5 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 fresh out of college and had only been a 7th grade teacher for two weeks when the assistant principal of my school came to my door and handed me a piece of paper to read to my students. I glanced over it briefly and didn't even come close to realizing the magnitude of what had taken place. I began to read the bulletin to my 2nd hour science class as they set silently at attention. When I finished, the students eagerly asked me the same questions that were dancing through my mind; Who did it? Why did they do it? Will the buildings collapse? I obviously had no answer for them. I was reluctant to begin discussing the conflicts in the Middle East that help fuel terrorism because I recalled the way everyone began pointing fingers at Middle Easterners after the Oklahoma City bombing. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? My strongest memory of the day is experiencing utter frustration at the lack of news I was able to receive. None of the teachers in the school had internet at that time, I didn't have a TV in my room, and I couldn't get a decent radio station in. I went right home from work, bypassing the lemmings that were lined up for blocks blocks to get gas, and watched CNN for a month. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? I'll forever have a bad taste in my mouth when the name of our Commander in Chief is mentioned. I'm not a strong Democrat or Republican either way; but I can't stand the spin that Washington has tried to put on this. Although I am not 100% of all the real reasons for 9/11, it's an outrage that our President got on television and told us in a time of crisis that all these men commited sucicide and murder because they "hated freedom". To whitewash something of this magnitude is a slap in the face to the American public. 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_story81.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. 68.102.96.19 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 heard the news as I was driving to the Post Office to send some packages on my way to work. They interupted a news story on the radio to report that a plane had hit the WTC. I immediately called my wife on the cell phone and held it up to the radio for her to hear. The initial report was that it was believed to be a small commuter plane. When I got to the Post Office, the workers there had not heard the news. I commented that it might possibly be a terrorist attack. I mentioned that they must worry about that a little for things coming through the mail. I thought of that conversation months later when anthrax was sent through the mail and postal workers in our area (D.C.) died. As of this writing, that case has not been solved. By the time I got out to my truck, the second plane had hit, and it was clear that it was an intentional attack of some kind. The motivation remained unclear. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? I went to work after hearing the news on the radio, and did not see a t.v. until after the towers had collapsed. I remember hearing that the first tower collapsed. I simply could not believe it. I figured a large chunk of the curtain wall of the building must have fallen, but I could not fathom the building collapsing. I remember thinking, during the first WTC explosion years before, what a ridiculous idea it was to think you could bring down the WTC! You can't collapse a building of that size. The entire nation grieved in way that I don't think it ever had before. For days afterwards... we all would find ourselved quietly crying for the magnitude of the human loss. In our grief, we came together as a country. 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_story138.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. 66.44.5.237 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 my way to work in Alexandria after dropping my son off at school after an early-morning dentist appt. I had been listening to a book on tape and hadn't heard the news. My husband called me and I put on the radio and I thought at first that it must have been a small plane, a ridiculous accident, didn't yet understand the scope. By the time I got to Alexandria, there was a report about the Pentagon, mention of a bombing at the State Dep't; it felt like the world was coming to an end.We could see smoke from the Pentagon from the dock behind the art center. Several people were watching TV in one of the studios, the building was not yet open and it was very quiet. We watched the footage of the planes hitting the buildings and were stunned by the collapses. It felt like we watched for hours. I spoke to my husband, tried to reach my brother in Manhattan, and went home. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? I have so many memories of that day. I remember sitting on the couch w/Larry for hours watching the same images over and over. I remember not being able to not watch. I remember calling friends and family here and in NY. I remember finding out that my husband's partner had been on the plane that crashed int the Pentagon. I remember the little miracles: that our neighbor had had a sore throat and had not gone to his office at the Pentagon that morning, that my brother did not, as he did almost every other morning, go up to his offices in the World Trade Center before heading to his uptown office. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Sept. 11 woke us up to a terrible new reality. We no longer have the luxury of pretending that terrorist attacks cannot happen in this country, that we are immune from the kind of attacks that have been happening in the middle east for decades. I have been affected by the stories, each incredibly poignant, of the survivors, of those killed. I am moved by each account, the families left behind, the heroism of those who tried to get people out in NY and here at the Pentagon, the horror of those running, trying to get out. I am held captive by those images. 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_story261.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. 68.230.188.145 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 an E5 in the Navy on board the USS SPRUANCE DD 963 in Mayport Fl. We were scheduled to get underway to do some training exercises. We were watching Headline news as preparations were made. As soon as someone came from the berthing area yelling that the first plane had crashed, we were stunned. We being all 300+ crew. Its like work stopped and we were all pasted in front of the TV. My Chief and I ran to the TV, and watched as the second plane crashed and his first words were(paraphrased)"Holy @@@@, that was done by terrorists!" Well we found out for sure after we were in the Atlantic, and our schedule had changed. We were now Operation Noble Eagle, patrolling the East coast. We didn't go as far as New York, but we did sit real close off of Virginia near DC. We stayed there for 45 days. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? The crew on the ship who had families in New York were way upset. One I think had his dad work in the towers. Real rough. 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 everyone is doing what they can to prevent the acts of terrorism, but I also feel that they are doing too much. I know its important to be safe in our own country, but being a military man, I think about the military aspect of this. The war in Iraq is over, Saddam has been caught, the Iraqi people have their basic government rolling. Why in Gods name are our soldiers still there dying everyday? Pointless. We did just fine starting over way back when,k so will they. The President, with all respect, needs to get back focused on us here in the U.S. Feed our own children now. Take care of our own homeless and our own single parents and our orphans from this war. Please. 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_story203.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. 160.125.253.4 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.) On September 11th, 2001 I was at school sitting in 4th bell which is right around 11 am. Some people were talking about the Twin Towers being hit in 3rd bell but no one really payed much attention and thought that they were joking, but then in 4th period the teacher confirmed that this was true but were not allowed to turn on the TV until it was okayed by the principal. We were told it was ok to watch the TV by 1 and so we did. I remember watching the TV with my 6th period class wondering how there could be so much hatred in the world. I never felt really threatened personally, but I was just in shock. My teacher handled it really well though and we talked about in class, which made things a little better; but I was still hoping that it was a bad dream and that soon I would wake up, but it wasn't. By that point in the day I yearned for normalness again, anything that represented the world before the tragedy of September 11th. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? My strongest memory of September 11th is sitting in 6th period watching the TV for the first time that day. It made what everyone was saying a reality. Seeing the planes crash into the towers for the first time was mind blowing. That picture will stay in my mind forever. Just the picture of those planes crashing into the tower and then the crumbling. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? It is sad to say but personally September hasn't changed my life all that much, other then being a little more cautious on the airlines and having to wait longer at the airports. I know that September has changed a ton of peoples lives with all the loss of human lives. I don't live anywhere close to the east coast so I haven't had to deal with that. I think as a nation it has brought us together a little more and opened our eyes up to that face that we are not invincible like some people have thought. We are fighting the war on terrorism right now and I believe that is a fight we will never win. We will keep fighting it until the day we die because it is not a country or group but rather a mind set that says that is better to die and kill people and then you will be praised. Overall the effect of September 11th has changed me a little bit but not a whole lot. 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_story197.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. 2004-01-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.27.241.220 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 mother woke me with a phone call: "Something is wrong in New York. A plane..." LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? When the tower collapsed, it didn't register right away what had really happened. The sky there... It took several minutes for it to sink in that the tower had collapsed, and then another tower fell. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Similarly, it took a week for me to return to my art. After a week without writing a word, one morning I exploded with some 6000 words about seeking creative solutions, trying to find alternatives to the calls for revenge, for more terror in response. That essay freed me, somehow, enough to write a poem that afternoon about hope, healing, and home: The Difference Between Repair and Reconstruction As I sleep, this house creaks under the weight of wood on wood, the crankiness of masonry tile as it grinds against itself on the roof, like a pumice stone dragged along the edge of a tooth, the weakness of bones remembered in such sounds. I should thank this day for opening these wounds, for reminding me of what is needed to either start over or repair: the longing for wholeness that urges soft tissue to speak its promise to the torn skin beside, to whisper that it could find a way to bind again, not as new, but stronger for finding again the pulse through the pain, the cry, the first strains of song. Grant Hier 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_story65.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. 2003-12-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.121.191.246 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 Chemistry at school (Montclair Kimberley Academy High School) in Montclair, NJ. The head of campus came in and told our teacher that the WTC was hit by a plane. I thought a Sesna. Then we looked out the window and smoke billowing from the Tower. The school went into disarray everyone was whipping out cell phones and calling ppl rumors that a bomb went off at the pentagon. Our country was under attack. Everyon in school just roamed around freely. I went outside and sat and looked at the skyline, just in time to see the second plane hit, and long enough to see both towers fall. I saw all of this knowing that my uncle worked in one of the towers, not knowing which one or which floor, or if he made it out alive. We didnt find out until 3:00pm that day if he was safe or not. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Just knowing that soo many people died in one felll swoop and that i thought my uncle might be dead for 5 hours. Staring at the skyline and it being a smog of smoke. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Me it showed me how horrible people can be and how devestating one person's actions can be. I think the event helped our country to come together. I think our country needed something to do that, unfortunately it was this. 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_story157.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. 2003-12-22 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.193.2.157 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 an elevator in a Federal building on my way to a team meeting. A fellow passenger told me what had happened to the first of the twin towers. I was shocked but went to the meeting anyway. The building was evacuated shortly thereafter. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? The video of the planes going into the towere - over and over. This was REAL "shock and awe"!!! LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? I believe that I, and all of my fellow Americans, will never regain the feeling of security that we had before the attacks. I also believe we will never regain the personal freedoms that we have lost in the name of national security. An innocence was lost that will never be regained. 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_story106.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. 165.224.215.2 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 flying a DC 10 cargo aircraft between Memphis and Campinas, Brazil when we received a radio phone patch from our Company. I was notified that upon arrival in Brazil we would be met by armed guards and escorted to our hotels, and that the aircraft would be placed under 24 hour armed surveillance. This information came completely out of the blue as we had no idea what had just happened in New York. Since we were south of Cuba but north of the South American coastline, we were not subject to recall as other aircraft were. I asked my Company if they could provide more information to us, and they responded "no." We searched our aircraft for anything out of the ordinary and finding nothing, made one more inquiry for additional information. It was then that we learned that all civil aircraft had been ordered to land in the USA. We speculated that a nuclear accident or incident may have occurred, or that an attack on the USA may have occurred. We later spoke to a small twin-engine aircraft, over the Amazon River, that was a US registered aircraft, based on his call sign. The pilot relayed to us what had happened earlier at the World Trade Center. He had watched CNN and had all the information to relay to us. Needless to say, after landing in Brazil we got the "rest of the story" and remained there for several days, until the flight restrictions in the USA were lifted. My crew and I watched the subsequent events and aftermath unfold on BBC. We also had access to CNN but the picture quality was better on BBC. We eventually migrated back to CNN because the news source was from the USA and we wanted to share the perspective from an American point of view. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? The momentary uncertainty of exactly what had happened, and what our crew's responsibility was to be totally aware of our surroundings and what we should be prepared to do if any situations arose. Not knowing exactly what had happened, our first concerns were for our families on the ground, back in the USA. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? I told my crew upon landing in Brazil that aviation, as we knew it, had changed forever. I feel that was one of my more accurate observations, the ramifications of which are still unfolding. I was and am proud of my fellow Americans, worldwide, who have united to change the course of civilization and to eradicate, inasmuch as possible, evil-motivated 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_story78.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. 207.104.92.10 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.) 9/11 I boarded a Delta fligt to Orlando FLA out of Boston's Logan airport. The flight left at 8 am. I remember the beuatiful morning and flew over NYC at about 8:30. I can recall the clear view I had out my window of Manhattan and took note of the statue of Liberty. At about 10:30 the captain announced that they had received notice that there was a security break in the air traffic control system and we had been instructed to land immedialtey. He had no further info but assured us that there was nothing wrong with the aircraft we were in. We landed immediatley in Charlston, SC. Nobody on the plane had any idea what had happened and most people including myself were complaining about the inconvenience of the delay. It was about 11 am when I finally entered the terminal where we were instructed to wait in a roped off area, still unaware of the events. The people at the Delta terminal had told us not to plan on getting out that day and we should find a hotel. I tried several times to call my wife to tell her where I was and ask what was going on. People were speculating and there were stories going around that a plane had hit the WTC. Nobody from that Delta flight had any concept of the magnitude of the events. Cell phone lines were busy and it was difficult to make a call but after about 15 minutes I finally got through. My wife, Michelle, was histerical when I reached her. She knew that I left Boston at 8am and had not heard from me until almost noon. She told me what had happened and I listened but still had no concept of what was going on. My next call was to my boss and he suggested that I rent a car and drive to his home in Charlotte, NC. I proceeded to the hertz counter and the line for cars was huge. People in line were talking about sharing cars and making drives as far as California. the airport in Charlston was filled with people but there was an unusual silence. Now it was setting in and at 1pm I had still not seen any first hand coverage of the events. When I finally got my rental car I decided that I would drive home to Boston. I spent the next 20 hours alone in a car. My drive took me through small towns in the south east, Wahsington, DC, Philadelphia, NY where again I could see the skyline and the cloud of smoke. I knew that I needed to get back to my family. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? The morning sunshine. The sence of unity and brotherhood. 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_story148.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. 2003-12-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.100.240.181 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 had woke up very early that day. Around 5:30 am PST. Something just didn't feel right. I couldn't sleep and was tossing and turning. I took the dog for a walk and upon my return my neighbor yelled "A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center! Turn on your TV!" I turned on the TV and couldn't believe my eyes. I just kept thinking to myself, our country will never be the same. I cried for all those who lost brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, and friends. I was also angry at our adminstration for turning its back to the Middle East and Foreign Policies. I am not saying this could have been stopped, but at least the present adminstration should have been paying more attention to the Middle East conflicts. For the past week, all I could do is watch the news and our changing world. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Watching the plane go into the second tower. I couldn't believe that it was happening. I was so sad and angry. I kept asking myself, why is this happening now? What did we do to bring this about? Where was our intelligence? Why wasn't anyone paying attention? LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? I believe in what Jesus taught. Love thy enemies. This country has turned into one big killing war machine. Hating anyone who is different than them or who have differnt beliefs. Destroying land and lives to hunt down one man and his fellowers is wrong. Hate breeds Hate. Love is the only answer. It is a very sad state of affairs and a horrible mess. We need new leadership. 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_story151.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. 2003-12-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 140.147.37.12 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 was in Brisbane in a hotel room as I was working in the city for the week. That morning I woke up and went to the door and got the newspaper. It did not have the normal weather forecast attached and I just thought that had been forgotten. I did not look at the headlines. I then switched on the TV and saw the second plane going into the building. I sat completely shocked as I listened to the news and could not turn the coverage off. I started to cry when I realised the enormity of it all. Although I had several client appointments that day no-one really wanted to talk about work issues and both appointments were short. Unfortunately that nmeant I had a lot of time to watch the coverage. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? That all the people that I came into contact with during the day wanted to talk and spend more time with one than usual. The person who served me a soft drink wanted to know how my day was going [not a usual request] and at dinner at a restaurant that night my friend and I spent a lot of the evening talking to a young waitress who really needed to make contact with people and to share her feelings about the day. By the end of the meal we felt we had made a friend. I later organised a work dinner at the same restaurant just to see how she was doing. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? As an Australian, who works for a US company, I am aware of a lot of security changes both here and when I travel outside Australia. I think thisevent heightened my awareness of the need to live each day fully and to appreciate the life one has and the people that are a part of that 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_story243.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. 2004-01-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 203.45.24.218 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 curtain factory,in the New York metro area, with no access to radios, television or computers. Our break came at 10:20 am and word of mouth began to spread news and rumors. Since, many of the workers, were immigrants, the story traveled through 5 or six languages to reach me. I tookin with sceptism. Around 11:30 the owner big bosses came out to tell us what had happened and said those of us who needed to or wished to leave may. Not realizing that I was ten miles away from a potential target, I decided to stay. Then I went to my car at 4:15pm to find my friend still on the air on the radio. He was supposed to have signed off at 10am. I rushed home, called the Red Cross and made a donation. My answering machine was flashing so I played my messages. My best friend, had thought that I was actually in NYC, and her voice sounded like it had panic in it. Since, she is a retired Paramedic, whose estranged husband was a police officer in the New York Metro area, I got scared. I tried to phone her and my parents, but by then our phone lines were gone. I guess they were pulled for emergency use. I drove acrss the river to see three of my closest friends. I put some provisions into my car and drove to Beacon, NY. MY friend was still on the air as 7pm approached. He signed off, and I met up with him at his home. I was already there when he finally got home. His wife is also an old and dear friend. His son had been home due to illness, his eldest daughter was fixated on the television, and his littlest wanted to know why the bad people wanted to kill us. I told her they don't all want to kill all of us, they just want to scare us into seeing their problems. I didn't want her to be so afraid. My friend cam home and went to bed, I called my other friend the paramedic from their home. We all had gone to school with each other. She was home, so I drove to her home. Her children and her husband were fine, but not all of her friends and former co-workers had been accounted for, yet. As the days drew on, there was one who did not make it home, her Fire Fighter, friend Paul Tetgmeier, was filling in for someone else on that day, in a unit that was not his own. I couldn't call my mother from her house as she did not have any long distance service and it was now late, so I did not stop at a family friend's house where I could have placed the call. I stopped at some local train stations to see if any stranded commuters were in need of rides, but arrangements had been made for those that did not normally take the trains. It was about 3:20 am on the twelth now. I looked at all the cars in the lot and wondered, how many simply could not get out of the city that night, how many went down to volunteer and how many, like the husband of the Mayor of Poughkeepsie(where I was), would never come home to collect their cars from the parking lots. I drove back over the Hudson River, and got on the NYS thruway, which to my suprise, had remain open for normal traffic that day. I drove in the right lane. My little red Honda Civic, was the only car in the right lane. The passing lane was fleet of ambulences and paramedic trucks that stretched as far as the eye could see and then beyond. I pulled to the shoulder, but they remained in one lane, they kept coming and coming, one right after the other. I thought to myself, all the locals are long gone these must becoming from the Canadian border areas and beyond. I began lookin g at the plates, NY, NY,NY,PA MA,ME, Ontario, quebec, Ohio the list goes on they were coming from everywhere. My doctor had recently told me to avoid crying due to a severe sinus condition. So that is what I did. I made some final stops at the train stations on my side of the river and then showered and got ready for work. I went to work and came home. I called my family immediatly, to tell them that I was OK, I loved them, and that I couldn't get a phone line on 9-11 and had to use the line sparingly. My stepfather got angry at me because I had told him that I could not donate blood. I knew this from my past attempts to donate. I called the blood donors in my area to see if they had waived any of the requirements, but they had not. My mother and I fought over money, so I told her I would not tie up a valuble phone line to fight with her and I hung up on her. I called my friends in a state of hysteria. My uncle called to tell me that my mothers oldest friends daughters were both alive. They had both worked in The World Trade Center. I was glad to hear that they were ok. The next, morning I called my mother phome a pay phone outside the factory to apologize. She told me that, she wished I had died as a child. I went numb, then burst into tears and hung up the phone. Strangers who barly spoke any English were trying to comfort me. I explained why I was crying, that it was not related to 9-11. Still, in my heart it was. How could my own mother, who was born and raised in NYC, Whose best friend children worked in the World Trade Center say such a thing at such a time? It was 9-13 only two days later. It rained that night. It was a down pour, the television crew said there was a need for rain gear, so I gathered slickers, tarps, umbrellas and a gallon of water and headed back over the Hudson River to catch a train to NYC. I didn't know if the subways were running yet, but I asked where I should go to bring my supplies. I did as I was told. After donating the raingear, litteraly off my back, I walked from the west thirties to the east eighties in the pooring rain . The rain was stinging my eyes, and I couldn't help but wonder what chemicals were in the air and how bad must it be down at Ground Zero. My shoes had holes in them, the soles came apart, and I had blisters on my feet, but I just kept wondering how much worse off people were down at Ground Zero. As I turned down eighth ave., a Middle Eastern looking man approached me. I did't want him to think that I hated him or feared him, because I did not. We were standing infront of a peep show place. I was wearing a Bush Annaugaral tee shirt, dirty jeans from the factory, and a National Review wind breaker was tied around my waist. He asked me how I was. I relplied very very wet. He asked me if I wanted to come home with him. I politely replied, no thank you I am staying at a friends place and I have work in the morning. He got indignant,huffed off and slammed the door to a taxi that had stopped for him. It was not until the following day, that I realized, he had thought that I was a prostitute. I got a big laugh out of that on 9-14. It was my first post 9-11 laughter. After, eighth ave. I mad my way to the 24 hour McDonalds between 46th and 47th on seventh Ave. I went inside to warm up, get a hot cocoa, and use the rest room. I really, had not been paying much attention to what I was doing, but then I realized, that I was in this very McDonalds, when heard the news on tv, that there had been an explosion at the World Trade center back in 1993. A sense of familiarity was sitting on my shoulders. I made it to my friends building by about 5:30 am on the 14th, I took a hot shower, dried my cloths and wtch Tony Blair give a speech on Television. I caslled work to say that I would be late. I slept for two hours and returned to work. I am poor and don't have much money, I had spent the last of my money on my return ticket home, but the ticket got detroyed in the rain. At first the ticket clerk yelled at me, and said it didn't even rain, but when she saw me in tears, she realized I was telling the truth. She helped me to get back on the train. The conductor, knew me from my commuting days, so I had no problem after that. Saturday, my friends radio station was supposed to have a party, but they turned it into a fund raiser. I attented it, then got back on the train bound for NYC, with some of my own supplies. When I arrived at the Red Cross Station, they asked if I wanted to volunteer. I said yes. I worked with them that weeken and the following weekend, and as groups moved and disolved I wound up volunteering with Ground Zero Food Services, Interfaith services, WTC temporary Housing and eventually the Salvation Army. In January I began volunteer full time and I stayed until July 8th. (I took three week off, 2 to attend the Olympics with my friend, who had already paid for the tickets, and one due to a fever, when I returned from Salt Lake City. September 11th, 2001 to July 8th 2002 became one giant endless dayfor me. When I first heard about what was going on in Skokie, I too was against allowing the Party a parade permit. Then I listened closely to the arguments in favor OF the permit, and I realized that the only way to hang on to what is dear to us, we have to protect those rights, even when the people we are protecting, appall us. Yes, we may at times damn the ACLU when they are defending people or groups we find to be hateful........but as the ACLU defends their rights, they are protecting ours, and we should be damn glad they exist. to man LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? My strongest memory of September 11th, 2001, was seeing the endless stream of ambulances all in the passing lane, even though I was the only car in the driving lane on the NYS thru-way. The Ambulances had plate from NY, MA, ME, OH, PA, Ontario, Quebec and other places. It would have made an unbelievable aerial shot if there had been any planes in the air,. besides the local military jets. There were ambulances and paramedic trucks for as far as the human eye could see, and they just kept coming onto the horizon, for beyond where the human eye could see. 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 this country learn a valuble lesson. We are not immune from attacks. I had been saying that since the 1970's, but most people just dimissed me as nuts. I just looked in the history books and concluded, that we were like anyone and every one else. It is best not to think your immune, that is when trouble is sure to come. It did to the Romans, The British Empire, and the ship S.S. Titanic. As for me personally, I stopped living my life for the purpose of pleasing my mother. 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_story231.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. 2004-01-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.119.33.170 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.) Here's my account, including the bulletin sent via AP. Please feel free to edit as I am terrible at editing my own copy. thanks BC-Trade Center-Crash, 9th Ld, a0556,0101 BULLETIN Two planes crash into World Trade Center in apparent terrorist attack; tower collapses to the ground Eds: UPDATES with tower collaping, witness seeing bodies. No pickup. AP Photos NY191-193 By JERRY SCHWARTZ AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) - In a horrific sequence of destruction, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center and one of the towers collapsed Tuesday morning in what the President Bush said was an apparent terrorist attack. A witness said he saw bodies falling from the 110-story towers and people jumping out. MORE AP-ES-09-11-01 1011EDT My account: My phone began ringing around 9 this morning. I was thinking "who in the world is calling me when they know that I am still asleep." Then sometime between 9:30 and 10 I hear this tremendous boom. I thought the balcony had collapsed. Then I figured the giant oak tree outside must have fallen and hit the roof. I mostly jumped down 17 steps to the door and outside in my boxer shorts. The tree was there and so was the balcony. Later during the day I learned the boom I heard was sonic booms from military jets or either propane tanks exploding at the Pentagon following the jet attack. I returned to my condo completely confused by the noise I had just heard. I listened to messages left on my answering machine. First messages from Lee Gall from Michigan: "Hey Mike just calling to make sure you're ok." I did not understand what he meant. I was fine. Second message from Don Wiewel: "Hey you better get your ass outta bed and get to work." Two planes have crashed. I thought it was nothing big because Don is a total nut case most of the time. I turned on the TV. There it was. The World Trade Center on fire. Then it collapsed. I completely lost it. Crying hysterically. Then my friend Jeffrey Clincy called and I lost it again. He offered to come over to comfort me. I told him "I gotta get to work." The phone rings again. It was my friend John Batchelor from Philly calling. I completely lost it again. "Why is this happening? I don't understand what's going on," I lamented. Got off the phone. Got into the shower. Cried some more. Put some nice slacks on and a nice shirt. No tie. Even grabbed my gym bag and loaded it as if I was going to the gym. Packed my lunch that I put into containers last night. Got in the car and headed for work. Walter Reed was backed up at my corner. There would be no getting to Route 50. I heard it was closed going east toward Rosslyn. I had already heard that 395 was closed. Turned around and headed home. Cried some more at the traffic light while on the phone with my longtime friend Dan Bailey. It took me about an hour to go out and return home. My heart was so broken. I got home and saw my neighbor in the courtyard. I lost it again. She sat down with me and hugged me like a long lost friend. I went inside and changes clothes. I decided I needed to ride my bike into Rosslyn. I packed 2 bottles of water, shorts, a Polo shirt, socks, underwear and a belt. There were so many people walking home from work before noon. I saw 2 couples on bikes watching the Pentagon burn from an overpass on 395. I told them I was going to work. They said "are you crazy?" I said, "no, I work for USA TODAY." This bike ride that I do so often seemed to be the longest ride of my life. I was shirtless with my helmet and biker shorts on. As I approached Crystal City I saw more people walking home with briefcases, lunch boxes and the look of complete and utter shock. I could sees the smoke billowing from the Pentagon. The jet fuel was reaching my nose as if I was on one of those little commuter planes...sitting right next to the engine. A lady yelled at me "hey, you're going the wrong way." I said I have to, I work for USA TODAY. She said "OK, God speed." Route 1 was a parking lot. I got to the Mt. Vernon bike trail and a cop told me it was closed. I turned around and headed for Route 110. It, too, was a sea of cars. People driving with glared eyes, old women clutching their wheels, the sidewalks filled with workers heading home. No one was running. Just walking like stone-faced zombies. I politely let people know that I was coming through from behind on a bike. They all moved aside and let me by. I went through three police stops and got told to "move that bike outta the way" by a fireman backing a fire truck up after he had taken the wrong exit for the Pentagon. The fireman and truck were my last hindrance on 110. I called my roommate at this point to tell him I was close. He told me he was waiting outside the Gannett tower. As I approached the Pentagon I noticed military personnel walking around in a slow daze. I assume they were trying to go home, but some just looked like they were going in circles to nowhere. I had to stop for a moment because my legs could not pedal anymore and I was completely out of breath. So says the guy who's supposed to be in good shape. At this point I had the entire road to myself. The first time I ever had ever seen 110 without vehicles. I was a one-man parade. I reached the curve toward USA TODAY and faced a small hill that seemed like a mountain after my frantic ride. My backpack was soaking. There were many people standing around outside the buildings and many uniformed security personnel. I reached the Gannett/USA TODAY towers. I'm sure I looked like a total wreck. After I calmed down a bit I approached the building and was stopped by security. One lady who knew me said "he's ok to come in." Another asked me where I worked and she said "bless your heart. You are just so upset because you care." I said yes and preceded inside. I ran into William Dermody and, of course, I lost control again. He said he did not recognize me at first. My supervisor Mark Pearson was happy to see me and told me to go take a shower if I wanted to. Geez, did I smell that bad? Probably. My coworker Robin Turner was here ready to say a prayer for anyone who needed it and even had her holy oil available. We all needed it. Carolyn Pesce rounded to corner toward the elevator and was there for a much needed hug. Health/works, our corporate gym, was open, but there was not a soul to be seen. I took a peaceful shower. It helped. My cell phone rings. I almost never get a call on my cell phone in the office. It's my friend Thierry calling from Germany. He said it took about 100 attempts to get through. What a wonderful feeling to have someone so concerned about you. Almost immediately he was disconnected, but he managed to get through later. I later got a call from my longtime friend Martin Harder in Hamburg. He, his common-law wife and kids were deeply disturbed and had to call an old friend. How comforting. After designing many pages many times and listening to many testimonies from colleagues, I went home at midnight. Fred Gaskins gave me and my bike a ride home in his sports utility. An eerie smokescreen poured from one side of the Pentagon and the smell of jet fuel continued to permeate the cool night air. Earlier in the day, Fred told me he witnessed the jet from Dulles heading toward the Pentagon at lightning speed. The landing gear was not down. He said he knew what was happening. Weary firemen sat upon the ground not far from the Pentagon as if they were waiting for the next round. Some were on their backs, but I'm sure they were not asleep. I checked on my neighbors after I got home. Then came the really strong drink. I watched the day's events on CNN - this time with sound. The TVs are on 24-7 at work, but usually without sound unless a headset was used. I climbed into bed at 3:10 a.m. I think I may have drifted off to sleep around 5:30 for an hour. I just could not put away the images, the tears, phone calls of concern, the kind words... the American tragedy. Home is no longer the same place. This is now the place where I heard an awful explosion. The place where I first saw the Trade Center fall. A part of me feels very selfish for whining about my day. After all, I am alive and healthy. I guess we all have to remember that those who die are at peace. Those of us who are left must worry about tomorrow. 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_story20.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. 2003-03-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 159.54.128.2 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 the head of an office of lawyers who work for the judges of the Eighth Circuit United States Court of Appeals. I had arrived at work in the federal courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri, early that day, and when I pulled into the parking garage, the news had not yet broken on the radio. One of my staff members arrived a short while later, and asked if I had heard anything about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. I said, "No," thinking it was some wild and untrue rumor. We decided to turn on the television set we have in the office, and we learned it was true. As most people did at that point, we thought it was some freak accident, and I returned to my office to work. Shortly thereafter, the staff member came to tell me she had just watched a second plane hit the World Trade Center, and a wave of fear swept through me. I sent an e-mail message to all 25 of my staff alerting them to the situation and inviting them to come to the television room. We all watched and the news began reporting the suspicion of terrorism; then the plane hit the Pentagon. I decided I wanted to send my staff home for their safety. One of the news reporters mentioned that our courthouse is the tallest federal courthouse in the country. I consulted with the resident Eighth Circuit Judge at about 8:45 Central time, and he approved my letting my staff go home. I sent them all home at about 9:00 a.m., although some chose to stay. Having learned that all planes had been grounded, I elected to stay, as the judges (almost all of whom were in St. Louis that week) had decided to go on the bench to hear oral arguments. Not knowing what else to do, I attended a meeting at 9:30 with other court staff and the judges' secretaries, at which we discuss IT issues. Everyone was there, but very jittery, and when we heard a loud "thump," we got up and left the meeting as one. I returned to my office and called my mother. I did not feel too frightened once I was confident all the planes had been grounded. The blocks around the courthouse were cordoned off by armed federal marshals, and the courthouse was built with many security features, so I also felt confident we would not be attacked by a truck bomb. I had a meeting scheduled with one of the judges that afternoon, so I stayed at work. Mid-afternoon, the judge called me from his hotel, surprised I was still at the office, and told me we would reschedule the meeting. About 3:00 or so, the Chief District Judge and the U.S. Marshal finally decided to close the building. At that point, I left and collected my 5-year-old daughter from day care. I'm sure at some point I called my husband, but I don't recall specifically when. I know many family members called the office before 9 a.m. to make sure their daughter/son/wife/or husband was all right, and to encourage them to leave. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Scanning the sky for airplanes. My office is on the corner of the 23rd floor of the 28-story federal courthouse, and has large windows. I remember scanning the skies frequently that day, looking for airplanes. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? I feel the sense of patriotism and unity that swept over us in the days and weeks following is still present, although in a more subdued fashion. Although commentators said we would never feel safe again, I believe people have returned to a more normal state. We can shop, vacation, be entertained, and even be rude to each other, and not feel guilty. I am disappointed that these feelings allowed the President to involve us in the war in Iraq, which to me squandered the higher value of these feelings, and also squandered the good feelings other countries had toward us. 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_story95.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. 208.27.203.127 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 sitting in my classroom doing a math problem when my principal came over the announcements. He said a plane had hit the World Trade Center. No big deal, I thought... just a freak accident. About 20 minutes later I was called out of school to go home with my mom. I got my books and she had a frightened look on her face, so my sisters and I hurried along. She had a very solemn look on her face as she told us the Pentagon and both World Trade Centers had been hit by planes. She said no one knew what it was or why, but that we needed to pray. We said prayers all the way home. We got home and I sat with my mom to watch the news. Slowly we got more and more information. I watched in horror as the cameras focused in on people jumping from the bulidings to get away from the fire. I watched in disbelief as the Trade Centers came crashing down and the city filled with smoke and debris. I will never, ever forget those images. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? My strongest memory is talking to my family on the phone. We live 20 minutes from DC, so they were very concerned about us. There was a fear over this area that another plane would hit the White House or the CIA-which is almost directly next to my High School. Around here we had to comfort those far away that we would stay safe-and to make sure they knew we loved them in case something did happen. I'll never forget their worried voices and constant calls to make sure my family is safe. I'll also never forget the tears in my eyes as they estimated how many had been murdered- thankfully lower in reality, but still unbelievable. That sense of disbelief will never be felt in the same way again. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? Instead of falling apart like the terrorists wanted, Americans stood and continue to stand strong. I have never seen a more patriotic country as in the days after September 11. I too have never felt a stronger sense of pride to be an American. We may not have as many flags hanging from our doors, but that doesn't mean the pride of being an American doesn't live on. It also doesn't mean we've stopped fighting the terrorists. And it doesn't mean we will ever forget those 3,000 innocent lives torn away that day. We remember. 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_story272.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. 2004-01-21 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.98.179.246 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.) was at work at the Treasury Annex in Washington, DC when our office manager came in and said a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We went down to another office to view the news, and saw the footage of the second plane hitting the World Trade Center. We knew then it was no accident. I went back to work. A short time later the office manager told me the Pentagon had been bombeed and hadn't I better send a message out to the computer incident response teams. I had just finished the e-mail message, when we were told to evacuate the building. Anyone that should go to the Emergency Response Center (EMC) was to go to the first floor. Since I was in charge of incident response, I packed up my laptop computer and went down to the first floor along with the office manager. We were told we could not stay in the building, so we relocated to 1425 New York Ave. On the way we heard an explosion behind us. The cop near us lost it and started yelling for everyone to get out of there. We arrived at 1425 New York Ave offices and it was decided that the EMC should relocate to the facility that was being set up for the World Bank demonstrations. We had to walk to this facility, since you couldn't use a car at all in the city at that time. We were redirected once due to a dog sniffing explosives in a car. When we finally got to the facility, our first job was to find the executives. Luckily by then pagers had started working again, so we could contact them and find out where they were. My sister also paged me from Delaware to find out if I was OK. I called her back and told her I was safe. I also left messages for my mother to tell her I was safe. When I finally found an analog outlet, I was able to dial in and check my e-mail. I had a message from my sister-in-law asking if I was OK. I sent a reply stating that I was. I periodically dialed in during the day to see if there were any messages from FedCIRC or the NIPC. There was one later in the day that I forwarded to everyone. I even called FedCIRC to inform them where I was and ask if there were any computer related incidents - there were none. Otherwise, we spent the day watching the news coverage on a large screen. At 6PM I was released to go home. The streets were deserted. Metro was running so I was able to use it to get to Springfield. The office manager had his car there, so he was nice enough to give me a ride home. We had to report to the EMC for 12 hour shifts through that weekend. When I got home, I called my girlfriend who worked at the Pentagon. She was fine - it just took her a long time to get home. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Mass confusion. No one really knew what was going on, where to go, or what to do. We really had no emergency response plans to address this kind of emergency. Employees were evacuated without any instructions - do they just stand outside, go home, or what? If the White House had been attacked, there would have been a lot of people in the streets that could have gotten injured. I saw the footage of the building falling numerous times that day, but it was only in late afternoon when I realized that everyone had not been able to get out. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? I think first of all we have become more conscious of the need to plan for emergencies and train for them. We have also realized there is an enemy within far more insidious than the communists of old. Personally, the first time I flew after 9-11 was overseas to a convention in Sweden. The first leg of the flight I was very nervous. After that I was OK. I have recognized that if another attack comes, it comes. You can't hibernate, or limit what you do based upon the threat of attack. If you do, they have won. 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_story190.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. 12.77.64.20 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 making my bed and about to clean my bedroom. I was home and had the TV on to a news station which was unusual for me to do at that time of day. For some reason, I thought I should watch the news that day. I had been recently laid off from my technical writer position at a company in Fairfax, Virginia, and had not found a new job. I had channel 7 on and suddenly saw and heard the "we interrupt this program" announcement and saw Diane Sawyer report that a plane had somehow crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. As I watched in disbelief, I heard her say a little later, "well, here comes another plane," and it was as if she was thinking to herself that obviously this plane was there to somehow monitor or help the other plane. How that would have been possible, I don't know....but I got the impression that's what she was thinking. Then, when it crashed into the other tower, I felt like a bolt of lightening had gone through my body as I instantly knew we were under seige and the world would never be the same again. I started to shake and perspire. I tried to call my husband at work, but couldn't reach him. I felt a panic attack coming on, but I tried to stay calm. I sat glued to the TV and suddenly everything seemed very surreal...like I had gone into some sort of time warp from which I would emerge and the events unfolding before me would somehow disappear. I would heave a sigh of relief and I would tell my husband what a horrible dream I had had. For days and days and still unto this day, I sometimes break down in tears for no reason. As a result of 9/11, my life has changed considerably. There is no peace of mind. I do not fly in planes; I do not travel on large span bridges nor do I use the metro system, including trains and buses. I also do not attend public events of large gatherings, e.g., games, concerts, etc. I do not go to large malls and always shop in small stores. I pray for peace every day. I do not understand why our government was not better prepared for this eventuality. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Fear and disbelief. 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_story161.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. 2003-12-22 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.) I was at work on Sept. 11, 2001 when a coworker came in and announced that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center buildings. At first I thought it was an accident, a plane flying too low until someone announced that another plane had flown into the second building. Word traveled fast because our servers were jammed with people trying to access news sites to find out what was happening. Since I couldn't get online, I called my mom who explained that while the cameras were trained on the burning building, another plane slammed into the second building. At that point, I got scared and started wondering what really was going on, why was this happening and who did it? LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? When I saw the first building collapse, I felt like I had been sucker-punched in the gut. Some of us had crowded into an office with a television. When I saw the towers fall, tears ran down my face. I couldn't help thinking of the people who were still inside when the buildings went down. I still remember how beautiful the day was. The skies here in Kansas City were clear and it was warm. By the end of the day, I just remember the surreal feeling of it all. At times the death and destruction didn't seem real. 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 Sept. 11 woke a lot of us out of our complacency. For the first time, we had been attacked on our own soil. Who ever thought that would happen? The biggest challenge was explaining what happened to my then eleven-year-old son. He was very afraid as I was and wanted to know why the attacks happened and who would do this to our country? I have always considered myself to be an informed person. Now I find myself seeking more information - trying to get behind the headlines to educate myself about different countries and their peoples. We need to all understand why certain people feel the way they do about our country. Unfortunately, others don't share our view of grandness and invincibility. 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_story125.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. 216.63.22.57 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.) At the Library of Congress in the tunnels going from one building to another. Popped in an office and saw it on tv, thought it was a bad airplane accident at first. Then, heard about the pentagon where a close friend works, and spent much time trying to find out about him. then decided to head for home to get my sons out of school. was able to catch a ride with a friend who had a car, which was good because the trains weren't running by then. got home in an hour and got my sons, we all headed home and stayed glued to the tv LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? The feeling of panic among staff, worrying about my friend, worrying that my boys were safe. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? I think it makes the US realize it is not invulnerable. It makes me realize how incredibly lucky we have been as a whole, when comparing to Israel or other countries constantly under terrorist threat. Other than that, has not changed my life significantly...I figure that when my time comes, it comes, and there isn't much I can do about it except live until then the best I can, and NOT give in to the terrorists plans of causing widespread panic and terror in the US. I am NOT buying into it. 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_story18.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. 2003-02-26 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 140.147.89.13