175 20 70359 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11, 2001, I was standing in the kitchen of my brother's condominum in Venice, Florida, ready to pack the van for a return trip home to Fort Wayne, Indiana. My oldest brother and I had made the trip to Florida to celebrate my retirement after 38 years of teaching. When we heard the news, we were confused as to what had actually happened. But when we saw the second plane hit, we knew that this was no accident. Although we were so far away from the events, I still felt I was close to those who were suffering. We made a stop in Longwood, Florida, where we visited some old friends of mine whose daughter-in-law worked in New York City. Fortunately, they were able to contact her and she was safe. My younger brother in Providence, Rhode Island, also has a good friend who lives in the city and, miraculously, my brother was able to reach him on his cell phone before all the lines of communication were down. He too was safe. As my brother and I continued on our way home, we listened to the radio about the events of the day; what we heard was surreal. How could such a tragedy happen? However, I realized that Americans are resiliant. We would see this through to the end. How glad I am that I live in this country. 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 story3641.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. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Hi, my name is Stephannie Aquil. I used to live in New York, now I'm living in North Carolina. I just moved here two months ago. I was in New York when all this happened. I was in my school, University Neighborhood High School, in the Lower East Side, Manhattan. September 11,2001 was my first day at that school. All I hear during that time, I hear a sound going, "BOOM!". We were able to see the Twin Towers from my school, but like I said earlier it was my first day, so, I could'nt see them. When I was walking to the school, I told my mom the we've seen the Tower almost everywhere that exact same day. This happened on a tuesday, my mom on sunday was making plans with her friend to go to the towers on TUESDAY, but we did'nt go because we started school. So, back to the story, I hear boom . I thought it was those things that stud! ents use for the experiments of volcanoes. I hear my assisstant princial teeling us that a plane crashed into the Twin Towers. I did'nt even know what were the "World Trade Center" . But then later on, I see this girls crying because they had family members working there. They told me that the twin towers collapsed. I was like "what?". I could'nt believe it. I called my mom like two hours after. She came to pick me up. We had to go walikng form my school, from Madison and Montgomery all away to 14 Street Union Square. From there we took th train to my house, to the Bronx. I bought the newspaper from th whole week and the one from the year after. Now I'm in North Carolina, which I don't really want to be here. Well Thank You for giving me the chance of telling you how was my day on 9/11/2001. Sincerely, Stephannie Aquil 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 story8607.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. 2002-11-01 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 129.174.27.131 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My name is Mandice and I am 27 years old. At my age and in the short years I've lived on this planet, I have never experienced so much devestation so quickly in my life. Older generations speak of the World Wars, Vietnam, and the Korean war. I've only read about these events in my history books. Even during Desert Storm, It was so far removed that I never comprehended the impact. Now, I have an entirely new perspective on my freedom and what it means to me. The day of the attacks, I was on my way to work. (It was around 7:00 a.m. MST.) I parked my car and got out, only to meet a stranger standing in front of me. He said, "Did you hear about the accident?" Not quite comprehending what he meant, I tried to recall what the traffic reporter had announced earlier that morning. I seemed to remember an accident somewhere on the highway, but nothing concrete. "No," I said "What accident?" He then told me that a plane had hit one of the "buildings" in New York City. "How awful," I thought but I still had no idea what had happened. Upon entering an empty office, my cell phone rang. "Mandice, did you hear what happened," my husband asked me frantically. "Yeah, I heard something, but I'm not really sure what's going on." "An airplane just crashed into one of the World Trade Center buildings!" At that, I darted around the corner to see if anyone else had made it to work. Two others, besides myself, were settling. I hurriedly reported everything my husband said to me as he watched the events unfold on our television at home. All I could feel for the first hour or two was shock. I couldn't really grasp what was happening. We tried to watch the events on the television in the office, but without an antennae, it was difficult to make out anything. Once I could discern the buildings, the planes and the smoke, I began to weep. I cried for the people who were killed so unjustly. I cried for the people struggling to get out of the buildings. I cried for those who lept from the buildings to their ultimate fates below. I cried for those scrambling to help those who were hurt. As soon as the tears began to dry up, I realized something else. Mothers and fathers tire daily to nurture and support their children. They do so without asking anything in return, but the reward for doing so astronomical. The love of a child and the love of a parent for a child is unmeasured...I began to weep for the mothers and fathers who would never again hold their children in their arms. Within three to four hours of being at work, our President finally told us that we could go home, if we wished. (I honestly wish I had left much sooner, but I was still in so much shock.) I rushed to my car and made my way to my daughter's daycare. When I arrived, most of the children were gone. I found my daughter and hugged her with all my might. If she had been able to speak, I'm sure she would have asked me to stop. I just couldn't. I needed to hold her and thank God for her at that moment. After packing her in the car, we made our twenty minute commute back home listening to the announcers on the radio. At one point, I felt tempted to turn it off because I felt that I had had enough but then I felt that the least I could do for those who were suffering was listen. This would place me as close to them as I could possibly get. When I arrived home, my husband, sister and sister-in-law were sitting in front of televsion looking as I did earlier....perplexed-just trying to take it all in. I think that was the feeling of most of us in the U.S. at that time. We just couldn't grasp that something so awful could happen to us. And then, why us? Weren't we the most powerful nation in the world...the land of the free and the home of the brave? Now, a year later, I still wonder why and I still cry. I also pray. I pray that nothing like this ever happens again. I pray that we take nothing for granted and remember what's most important in our lives. I pray that our leaders remain clear-headed and strong, so that they can make the best decisions for our country. Finally, I pray for those who harbor hatred in their hearts, that they find peace within themselves and learn to love. 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 story4128.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. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.124.151.5 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was home in California on September 11, 2001. My husband and I were still in bed as it was only around 6:00am in California. My husband woke me and he had the tv on in the bedroom and told me to "LOOK AT THIS". I thought he was watching a movie and ask him "WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING AND WHY SO EARLY IN THE MORNING ARE YOU WATCHING A HORROR MOVIE?" He immediately told me that a plane had flown into one of the Trade Center Buildings. We were shocked. We though that it was an accident and never in a million years thought of a terrorist attack. We got up and rushed downstairs and turned on the tv in the living room and then saw the other plane hit the second tower. It was the most awful thing I have ever witnessed. September 11 was a horrible day and one we will never forget. Our hearts were broken on that day for the thousands of heros that died because of a few cowards that murder good decent people. Our hearts broken yes BUT NOT OUR SPIRIT and if these sort of people think they can break America's spirit they are wrong. They will never consume or destroy America. The spirits of the people lost on that day will live on forever in the hearts of all of us. They will never die. GOD BLESS AMERICA AND THE PEOPLE OF 9 11 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 story20628.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. 2006-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 148.78.249.33 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: We woke up from sleep and Jim my fiance went down to make the coffee and I turned the TV on it was sometime five in the morning or so... I saw the first plane hit the first tower and I couldn't believe what I was actually seeing and then the next thing I knew the next plane hit the second tower. I was in total complete shock from watching it live on TV. Jim came out of shower and watched with me and we were in complete shock. I started crying. He started crying too. We just couldn't believe what happened. After seeing over and over again on the news we realized it was for real. We had been hit by terrorist. At first we thought it was an accident that someone made a very serious mistake. It wasn't in till the second plane that I realized this was an attack on America. We held each other and talked about what we should do. We decided that it was best to go to work. We went to work. We came home and we were still in complete state of shock. We function like we were just machines. We were on auto pilot. We had the TV on that night watching the news as to what had happened and who was responsible for this act. We felt a tremendous amount of hatred for these people and their country. We wanted revenge instantly. As far as we were concerned a nucelar attack on the whole country was fine with us. We wanted complete devastion of their entire culture. A wipe out. That is how intense this hate was... I didn't want to hear about their problems, their reasons, their defense, their story to justify their actions against us. There wasn't any justificaton as to why they attack us. There still isn't. I no longer feel I want their culture wiped out. Though I do feel we need to take action and stop them how ever we must stop them without having to wipe the whole culture and without killing the innocents. The most dangerous enemy is someone who nothing to lose. They having nothing to lose. In two weeks Jim lost his job. An Hi tech engineer for a electronic company that took a dive after the attack. He never found another job. All that year he went to every company looking for work. He lost his home, his dog his life. He lost his car. We moved into a rental. His kids lost respect for him and his depression took a very deadly turn. As I lived with him and not being able to convince him he needed to see a Doctor for his depression. At the very end he took his life by using a hand gun. His depression complicated by drinking killed himself in the garage with a deer rifle. His son found him that night when he came home from work. I wasnt' living there at that time because I left the week early to protect myself from his rage from all his losses. I think about this year. I lost not only the man I loved him heart and soul and I lost my Mother due to an illness that took her life. I lost my future with Jim. I feel Jim is not the only casuality in this war. This act destroyed our country on every level. Some of us are not going to make it because we just aren't getting the support wether it is from the work place, family, ect. There is help out there who ever actually seeks it and admits they have a real problem. Jim was not one of those people. I have lived through many wars. I am only forty eight and I talked with my Father who is seventy seven. He fought in WW11 and he even says this is the worst hit for our country he has ever lived through and has seen what is has done to us. We will get over this and we will prevail and be stronger,but are we any wiser? I haven't flown on a plane and I still do not feel good about flying. I am not willing to go through all the hassels. Driving is my gig. It is my car, the road is mine and it's all about freedom. I don't want to be search like an animal and treated like animal and I certainly do not like someone touching me in the process. I really don't care about the reasons. We lost that freedom to fly with out the bullshit. Till they get a handle on the technology of dealing other people luggage and I don't have to deal with invasion of privacy I will continue to drive in my car on my roads that my tax payers money which pays for the roads then that is just the way it will be, I have done enough traveling that there is a whole lot of USA I haven't seen and I am happy to be here till I feel good about flying again. That day will not be in my life time. Antoinette M. Wardell 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 story5981.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. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.38 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: We had just came back from our 2 week vacation to North Carolina where we spent the most beautiful, loving summer. The plane back was delayed in St. Louis and it was either very late at night or very early in the morning when we arrived to San Jose Airport and then to our apartment, with our bags unpacked sitting all over the living room we were sleeping deeply and streched out in our beds when i heard the phone but was too tired to rush to see who was calling, but i did got up and checked the machine which had just stopped recording a message from my mother-in-law. She said something containing the words: attack, New York, Pentagon, sorry, turn your tv. From the bedroom my husband asked who was it, "It's your mom, she said to turn the tv" so i searched for the remote and there it was the image of smoke and fire on a tall building. Trying to gather together information, thoughts and myself, shivers and weakness was felt all over my body, and my husband said something like: it looks like a movie. We had been watching for a long time without a word. We hugged, we thought of us just being aboard planes ourselves and the Lord watching over us making sure that it wasn't that the way we would die, that that horrible unthinkable, yet visible thing would not happen to us. We felt the pain of people just like us from all across the country getting to us, and we thank God for His mercy. We never thought of how precious was going to be that last innocent summer we had just spent. No more would we feel neither absolutely safe nor absolutely trusting nor absolutely free. We did dare to fly again after that but we had been robbed of that warm first-sight welcome and of that last kiss good-bye, robbed of the way we viewed our home, this great country. Now a baby had just recently been born to us, all we can do is hope, pray, and have the assurance that a mighty force greater than ourselves will keep him safe, will make him trust, will make him free. 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 story9955.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. 2003-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.125.88.56 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was on Active duty in the Army stationed in Giessen, Germany. It been a long day, not bad, but long. My thoughts drifted off to going home and relaxing. Around 3:30 pm that day someone started talking something about Washington D.C. had been "hit" (bombed) and the World Trade Center. (Keep in mind that Germany is 6 hrs ahead of Eastern Time.) My first reaction was go tell your crazy story somewhere else, not here. Well as I prepared to go home and relax that crazy story was confirmed and I wasn't going anywhere. It was mass confusion. They sent us out on "Guard Duty" to the housing area. No one knew what was going on anything else. Some Germans came and expressed their condolences. Some sincere and some drunk and were just being stupid. As I said it was mass confusion!!!! I didn't get home until 1 p.m. the next day, 12 Sep 2001. It was quite possible the longest day of my active duty career. Note: I am writing this because I was just in Washington D.C. over the Memorial Day weekend when they dedicated the WWII memorial. I was intrigued by the veterans that were there and the stories they had to tell. There were people there recording their stories as most WWII veterans are dying off. 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 story10659.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. 2004-06-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 128.63.48.71 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I had just finished working out at the gym and got in my car to go home when I realized the radio was playing news instead of music. The first plane had just hit and all they were saying was that there had been some kind of explosion at the WTC. When I got home, I turned on the tv just in time to see the second plane hit. I spent the rest of the day and the next few days glued to the tv waiting for the survivors to be found but as every day passed the horrible reality hit that there were no more survivors. 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 story4243.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. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 206.97.58.236 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was sitting in French class on what seemed to be just an idle Tuesday, staring at the clock on the wall, and pleading for class to end. The irony of that day for me was that morning I had thought to myself how dull Tuesdays usually were. At about 9:30, our principal spoke on the intercom, giving possibly the most vague speech I've ever heard. He required the children of Military personel working at the Pentagon, to come down to the office, because there had been a terrorist attack in Washington and New York. A couple of kids left the class, while the rest of us began to immediately itch to turn on CNN. The teacher, who like most French instuctors had a total stick up her ass, said that she did not want anyone who did not want to see what had happened be forced to watch. After almost a class mutiny, she finally gave in (mostly because she was just as curious) and we were instantly horrified by what we saw. Everyone's eyes were glued to the TV, and after the first tower fell, the teacher, who was infamous for showing no emotion toward the kids, turned off the TV, almost to tears. The rest of the day in each class every television was fixed on the event. Although no one died in the attack, you could see kids running down the halls crying (as they were unable to reach their parent) Our school paper which was being prepared to be printed immediately got the axe, in favor of a whole issue dedicated to the event. The main thing I remember from the whole day though was just how phony everyone was. People who usually show no moral standards went to church and pretended to be in total agony, and every car plastered some stupid bumper sticker or what not a day later. Everyone pretended that this act had somehow changed the morals and brought everyone in the school closer together.Baloney. A month later everything was exactly the same as it always was. 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 story984.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. 2002-08-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 129.174.27.179 Annotation Annotations to this item. Military Pentagon Students/Teachers Television Coverage Religion Patriotism DC: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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It is a day I will never forget. It shocked me, it maddened me, it saddened me. I never felt so much compassion for people and families I didn't know. As a volunteer victim advocate and crisis team member for Adam's County Crisis Response Team I began to try to prepare myself to be called upon for assistance, however this was a situation that no one could ever prepare for. Our crisis team was called to respond December 29 to Ground Zero to provide crisis intervention and support to those workers involved in the clean up and recovery effort. I walked into a world of pain and despair. I truly thought my efforts would be meaningless to those who endured what no person should ever endure in one?s lifetime. However, my goal was to just listen, and to make sure the workers at Ground Zero knew that I was there to just listen. I heard stories from the workers that were heartbreaking and stories that were funny. Each worker had something to say and just wanted to be heard. As I talked to each worker, the sharing of personal experiences on 9/11 or thereafter would surface and a moment of silence would follow. I would pray to myself that there was some sort of relief for that individual to have shared something so personal with a stranger. It was extremely hard to walk away from those workers at ?Ground Zero? who were not as receptive to my services, but I respected them for that. Not all were ready to talk, but to hear at least one worker tell his or her story and for them to have someone listen to it was all that mattered each day. From this I have learned, that listening is the most valuable tool and I will carry that with me forever. I will never be able to forget the pain that all American's endured on September 11, 2002. 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 story8011.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. 2002-09-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.4.17.208 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was IN THE AIR when it happened. Flying from Appleton, WI to Denver, and then on to Burbank. My flight left 40 minutes late, at 7:00 a.m.Central time. We arrived in Madison, where we picked up the rest of the passengers. It was a full flight, 50 people. We were in the air for about 30 minutes, and suddenly we took a sharp right and began to descend. The captain spoke. "Ladies and Gentlemen, in case you noticed, we took a right turn. We have been ordered to land in Lincoln, Nebraska. There is nothing wrong with this aircraft. We'll explain more when we are on the ground." My first thought- a plane crashed in Denver. Second, the airport is on fire. Melissa, the flight attendant, who was so charming and lovely, came onto the speaker and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt sign. Please fasten your seatbelts. Return your seats to their full and upright positions and secure your tray tables. We'll be on the ground in about 5 minutes, and I'm sure you'll understand." Wow! The plane is silent for a moment. Then the stir of nervous, or angry people, broke the silence. The businessman next to me was handsome and married, therefore non-threatening. We chatted about anything or nothing for a moment. I really don't recall. Then the pilot told us that an American flight and a United flight had been hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center. We would be sitting on the tarmac a while, and then taken inside the terminal for further instructions. No cell phones yet, however, the man kitty corner to me got out his laptop and got more info for us. The Pentagon, too?? My hands went to my face and I just sat there, chanting quietly "...just bless 'em, Lord. bless 'em...". From there, my thoughts turned to self-preservation. I felt selfish, and still do. I am not the best long trip traveler, and I knew this was gonna BITE! No way around it. I had thirty dollars in my pocket, WAY too much luggage, (I went with two, but brought things back in an extra bag, totaling 3! Hmmm? 3 bags, 2 arms. Do the math :-( When we got into the airport, we still had no idea the gravity of the situation. There were no TVs, just people getting information from their families on the pay phone or cell phone. I called my parents from a payphone, and my Dad answered the phone in tears. I heard relief in his voice when he heard mine. He told me what had happened. After a while, they decided to evacuate the airport, so they put us all on buses headed for the Salvation Army Shelter. On the way, I was sitting in the back of the bus just listening to people talk. I heard someone say something about one of the hijacked planes being from Newark to San Francisco. We had a flight like that here, too. Suddenly, the old mafia looking guy beside me bursts into tears. I grabbed his knee and held tight, too loaded down with carry-ons to give him a proper embrace. He tells us, he was booked on the 8 o'clock, but arrived at the airport early. He is a United employee, so he went standby for the 7 o'clock flight instead. We all wept. A man across from me, who later became Bob, handed him his cell phone and said, "Call your wife!" That was amazing, too. People all sharing cell phones. Mine didn't work, and I would later find out that Cingular has no service in Nebraska at all. Once we got to the shelter, we were told that our luggage would be sent on to its destination, and that we could not have it, even for meds. The Red Cross would supply any medication that anyone needed. We also saw the TV for the first time. Oh My God! We all wept. Then the feeling of Oh My God, We were in the air! They could have done anything, to any plane! And I am lucky to be sitting here. A councilor came by our table. We sent her to Mr. Lucky, the man from New Jersey. There were lots of people here: volunteers from the Red Cross and Salvation Army, people in blue shirts with the logo Lincoln Police Dept. Cadet Program, United/Air Wisconsin employees. A neighbor lady and her daughter came up to us when we were waiting outside, and asked us if we would like to go to the mall or something. The Mall?! I thought, I can?t even THINK about shopping! (I will say "we" a lot in this narrative. The second we heard the news on the plane, even if we didn?t know it yet, we became a group, Flight 5771.) They fed us, even asked if there were any vegetarians. I am, and the girl next to me. Her name is Camilla, and she is a grad student and a teacher. Our other friend Julie was the one who really started our little group. When I walked up to a seating area in the airport, I had been crying. She gave me the "come sit by me" hand on the chair next to her. I appreciated that. She and Camilla had horses in common. Camilla was visiting her boyfriend in Madison, but needed to return to Eugene, OR for a horse show she was riding in, and Julie, from Dodgeville, WI was going to a stock show in CA. (my back was starting to hurt from the kindergarten sized chair I was sitting in) John, the cute man next to me at the table, shared his cookies with us. He was from Annapolis, and had flown out of Baltimore, heading to San Francisco. After a while, a man came and told us that The Cornhusker- Nebraska's Grand Hotel- wanted to put us up for the duration of our stay, however long that would be. Off we went to yet another holding tank. We arrived at the hotel, still basically quiet and shaken. When we approached the counter, Camilla said, "I think, in light of the situation, it's quite alright to be Co-dependent, Wanna share a room?" "YES!" I exclaimed! When we arrived, our luggage had been brought to the hotel from the airport. We were allowed to have it back. I don?t know if they had searched it or not, but we felt lucky that we had it, and it hadn?t been sent on to anywhere! Camilla helped me get my bags up to the room. So sweet! Our room was lovely, with a view of the state capitol and The Sower, Nebraska's spokes-statue. I thought it was a discus thrower. We watched TV for quite a while. There were so many things we hadn?t heard, unlike the rest of the country; some of who, I understand, saw it happen live! Camilla, Julie and I headed down to The Lancaster Ballroom, ground zero for us. The room was huge, with a big screen TV on one side, and a regular TV on the other. The news was on. In one corner of the screen was the footage of the planes hitting, and the buildings collapsing, over and over again. There were round tables with white tablecloths, and long tables in the back of the room that would soon become the daily buffet. The Salvation Army employees we met earlier at the shelter were there, but now there were also many volunteers from the community. We got some snacks and sat down at a table that had a few other people already there. John, the cookie sharer was there. We went around the table and introduced ourselves. Camilla, Julie, Sandy, Skip, Fern, Suzanne, John, and me. At the time I thought, if ever there?s a time to remember people?s names, it?s right now, and I guess I did! (except for one lady from Rancho Bernardo in San Diego, with whom I would later have a great conversation about Jewish/Protestant marriages) We chatted about things for a while, and then Rafael, the spokesman from the airlines, got up to a microphone and began to give us no information. Poor man. Here was a room of distraught folks, confused and tired, and he had the dubious honor of letting us know that we may be here for a while. He didn?t know anything. Bless him! But he did tell us that the hotel was taken care of, and the Salvation Army would feed us. Also, there was a board at the door that would have information for us about meeting times and meal times. These would become our mental increments for measuring time for the next 4 days. Also, channel 1, on the hotel TV would be used to inform us of any meetings, or flights out of Lincoln. Ha! After our meeting, I mingled a little more, (mingled? What is this, a cocktail party?) and then Camilla and I decided to go back to the room and watch TV. We were glad we had decided to share a room at this point. Even though I was still sitting there in tears, it was better to have another human in the room with me. Camilla was strong, she didn?t really cry too much. She later told me that she cries over little things, and stays together when big stuff happens. I told her, I cry, Period-The End. Her mother, an American flight attendant, was safe in Madrid, although she wasn?t able to speak to her. Her sister works for a law firm across the plaza from The Twins. She had over-slept, and was getting off the subway when she looked up and saw the first tower come down. She ran. Lucky girl! Dinnertime arrived and we headed down to the ballroom. Everybody was there for our 6:00 meeting. There were about 150 folks. Energy was high, because people were understandably anxious. We were offered sub sandwiches and pizza. There were tubs with ice holding all sorts of soda and water. Rafael spoke. He knew nothing, bless him! Camilla and I decided to go back to the room for phone calls and TV. We also agreed that we wanted to leave the TV on all night. We turned the volume down, and were asleep by ten. Wednesday was pretty much the same. More waiting and eating, more news and sadness. Increasing agitation, and love. More meetings about nothing. Rafael showed up every day with one more person in his crew. I think he was getting nervous. Now we were bonding with Cheryl, his cohort. They were such nice people. Cheryl told us that United Express had been bought by Air Wisconsin. When they started working in Lincoln, the paper did comics about their bad service. We couldn?t believe it. They were handling this crisis SO WELL! Bob said he was writing the editor of the Lincoln newspaper to tell them how wonderful these people were, and how wonderfully Lincoln was treating us. I watched him type. Did I mention that at breakfast, there was a woman playing inspirational songs on the piano, and the Red Cross nurse was singing? Oh, and a lady came around with homemade bread she had baked and brought down to the hotel. I asked her if she was the Ho that Made it? She laughed after a minute J Lincoln has a sense of humor. (As I try to share some of the more positive things about my journey with you, I still have to say, this was quite possibly the hardest emotional trip of my life.) Camilla and I took some subs, candy bars, soda and water up to the room. I was traveling with 3 bags of Fabulous Wisconsin Cheese Curds! We made a make shift refrigerator by putting all our stuff on the air-conditioner with a towel draped across. There was no telling where we would be tomorrow, but we were ready with some rations! We decided to take a walk down to the old historic shopping district, The Haymarket. It was fun. There was a shop called From Nebraska, where I bought tiny Nebraska playing cards, and some From Nebraska Cajun Dip Mix. Is there a large concentration of Cajun folk in Nebraska, I didn?t know? We walked back to the hotel and it was so hot. Well, it?s all relative because I live in The Valley. But it was 80 degrees, and I had on a sweater. We hadn?t been outside since they took us to The Cornhusker. Another meeting, then back to the room. John wanted to go to the gym, but I never saw him in there. We all were out of sorts by this time. We would check Channel 1 periodically to no avail. Camilla went to the hotel?s business center and did some emailing. I talked on the phone. More TV. We did a lot of chatting about how we were lucky to be in Lincoln. (We felt safe, especially when Airforce One was in Nebraska. We knew the air was being patrolled!) In Omaha, people were at a hotel, but on cots in a ballroom. They had 50 something flights. We had 5. Thursday we notice on Channel 1 that the flight from Baltimore to San Francisco was heading to the airport at 7:30 a.m. It was 7:45! Good thing we weren?t on that one. Hope! Maybe we?d get home today! We were nervous about what would happen once we got to Denver. We were only guaranteed to get out of Lincoln, and to be flown to the plane?s destination. There was only 1 man actually going to Denver! What would we encounter there? Glad Camilla and I had been saving snacks. Check out time was 11:30 a.m. and they asked us all to go ahead and check out, and wait in the ballroom for our turn. Camilla and I took a quick walk to Walgreen?s. She needed to mail her fancy pliers that were a gift from her man, home, because they would surely be taken away at the airport. The other scary thing was that we had NO idea if we would be allowed our carry-ons. Or even a purse. I packed and re-packed. I was traveling with old family photographs! Impossible to replace. We sat in the ballroom for a while. Our group was dwindling. Bob and a couple of other folks from Baltimore got together and rented a car and started driving on Wednesday. People?s family members drove in from all kinds of places to pick up their loved ones. I needed to stay with the ship. No matter what, this was the ticket I purchased, and I had no other choice. I saw Mr. Lucky by the buffet, so I went up and hugged him. I told him his nickname, and he told me a story that made me weep. Turns out, his wife works for United, too. All morning people had been consoling her and giving her condolences. Everyone knew he was on That Flight. She refused to believe it. They had a pact. If she heard nothing, he was all right. They would just trust. She kept completely calm, until he called her from the bus. THEN, she wept! I finally got his real name, Phil. What a great man! Julie took our picture. Our flight was called to a bus!!!! Woo Hoo! It?s lookin? good! I was nervous. We were leaving our ?safe zone?. What next? My anxiety was growing, but I had snacks! Camilla helped me with my bags. Lovely girl! We got to the airport. There was Rafael, half dead from lack of sleep, at the counter with Cheryl. They had been awake for the duration of this experience. We got checked in and whew! We could have carry-ons. Camilla and I got seats together, but now, a flight of 50 had dwindled down to 17. We waited for a long time in the gate area. I couldn?t believe it! Even with the constant reminder to stay with our bags, a man was actually arguing with the guard that was admonishing him. What was he? New? These are F?ed-up times, man. Why are you hassling this guard who is doing his job to PROTECT US! Argh! Just then, a nice Salvation Army councilor came to chat with our little group. She told us that they were sponsoring us for yet another meal! We should go to the restaurant where we would have an $8 credit towards lunch. I had a brownie sundae and Camilla had jalapeno poppers. Comfort foods, for sure! As we sipped the last of our complimentary beverages, they called us for boarding!!! Flight 5771, now boarding. People in the room cheered! They were still waiting for their flights. Off we went into the unknown. They took my carry-on at the door of the plane and checked it. Melissa!! We missed you! Our flight attendant was there, along with the Captain and First Officer, now I can?t remember their names! Let?s call them Capt. Karl and Officer Mike. We got in the air and she took some time to tell us her experience from Tuesday. She knew all along what had happened. She and the captain decided not to tell us until we were on the ground. If you?ve ever been on a 50 seater you know that the jump seat is there facing the passengers. Melissa had to sit there, on the verge of tears, and face us as we landed in Lincoln. I felt for her, she was so strong. She knew some of the fallen flight attendants, too. We landed in Denver and it was so very bumpy! A little un-nerving. As we taxied to the gate, Melissa told us where our luggage would be, and that we?d need to go to the counter to rebook our flights. When we walked out of the plane, there was no one except security. No employees, no passengers. It was so weird. We all went to our luggage together, our little band of gypsies. When we got to the counter, there was no one! It was all dark and quiet. We found an employee, and her response was, ?who are you and what are you doing here?? We didn?t know! Well, we knew who we were, Flight 5771. They sent us here. The employee said, ?well they shouldn?t have, we are closed!? What could we have done about it? This was so weird. One of the husbands told us all to stay together, he would find out what was up. We were nervous. United decided to put us up. We went to a counter for hotel and food vouchers. Wait! One person is assigning some of us to the Red Lion and some of us to the Doubletree. We were NOT pleased. A lady said, ?No, we want to stay together!? Funny, I was thinking that, but someone else said it. We decided it was OK because we could meet for dinner; the hotels were near each other. Whew, still a group. We waited forever for the shuttle to come and get us. Then a 30-minute drive to the hotels. It was Julie, Camilla, Betsy and I in the Red Lion. The rest went on to the other. We checked in, and went to our rooms for TV and phone calls. We met the gang at 7:00 in the lobby of the Doubletree. Gilbert, the 92-year-old WWII vet traveling alone to his reunion met us, too. He was so sweet. Peggy offered to call and rebook his flight. He decided to go on to Arizona for his meeting. Peggy spent a long time on hold with United, at which point we formed a chain. We had been told we were now on our own to rebook, along with the rest of the country. Yikes! No priority treatment for being stranded? The chain was very effective. When one person finished, they handed off the payphone to the next person and then went to alert the next person waiting at our dinner table. Quite a few of us got our flights booked with this teamwork! I couldn?t get a flight to Burbank, my original destination, so I choose the 9 a.m. to LAX the next day. Some people couldn?t even get booked until Saturday or Sunday!!! I was lucky to be heading close to home! I had the most fabulous Portobello mushroom avocado sandwich! It was the best thing I?d had to eat in days. Spicy Brown Mustard instead of plain yellow. We talked for a long time, got to know a little more about one another. Gilbert was a flirtJ And the young married couple was so sweet. They were on their 12-year anniversary trip. We were having a great time, but it was getting late, so we decided to call the shuttle. Our little group said goodbye. Some of us would not see each other again. My time with my roomie was getting short, too. We had bonded, and because I actually AM a little co-dependent, I was scared to go on the next leg of the journey without her. She was so calm throughout the whole experience. I drew a lot of strength from her, but it was clear, she was getting tired, too. Her flight would not leave until 9pm the next night! IF it left at all! I heard from her later, that her flight WAS canceled and she and Betsy rented a car and drove back to Oregon! We headed back to our hotel. Betsy had laundry in a machine. She had been camping on her vacation to Wisconsin, and all she had was dirty camping clothes. And talk about too many bags! Bless her heart, she was really loaded down with gear. (She had a tent, which we joked that we might need in the airport the next day!) It made my three suitcases seem more manageable, somehow. It?s all in the perspective. Back in our room, we watched more TV and made more phone calls. The news was saying the airports were open, but what did they know? (My mother kept saying during this whole thing, ?The news said flights will begin today?, and I?d say, ?That?s funny, Mom, Rafael doesn?t know that and we?re still sittin? in Lincoln!?) As I re-packed yet again, Camilla watched TV. I decided to take a shower, and when I went in the bathroom, I was not alone. A big ol? roach sat there looking at me like ?what are YOU lookin? at?? Ah, this was NOT The Cornhusker: Nebraska?s Grand Hotel! I couldn?t sleep. We were told to call the 800 number to make sure the flights were going. I tried but couldn?t get through. What did I have to loose? We would have to go to the airport anyway to get new hotel and food vouchers, I may as well pretend like I?m going to get on a flight. 5:00 am. I?m up, I?m nervous, and I?m getting ready to go. Camilla didn?t need to get up, but she did. We hugged, she wished me good luck, and one last time, she helped me with my bags! I could not have gotten through this without her, and I knew it! We agreed to call each other on our cell phones during the day, to stay in touch. It was unclear what would happen at the Denver airport, and our experience the night before did not give us much hope for their organizational skills. I went down to the lobby. I was all alone except for the desk clerk. I had my $4 breakfast voucher, and with it I got a large latte! Dairy even! They don?t have a lot of soymilk in Denver, I guess. I sat there in a chair. I had a reservation for the 6:45 am shuttle to the airport. It was 6:20. I felt so alone. I sat there in tears. The clerk seemed concerned but didn?t say anything. I was getting good at crying without any noise. I would just sit there calmly, but I could do nothing about the tears streaming down my face. Would I get home after lugging all my stuff to the airport? Would I spend the next day on the floor, eating the sub sandwiches from the Salvation Army? Glad I had snacks! A shuttle pulled up and the man asked me if I was ready. (NO!) I said yes, and asked if it was OK for me to go on the earlier shuttle. I was the only one waiting, so that was a silly question, I realized. This man had no idea how tired and weird I was by this time. And alone. The shuttle headed over to the other hotel. On the curb waiting was Sandy & Skip! I knew them! The tears streamed again. I think Sandy noticed. They were happy to see me, too. We talked about things, and helped the man next to us figure out what flights he might be able to get on. He didn?t care, whatever would get him over the mountain! He?d drive the rest of the way to San Diego! We arrived at the airport and I saw my lifeboat! The little cart things that you get for 2 bucks. How wonderful that I could relax about something. The guy took my bags out of the back and I loaded them onto the cart. Sandy, Skip and I went in the airport to get in line. OH! The lines! The airport was much different this morning than it was last night. People everywhere, employees with clipboards, news crews reporting on the First Day back in the air. It was unbelievable. Sandy and Skip got in line and I followed. I didn?t want to loose my group, albeit smaller now. As I stood there looking around at the lines in disbelief, I realized that we had cut. There was an opening in line where a United lady with a clipboard was checking people?s tickets. Sandy had gotten in line in the wrong place! Oh, what would I do? I?m a big believer in the whole integrity thing, such as, what you do when no one is looking speaks to who you really are. More tears. I looked at the couple I was with, retired and definitely over 65. I looked as far as I could see, and I could not even find the end of the line. I knew Sandy thought she had gotten in the line at the end, they weren?t the cuttin? kind. I had a decision to make. My back throbbed as I thought. I was SO scared to be alone. I kept my mouth shut. I knew I wouldn?t ask them to go back to the end, and I didn?t want to leave them. I closed my eyes and asked for forgiveness. No one was yelling at us, and I was so tired. I stayed, and I still feel icky about it. I cut in line! Does tragedy really bring out the worst in us? I had just seen the most wonderful outpouring of love and caring from the people of Lincoln. I had felt the caring from all the people on Flight 5771. I accepted my decision and stood there for what became 2 hours. I said goodbye to Sandy and Skip and approached the counter. I asked the woman if there would be any way they would get me a shuttle from LAX to Burbank, since Burbank was my final destination. She said, you?ll have to ask when you get there. So far, the United employees I had been praising two days earlier were becoming surlier. Another point for Lincoln! I realized how lucky we were to have been in Lincoln. I took my boarding pass and headed to the gate. As I rounded the corner I found it, the end of the line. There was no doubt in my mind that I had missed out on at least 4 hours of waiting. I would have missed the flight I had begged to get. I would have been stranded in Denver for sure. I breathed a sigh of relief, and then the tears came again. I am a bad person. I put my own interests ahead of others. I unintentionally cut in line and kept my moth shut. What would be next? Looting? Taking candy from a baby? I didn?t know. I found the line for the x-ray machines. It was downstairs. Where was the elevator? Who knew? I walked for a while in tears, pushing my blessed cart. Finally I found one, and as I reached out to put my hand on the door to keep it open for my cart, it closed on my hand! And there was even a woman standing in it looking at me! Karma? I hoped that was all I was going to get. I could deal with that. I said a few choice words, and cried. Once I got downstairs, I found the END of the line. As I got in it, I saw Gilbert being pushed towards me in a wheel chair. A familiar face. Mine lit up. So did his. We said hi, and he told me he was going home. He had missed his reunion and was going home. I cried. That was probably his last chance to see all those guys he had fought with in WWII! After all, he?s 92! Oh, I was so sad, but I kept smiling at him. The porter pushing him asked if we were together. I said we knew each other but were not going to the same destination. I didn?t need to go into detail. He asked if I wanted to come with them. But that would mean going through the handicapped gate and bypassing the line! I couldn?t do it! I HAD to stand in line! I told the guy Thankyou, but I would stay in line. Gilbert and I said goodbye, and I cried. I cried all the way through the line. They didn?t search my bags, but they were searching some people?s. I got through and headed towards the little train that takes you to your gate area. Denver Airport was huge but very well planned. I found a customer service desk and asked again about the shuttle to Burbank. The lady took my original ticket and went in the back. After a while she came out and said, there are a lot of special things we are doing, but that isn?t one of them, sorry. She started to throw my old ticket away. I said, ?Wait! I?m saving that!? She looked at me like I was a freak! She had no idea what kind of trip I had been on, and Lady, I am making a scrapbook! I took my little ticket and headed towards my gate. I got to the gate and sat down. Out the window was our aircraft, a 757 to Los Angeles. I got nervous. It was 8:30 now, and the flight was scheduled to leave at 9:00 am. The folks behind the counter were constantly forming a little huddle. Then they?d get on the speaker and apologize for the confusion, but they had so many new rules to follow, and we also didn?t have a pilot yet. More waiting. My phone worked in Denver! I called my parents. I was trying to stay positive and keep control. I called my friend Jeanette, too. I wanted to ask her if she could keep watching my kitties, because I knew that IF I made it to LA, I would have to get immediately in the car and drive to San Francisco, where I had a gig that weekend. (My first gig with this band. I had never rehearsed with them, and as the clock ticked, it began to look like I never would.) Jeanette didn?t even let me speak before she asked if I needed a ride home from LAX! I cried, ?Oh Thank You! That?s not what I called for but Thank You! Yes!? She told me that there were no cars allowed at the curb. I would need to take a bus to a parking lot and she?d find me. Yikes, but at this point, whatever! On TV was the prayer service. I could hear it, but couldn?t see the TV. The lady came on the speaker and said, ?The President has asked for 60 seconds of silence at 12:00 pm. It was 11 in Denver, but it was time. You could have heard a pin drop. The only sound you could hear was the toll of the bells in the cathedral in New York. I felt like I was hearing them live, from New York straight to my ears. The silence was eerie. If you?ve ever heard silence in an airport?I had never. I am still in tears. God, how embarrassing. No sound, mind you, just the tears. Three armed police officers approached a businessman near me. He was of Middle Eastern decent, but American in dress and speech. The officer asked him for his ticket and ID. Another took his Palm Pilot and started doing something to it. The officer asked him where he was going, even though he had the man?s ticket in his hand. He asked the man the reason for his traveling. The man had this look on his face, a look of resignation, not indignation or irritation. It was, to me, the beginning of a new time. A time when people look suspiciously at each other, and yet a time when we need to be super cautious. I noticed that he was the only Middle Eastern looking person in the gate, and the only person questioned. The officers had obviously had some sensitivity training, because they were kind and quiet with the man. No accusations, just doing a job. A job of keeping everyone safe, including this dark skinned American man. After all, these were just the first hours of flights resuming. I wept. This time I felt overwhelmed. With fear. With sadness. With deep emotions I had never felt before this moment, some I can?t even name. With prayers on the TV above me, I started to hyperventilate, quietly. I put my head between my legs, but then I thought, don?t loose sight of your bags!!!!!! How strange the human mind can be. I was going to follow the directions, even through passing out on the floor! I looked up and put my hands through the handles on my purse and pulled my Pullman up close to me and touched it, then put my head between my legs. I thought of my Yoga Zone video, of Jean?s calm voice, of my breathing. I started to feel better. The man next to me put his hand on my back and asked if I was OK. I said, ?I will be, Thank You?. It was now about 11:40 am on Friday, and they called for boarding. The lady said that they wanted to board a little differently today. Instead of 1st class, then others, they would board only by row, and from the back of the plane. Strangely enough, nobody really crowded the door like they usually do. Pretty much everyone stayed seated until his or her row was called. I was first up. I approached the gateway door and felt unbelievable anxiety and relief in the same moment. I said quietly to myself, ?I can?t believe I?m on the way home! The man in front of me asked me if I was OK. Of course, I?m in tears. I said yes, Thankyou. Always a polite Texan. On the ride home I had a great talk with the Chinese man next to me. We had a slight language barrier, and on another day, I might have put my earphones on and continued learning my lyrics for my gig that weekend, but today I felt like being connected. We talked the whole way home, about Jackie Chan movies (I?d never seen one, but somehow I was enthralled with his opinion of them), about his wife and kids, about the weird snack plate we were given. I had eaten all my snacks while waiting for this flight; peanut butter cups, a turkey sub, twizzlers. When in doubt, eat something. We landed at LAX, I said goodbye to my new friend, and headed to the baggage claim area. Yea! My bags arrived, and I had a cart, all was well. But then I realized no one was really showing us where to go or what to do. People were just standing on empty curbs. I asked a security person and she pointed us towards a bus pick-up area. Tons of people were waiting, and every bus that passed us here at terminal 7, was full and went right on past! I saw a cab behind me and I asked him if he would drive me to Parking lot C. He laughed, but said yes. They were going to have a lot of short drives today. I landed in parking lot C and Jeanette arrived shortly afterwards. She got out of the car and we hugged and cried. This time I vocalized. I was so full of emotions they were now spilling out. I was so happy to see my friend! When we got in the car we just started spilling stories and feelings. It was so good to be talking to someone I knew! I had been with virtual strangers, disguised as family for the last 4 days! I offered to take her to our favorite place, Don Cuco in Toluca Lake. She took a rain check, as she had taken off of work to come and get my happy ass. And as we entered my little house, my ass was indeed happy! We hugged, she left, and I was alone in my house. Breakdown! I held my cats, much to their dissatisfaction. They hate me for a while when I come home from long trips. I was home, but for a moment. In short, (because this has taken me a month to write down anyway), I repacked, got in the car, and headed north. I made it to the gig, performed at my all-time lowest quality, drove home, and collapsed. I was completely spent. I was at an all-time low. It was Sunday night, September 16th. It had essentially taken me 6 days to get home from a week?s vacation in Wisconsin! Oh yeah, for those of you worried about the cheese curds, they made it. Well, I was only slightly queasy when I ate them later. As I remember that week of September 11th, I remember those folks in Lincoln. Their true sense of community. I remember the people from our planes, strangers, who came together to comfort each other and wait on the world?s next move. I remember my friend Camilla, and the others from Flight 5771. But most of all, I remember those who died. Those sweet, sweet souls who lost their lives in this attack on the human spirit. The people we will hear stories about for the rest of our lives, lest we forget. I want to hear their stories, and cry with them, it?s all I have to give, really. Soon, I will feel like entertaining again, but for now, I do it because I think I should, it?s the gift I have to give, and I will give it! And if I can get up the nerve, I?ll give blood, too. Thanks for listening to my tale, and visit this website for info on our little family, Flight 5771. http://www.geocities.com/fl5771/ In the picture, the girl in the hat is I! I love you all- Cristina 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 story4797.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. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.55.12.85 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: That morning i remember me and my friends we being so silly during first block. We weren't doing our homework and we were just talking and laughing. Then once that class was over I was on my way to the cafeteria for nutrition break and i saw a bunch of people standing right inside and outside of the counslers office watching tv. So i asked one of my friends what was going on and she didnt know either so i went and watched the tv and my jaw just dropped and my eyes just bursted open in confusement. i wasnt sure what was happening but i saw the twin towers in smoke and a plane that had made a hole. I didnt know what to think and it was so horrifying i wasnt sure what to do. So i went to my friends and asked them what was going on as we went to our class. My teacher started to explain what had happened and i couldnt believe i was thinking is this really happenind. How could someone do that? IT was so awful but i didnt really feel anything except a small sadness and i was scared. Then all we did in that class and my next class was watch the news. My 4th block class we actually tried doing work but no one could consintrate. Most of the class evn asked the teacher if he could turn on the news but he wouldnt. Maybe he thought we shouldnt be watching it so much because it could be to devestating for us. I wasnt sure what he was thinking. I had noticed a lot of the kids went home because there parents were scared adn worried and thought they should be together during that time. I didnt really feel and see how sad it was until this year. I'm not sure why i didnt. and I'm not sure why this happened. But i hope nothing will ever happen like this again. Because it was so hard for so many people and so many people lost loved ones and that has to be hard. 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 story7530.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. 2002-09-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.93.44.182 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11, 2001 we received our normal Thursday shipment for the store. To all of us it was a normal day. When the doors opened for business at 10 we heard the first of something unusuall happening. News radio filled us in on what was happening. Many of us had friends or family stationed in the Pentagon and a couple had family working in the towers. Not many people came into the store that day. By 1230 the mall had closed and all of us made our ways home to watch and rewatch the towers come down again and again. Seeing the black hole on the hillside really drove home what had happened. The hillside in Shanksville is just over the hill from where I call home. To me it was so unreal to think that all of the people could possible be dead. No one could ever think let alone do something like this here in America. Days afterward I wondered if maybe the people who had lived through Pearl Harbor had felt the same disbelieve. I was proud of how America banded together. I am very proud of my hometown area for the comfort they provided for the relatives of the heros of flight 93. 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 story5238.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. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.38 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was in my office when my husband, Richard, called me from his job to tell me what was happening. I turned on our little office TV and couldn't believe what I was viewing. The devastation seemed unreal, even on a 9-inch screen it was so huge; I can't imagine what it would have been like to witness the attacks in person. I called my employer, Bill, into my office to watch with me (he is originally from NYC). We watched in horror together, then we realized we both wanted to call our families and friends. I really wanted to go home and pull my teenage daughter, Pam, out of school. Bill wanted to do the same. We both left before school got out so that we could be home when our children arrived. We later discovered that two of Bill's friends were on the airplane that struck the Pentagon. God bless all those who perished. 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 story6630.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. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.144.141.154 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: There are two things about my reaction on September 11th that still surprise me when I look back. The first is how I responded when I heard of the attacks. I was sitting on my couch having just gotten up the motivation to start on some school work. My mom called and told me to quickly turn on the TV because two planes had flown into the World Trade Center. I immediately said, "What? Did the planes get lost?" "No!" she said, "It's terrorists!" Like so many others, I was naive enough at that moment to think that no one would maliciously fly planes into a building. What surprises me about this is that I can no longer remember what it felt like to be that innocent. When I think of my initial reaction, I can't understand how I would think of anything but terrorism because my mindset now, and even just days after September 11th, are so far removed from that naive person who picked up the phone that day. The other thing that surprises me about my reaction is that after watching the attacks on TV for a short while, I felt fiercely compelled to lock up the apartment securely. I shut all windows and bolted all doors in a frenzy. I felt that vulnerable: as if someone was going to show up at my little apartment in the middle of the NY countryside and attack me. But I really did feel that way. If someone had done this to major buildings, they could be anywhere ready to do anything. I thought our country was falling apart. I can't recapture or comprehend how I could've felt that afraid and vulnerable because it is so illogical, but I know that I did not unbolt those doors or open the windows, no matter how hot it was inside the apartment, until late in the day. Most of all, I grieved the loss of the World Trade Center. Is it possible to grieve buildings? Is it even right to do that when there are thousands of people grieving human life? I grappled with those questions, yet still found myself constantly reminiscing all of the important moments in my life that the towers had been there for: I sat in their shadow in the courtyard watching a concert with my mom during our last outing before I left home for graduate school; I looked out at them from a lighthouse on the NJ coast, near my hometown in Monmouth County, as my then-boyfriend proposed to me; I spent countless hours in Hoboken during a summer internship staring across the river at them as I contemplated my future career plans; I sailed by and marveled at them in the middle of the night at my high school Post-Prom party onboard a boat; I stood on top of one of them and saw the city lying at my feet...Yes, I had many memories of those buildings, of that skyline, and now that's all that was left: memories. I still feel guilty for mourning buildings that are only concrete and steel when there was flesh and blood to be mourned, but I could not change my true thoughts and feelings. Somehow those towers symbolized more to me and played a role in my life that went beyond just being buildings. I've only seen the NY skyline twice since the attacks despite the numerous times that I have been in NJ and the fact that my favorite place to go used to be into Atlantic Highlands to look out at the skyline. It is too painful to look now. Somehow if I don't see it with my own eyes, I can still deny that it happened. Even a year later. I'll probably say the same decades from now. It's a wound that we all bear that will never fully heal I think, but we move on and live our lives and pray for the families of the victims and that's all that we can do. Somehow, life goes on. 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 story6335.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. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.58.37.115 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was just getting ready to start my day, when I turned on the TV. The first plane had just hit and the morning shows were starting to cover the fire. Noboy knew yet that this wasn't an accident. I called a friend, who has a sister in NYC by the Towers, to tell her to turn on the TV. Just as we were talking, we watched the second plane hit live on TV. We both screamed. How? Why? Who? The rest of the day is a blur. I couldn't get to work in downtown Detroit because they had sealed everything off. I stayed home, watched TV and prayed and cried. That night, I couldn't sleep. I kept watching TV, praying nothing else would happen. I finally fell asleep, only to be awakened by 2 F-16 aircraft screaming low over my house. They had been dispatched by the local air base to patrol over Metro Detroit. I was terrified something else had happened. All of us rushed out of our houses to see if we could see or hear anything. We stood in the street, in our bathrobes and PJ's, wondering what Sept. 12 would bring. God bless everyone and let there be peace on earth. 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 story4115.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. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.8 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Hi Friends, I am fine, and so is everyone that I know. It was an interesting day here in DC yesterday. We were ordered to leave work around 10am, but I didn't get to my house about 20 miles away until after 1pm. Traffic was bumper to bumper, and the trains, buses, and subway system was shut down. It was really bizarre to see hundreds of people walking to get out of town. Some of the trains that carry commuters for long distances into Virginia and Maryland were shut down, so I don't know how or when they got home. We could see smoke from the Pentagon and from a bomb that exploded near the Old Executive Office Building (a block or so from the White House) from my building. As well, there were fighter jets and helicopters flying over the city, and emergency and law enforcement vehicles were everywhere. It was a pretty strange situation, but I never felt that there was any eminent danger. If it happens it happens, and at that point there isn't a whole lot you can do about it. DC was a mess, but nothing compared to what New York City must have been like. It must seem like a bad dream to those folks. I got a call last night from my cousin who lives in Miami. She was at Miami International Airport yesterday morning waiting to catch an American flight to Los Angeles to visit her sister. She said that for several hours they were told that the flight will be delayed "30 minutes," "an hour", "two hours", "canceled, but maybe we can get you on the 1 o'clock flight," until finally they were told to go home, and that everything was closed. Our folks here at the FAA shut down the entire air traffic control system for the country, for the first time ever. When my car-pooler and I drove into the parking garage of the FAA building at 6:30am this morning, there were several limos parked there that belong to officials from across the government. They were meeting to determine when to reopen the airports and the air traffic control system. I got another call last night from a friend who has been a flight attendant for American Airlines for 32 years. She was grounded in Dallas because of the shutdown of the system. She said that she didn't know exactly who the flight attendants were that were on the American Airlines plane that hit the Pentagon, but knew almost all of their flight attendants based in DC. So, she had friends and colleagues that were either killed by the terrorists or that died in the crash. My carpool partner also said this morning that his daughter, who is a school teacher, had two students whose parents were on the plane that hit the Pentagon. So this is a far reaching tragedy. It is quite in the streets of DC and the FAA building today, and will probably take a while for things to return to normal. Take care and please stay in touch. Your friend, Gene 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 story1313.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. 2002-08-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 204.108.8.5 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: As our train approached the 16th Street station in Philadelphia a little after 9am on September 11th, cell phones began to ring. We heard such comments as, ?Oh no,? ?You?ve got to be kidding,? ?No fooling.? One person turned around and announced, ?The World Trade Towers in New York have been flattened to the ground.? My husband and I looked at each other and said, ?Oh yeah.? We entered the elevator in the building where our meeting was held. A security office joined us and told us that a million people in New York had just been killed. Again, my husband and I gave each other that dubious look. As we left the elevator, we decided that something obviously had happened in New York City and we wondered what it could be. Our meeting had already begun. The room was dark while everyone, oblivious to any unusual activity, quietly watched a video. We could barely sit in our seats so consumed were we by curiosity as to what was happening in New York. Twenty minutes later, the video ended and the lights were turned on. A woman entered our room and calmly announced that the city of Philadelphia was being evacuated. She informed us that we all were to return home immediately. Those taking the trains were to hurry to them because in a short time all trains would cease operations. No one knew the cause of this. Everyone left calmly and joined the crowds on the streets walking swiftly to their cars, buses, and trains. The train platform was jammed. Some train lines had already closed down. We asked a few people if they knew what had happened and they told us that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center and stories about hijackings that were hard to believe. People rushed onto our train. Once wedged on, they asked if anyone would drive them to their cars, which were parked along a different train line. Several van owners volunteered. With relief, we finally reached our train station and drove home. We immediately turned on the TV and finally saw and heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the tragic crash in PA. 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 story1617.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. 2002-08-31 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.242.117.48 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It was an ordinary day like any other at work. I work for the town newspaper. Somewhere between 8:30 & 9:00 a co-worker came running out of the newspaper and said that a plane hit the World Trade Center. So we all got up and went into the newsroom to see it on TV. As we are standing we saw the 2nd plane hit. It was the most unbelievable thing I ever saw on TV. As we are all watching this horrific thing happening, I looked around at my co-workers and there are no words to describe the looks on their faces. Just disbelief. I started crying and so did few of my other co-workers. I will never forget that image. All day at work that is what we talked about. My son lives in Chicago and I knew he was suppose to go to Iowa for business that day. I called his sister and asked her to check on him. Because I knew all planes were grounded. To my relief she called me back immediately and said he was driving to Iowa and not flying. I was relieved. The whole day was spent thinking about th! is terrible thing that was happening to my country. When the 4th plane hit, I kept thinking "What is happening?!" I cried. I was scared. I felt like I had no protection. As everyone is saying, that is a day you will always remember what you were doing, just like President Kennedy. It really hit my 10 year old grandson hard. He is very patriotic now and is much more aware of the flag and what his country stands for. Sylvia Petersen 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 story8634.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. 2002-11-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.225.97.62 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 September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I have a cousin who worked on one of the upper floors of the WTC. She arrived at work early and instead of going upstairs, she decided to have a bagel and a cup of coffee across the street. That is when the first plane hit. I am so very greatful that she decided to do what she did. My heart goes out to each and every person who lost a loved one. Women without husbands, husbands without wives, childrens without Moms or Dads. How do they even begin to move on with their lives? I would feel like my life is at a stand still. I can do nothing more for than than offer my prayers and hope their grief lessens just a little bit. Sadness can be such a very strong emotion. God bless you all and know that so many of us are thinking of you and praying for you. With all my love, Florence Carella 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 story6048.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. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.178.85.250