the hospital, and while waiting for the delivery room to be prepared, a nurse told us a plane had slammed into one of the WTC buildings. We watched the news for a minute and assumed it was a terrible accident. We went into the delivery room not really thinking about that plane. Abby was delivered at 8:48, about an hour after that first plane had hit. Jacob came two minutes later. Both were born by C-section and were perfectly healthy. Upon our return to the recovery room, I called our families. My brother-in-law told me that the second tower was falling as we spoke. Many people, when becoming parents for the first time, are hit with an enormous sense of responsibility that can come close to a panic attack. For me, I wondered what kind of a world I had brought my kids into. Since the births, many have expressed to me how sorry they are about our kids' birthday. I can truly say that I am glad they were born when they were. As far as I'm concerned, God used the births of my kids, and countless others, to remind the world that He's in control, and that though the bad guys can kill, only God can give life. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Being torn between the joy of meeting my kids, and the enormity of knowing that I had brought them into a world where terrible things happen. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Unfortunately, I think that whatever positive effects the attacks have had on this country were temporary. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story110.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-12-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.62.17.129 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) i was in class (geography) about to go to lunch when the teacher turned on the television. i was right in front of the t.v i saw alot of smoke and i just sat there frozen. then the announcer came on and said what was going on and i gasped. i was 11 years old. and i was seeing something that was making grown men cry and all i could do was sit there. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? i remember my best friend saying " we're all going to die." LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? the events of september 11 have shown me that the worst of times often bring out the best in people. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story186.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-01-02 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.98.167.122 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I never made it to my job at the Library of Congress that day, and in fact, almost witnessed the attack on the Pentagon. Rather taking the Metro to work as usual, I had gone first to a press check on an exhibit brochure at a printer in Alexandria, Virginia. I heard on the radio about the first plane to hit the Trade Center while driving there. When I got there, everyone was gathered around the television after the second plane hit, and we realized that the event was a terrorist act. Even so, I was driving into work, not thinking of danger in Washinton. I saw a cloud of black smoke on the horizon and a frantic police car tried to go around me. Then I heard the news of the Pentagon attack on the radio. If I had been 10 minutes earlier, I would have seen the plane hit the Pentagon. As I drove into Washington, my route took me in sight of the Pentagon. I saw smoke pouring from the building, but the damage was on the side away from me, so I didn't see it until I drove by several days later. The gravity and danger of the situation did not hit me immediately because I was focused on getting to work.. But as I neared Capitol Hill, I was stopped by a police barricade and told to leave at once. Then I realized that the Capitol was a likely target for more attacks. Driving home, I heard frightening, incorrect, radio reports of attacks in other parts of the city. As I crossed the Potomac toward Alexandria, I looked in the direction of Washington, and all the monuments were enveloped in smoke. That, coupled with the radio reports, lead me to believe that the city was under a major attack. I was relieved to reach home safely. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Seeing the cloud of dark, thick, smoke pouring up from the Pentagon and knowing that many people must have died and been injured in the attack. Also getting phone calls from two friends in England expressing sympathy. While I listened to media reports, I ironed, something I seldom do and don't like to do. It seemed a way of establishing some control and order to a crazy day. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Personally, I believe that if the passengers had not fought the hijackers and crashed the fourth plane in Pennsylvania, I would have been killed on September 11. I was very close to the Capitol in my car about the time that plane would have hit. Subsequent reports have confirmed that that plane was meant for the Capitol. I am grateful to those people for saving my life and that of many others who work on Capitol Hill. Nationally, I am disturbed about what the events have done to our country.The US lost a kind of innocence that day. Not having had a war on our soil since 1865, and no foreign attacks since 1814, we felt secure in a way we never can be again. The sense of fear of more attacks, especially in Washington and on Capitol Hill makes daily life extremely stressful. Riding the Metro to work has an element of risk to it now. The lovely area around the Capitol is now a maze of barriers and crawling with police. Also I am saddened by the backlash against Muslims and Arabs that the attack caused. And I dislike the vengefulness and defensiveness that I feel has resulted in actions like the proposed war with Iraq. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story17.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-02-25 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 140.147.89.12 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I work at the Mentor Public Library just outside of Cleveland. One of the ladies came in and said a small plane had flown into one of the twin towers. We don't have a TV, but do have a radio, so we listened to the NY story unfold. We also heard briefly of a plane flying over Cleveland that was clearly in distress, but that they'd lost contact with it. I drove home and brought back a small portable TV with an old rabbit ears antenna. We kept it on throughout the day. People lingered on their breaks to watch. The library was very subdued all day and for the following week. We kept the TV on all the time for a couple of days, then just turned it on when we were on break, then finally after a week, I took it back home again. We now have an old TV available if we need it. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Misinformation. Gossip and conjecture from the employees, patrons, TV commentators. I had a desperate and emotional need to know what was happening really, not just speculation. I do think the TV news anchors had the appropriate mood, but I wish they would go off the air rather than give life to rumors. The worst moments were the people jumping. I couldn't believe my eyes and had to leave the room. My daughter and I had just flown into JFK from England a week before and driven past the towers on the way home. The sun was setting behind them and the were so beautiful, such a symbol of home after being away for 3 weeks. Welcoming. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? I was and still am aghast at the ignorance that creates such hate on both sides. I watched our response, measured at first, get continually shriller. Many Americans do try to understand the Arab world, but not nearly enough. We as Americans have done a very poor job of understanding the Arab world. We don't travel enough, have a dismal knowledge of geography and culture, don't make an effort in general. Newscasts don't do much about world events (what can you do in 22 minutes). Just because we don't care about world events doesn't mean we shouldn't be exposed - in fact it means we should be exposed MORE. Our present administration seems to be more interested in telling than listening. It's our reponsibility as the most dominant nation on earth to lead rather than boss. If the world appears to hate us, we should be asking WHY? Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story204.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. anonymously Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-01-06 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.213.98.98 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) Brooklyn, New York When I arrived at work I was told about the World Trade Center at about 9:15 AM. I went to the roof of the library in the New Lots area and looked toward New York. I then first saw the smoke from the buildings. While we tried to open the library we soon received orders to close. I then spent the remainder of the day by car, bus, on foot across Northern Brooklyn, by train to Manhattan at 42nd St and on foot to the ferry and arrived at my home in New Jersey at 7:30 PM. During the ferry ride WTC#7 went down. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? There are two. I was at the World Trade Center at 8:20 AM to about 8:30 AM looking for a salad to get for lunch on the lower level. I normally went to work through the World Trade center. Getting off the ferry in Hobokenthat evening, The medics and police were checking our feet for signs of dust. They had asked the people who had been at the World Trade Center after the bombing to get off first. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? I lost a friend who worked at the WTC and was relieved that other friends had escaped. I have visited December 26 2001 and The New York Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo New York honored the victims the following weekend. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story247.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-01-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.2.60.175 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I was employed by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, GA. I reported to work at 7:30am; some time after that, as I sat going through the morning's emails, a co-worker stepped into my office to say that he had heard that a plane had just flown into onw of the World Trade Center Towers. We had a 50-inch TV in the briefing room just across the hall, and we turned it on and tuned in to CNN. And soon, everyone in the buiolding was in the room, watching as the events unfolded. We spent the entire day watching the news channels. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? The images of the first tower collapsing. My eyes almost couldn't take in all of the horror. I turned to my co-workers and said, "My, God, we just saw thousands of people die". LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? I think the war on terrorism, Afghanistan, and OIF all came from the sense of shock, of violation, that Americans felt on 9-11. Personally, I now work as a Dept. of the Army civilian employee. I'm not medically able to serve on active duty any more, so I figure supporting the war-fighters who are now engaged in the war is the next best thing. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story86.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-12-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 147.35.250.10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) I was in the Pentagon at 1A1056. I remember John (my boyfriend, now husband) called me at work and told me that two planes had hit the twin towers. I was not concerned, I told him that I was safe in the Pentagon. Who would have thought that we would be attacked?? No warning or anything. We heard someone in the hall yelling, I thought someone was having a fight/riot. There was a lot of running and yelling. A lady in our office went to the hallway to see what was going on. All of sudden she came back into the office and told us to get out immediately. She told us a lady screamed at her "to get the hell out of the building." I didn't even grab my purse which I am not sure where it is - either locked in my cubicle or on the floor some place. When someone says to get out - I move. We got to the concourse and it was sort of chaotic -people weren't really sure which way to go. We looked like a bunch of rats not knowing which way to go. People were shouting directions and no one knew who to believe. I went with the crowd through the Metro entrance - but down the stairs rather than the escalator. I was afraid to go to the Metro because I felt that if anything more happened, it would be the Metro system that would be attacked. I wanted to get out of the building and be in fresh air. I remember walking down the stairs asking what happened. Some man told me a helicopter crashed into the building. I knew that was crazy, there was too much smoke and why would everyone be leaving the building for a helicopter crash???? As I got into the parking lot, I saw Mr. White, a man I worked with and collapsed in his arms, sobbing, and worrying about the people who had died. It reminded me of the bombing of OKC all over again. The smoke, the chaos, people wandering all over the place, not knowing where to go or what to do. From what I could tell the aircraft crashed near the entrance that faces Rosslyn. I walked to Crystal City to where I used to work Air Force Services (ILV) and used their phone to call my boyfriend :- ), my Mom, and Valerie(Daughter). I stayed there for awhile and watched the news and made calls to my Mom (who did not know what was going on) and my daugher, Valerie who went through this with me when we lived in OKC. Her words to me were to "get home!". We then learned that another plane was headed towards D.C. (the one that went down in PA). Mr. Myers (ILV) told everyone to close the doors to offices that had windows. I finally got a hold of John and he told me to take the Metro to Huntington, I refused. I asked him to pick me up at ILV. He consented, but it seemd forever before he got there. He told me he would be there at 11:00 and he was. He had to park his car and walk to me. When he got to me, we sat outside and I held him and comforted him. We walked back to his car and then followed the one way street in Crystal City. People from National Airport were carrying their suitcases, totally looking lost and confused. I felt bad for them because I knew that some of them were foreigners and didn't have a clue as to what happened. Instead of trying to go straight back to John's condo at Huntington, we decided to stay in Crystal City and wait until the traffic dissipated. We walked around Crystal City Underground and saw two young women who had been in the Pentagon's court yard when the plane crashed. They were wandering around, they had smoke and dust all over their clothes, no money. I realize now that they were in shock. I hope they are o.k. We went to a Deli in Crystal City, I think I ate something, but am not sure now. By 1:00 p.m. the Deli had run out of everything to eat. We decided to try to get back to John's condo. He has lived here all his life, so he knew a lot of back ways to avoid traffic. Meanwhile, I got a hold of my Mother, who was very upset. She had several voice messages from relatives asking if I were o.k. When my brother called her to ask if she had heard from me, she said "Would someone, please tell me what is going on?" Needless to say, the traffic was gridlock. But, we finally got to John's, I was busy sending emails to people to tell them I was o.k. and trying to calm my nerves. This was deja vu of OKC all over again. We decided to leave the area and go to my home in Woodbridge. I have a dog that would need my care. Route 1 was bumper to bumper, speed limit was probably 10 MPH. We saw a lady walking with a briefcase and sandels. She worked in D.C., a co-worker gave her a ride to Alexandria, then she got a taxi, who dropped heroff at the Alexandria limits, that's where we found her. I asked her if where she was going would she get there faster by walking or would she like a ride? She was going to the Old Hechinger's lot in Woodbridge. I asked her if she would like a ride? She was a bit hesitant, but got in anyway. People in the cars were cheering at her and us when we picked her up. (Isn't it a shame, that people fear their "neighbor" and are afraid to receive or ask for help? What has this world come to???) She said the only reason she got in was because of me. She said if it had been just one person (a man) she wouldn't have. I explained to her that I had been in the Pentagon and OKC and that we were harmless. We took her right to her van at the lot. I hope she is doing well today! Anyway, we finally got home. I don't remember much more except John had me downstairs cleaning the basement, I guess he wanted to keep my busy and not worry. I do remember watching a lot of t.v. and seeing the airplanes crash into the towers over and over again. Although, I was not glued to the t.v like i was after the OKC bombing. There, I felt hopeless and helpless. I feel that I was better able to deal with this catastrophe better because of OKC. Although I was too close for comfort in the incident. I am very proud to say that my boss, Mr. Brasch placed me in charge of AFPCA/XR Contingency Support Cell a few days following the attack om the Pentagon. I provided the "big picture" on the status of IT support for offices displaced due to the attack on the Pentagon. I received a Letter of Commendation for my support and dedication. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? The smell of the smoke when leaving the Pentagon. Breaking down (crying) when I turned around and saw the Pentagon in smoke. Thoughts of the people who were dead. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Personally - I will never be the same. I still live in this area - I am cognizant of my surroundings. I feel that an attack will happen again right here. I think about how this world was before 11 Sep - when I didn't know/realize that there are people out there that hate us some much. I think of Americans as helping, nurturing people and it bewilders me that there are people who don't want our help..... I hope I was a comfort to people the days after 11 Sep. I remember talking to a man who said he worked in the area where they would be bringing the bodies. I also remeber talking to a man who was suppose to be on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon, but his TDY orders had been changed. No reason why..... God Bless America, I am proud to be an American ...... Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource lc_story137.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-12-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.26.74.99