176 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: That day I walked into homeroom and my teacher had the television on. Her and another student in the class look really conserned. I remember looking at the television and have them keep replaying over and over again a plane running into the north tower. I though to myself"someone must have been giving horrible directions that day and must feel pretty bad right now." my teacher felt the same way. She was telling us that their was a chance that it would have been a terrioist attack, but that no one was certain. Then about 30 seconds before the bell was about to ring I was watching the t.v. and one of the television news people said,"oh look here comes a resuce plane", and thats when the second tower was hit. At that time I think all of us new that this wasn't a mistack and that something was horrible wrong. As the day went by the teachers were told not to let the students watch the T.V. in the class romm b/c a few of the stundents were saying things that the world was going to come to an end. That day when I went home to see if I could figure out what else had gone on since the 2 plane crashed, I found out that another plane had crossed into the pentagon and another went into Penn. I was so scared. I thought the sure enough that for a really long time that other freaking things were goign to happen that day. The only problem was we didn't know when or where they were gonna happen. I was really worried about my cousin in NYC. We never heard from her until a week later. Thankfully she was ok. When they were giving the numbers for the amount of poeple who were missing, I was horrified. I kept saying to myself,"why would someone do this to america??, Who would want to do soemthing like this?? I now know these answers and to this day it still makes my quiver when i think about it. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story3521.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. 207.193.126.63 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 husband and I were married on September 9, 2001 in Philadelphia after moving from Jersey City, NJ earlier that month. We had planned on leaving on our cross-country, road trip across America honeymoon to our new home in Tucson, AZ on 9/11. We wanted to sleep in after an exhausting week, month, year of preparation. The phone rang incessently from about 9:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. when I finally picked up the phone. It was my mother. "You're not going anywhere. Turn on the TV," she said. I did and saw for the first time what was happening across the river from my former apartment and down town from my former job. I was horrified. It was a horrible days as we called all of our loved ones to find out that they were safe. My sister-in-law had been in the air on a flight from Newark to San Francisco (same as United Flight 93), which departed at 9 a.m. She was one of the lucky ones. Though she was stranded in Ohio for three days. We left on the evening of September 12 for our road trip, figuring we needed to get to our new home in Tucson. We needed to begin our new life together. We traveled for two and a half weeks and watched the country mourn and unite. It was the most fascinating experience of our lives. 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 story490.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. 2002-05-01 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.101.177.31 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 just another typical morning at work, getting my coffee and turning my small radio on at work. As I was getting ready to get started, I heard the radio announcer mention New York, then the word airplane crash. I immediately turned the radio up, and to my amazement, could not believe what I was hearing. A passenger jet had crashed into the Trade Center. I immediately got some of my co-workers, gathered them around my desk, just to confirm what I had just heard, it was true. Then we all went to our computers to check the news, it just made the headlines. Then shortly after, another plane had hit, then the news that the Pentagon had also been attached by an airplane. We could not beleive this was happening, we were all gathered together trying to catch ever detail of information and even trying to find somehere who might have a TV. No one was working and even our phones had stopped ringing from our customers, except for the calls from friends and family members informing us about what the TV news was reporting. We were all in disbelief, our stomaches were churned, and we were all drawned together all day. The news just seemed to get worse and we were trying to figure out, what next? We could not wait until we got home to watch the news. This will be a day that we will never forget, September 11th, 2001. 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 story1843.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. 2002-09-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.151.1.253 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 8:00AM Major British Authors class at NYU. We were discussing poetry by Wordsworth and Coleridge. Around 8:40AM, I heard a low-flying plane over the building. Since there are three major airports in the area, I didn't think too much of it at the time. I heard nothing more, but a few minutes later, my beeper went off. At 9:15AM, on my way to my next class, I received another beep. Both beeps were from my mother. Some people were standing in the street, talking about how a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Since a plane had once crashed into the Empire State Building, I didn't think too much of it, theorizing that it was perhaps a wayward commuter plane. I called my mother. "Are you ok?" she asked. "Of course I am. I'm on campus. I heard that a plane crashed into the twin towers, but it was just an accident." "No, they're saying it was a terrorist attack!" "That's how rumors are started. It wasn't a terrorist attack. I'm ok and I'll talk to you soon." I arrived at my next class, and as people filtered in late, I heard about another plane hitting the WTC, and then there were hushed whispers of a tower collapsing. My dorm was downtown, about five blocks from the WTC site. Collapsed? A tower collapsed? Did it just fall straight down, or did it topple over? Did it crush any other buildings? Was my building levelled as well? A security guard came into the class around 10:30 and dismissed us all. I walked out of class with a group of friends and looked downtown for the first time. That's when I saw a colossal cloud of smoke, smothering downtown New York. Cars were parked on the street, radios blasting. People were walking in the middle of the road, talking and watching. There were lines of people at pay phones. My mother beeped me again. My girlfriend beeped me. I tried to use my cell phone, but all circuits were busy. I wondered if I would be able to make it back downtown, to my dorm (it reopened two and a half weeks later). I wondered if I should stay in the city or if I should head home. I visited a comic book store with a friend. I finally made it through to my mother and my girlfriend. NYU was very fast and efficient, setting up an emergency shelter at the recreation center. I visited it and registered my name, so that they'd have a record of my being safe. A friend of mine at the rec center told me that the planes might have been carrying anthrax. He said that he saw people jumping from the upper floors. A friend offered me a place to stay, but in my terrorist-inspired paranoid mind, I wondered if the WTC attacks were a diversion to occupy the city's police forces while another, more deadly attack was being planned uptown. That's when I decided to leave the city. Since the subways were shut down, I walked from 8th street to Grand Central Station on 42nd, took the first train I could hop on back home to Westchester County (the MTA provided free service that day), and rode home. NYU was closed for the remainder of the week, and I commuted to school for the next two and a half weeks until the dorms were reopened. I know no one who perished in the attacks, but my daily thoughts are with them. 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 story1112.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. 2002-08-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 166.77.209.191 Annotation Annotations to this item. Rumors Students/Teachers NY:3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 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 at work in Bristol England, when I heard the tragic news about the twin towers, and I was in shock. I had just recently got engaged and was seperated from my fiance, he was back at school in Utah. I thought that people were joking with me, but when then second plane hit, I knew that they weren't. I was alone in the evening, still looking at live pictures from New York. My parents were on vacation in Spain, so I had my younger brother with me. I had to phone my finace and say that I might not be able to fly just over 2 weeks later. I was in shock for a few days, talking to my fiance every day for the next week, until my parents came home. I was crying all evening, and I couldn't stop myself. There were loads of news stories about english people working there, who were presumed dead. The images were on for at least 3 days after, all of the news reports would tell of people still being pulled out from the rubble alive. I am so glad that I wasn't in the area 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 story6502.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. 128.187.0.167 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: Our family are transplanted New Yorkers. My wife and I received a call when the first plane hit. We were out having breakfast and decided to return home to watch the news. Our initial reaction was muted as we assumed it was a tragic accident. With our eyes glued to the television,that reaction turned to horror as we saw the second plane hit! The realization that our city was under attack sickened us. The news from the Pentagon and Pennsylvania prompted us to call our children in school. Even though their phones were not permitted to be on, we reached our daughter. The school had taken the student body to an assembly to calm them down. My daughter relayed that our son wanted her to call us and come get him. As we headed out to their school,I tried to maintain my composure,hoping to assure them that we were ok. Looking back,I can still feel that sickening feeling in my body that it might be the last time we would be together. As we arrived at school, the place was frenetic. Since South Florida has a large population of transplanted N.Y.'ers,parents were parking their cars in the roads and running to the school to find their kids. We met our daughter in the parking lot and set off to find my son. After what seemed an eternity, he appears and has this expression on his face I will never forget! I tell him that our family up north is fine but with tears in his eyes he asks about two very close friends. Both worked in Manhattan,one down on Wall Street. He assumed that they we in The Towers as their former employers were located there. As I assured him that they were fine, he slumped into my arms as the relief overwhelmed him. The remainder of that day, we stayed together,watching as the events unfolded,realizing that the safe little world we lived in had been irrevocably changed! 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 story1294.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. 67.28.71.221 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 by the mere location of my residence that I became a witness to one of the most reprehensible and fiendish attacks ever committed against innocent, civilian lives. My story is not one of great heroism or cowardice but one of survival and self-realization ======================================= I was there that morning. That sunny Tuesday morning. Not because I wanted to be there. Not because it was my job to be there. Not even because it was my duty to be there. But simply because that was where I lived. 225 Rector Place. Or Parc Place as our apartment building was commonly known in our neighborhood. Tuesday began like any other day for us. Sue was up and out by 6:30. I stayed in bed for another hour or so and then got up to hit the pavement. Instead of going for my daily run I went straight to the computer to send some follow-up emails to new recruiters and H.R. directors that I had met the day before. Interestingly enough two of them had asked me the exact same question, ?Outside of advertising what would you consider your dream job to be?? My response to both of them was ? ?photojournalist.? The time was 8:30 a.m. and I was still busy banging out emails in hopes of, at the very least, scheduling an interview for later in the week. I was in the process of spell checking the last one when I heard a boom followed by a scraping sound (that is best described as the sound that the blade of a snowplow makes as it first hits the road) then a second, smaller boom. And then quiet. It was enough to make me stop what I was doing ? just for a moment. Then fire sirens could be heard. Since there was continuous construction work on West Street and a fire truck could be seen at the World Trade Center on Liberty Street practically once a day, nothing appeared too unusual. So, I finished spell checking my e-mail and pressed ?send.? The time stamp on the e-mail was 8:54 a.m. With the last e-mail gone and the sounds of police, fire and ambulance sirens growing ever louder, I decided to look out our window and see if I could catch a glimpse of what was going on outside. When I looked out all I could see was paper raining down on the street below like it was a ticker tape parade in the canyon of heroes. This was definitely not right. My gaze immediately followed the trail of paper up to a high floor of the north tower of the Word Trade Center. From my vantage point all I could see was the south and west sides of the towers. A quick, first glance from this angle revealed very little except that a fire had broken out on a floor of the north tower ? Nothing more. With a more prolonged fix on the scene, I was able to determine flames were ravaging at least two floors while smoke was billowing from the opposite sides of tower one. This was not right at all. Something was wrong. With ?photojournalist? still fresh in my psyche as the answer to my dream job, I rushed into the closet to find my camera and then made a frantic dash to our building?s roof deck. As usual, the elevators didn?t seem to go fast enough ? especially now. The doors finally opened to the penthouse floor and I ran down the hall, up another flight of stairs and I burst onto the roof deck. All was calm up there. Not that I was expecting complete chaos but in the time it took me to reach the roof deck from our apartment a number of scenarios had been running through my mind. Happily, none of them had occurred. As I walked over to the east side of the roof it became a bit clearer to me. This was not just a fire but must have been some kind of horrible mistake. There was only one other person on the roof at the time. An older gentleman with mustache and a belly that protruded from his unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. He must have been continuing an extended vacation as it looked like he was laying out basking in the warm, morning sun and cool breeze from the harbor. We didn?t utter a word to one another. We just looked at each other as if to say, ?This is pretty fucking serious.? He noticed my camera around my neck and motioned that he?d be back. Once he was gone I retrained my focus to the burning offices and the street below. By now the fire was worse and emergency crews were coming from all directions. I clicked off 5 or 6 frames and then felt an urge to find out what was going on. I thought there must be something on the news about this by now. As I was leaving the roof deck, the man who was there earlier had made his return trip. This time with his camera in hand. Again, we said nothing to one other. So, with that awkward, silent parting I raced back downstairs to #8A. I opened the door and went first to the television, hit the power button and then went to the dining room window to see if there were any new developments. Before the picture could even materialize on the TV and before I could get to the window there was an extremely loud and extended BOOM. This time the sound was unmistakable. The sound was definitely an explosion. As I stared out of the window I was in shock ? horrified to now see both the twin towers were ablaze. More paper and debris continued to fall and people on the street were beginning to scramble for cover. As the TV news team was relaying the information that a second plane had crashed into the South tower, the reality of the situation was beginning to be realized by everyone at the same time. New York was under attack! At that moment a million different questions seemed to run through my head. Should I evacuate and take the ferry off of the island? But which one ? Staten Island or New Jersey Waterway? Should I pack clothes and other things for Sue and I? What about our neighbors? What about the cat? More importantly, what about Sue? Were any other parts of the city being hit? Could this really be happening? I decided the only thing to do was direct my attention to what was unfolding in front of me. Current status was that the buildings were burning and the emergency crews were either already on the scene or on their way. How much worse could it get? That being my thought process, I changed into clothes that were more in line with what I envisioned was appropriate for a? photojournalist.? While I was preparing to go outside and perform my dream job, I was also able to see television coverage of the gaping whole in the North face of the North tower. My objective was to cover the towers from all sides. Head North and circle all the way around back to my starting point at Parc Place. Dressed in a t-shirt, cargo shorts and sneakers, I pocketed an extra roll of film grabbed the cell phone, palm pilot and keys. Loaded with my gear I took another peek outside to make sure what I thought was going on was in fact real. Confirming the situation, I headed for the door. Before leaving I placed a quick call to Sue to find out what she knew and inform her of my plan. Her voice mail picked-up. I needed to stay calm and keep the message brief. Beep. ?Sue, they?ve blown up the towers and I?m going out!? Click. So much for staying calm. I turned to the cat, ?By Jazzie, I?ll be back later.? And off I went. Neither Sue nor I were living in the city when the World Trade Center was first attacked by terrorists in 1993. When I had first started working in New York I would make the commute through a combination of New Jersey Transit and Path trains. During my first month of this commute the 3rd anniversary of that attack took place and nearly everyone on my train had been touched by the experience and had a story to tell. Now eight years later, it was our turn to experience first hand, the horror of terrorists. The ride down on the elevator took forever ? stopping on every floor. I figured everyone would be running for cover but when the elevator doors opened to the lobby things weren?t as crazy as I had expected. I found it quite strange. While two of the world?s tallest buildings were burning out of control not more than 200 yards away, Parc Place was still receiving all sorts of deliveries. Felix definitely had his hands full with requests for information as he continued to direct the flow of everyday building traffic Dry cleaning, breakfast from the diner, courier service, routine maintenance and house cleaning personnel all continued going in and out of the building. Like everyone else in the lobby I checked in with Felix to find out what he knew. He was always the go-to-guy in order to get information. Nothing went on, in or around Parc Place without him knowing about it. On this day however, Felix was at a loss. It only took a few minutes to understand he didn?t know any more than the rest of us. He was however doing a good job of faking it by telling stories from other witnesses who had already passed through the lobby. Realizing my once reliable source of information was now beginning to repeat what little actual facts he knew I decided it was time to move on. Out the front door of Parc Place I made a left heading towards our sidewalk between the building and West Street. The usually barren sidewalk was overflowing with people. Some hysterical, some crying, some yelling. And practically all of them on a cell phone. Where were all these people coming from? I made another left. Now heading North toward Albany Street I was like a salmon going up stream against a swift moving current of office workers. At the corner of Albany and West Street the tree-lined sidewalk gave way to my first view of the horror from street level. By now, fallen burning debris had started small fires in nearby parking lots. As I continued to fight my way closer I heard someone say, ?look, there goes another one!? Another what, I thought. As I stared up in disbelief I couldn?t believe what I was now watching. It didn?t take long to figure out that ?another one? meant a person. And ?goes? meant jumped. In all, I witnessed 12?15 people leap to their death. Some looked severely burned. Some looked as if they were trying to hang on to the exterior structure through broken out windows but were overcome by the heat and the smoke. Others appeared to understand their fates were already doomed if they stayed. So they decided to step off their ledge and fall together hand-in-hand, 90 - 100 stories to the street below. As difficult as it was to watch that type of event it was equally as difficult to look away. It was evident that I needed to change direction. In part due to not wanting to get close enough to see the end result of the poor souls who had determined their chances were better off surviving a fall of that magnitude and in part due to tiring of fighting the constant southward flow of people. South. Everyone fleeing the World Trade Center and World Financial Centers were running South to the Staten Island Ferry. Many probably took the ferry to and from work everyday as their regular commuter transportation. Today it would be their lifeboat and escape to safety. Breaking free from the flow of people fleeing for the Staten Island ferries I spilled out close to the Battery Tunnel entrance. There I took time to clear my head, reassess what was going on and focus on a plan of action. Still wanting to continue on, I needed to proceed north again. This time my path led me East around Exchange Place over to Broadway. The side streets that lead to Broadway were barren except for a curious few. Quickly a police officer warned me that I couldn?t go any closer and advised that I head south toward the Staten Island Ferry. Not wanting to do that I pressed on. East, over to Broadway via Exchange Place. There were many more onlookers here. I swung the camera off my shoulder and checked the remaining number of exposures and the computer settings. No time for the novice to operate manually. Auto-mode was the call for the day. Now I was moving north again and approached Trinity Church as the first recognizable landmark. Here I took a few pictures and listened to other?s conversations about what they had seen earlier this morning, where they were when it happened and what was going on now. Repeatedly, people mentioned that the towers were designed to withstand impacts from an airplane. True enough. Each of the twin towers was belching smoke, flames, debris and people and yet, each was still standing. The towers were not swaying. They didn?t look like the leaning tower of Pizza. And seemingly the entire city?s fire and police departments were on the scene. It was now just a matter of evacuating everybody from the buildings and putting out the fire. Looking on, the towers remained virtually indestructible. Invincible. Defiant. The growing crowds from Trinity Church to the park at City Hall began feeding on this as a source of strength. No longer were people running away from the scene. Rather, people were beginning to gather along the new perimeters being established by police ? Courageously standing tall with the slowly dieing towers of the World Trade Center. I guess because of the camera and photojournalist ?disguise? the police allowed me to move around freely and go about my business. I was now at the base of the World Trade Center. While at the corner of Liberty and Church Streets my freedom to move about at my discretion was replaced with a direct order to ?Move? for fear of my safety. This was a new directive and given in a much more stern manner. The previous warnings to back-up had been more voluntary in nature and most normal people had obliged. The policemen who were now assigned to setting up a perimeter had become extremely serious about moving people away from the scene. You could see it in their faces. They were more focused and more determined not to let anyone pass. The perimeter was further extended in each direction and directives for everyone to move north become more intense. This was no longer viewed as ?parade duty? by these police officers but as basic survival tactics. Did I miss something? Another attack? What about the rest of the city? What about Sue? What had happened to bring about such a change? Nothing seemed to have changed from my perspective but with such a drastic change in demeanor I heeded their advice and moved on. Besides, my first roll of film was exhausted and I needed to reload. At this point, I didn?t mind the cops ushering me further North. It was the direction in which I originally had planned to go. I was out here to document the attack and I wanted to cover the damage from all angles before heading back home. So, I continued my trek up Broadway looking to turn west as soon as possible. My plan was slowly beginning to deteriorate. As the safety perimeter increased in radius my opportunities to head West to North Battery Park City become nearly impossible. Police were on every street corner of Broadway not letting people pass and pushing them northward. Vesey St., Barclay St., Park Place, Murray St. Finally, while an officer was talking with another civilian at Murray and Broadway, I made my break back west. I was quickly forced north again but after one more block I ran down Chambers Street headed for West Street. At this intersection there were three public schools a college and most importantly, the entrance to North Battery Park City. Students were everywhere and lines for public phones were ridiculous. But with cell phones virtually useless the wait was worth it in order to make contact with a loved one to let them know you were O.K. While at the corner of West and Chambers Street I notice that I was well into my second and last roll of film. I begin to ration pictures and heavily evaluated ?photo opportunities? before preparing to make my final push back home. Being 5 blocks North of the WTC and 6 blocks from home I realized that for the most part, I had completed my mission. Now I needed to get myself home, get to the cat and figure out what to do next. However, police and fire department personnel were not permitting anyone to go south or cross the street into North Battery Park City. For now I was stuck. I could see my home. I just wasn?t allowed to go there. As the reality of my current situation began to sink-in a deafening noise redirected my attention back to the flame and smoke engulfed towers. What I saw stopped me and everyone at the corner dead in our tracks. With a huge roaring sound the unthinkable was happening. Even though my view of the South Tower was partially obstructed by the North Tower, I could still see huge chunks of the building?s exterior skeleton begin to pull away from the structure, fall across West Street and disappear in a vacuous cloud of smoke that mushroomed up like a small nuclear explosion. Unbelievable. This couldn?t be happening. The indestructible? The invincible? The defiant? How could this be? Before any of us could think it through any further the mushroom cloud of smoke and ash was heading our way threatening to envelope us if we didn?t move. Instinctively, all of us ran up West Street as fast as we could. Together, students, office workers, construction workers, fireman, policemen, EMTs, all of us who were there on that corner, sprinted away from the unknown danger that seconds ago had demolished a 110 story building. Fortunately, that section of West Street was extremely wide and not confined or restricted with a number of high rises. Once North of the movie theater and the Embassy Suites hotel the smoke and ash combination dissipated quite a bit before finally reaching us one block North from where we had just been. From our position we were lucky not to be hit with the full impact of the rolling wave of dust and ash. Instead, we were hit primarily with a discriminating acrid smell in the air and a few dust particles in our mouths and hair. I dusted myself off and went through the internal bodily checklist. Everything was fine. Nothing a little cleaning couldn?t clear-up for both the camera and me. But now, the enormity of what just happened was setting in. From my angle, it had looked like a number of the large pieces of the South Tower that had fallen across the street were headed directly onto Parc Place. Because the smoke was still so heavy at the base of the WTC nothing could be made out visually. For the second time that morning I was left with so many questions. What else has been destroyed? What was the status of Parc Place? What happened to all the people? What about Jazzie? What do I do now? My heart was in my stomach and I wanted to puke. There was a new rush of emergency vehicles screaming down West Street vanishing into the smoke that was once the South Tower. I only seemed to be in the way there so I headed back to the pay phones that I saw on Chambers. While I was walking I continued to try and contact someone on the cell phone - anyone. I kept redialing Sue?s work number, my in-law?s home in New Jersey and my parent?s in Florida. By now they must be aware of what was happening and I?m sure my mother was a wreck. My parents had visited us in our new apartment only three weeks earlier and they knew just how close we were to the World Trade Center. It seemed pointless but I kept trying to get through. It was like trying to buy concert tickets over the phone. Someone has to be able to get through - just not me ? not now. On Chambers the line for pay phones was way too long. I went east to the end of the block and headed north. At N. Moore Street I spied a pay phone with only four people in line. I quickly lined-up in the queue but also continued to feverishly work the cell phone keypad. Still nothing. The line was moving. Slowly but surely I had advanced to the point where I was number two in line. ?C?mon, C?mon. Let them know you?re OK and let someone else use the phone.? I thought. Then there was another loud rumbling sound and screams of tragic disbelief. Deep down I knew what was happening but I jumped out of line and ran over to Greenwich Street and looked South to confirm my worst thoughts. Like a spouse who dies of loneliness shortly after their loved one has departed, the North Tower had come down only 38 minutes after it?s mate had imploded and been forever erased from the city?s skyline. Now my mind was racing again. The situation was deteriorating very fast and I was still not able to get in touch with anyone. I went back to West Street to see if I could somehow cross over and head back down to my apartment. When I got there I found another rush of activity. This time the emergency vehicles were heading in our direction away from the fallen city icons. As I looked further down West Street not only were the vehicles fleeing the scene but rescue workers were now running towards us in retreat. What was going on? And almost as if on cue, a police van screeched to a halt in front of a group of us. An officer jumped out and yelled at all of us, ?Run! Run as fast as you can!? He didn?t have to say it twice. Before he could finish we were off and running for our lives, again. This time however, I knew what we were running from. As we began to flee I heard the officer say that there was a gas main leak. As we evacuated the area and ran North up West Street we picked-up other stragglers. They weren?t aware of the potential danger but when you see people running as if from the bowels of hell itself one doesn?t wait around to ask questions. One simply joins in the mass exodus. By now the little group of us that had begun our retreat from N. Moore Street had grown to a large size mob. Somewhere above Houston and West Street I couldn?t run anymore. What was the point? I dug into my pocket for the cell phone. Maybe by now the call volume had gone down. Sue?s work phone ? Nothing. My parent?s phone ? Dead air. My in-laws home number ? It was ringing! Chris, my brother in-law, answered. I let him know it?s me and immediately he asked where I was and if I was all right. I began to inform him of my location but my lips began to quiver and my throat became so tight I could barely speak. I realized if I continued this way that he?d hear me break down. So I paused and he asked again where I was and if was all right. I took a big gulp of air, gave him my coordinates (Barrow?s and West Side Highway) and informed him that physically I was all right. I began to go into detail of my ordeal that morning but was rudely interrupted by someone who wanted to use my cell phone. Annoyed, I looked over at the guy to say ?piss-off? when I saw a man in bluish-green scrubs and a stethoscope around his neck standing next to an ambulance. The sight of him snapped me back to the real issue at hand. He wanted to use my phone to try to get in touch with co-workers of his who were at a triage unit that had been set-up at the base of the World Trade Center. I asked Chris to call my parents and Sue to let them know I was on the move and told him EMTs needed my phone and that I would call later. Once off the line I handed over the mobile phone with no guarantees on ability to get through. The doctor made a number of feeble attempts to connect but to no avail. He thanked me and gave it back after about five minutes of trying. At that point, the time of day had no meaning. I was lost in a city swirling with astonishment, disbelief and shock. I wandered into the Village and sat down on the steps of a brownstone to ponder my current set of circumstances. I couldn?t go home. Sue was at work uptown well over a hundred blocks North (which was like a world away at that moment ? just as well). Jazz was alone or worse?dead. The battery on the cell phone was winding down. How could I be so self-absorbed? Everyone in New York knows how many people work in the World Trade Center. How many tens of thousands of people were now dead? How many families were desperately reaching out to loved ones who were no longer with us? The faces of anyone left on the street said it all. I needed to make contact with the outside world to help figure out what to do. My judgement was becoming cloudy and I didn?t know where to go or what to do. At one point I overheard someone say that all bridges and tunnels to the city were shut down but the ferries were still taking people across the Hudson to New Jersey. For a moment that seemed like a good idea as compared to staying on this now isolated island of terror. Not only was I isolated from the rest of the world, I was isolated from Sue and our home. Finally, I got through to my in-laws again. For some reason the 908 area code was reachable. This time it was my mother-in-law, Linda was the one to answer. It was very comforting to hear a mother?s voice (even if it wasn?t my mother, per se). We chatted for a bit and I described some of my adventures that morning. Before passing me over to Mike, my father-in-law, she informed me that they had made contact with my parents and informed them I was all right. But Sue was still unreachable. Mike and I talked for a while and he helped me figure out my next steps. I would make my way up to Sue?s School at 94th and CPW. In the meantime, they would continue to try and reach her by phone and e-mail to update her on the plan. It wasn?t until around noontime that I was able to connect with my Parents directly. I was still walking aimlessly in the Village at around the Sheridan Square Park area. When the phone on the other end of the line began to ring I stopped to prop myself up against an iron fence. My mother answered and immediately wanted to know if it was me. I had expected this to be a joyous call but instead I was choking back streams of tears trying to confirm that I truly was safe. As the conversation progressed I regained my composure. Still running high on emotion and adrenaline from the morning?s events I told them briefly of all that had happened. I informed them that I needed to conserve battery power and that I would call again as soon as I was able. We gave our love and said good-bye. That felt really, really good. I thanked the Lord for that opportunity and asked for the strength to carry on. Feeling replenished I was again on the move. Back to West Street for the long haul from Christopher St. to Columbia Grammar & Prep School. The next landmark was Chelsea Piers. The large, up-scale, sport complex and marina were revamped as a temporary morgue. It was also a staging area for doctors, EMTs and rescue crews. Ambulances were lined up the entire 6-block length of the pier. A woman was handing out free water to anyone who wanted or needed it. I must have looked like I needed it because it was not offered but practically forced on me. I was parched and my mind was beginning to wander. So, the water at Chelsea Pier was a welcome oasis. Once again on track, I decided to continue north on 10th Avenue ? Up to the Javits Center. Along the way I tried to phone Sue again. The batteries were just about out of power but this time it was ringing! I couldn?t wait to hear her voice. ?Hi. You?ve reached the voice mail of Sue?? Wouldn?t you know I got her voice mail. Well at least I got through. It would be good to leave a message and let her know I was on my way. Beep. ?Sue. I lo?..? My voice trailed off and I couldn?t even finish a complete thought. Too embarrassed of my inability to express myself I was forced to hang up and start walking faster. As I approached the Javits Center there were people gathered around cars listening to the latest news updates from the radio. Even Howard Stern was broadcasting the news and events of the morning. I?m not sure why that was so surprising but the image of various types of people (Black, Hispanic and White) huddled around the car with the doors and windows open and the radio turned up for all to hear made me think of my escape from N. Moore Street that morning. Each of us from different walks of life, ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs. Each of us standing side-by-side. Each of us running for our lives. Now, each of trying to figure out how to move on. Tenth Avenue, which was normally quite busy with traffic at that time of day, was as quiet and still as an early Sunday morning. I kept walking north until I couldn?t go any further. ?ugh. Only at 52nd street (and 10th Ave.). I searched my pockets and wallet and scraped together $9.00. Traffic had increased some since the Javits Center. I tried hailing a cab, hitch hiking ? anything to get me to Sue faster. Finally, an off-duty taxi pulled over. ?Oh great.? I though as I reluctantly got in. The driver was of Arab decent. It?s a shame how the events and news of the day changed my perceptions. Unfortunately, that?s human nature. That being said, I was taken to where I wanted to go from someone who was off-duty and didn?t have to stop to pick me up. The ride had saved at least another 2 hours of walking time and I was now standing directly across from Sue?s school. To date, it has been the best cab ride of my life. On the sidewalk outside of the front door I collected myself best I could. Rang the buzzer and proceeded to the front desk. The regular desk attendant was not there. This meant that I had to speak to the desk person to be admitted into the school. Beginning to become emotional, I managed to communicate that I was there to see Sue Longenecker. They must have been expecting me because as soon as it registered with this person that I was Sue?s husband she sent me straight through. Sue was on the other side of the building helping with dismissal. As I walked through the labyrinth of hallways to the other side I could feel the pressure, the anxiety and the love welling up inside of me. Biting my lip was not going to be enough. Now I was starting to pass by other teachers whom I knew ? and knew me. I couldn?t even make eye contact with them for fear of divulging my current and overflowing emotional state. Finally, around the last corner of the last corridor there she was?helping students and parents reunite after an extremely emotional day. I came up from behind and tapped her on her shoulder. She turned around and we embraced in a hug that I never wanted to release. Our hold was tight. The tears were streaming down both our faces. No words were needed. We were both safe in one another?s arms. Other people were looking at us now. Not that we were causing a scene but because for many of the staff and faculty, my presence represented their first ?real? human image of the tragedy that was still unfolding just 6 miles to the south. I remembered clinging to Sue for a long time and that I never wanted to let go. However, no matter how good it felt to be in her arms again it would always be bitter sweet, as there were so many couples, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters who would never again hold each other close. For us, the day ended with a positive note of affirmation. Our ordeal was still far from over but we were the lucky ones. And we knew it. For too many others, the day would fade into night with no contact from their loved ones. Night would slowly become the next morning and people full of false hope would continue through out the day with a promise made to an early autumn wind, searching for even the smallest glimmer of life from those whom they treasured most. 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 story9438.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. 2003-08-26 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.165.91.26 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: September 11 was a day of sorrow as I mourned the deaths of so many.My daughter, Kristin and I lit candles and sang God Bless America. We placed flags on our home and on our car as to say I am proud to be an American. One year later I have a different undertanding of 9/11. On Valentines Day of this year my daughter,Kristin, died in a housefire. I now know what it means to loose someone you love in a fire. Kristin had a disability and used a wheelchair.We got her to the window but could not get her thru. She was 23 years old and a major part of who I am,we were one.My understanding of the emotions of those who lost loved ones seems like the same emotion I have,we are united.I truly understand their feelings as I too feel as they do.It is very difficult to loose someone you love.Grief is a long and very difficult road.We need to continue to love and support them as one year of grief is only the beginning. Suzanne Hugueley 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 story4640.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: Well it was just another day. Kids are yelling at teachers, teachers are yelling at students, nothing really new. So I am in computer class and by word of mouth we are all told as a class that a plane crashed into just some building, you know accidents happen, its not an everyday thing but hey maybe it was foggy or something. Then we hear that a plane crashed into the World Trade Center so we were kind of shocked since that would be a big mistake since they are so big, you dont just like not see the things. Soon after the first plane hit, a second plane hit the other tower, so then we knew something was going on. The rest of the day was a huge frenzy with news and gas surplus and supposed food shortages, so what does a guy do on his own birthday? Well for me I sat home alone in my room and that was my big 17, the alleged happiest day of everyones lives was now tarnished with terrorism. But with all of that, it turned out to be a descent day except for the whole killing spree that was going 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 story782.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. 2002-06-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.94.185.91 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 do not know really where to begin but I will try. I was at work subing in the classroom. One of our staff members informed us that she heard on the news that a plane had crashed but was not sure where. She then came back in and informed us a little at a time what was going on. Since we were teaching 3 to 5 year olds we kept most of this to ourselves. But it was hard not to talk about the events of that day. We all were worried,upset and praying for news that it was all just a joke. Class ended earlier then usual that day as parents slowly trickled in to get their children. Everyone just knew that it was not over and where could it happen next. As I drove home all I could think about was family I had that lived in the New York area that I some how lost contact with over the years and wished there was someway I could find out how they were. At that moment I knew that I only was feeling just a small amount of the waiting and unknowing game that was going on with people everywhere that had family on planes or in the centers or love ones that worked as the unknown heros that we take for granted every day (policemen, fire figthers etc.). I went home, hugged my family and told them how much I loved them. From that day forth I waited, watched and listened for any kind of news (hoping it was good). But as the days passed there was none. So to anyone that lost someone either close or by aquaintace my heart and prayers will remain with you always. From my family to yours. 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 story5225.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. 64.132.240.71 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 nothing interesting to do that day and I was looking forward to relaxing all day and watch TV. My grandparents came up to my apartment because I wanted to show my grandpa something at the computer. For that purpose I turned off my TV. When we were done with the computer (which didn't take very long) I said to my grandpa: "Hope you don't mind that I'm turning on the TV again, my favourite show is running." He accepted but all we saw when I turned it back on was the burning World Trade Center. I just couldn't believe it. A man from the channel came up and said 'it was still unclear what caused it. But wait, we have it confirmed that a plane hit the WTC.' I was shocked. It was September 11th, 2001 and I had just arrived from the States ten days ago after spending a year there as an AuPair. I flew from Boston and thought what might have happened if they had chosen just ten days earlier. I had had the best time of my life in the States and feel deeply connected to the USA and now this country was under attack. Me and my grandpa were standing in front of the TV, watching shocked how the building was burning. Then all of a sudden I noticed the second explosion coming from the second tower and I screamed what was that? My grandpa repeated over and over again it was a plane. Did you see the plane? I did not. My grandma called out to us not realizing what had happened. Then she burst into the room and told us to do something but stopped in mid-sentence as she saw the pictures. She asked what had happened and I told her the little information we had. Then we stood there for two hours in a row unable to believe what we saw. As the towers came down I just couldn't believe it. I had been standing in between the towers just a year earlier admiring the height and the structure but at the same time frustated I couldn't take a picture because they just didn't fit. As they fell I was flipping to another channel and someone said: "Now the symbol of America has fallen. The World Trade Center no longer exists." I was horrified. I was watching TV nonstop that day. In the evening I called my hostfamily in the States to ask if they were okay. They were, although deeply shaken. My parents were on vacation and called me from the airport in Spain ready to fly home that day. I told them what had happened but my Mom did not believe me. When they came home in the middle of the night we again watched TV for at least two more hours. I guess until the falling of the towers I still believed it to be a sick movie with great special effects and kept repeating it looked like a bad movie. But it was sad reality. I still feel deeply saddened when thinking about the tragedy and my heart goes out to all the victim's families. 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 story10111.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. 2003-09-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 194.8.210.52 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 got home and went to bed around 7:15am, as I had worked a 24-hour shift with the County EMS the day before, September 11th. My mom had surgery on the 11th at the local hospital, and my grandparents were geting ready to go see her. I was the only one home at the time of the attacks. Around 8:50am, the phone rang.....and I answered it....it was my grandmother (she had that concerned tone to her voice). Immediately I had thought something had ahppened to my mom during surgery. My grandmother simply stated, "Turn on the T.V. to CNN.......a plane flew into the World Trade Center..." (I thought she was joking, sometimes she would call and get me up out of bed early in the morning)So, I turned the T.V. onto CNN......and dropped the phone. I could not believe what I saw.....it was just terrible....I told my grandmother I'll call her back. I immediately called the Chief at the Firehouse, and he said, "get your butt down here, all units have been recalled". So, I grabbed a few things and went to the station. The Governor's office had called and said, "Be ready to go anywhere, at any time, with little or no notice." We stayed on standby at the Firehouse for 3 days, just watching the images from NYC and D.C. I could not believe that someone would do such a thing. All of the brothers that we had lost in the Towers. Then the call from the State....and FEMA, they're looking for volunteers to help with the rescue/recovery at Ground Zero. Some from the area went...others stayed...to protect our own homes. It was the worst week for all of us as Firefighters. 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 story10544.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. 2004-04-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.116.140 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 will never forget that day, it is burned into my memory. I was at home, three months pregnant. I had just put my 5yr old son on the bus for Pre-K, and my 8yr old daughter out the door to school. I sat down on the couch to relax for a little while and turned on the television. I was amazed to find out a plane had crashed into the world trade center tower. I called my husband at work to see if he had heard about it yet. He is in the air force. His office was just getting the reports. As I watched, the second plane hit the other tower. I was completely in shock. They were spectulating that it was a small sesna, but I could tell it was much larger than that. I called my mother in Florida and woke her up. I stayed on the phone with her for more than an hour, just watching and crying. When the first tower collapsed, I almost collapsed. The only thing I could think of was all those people in that tower. I kept praying that I would wake up, and all this would be a nightmare. Then the second tower went down. I couldn't stop crying. My Mom told me to turn off the tv and try to not think about it. I turned it off, but couldn't stay away. The whole day, I felt like the world was turned upside down. When my kids got home, I kept hugging them and tried to explain what happened to my daughter. She seemed to understand and said that she felt bad for all the people in NY. After that I just tried to keep their day as normal as possible. I was worried that they might have nightmares about it. I was amazed at how well they handled it. They asked a lot of questions, and I answered them as truthfully as I could. When my husband came home, the only thing I could do was hug him and tell him that I love him very much. We stayed close together the rest of that day, and the next. I was afraid to let my family out of my sight. I still think of New York every day, and pray for the world. I will always remember 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 story6510.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. 24.207.199.82 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 volunteering at the M.S. society, and people came in at various time in the morning. they were teling us impossible things that were happening in new york and washington and penneylvania! i was absolutely stunned! when i went home, i made a beeline for the tv. and watched the horror that was 9-11-01! i just couldn't beleive that were being attacked on our own soil!! i said, that if i weren't too handicapped or too old, i would love to join the military and kick their posteriors!!! 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 story3607.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. 68.102.154.41 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 8th grade on September 11, 2001. I was in physical education class getting dressed when the gym teacher Mr. Kelly came in the lockeroom and said the towers were just hit. I remember not thinking nothing of it, but my school was walking distance from the world trade center in baltimore so then i started to get nervous. I still hadn't got a full idea of what was going on until for some reason most of my classmates were getting called out of class to go home early. Then i really started to get nervous. Then they finally turned on the tv around 9:45 and I was shocked and then i realized when it hit the pentagon that my grandparents and other relatives in dc may be in trouble, so i just prayed and when my mom came to get me we called our relatives and everything was ok. But i just remember feeling so bad for the people that died and so angry at whoever would do something so mean. 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 story20645.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. 131.118.85.8 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: Tuesday morning I was getting ready for my only class of the day at IUPUI in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was listening to the radio like I normally do. I was catching bits and pieces of the morning show. But I heard an urgentcy in the female dj. She was saying something about an airplane hitting a building. I wasn't sure about it and wasn't really caring but I was drawn to the living room and turned on the tv. There it was. The replay of the first plane hitting the Towers. I was deviasted. Not knowing what to do I just stood there and staired. My phone rang and my roommate answered it. It was her mom telling her what happened. She got up and joined me in the living room. Both of us sat on the couch and gawked at the tv. It looked just a movie. A really bad movie. No one knew what was going on. Then it happened. We saw live on our local television channel the second plane hitting the other Tower. Astonished we both started to cry. We couldn't believe what we just saw. The entire day we sat and watched the television. We decided we were going to give blood like every other American. We seriously thought that there would be surviers, hurt and injuried. We jumped in our car and turned on the radio. Every station was tuned into some type of CNN-MSNBC station. No one played music. You can hear the dj's struggling to steady their voices and relay the latest news. No one knew what to do. We arrived at one of the downtown bloodbanks to find a huge line. After waiting an half hour to fill out paper work we were told that it would be a few hours before our number would be called. So, we left and went back to her parents house. Everyone was glued to the tv. My roommates younger brother didn't really understand what was going. He just knew that it was really bad and people are scared and crying. After a few hours and a few slices of pizza my roomy and I headed back to the bloodbank. We got there and we found out that they weren't even close to our number but we stayed. We sat in our chairs for 6 hours watching people come and go, people calling loved ones, people consoling each other. We sat and watched as the third plane hit the Pentagon and the fourth crash into an open feild in Penn. You can see horror, disbelief, saddness, confusion in the peoples faces around us. What's going on? Who is doing this to us? How can they do this to us? Why are they doing this to us? What do we do? What should I do? All these questions and more ran through all of our minds. I remember watching all the brave and courageous firefighters run into the buildings to help save people. All the men and women of different colors, races, religions join together to help save their fellow man. Not long after running into the buildings the one thing that didn't cross my mind and probably others. The first Tower fell. A scream and OH MY GOD came from my mouth. Tears immediately streamed from my eyes. All those people. All those firefighters that just ran in to help. All those people still stuck inside. Gone. All gone. Then the second Tower fell. I felt nothing. My body was numb. All emotion was taken from my body. I felt like I was floating outside my body and watching everything unfold before me. It was unreal. Thousands of people gone. Mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmothers, grandfathers, friends...all gone in matter of seconds. Thousands of lives destroyed. Then it hit me. What about Eric, Jamie my roommates, boyfriend? He's in Korea with the army. I hope he's okay. I hope he's not on alert now. Joel, oh Joel. My friend Sheila's boyfriend. He's a ranger and is called. Please God let him be safe. Thousands of questions ran through my head and nothing I can do to answer them. Midnight-One am. I'm finally home. Ahh..home. I'm safe or am I? My bed. Nothing can harm me in my bed. My blankets will protect me. My dreams will save me. My parents always told me the most rememberable things that happen to them. When the first man landed on the moon or when JFK was shot. They remember what they were doing. They lived through the Korean and Vietnam War. They lived through Nixon and Watergate. They lived throught the Gulf War. I admired them for that. They got to live through history. History that I read in books. I never thought I would get to tell my children one day I remember when that I happen. I was doing this. But now I do. Somethine that no one wants to remember what day it was, what time, where they were, what they were doing, what they thought. I remember everything to this day a year later. Something I wish I don't get to share with my children. 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 story3648.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. 134.68.141.139 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, just like any other. I usually don't have time to watch TV in the morning before i have to go to my first class. Being in college its hard to find time to watch TV period. But that day i had gotten up early and decided to sit down and watch TV till i had to go. I turned on the TV and at that time the first trade center had already been hit. I was watching this in awe. I couldn't believe that this was actually happening. At first i figured that something had happened to the plane itself and couldn't be manuvered to a landing area and ended up crashing accidently into the World Trade Center. But then i saw the second Plane Hit. It was the worst thing i could ever witness in my life. I am only 21 years old, soon to be 22, at the time of the attacks i was 20. It was common sense to know that after the second plane hit it was no accident. The thousands of victims in the World Trade Centers and the planes that hit, not to mention the Pentegon and the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. I couldn't sit and watch unfortunatly because i had to attend class. luckily it was a reporting class and we where able to do research on what had happened. The internet was slow due to many people searching the web to find out what happened. It was the worst day possible and to top it off i was 400 miles away from my family. everone was calling to find out if everyone was okay. We may not have been close by the Eastern part of the US. but it affected everyone in the US. no matter where they where from. Classes where cancelled soon after the plane hit Pennsylvania. I think i sat and watched the replays over and over and over again on the TV. i couldn't stop watching it was like a horrible accident that happens on the road and you have to turn your head to see it. Those innocent people and those hundreds and hundreds or workers that died trying to save others. Finding out that Osama Bin Laden was behind all this was the last straw. I could not believe that some one could be so cold hearted that they would mastermind something such as this. Yet now that we have started attacks on them it is the worst thing in the world to them because innocent people are dying there. That is not right. Killing isn't the answer. and Violence and War are not going to do anything but kill innocent people and harm our chances or any 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 story781.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. 2002-06-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 128.165.156.80 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'm a coordinator for the N.Y. Board of Elections. On the morning of 9/11, while working at my poll site in a synagogue, the police officer informed me of the planes that had crashed into the WTC. At first, I didn't know what to think about it but a few minutes later a young women entered the synagogue and stated that another plane hit the Pentagon. I was starting to feel fear, I didn't know exactly what was going on, but I knew that I had to contact my family. I called home and one of my sons answered and I told him to turn on the T.V. and he informed me that the towers collapsed. That did it for me. I was totally in limbo. All I kept thinking about was my kids. Since the city was shut down, I walked home, it took about 2 hours. I picked up my younger children in school and bursted into tears when I saw them. They could not understand what was going on. What hurts me most of all, is the fact that those 2 beautiful buildings are gone. I had the pleasure of being able to work in Tower 1 on the 53rd floor about 10 years ago. I also knew one of the victims, her name was Nicole Lindo she was on the 103rd floor of Tower 1. Her remains were never recovered. The events of 9/11 has left me with great sadness. It will take me many years to get over this. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story8029.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. 2002-09-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.210.221.147 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 the phone with my sister watching the news when I saw the first plane hit Tower 1.. I thought it was an accident.. then the second plane hit and I knew it was no accident.. a colleague came running over that they had hit the Pentagon.. I had a son studying at Fordham University and I panicked hoping he was okay.. i called and called and called and could not get through.. he finally reached me at 10:30 and he was so upset.. he finally came home for good in October as he could not deal with the stress of living in New York City any further.. I will never forget that day as I know thousands will not also. 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 story3015.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: Tuesdays have always been my day off. That one started off like all the others. Tim was off to work before I got out of bed and I got up about a half hour later with our little girl Emma who was almost 2 at the time. We had just bought our first house and we were expecting our son Noah in 2 months. Life as we knew it was perfect. I turned on the Playhouse Disney for Emma and went into the kitchen to make us some breakfast. Thats when the phone rang. It was Tim telling me to turn on the news because a plane crashed into the Trade Center. I turned on CNN only to witness the second one and I just started to cry. My other line beeped and it was my mom. She was at work and called to see if I was ok. She knows about my fear of planes and how I would react to something like this. I remember her telling me to calm down.That it wasnt good for the baby. My thoughts immediatly turned to my kids. What was happening? Am I even going to see this child I am carrying? See my children grow up? When you lose someone the hours and days that follow are so hard and just odd. I didnt know anyone personally that lost their life that day but it still felt like that. Like most of America my eyes were glued to the Tv that day. The first few hours in the morning holding my precious Emma watching the horrific events that followed. The afternoon with my little sister ( I called her to come over. I really needed the company) and in the evening over at my mom and dads with the rest of my family as the second tower fell. Just being together because who knew was the future held. We didnt know who did this or if they'd do it again. The days and weeks following were a blur. I remember alot of praying especially for the victims and our families, donating money and buying flags and just trying to get on with life. One thing is for sure though, we will never ever be the same. 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 story9323.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. 2003-05-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.203.162.210