177 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: I remember leaving my apartment very early that day on my way to a doctor's appointment on the upper West Side of Manhattan. The doctor's office faces Riverside Park and you can see the West Side Highway from her windows. My appointment was for 8:45 a.m. and I remember commenting to her that "gee there seems to be alot of noise out there this morning". Even for a hardened New Yorker who is use to all kinds of noise it was apparent that something was going on. We paid no mind to it and upon leaving her building I noticed there were several helicopters hovering overhead. It many ways it seemed like "business as usual" and I remember calling my office on my cell phone to retrieve messages. The calls wouldn't go through and I remember being somewhat agitated as the phone had been charged that very morning. I went to the 9 train which runs down the west side of Manhattan and remember vaguely hearing one woman saying to another something about some small planes. Nothing to seemed to be different and no one seemed terribly upset. When I got off on 50th Street it was quite apparent that it wasn't business as usual. People were standing in the middle of Broadway looking up at the sky. I walked over to a man and asked him what was happening and he looked at me like I had two heads. He said "lady the World Trade Center was attacked". That's the last thing I remember as I ran across town to my office. People were coming up to me and asking if they could my cell phone. I said of course if they could get it going. Now we know that all communication had been knocked out because the Towers had fallen. When I got to my office our receptionist told me that my husband had been franticly calling the office as he knew I would be taking the subway to work and had no idea where I was at that point. I contacted him (fortunately I was able to get through to him), had a good cry, and then went into one of the senior partners' office and watched the second tower go down. It's a time and a day I will never forget. 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 story1950.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. 2002-09-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 160.79.179.102 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 a beautiful Tuesday morning on September 11th and I was having a cup of coffee. It was About 8:50 am and my daughter Ciara had gone to school. I took the day off from work because I was volunteering at my daughters school. My girlfriend Debbie called and told me she was watching the news and that some "big" building in the city was onfire. I turne the Tv on and i said" Oh my God, Debbie, that's the World Trade Center". We both stayed onthe phone with eachother and listened to the news. They were saying that the Tower was hit by a plane. At that time nobody knew what happened. Just at that moment the second tower it. I could not believe what I was witnessing. I thought it was a replay, but, to my horror it was not. I sat with my girlfriend on the other end of the phone and cried and cried. I was shocked and scared. At that time the news did not say it was a terrorist attack. I got ready, called my family to make sure everyone was ok, and drove to my daughters school. She was coming home with me. By then I knew it was terrorists. I wanted my child to hear what happened from me. I knew someone that perished in the trade center. He was a fireman. I will never ever forget that day for as long as I live! May God bless us and America. 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 story5748.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.185.149.102 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: This should give you a British view on the events - I can remember getting into my car to go home from School, and my mother told me, A plane has hit a tower in New York. I was stunned, i turned on the radio, and instead of hearing the normal comedy radio show, I heard an announcement "Ladies and gentlemen, in a mark of respect, all normal shows will not go ahead today, instead we will keep you updated on the horrifying events. When I got home i switched on the TV, every channel was reporting it, I watched all night, untill i fell asleep, News still on. The next day at school, there were no smiling children, no games, just crowds talking quietly. The UK was in shock, The world was in shock. Nothing would ever be the same. Now the world lives in fear, which is no way to live. 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 story11272.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. anonymously Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2005-01-27 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 62.254.0.14 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 actually sleep when the first tower was hit and waking up when the second tower was hit. i didnt know what actually was happening because it happened so fast. what i remember was going to take a drug test for work and coming home and everything in the city had been shut down. it was scary because everybody was panicking and worrying about a loved one. i didnt have a family member injured, thank God but it was something to think about.. family is very important to me now because you never know what tomorrow holds!! 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 story5578.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. 199.35.239.71 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: My daughter, Kelly and I and my granddaughter, Crystal were on vacation in New York on the 8th of Sept. We had tickets to Michael Jacksons concert and the day of the 8th we were standing where the twin towers were. It gives me shivers when I realize how close to being victims we had become. On Sept. 11th we had traveled to Massachusetts and when I reached my nieces house she ran outside and said "You need to come in here and see this". Charlene Crean, Kelly Crean & Crystal LaFrance 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 story5327.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. 67.25.242.28 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 guess this isn't exactly what you were looking for. I'm not about to tell you a true story. I do a lot of writing in my spare time, which I can understand may seem "nerdy" for a fifteen year old to be doing. Anyways, I wrote this story a couple of days ago, after I had seen a Discovery Channel show that discussed the events of 9/11. My story is in no way a real story and is not meant to offend anyone. I guess here goes nothing, right? Don't make fun of it please, its no great peice of art. It's just a kid's story, about a horrible thing, and, well, it's not even done yet. I thought I'd post the first part, the part leading up to the accident, and then later I'd send the rest. I hope that's okay, thats allowed, right? Well...enough talking, hope you enjoy, or rather, don't enjoy, there is no happiness in the tragidies of that day. A New Normal by Tess Intro ?It was my first full day on the job since my accident. God, I was so excited. I walked into station 18 and there were all my friends, my brothers. Who would have guessed that a group of?co-workers, I guess you?d call it?.could ever be so close? No, it was more than that. We were more then close. We just?were. I know it won?t ever be the same. That?s a given I have to learn to except, we all do. But sometimes, I just miss them all so much, it hurts. You know what I mean?? -Jack Ferdinand A New Normal The first face I saw when I woke up was Justin McGregor. Then I noticed he wasn?t alone, Andrew, Davy-Boy and Sammy were all there, staring at me, smiling underneath worried eyes. Where the hell was I? ?You?re in the hospital, buddy.? Davy-boy always knew what was running through my mind. ?Quite a spill you took. Most firefighters choose to use the ladder-?? Laughter. ?Maybe they don?t teach that over in those ?west coast? stations-? Laughter. ?Guys, guys! C?mon, he told me the story in the ambulance on the way here! Give the poor guy a break, the old lady pushed him out the window, it wasn?t his fault!? Uproar of laughter and knee-slapping. ?The one in the wheelchair?? ?Yeah, that?s the one!? ?Duh guys, how could you forget, it?s been happening all time lately. A new outbreak of criminals. Haven?t you heard all the stories ?bout the ninety-nine year old women, in wheelchairs, barely strong enough to brush their own hair, pushing young, strapping firefighters out of 5 story windows?? Laughter. ?Musta missed that news letter!? Laughter. ?Fine guys. Fine, don?t believe me. But I swear she ran into me.? There was no hope defending myself in a situation like this, no hope at all. The boys laughed and laughed until finally a nurse came in. She was very attractive. They all tried to act mature and flexed their arms as they walked past her towards the door. She smiled, particularly at Andrew. He gave her his usual wink and swaggered away, smug and cool, as always. ?You can talk to him more, later, boys. He needs his rest.? Her blond hair flowed over her shoulders as she went to check the monitors I was hooked up to. ?Uh-hmm. Can I have one moment, ma?am?? Justin asked quietly when all the other fellows had already filed out. ?Of course. Just make it quick.? She gave him a polite smile and walked out the door. As it closed I could see Andrew standing there, smiling widely at her, his white teeth gleaming in the fluorescent glow of the lights. ?You gave us all a real scare, Jack. We thought we lost you for good.? His smile lacked luster as he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, and he grabbed my hand with both of his, holding it tightly. ?Hey, no worries, huh? Just call me lucky from now on, okay? I?ll be back in no time, just got the wind knocked outa? me is all.? I knew my voice was weak from not saying much the past few days, and it didn?t do much to console his fright, but it was all I had to give. ?Yeah?just the wind?? He wiped a lone tear from his cheek. ?Uh-hmm.? I grunted, putting on my manliest face and voice. ?The boys might start to think you?re getting soft if they see you like this, buddy. Better get going.? I patted his hand, smiled big, and then nudged him with my leg. He stood up quickly, brushed his shirt off, and rubbed his face with both his hands. ?Of course. See ya? around, buddy.? He turned away and walked towards the door. Three steps later, he stopped. Still facing the door, he whispered, ?Just the wind, right Jack?? His voice was a barely audible whisper. ?Just the wind.? My voice was stronger then his, encouraging him to continue. It broke my heart to see them so worried, and to see one of them cry, that was almost scary. I closed my eyes and only listened to him walk away, I felt the tears running down my face but I had no care. I was alone. Or so I thought. ?You?re going to be fine, Mr. Ferdinand. I promise.? The blond nurse was in the room again, checking the monitors with her hands but looking at me with her eyes. They were the most beautiful blue I had ever seen, clear like Hawaii water and deep as any ocean I had ever seen. Just like that, just like how she had snuck into my room, she was gone, in an instant. I watched her butt as she walked away. Even under the blue scrubs you could see it was tight; she worked out. Maybe this hospital thing wouldn?t be all that bad? The boys came by everyday after that. They told me stories of all the calls and jobs they had taken, how much more food there was in the refrigerator since I wasn?t there. Besides all that, they still teased me about my accident. ?Jimmy, from station 102, he got pushed out a window today. A tragedy, really. They say the culprit was a 89 year old woman, paralyzed from the neck down. Apparently she had an aggressive head-bunt.? Davy-boy spoke in an all-serious tone and shook his head as he talked. The other boys cracked up, choking and getting teary-eyed they were laughing so hard. Not a day went by that at least one of the boys didn?t come to visit. It was the best three weeks vacation of my life, except for the whole ?pee in a tray? thing. That was just plain awkward, but besides that, it was great. I couldn?t wait to go back though, to be able to move without pulling on tubes stuck in my nose, my mouth, and my arms. Justin never seemed convinced I was okay, but that?s just his nature. He was the mom of our group. He took care of us when we were sick, hurt, or tired. We all knew he was gay, but that didn?t matter. He was one of us, no questions asked. He had come over to my house for dinner with his boyfriend once, I had my girlfriend over. It was the best night of my life, to tell the truth. I had never had so much fun. Over all, Justin was the caring, compassionate one in the group. He was the parent I never had. One day, while I was trying to put my best moves on the hot blond nurse, he came by with chicken noodle soup. The nurse smiled and said I was still unable to eat solid foods, and for a moment his face was crushed, but he put a broad smile on to cover his disappointment. ?Well then. All the more soup for me!? He set it down on the table and asked the nurse for a few minutes alone. ?So, Jack, when you gunna get that wind back in ya??? He pulled up a chair and sat up by my head, still smiling. ?You know, I actually feel a lot better today than I have any other day. The doctor says that within the week I should be able to use the bathroom, as long as a nurse helps me. No complaining here, have you seen the nurse they got taking care of me? Whew! Talk about needing to put a fire out! She?s hot! Anyways, they expect 3 months physical therapy and then I can go back to work full time.? I smiled back at him, truly enthused by my own voice. ?Well that?s some damn good news, buddy!? He patted me on the shoulder and stood up. ?I better get going. This is a hot summer man, one of the hottest July?s of the year!? He smiled sideways at me as he grabbed the chair. ?Oh is it now? Hottest July of the year? Maybe that?s because it?s the only July?? ?Aw, man. You caught me. I was just checking to make sure your heads alright. I mean, turning down chicken noodle soup isn?t your usual behavior.? He put the bowl on the food tray and swiveled it towards me. ?Being in a hospital isn?t my usual behavior, either.? I said. ?Eat the broth, huh? I?m sure you can suck down the noodles. I?ll see ya? tomorrow, buddy. Feel better, start getting the wind back in, okay?? ?Alright, later.? I said between slurps of warm broth. After weeks of hospital food, that was the best meal I had ever had in my entire life. Finally able to go home was a blessing. I walked into my apartment building with all the boys there, helping me up the stairs and jokingly hiding from every elder woman we passed. ?Any of of ?em could be murderous. I?ll go first and make sure the coast is clear.? Davy-boy ran up the stairs, his smart-ass comment leaving all the boys, as well as me, laughing. That was so Davy-boy. Saying something sarcastic was his usual behavior. We all loved him; he was the younger brother, smarter than all of us combined though. Book smart as well as street smart. Not all that handsome, but his wit had a way of attracting ladies just as well as the rest of us. His mind always raced at a thousand miles an hour, coming up with just the right thing to say at just the right time. When the ?band of brothers? had finally reached my apartment, Davy-boy was already inside. I knew it was a surprise party, but I wouldn?t ruin it for the boys. Never would I spoil something that was obviously so important to them. That?s how we were, supporting each other through everything, no matter how drained we were. ?You go first, Jack!? Sammy screamed out, apparently to warn those inside of my arrival. ?Wow, I think China can finally rest easy, they know you?re home!? called Davy-boy from inside. I laughed as I opened the door. The lights flicked on, streamers, balloons, ?Welcome Home!? posters, and at least thirty people were scattered around the living room of my apartment. ?WELCOME HOME, JACK!!!!? everyone screamed, almost shrieked. Sammy was jumping up and down with excitement. ?We got you good! Yeah we did! Davy-boy we did it! We got him good!? ?Settle down, Sammy. People are going to think there?s an earthquake with all the commotion you?re starting up.? Davy-boy answered as he poured a cup of punch. He walked towards me, holding the cup out. ?I checked it; no old ladies spiked it or anything. You?re safe, for now.? ?Gee, thanks Davy-boy. Whatever would I do without you?? I said sarcastically as I took the glass. ?Live happily ever after.? All the boys said at the same time. The rest of the party was a blur, I said ?Hi, how are you!? to about a dozen people that I didn?t know or couldn?t remember, and I drank a lot of punch. I think Davy-boy lied though, that wasn?t your regular punch. It had quite the kick to it, tequila I think. I do know my ex-girlfriend was there. We had remained close friends since our breakup; it would have been too hard to leave her completely out of my life. She gave me a big hug and a cheerful smile, along with a punch in the shoulder and a ?never do that again!? My parents weren?t there. Neither was my sister or brother. Of course they weren?t. They told me that if I wanted to go into this line of work, there would be risks, and they would not ?condone my radical behavior? in any way, shape or form. I didn?t care, though; I hadn?t talked to them much since I had told them I wasn?t going into the family business. I didn?t want to work behind a desk, no matter how incredible the building was. I wanted to be doing something to help people who couldn?t help themselves. They wouldn?t hear a word of it. They kicked me out onto the cold streets of New York. I made my way just fine though, I had good friends and the family I had made at the station was better than any family I had ever seen. The party was the best party I had ever had. It was the best night of my life, it would be for months to follow. ?Come on! Push! Use your legs!? Dan, the physical therapist I?d been seeing for the past few weeks, was screaming in my ear. ?Jesus, Dan!? I huffed between gasps. ?Are you sure you?re not trying to kill me?? Another gulp of air. He just laughed as he added more weight to the leg press machine. ?Ten more!? ?Yeah, figures.? The therapy was working well; my strength was slowly coming back to me. There?s no denying sometimes it was hard, and at times, I felt like I would never be the same. But my boys from the station would always come by at just the right time to make everything okay. There was nothing that could have pushed me harder than their helpful encouragements. ?Keep going, Jack! Keep it up! You got this! He so has this! Go on, Jack! You?re almost there! Go! Go!? Sammy?s usual roar of excitement filled the weight room once again. ?Sammy?s gettin? his own work out here! Look, he?s worked up a sweat and everything!? Andrew laughed at his own joke. Just then three girls walked into the room. These weren?t just any girls, these were physical therapists. Andrew pounced like a lion on his prey. ?Hey, ladies. I was wondering, I seemed to have hurt my shoulder a few days ago as I was rescuing a young boy from a burning inferno. You see, I?m a fireman and just because I felt my shoulder crack against the hot, hot wood, I was just trying to save this boy, so I had to ignore it. Think one of you could lend a hand?? He smiled his charming suave-debonair smile as he rolled up his sleeve to reveal the toned, huge bicep underneath. ?Oh well isn?t that just touching!? A brunette with a southern accent said. ?Here, let me help you out. Come right on over here and take a seat, okay?? She smiled warmly at him, but her eyes were mischievous. Whatever she was saying was covered up by Sammy?s persistent screaming. ?Go! Go! Go Jack-o!? He was clapping his hands, his face about two inches away from mine. ?Sammy will you just shut up? Jesus, boy!? Davy-boy was laughing as he said this, and his head was shaking as he looked at the floor. Sammy jumped straight up, looked at Davy-boy with hurt eyes, then smiled. ?Sorry, guys. I just get a lil? excited is all.? ?Hey-? huff ?-don?t worry about it, Sammy. I enjoyed-? huff ?-it. Thanks for the encouragement.? I said as my face contorted to force the words out between breaths. Sammy smiled big now, almost in defiance to Davy-boys teasing. He was like a hyper-active kid, a kid with ADD. There was no stopping him, he would yell, jump, scream, and just always have a good time. He wasn?t always so, I guess immature is the word. He was our sergeant up until three years ago, when he got in a horrible accident during one of our worst calls. The building was roaring with flames, we were ordered to try to put it out, but not enter the building. There was no way anyone who entered would ever get out, the fire was that hot. But, as we were shooting the hoses, Sammy all of a sudden ran straight into the flames that seemed to lick the sky. ?Sammy! Where you going? Get back here!? I tried to run after him but Andrew grabbed me back. ?There?s someone in the window! Look!? He was screaming above the roar of the flames and pointing up. When I looked to where his finger pointed, I saw a very young girl, holding a blanket and waving it out the window. Her mouth was moving but I could not hear a word she said. It didn?t matter, her face was saying enough. She was dying fast and needed help. ?He can?t go in there alone!? I broke Andrews grip and ran into the flames after Sammy. The fire was hot on my face. I will never forget that feeling, I don?t think anyone could. I tried to open my eyes, even under my mask, but it was so bright. The flames licked the sides of the walls and engulfed them in their haunting beauty. I heard a crash behind me and turned to see the ceiling by the door fall to the ground in a loud rumble, then get sucked into the flames. ?Dear God let there be a back door.? I mumbled to myself as I continued through the wreckage. Just then I saw Sammy, running towards what was left of the stairs. I didn?t know what to do to get his attention, so I picked up a picture frame and hurled it towards his back. It hit his shoulder and skid off. He jumped sky high and turned to see if he was on fire. When he saw me, his face fell underneath his helmet. Then he pointed up the stairs, and motioned for me to come to him. Just as he said that, there was a loud crackle, crumbling noise. His eyes filled with fear as he looked up towards the ceiling. The flames seemed to swallow him up as it fell to the ground, landing on top of him. The walls began to fall around me; I knew I had no other choice. I ran straight into the flames, the heat eating me up. I used my ax to cut through the wood, trying to break it up, and I finally found a piece of his shirt to grab onto. I pulled as hard as I could and felt the wood around him give way. His limp body came up from underneath the pile of rubbish, and I knew I didn?t have much time. I put him over my shoulder, and as I turned I saw, to my amazement, a young girl, the same one that was in the window, jumping through the hole in the ceiling and landing right in front of me. She was crying, and badly burnt, but she was alive. She ran into my legs and clung on for dear life. I had no other choice but to try to carry her under my free arm. I tried to protect her from the flames as the nipped at our feet and faces, but I could feel her flinching every time they touched her. Using my body as a bomb, I plowed through a week wall and threw myself onto the ground outside. The grass was crisp, and I knew we were still in danger. So, using all my strength, I pushed myself up and ran towards the ambulances and fire trucks. The water rained down on us from the hoses as we made our way out of the hell we had just been in. I was bombarded with emergency medical personnel and the boys. The emergency medical personnel grabbed the girl but before they could get Sammy the boys came and grabbed him, ripping off his face mask. ?Sammy? Sammy! Hey buddy, wake yourself now, huh?? Words slurred with emotion poured from all of their voices, but all I could see was the look on his face when the ceiling began to crumble above him. I could see me, throwing the picture frame at him. I could see him stopping, if only he hadn?t stopped. If only he hadn?t been forced to waste time. Why had I gone in after him? Why had I tried to stop him, he could have saved that girls life. But the girl?s life was saved, and he had a lot to do with that. ?Jack? Jack are you okay? Jack!? I heard the voices as I slipped into the darkness that was overpowering my eyes. I felt like I was floating away into the ocean. A dark peace enveloped me in its cold grasp as I swam farther and farther down into the obscurity. I woke up minutes later, with an EMP kneeling over me, putting cold water on my face to scrub off the dirt. I sat up, shaking off the EMP with a few ?I?m okay?s?. ?Where?s Sammy? Where?s the girl?? I asked as I walked towards the boys. ?They took them to the hospital. We gotta finish off this before we can go. Sammy wouldn?t want us to leave a job unfinished.? Justin looked empathetic. ?What happened in there, Jack? You look like you?ve seen a ghost?? ?I?m just hoping Sammy?s okay, is all.? I grabbed hold of the hose and helped to aim it at the house. After a few hours we finally got the fire under control, and a smaller group of firefighters went in to clean up the mess. The boys and I were at last able to go see Sammy at the hospital. ?So what?s wrong with him? When is he going to be okay? You aren?t answering anything, here, Doc.? Andrew was pushing for answers. ?Listen. He?s had extensive head trauma, it?s hard to tell anything right now. There is definite brain damage, which is apparent. He is awake now, but I?m not sure you would want to see him-? That?s all it took. We ran past the doctor, our boots sounding like thunder as we ran down the hall. ? Jesus Christ.? A whisper from Andrew captured the essence of the whole group. Sammy was laying down, his eyes open, his head wrapped in bandages. He had more tubes stuck into him than anything I had ever seen. I was amazed by how burnt he was. His arms were wrapped in gauze, but the blood seeped through. ?Hey guys.? He winced. ?Sammy. Hi. How are you?? Justin was the first to break the silence from us. He walked over to him and sat in a chair next to his bed. All of a sudden Sammy started screaming out loud, his face broken and burned, and he seemed like a hurt child. ?It hurts! I want my mommy! God it hurts! Ow! Help me it hurts!? His tears streamed down his burnt cheeks, washing away skin as they went. ?Shh. Sammy shh. It?s okay, huh? It?s okay Sammy. You?re going to make it, right? Shh?mommy?s here.? Justin didn?t know if it was okay to touch Sammy, so he just leaned close and whispered. It was never the same after that accident. It became obvious that Sammy had lost something in that accident. He was demoted from Sergeant, but he will always be the sergeant to us. He can still fight fires with anyone, but his behavior outside of work is childlike. It didn?t change how much we loved him. Nothing could ever change that. It just became his usual behavior and a new normal for us all. I walked into the station, and there were all the boys, smiling at me, with a huge cake in front of them. I walked over to it, expecting a ?welcome back? or something along those lines. Rather, the cake said ?Took you long enough!? ?Wow, thanks guys. That?s really nice of you. This is just so touching.? I smiled at all of them, cheesy, fake. ?Buddy, we figured you would appreciate it.? Andrew smiled back as he began to cut into the vanilla cake. My favorite. They never failed to remember the small details. At approximately 8:47, the bell rang, letting us know there was another emergency. We went into action quick, throwing on our clothes and going down the poll. Someone had grabbed the cake and thrown it into the cab next to me. ?It?s a big one, guys. A plane accident. Hit the trade center!? Andrews voice was slightly panicked as he turned the truck down towards the downtown area. ?Do you know which tower?? I asked. I knew I shouldn?t care, but I did. My brother and my dad both worked at the World Trade Center, in the south tower. I did not want them to be hurt. I prayed for them to be okay. ?It?s okay, Jack.? Justin said. ?It hit the North Tower.? He was the only one who knew about my family. ?Okay? It?s not okay! A freaking plane! Shit guys! Look at that!? Davy-boy was for once left without a smart comment. We were underneath the building, and it seemed like a hundred stories up a fire was roaring. People were jumping out of the building, bodies flailing out the windows. Others were storming out of the door. A crowd had gathered; people with video cameras, people in utter shock. We set to work right away, Andrew, Sammy, Justin, Davy-boy, and I all ran towards the building. We knew first we should get people out of the tower. There were hundreds of other firefighters unloading hoses, screaming orders, it seemed like utter chaos. We were climbing the stairs, telling anyone we ran into to get out of the building immediately. We knew the hoses were not even close enough in length to reach the fire, at 78 stories up. Sammy was rushing past people, asking if anyone was hurt as he climbed the many, many stairs. Suddenly, someone was screaming. ?They hit the other tower! The other towers been hit!? I was in a swirl, I could hear the panic outside as I ran back down the stairs. Step, step, step. Stair after stair, one foot after the other, until I was literally tumbling down the last flight. I ran outside, and to my horror there was the second building, the south tower, on fire. A gaping hole spit black, firey ash into the air; tens of thousands of pieces of paper and chunks of metal rained down to cover the street below. The world was ablaze in fire, smoke, and death. ?Its terrorists! It?s terrorists!? A woman ran past me crying, blood pouring from her face, a piece of metal stuck into her eye. Suddenly she collapsed, I had to help her. I looked up to watch the two buildings standing tall, their height still looming. Instead of power and strength in the buildings, all I saw was horrid darkness. A person whom had apparently jumped out of one of the windows above where the plane had hit landed to my left, and lay like a discarded piece of garbage. Her brown hair was the only sign that it was a woman at all. Screams for help and terror filled the air, sending chills through my bones. I looked around, and for the first time noticed none of my boys were there. I knew they were okay, we had arrived to late to be affected by the actual attack, now we were helping those that were hurt. Still, something inside me told me worse was to come. A man ran by me, screaming ?They hit the Pentagon, too! They?re killing us all! We are all going to die!? I did not see his face nor did I care, his words echoed throughout the crowd, and in that moment, he was inside all of us. That voice, those words, filled everyone within hearing distance with pure unadulterated terror. ?Help me! Please!? ?She?s gone! Oh lord, she?s gone! My baby!? ?Where is he? Don?t you know! Where is he? Can?t anyone tell me anything? Where?s my husband! Where is my husband?? ?Save her please! Save her! Somebody, anybody! Somebody! She?s dying over here, please! Save my wife!? ?Laura? Laura where are you?? Everyone looked the same, covered in ash and blood, screaming out for the same thing, someone to help them. I tried; I was able to get the lady with the shard of metal in her eye to an ambulance. I helped another person, a man, whose arm had been severly broken when a piece of the building landed on him, to an ambulance. But soon I realized the ambulances were filling up. I noticed people standing, watching the tallest buildings in New York burn up in flames and black smoke. Somebody yelled something, and in that instant, I saw him. My father was running towards me, screaming about a hurt young man. He carried some sort of blanket in his arms. As he got close, I realized it wasn?t a blanket at all, but my brother, wrapped up in a piece of cloth. ?Jack! Please, Jack, is there some way we can save him? Oh dear God Jack please, please help me!? He laid the mangled mess down in front of me, and when I removed the cloth from him, I saw his face bloody and distorted, barely even a face at all. ?Joe? Joey wake up!? He had no pulse, I knew he was dead, I had seen it times before. I looked up into my fathers eyes and he knew too. We stood there a moment, in silent tears over the loss of a loved one, and then he hugged me. ?I was so worried, Dad. I was so worried.? I said into his shoulder. ?It?s over now, Son. Your brother is off to a better place now.? ?I have to go help the others, Dad. Get to an ambulance if you can, they?re filling up fast. Hurry, Dad. I?ll find you when I?ve taken care of everyone. I love you, Dad.? ?I love you, too, son.? Like that I was off, helping other hurt people, trying to find my boys. Where were they? I recalled Sammy and Justin running into the south tower, but I had not seen the others come out of the north tower yet. I decided I?d go over there to see if I could find them. As I made my way towards the towers, the lady next to me screamed again and pointed up. What I saw filled me with more terror than I had ever experienced in my entire life. The south tower, which stood 1,360 incredible feet tall, was crumbling down. The top seemed to cave into the rest of it, sending a huge cloud of dust and debris outward. ?Get out of the way! Everybody get out! Run!? I screamed to the crowd, trying to get people to run faster, but the streets were flooded with thousands of people. The cloud overtook most of us, and in a split second visibility went from perfectly clear to not even being able to see your own hand. It was completely black, and the air was too thick to breathe. I new which way the tower was and I ran away from that. You could hear screams but you couldn?t see anything, it was too dark. The ash flowed into my nostrils, onto my tongue, in my throat, there was no escaping it. Something, someone, grabbed onto me, latching onto my shoulder as if I was all he/she had. She was yelling something, but it was almost as though her words had faded into the mass of screams around me. Then I felt her hand go limp, I knew in an instant she had died, there was no way I could save her now. The dust started to clear, slowly, oh so slowly. Where were my boys? Sammy? Justin? Where were Andrew and Davy-boy? Adrenaline pumped through my veins, my mind seemed to be disconnected from the rest of me. My body was sure in it?s movements, but my thoughts were tentative. I was running towards the rubble that remained of the buildings. I don?t know why but for some insane reason I felt my friends were in that mess, but I felt that they were okay. They?re firefighters, guys like them don?t get seriously hurt, save on rare occasions. I ran back, stopping at every person to see if they were who I was searching for. Everyone looked exactly the same, covered from head to toe in grey, dejected ash. ?Sammy? Johnny! Andrew? Davy-boy?? I heard myself screaming, and I kept screaming. I knew my voice was no clearer than any of the other lost people screaming in agony but I kept trying. Trying was all I had. Suddenly, my foot hit something and I felt myself tumbling, head over heel, onto the ground, softened by feet of ash. I sat there, in the ash, with my legs pulled up to my chest. I was so empty at that moment. I felt so alone. I just wanted my boys. I looked up to see what had tripped me, and saw, to my amazement, a helmet. It was grey with ash, but in my heart I knew what it was. I stood up and walked over to it. I couldn?t make myself pick it up, so I just stared at it. I stood there probably a whole minute before I got the nerve to bend down and reach for it. I held it in my hand; its usually cold surface was hot, almost unbearable. The ash covering it was thick, but I wiped it away. The first thing I saw was a name written in black ink, it was charred but it was visible. I read it slowly, letter by letter, letting the pain set in one syllable at a time. D ? A ? V ?Y ? B-O-Y. The name burned itself on my memory. I saw it floating around my head, along with the face that goes with it. My tears were hot on my face, I felt them making their treacherous way through the mountains of ash. I looked around, searching all the faces. Maybe he was still here. Just because his helmet wasn?t on didn?t mean he wasn?t around. ?David? David Clark? David! Davy-boy?? My words slurred with tears, soundless gasps of air. ?David! Please? David!? I was screaming, helpless as all these people holding onto each other for dear life. The helmet slipped from my grip as I fell to my knees. I put my head in my hands and cried, cried for everything I knew I had lost. All my boys had gone into those buildings. None of them had come out. At least, that?s what I thought, I hadn?t found them. Something made me look up; I don?t know what it was. The helmet was upside down on the street, it?s inside exposed to the world. I hated to look, but something was in there. A picture mostly covered in blood, but a picture none the less. It was all of us, the whole team, Andrew, Justin, Davy-boy, Sammy, and me, standing around the pole, all of us smiling so wide, all of us so happy. It couldn?t have been that long ago, the memory was fresh in my mind. ?Hurry up, Andrew!? Sammy called out as he clicked the timer on the camera. ?I?m here, I?m here!? Andrew came skidding around the corner, threw his arm over my shoulder, and was standing with seconds to spare before the camera. Click. ?Well guys, it?s our seventh year together.? I said as I leaned against the pole. ?No way, man. I would ahve been in an insane asylum if it had really been that long!" Davy-boy said as he walked over toe get his helmet. He was always polishing that thing up, writing on it, he was more proud of his helmet than of his actual job. ?One day, Davy-boy, that helmets gunna? crack, and you?re going to have to get a new one. Ever think of that?? Andrew was making dinner over the stove in the lounge of the firehouse, the smell was incredible. ?What?cha cooking in there, Drewster?? Justin looked up from his book; The Living Sacrifice. ?Oh boy let me tell you! We have got ourselves a lovely dish tonight. Beef sirloin grilled to perfection, delicious baked beans slow-cooked for hours to ensure flavor and texture. All of this combined together in my all secret barbeque sauce, served with a big glass of fresh squeezed orange juice to ensure our health! ?Alright! Stagg chili here we come!? I said as I grabbed the soup can off the counter next to the stove. ?Good try, buddy.? ?Shh, it?s a secret! The guys have no idea.? He said, spooning up five dishes of the steaming hot concoction. ?They still don?t know those tacos I ?cooked? last week were really from Taco Time down the street. To them, I?m Mister Gourmet himself!? We walked into the make-shift dining room and set down the bowls. ?Hey! It?s Stagg chili again! Mmhmm my favorite!? Said Sammy, eyes wide with enthusiasm. ?And Minute-Made orange juice, no pulp added! That?s the only kind, I tell ya!? Justin piped up, eyes smiling. ?Well aren?t you a regular Chef Boyardee!? Davy-boy laughed, spooning his chili into his mouth. After he guzzled down a swig of orange juice, he laughed again. ?This is way better than those damn Taco Time taco?s you?ve been giving us lately. That?s just shit! Talk about a gut bomb! Ick!? ?Don?t worry, Andrew, I still love your cooking. Even if it is just using a can opener. You always did seem pretty good with a can opener; best one we got, that?s for sure!? I patted him on the back. ?Yeah well its food, okay? So eat up!? Must have just been a few weeks later Davy-boy got that camera developed. I never saw him tape that picture inside his helmet but it didn?t surprise me that he did. He was sentimental, no matter how much he pretended he didn?t like us. For all his sarcasm, there was a heart to that boy that would have saved the world from war if he could have. 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 story11315.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. 2005-02-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 4.13.187.219 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11, 2001 when the first plane hit the World Trade Center in New York I was on my way to school. By the time I heard a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center both planes had hit and I think the third one had hit the Pentagon. I found out about all of this in my second period Math class. No really had talked about it before school or during first period. When I heard that this happened in my second period I was shoked. I never really had knew about terrorism before this day. When I got to my second period class my Math teacher was watching the news and all I saw was a buch of smoke and two buildings on fire. I asked him what had happened he told me that two planes crashed into the World Trade Center. For the rest of the class time we sat there and watched the news. As I was listening to the news they mentioned that another plane had crashed into the Pentagon and I was shoked even more. All sorts of thoughts were going through my head. Why would someone do this? What's going to happen next? What are we going to do about this? Are we going to go to War? The biggest question that went through my head was I thought my country was invisible and the strongest country in the world-how could this happen to us? As I continued to watch and listen to the news they kept showing the two planes hitting the Twin Towers and estimating how many were dead and how many people would probably die. This just shoked me even more. I look over to my friend and said, "This is insane." I really never knew much about the World Trade Center before this day. I was so stunned that it really didn't affect me that day. I didn't know what to think. As the day went on, in most of my classes, if teachers didnt talk about it, they gave us a free day to talk about it with our friends. Most of the teachers seemed as stunned as we were and didn't dicuss it. MY history teacher asked what we thought if the event. He also asked the class what we thought the government was going to do about it. He asked us questions, if we were the President what would we do about it? Would we go to war? One thing I found interesting and it made me think was my teacher told us that this would be in the History books in the next four years or so. Our kids would be learning about this and asking us what happened and we would have to tell them. This event was something you could not make sense of or push out of your thoughts. People were talking about it or watching the news. I was so shocked I tried not to think about it. T.V. replayed the planes hitting the Twin Towers over and over. The death toll kept growing. So many everyday, ordinary people. After school. some friends and I decided to hang around and find a small place and we just prayed about it. One year later, I am still praying 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 story8268.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. 2002-10-02 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.79.81.231 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On the half hour drive to my office from Anderson to Muncie, I heard a brief report on National Public Radio, NPR, that an airplane had struck one of the World Trade Center towers. I assumed it was a small private plane and was interested but not alarmed. When I reached the office, I turned on the radio and more was coming in about the event. When they said it was an airliner and not a small plane that had hit the tower, I knew I had to get a television on. The only one available was a 19 inch TV next to my conference table. We used it for videos so it had no antenna attached. I found a small rabbit-ear type antenna in the cabinet and hooked it up, hanging it upside down so the signal came in at least marginally. I called to some of my staff to come in and see the images on the TV. Smoke was pouring out of the tower and streaming black soot was streaking down the sides. I called my wife to turn on her TV as well. Slowly, the gravity of what was occurring dawned on us. Staff gradually trickled off to resume work in their offices and I continued to work at my desk and keep an eye on the TV imagegs. Suddenly, another airliner struck the other tower. I shouted to my secretary and staff to come in and we gasped at what we were seeing. The awareness that this was a planned event struck each of us. When the first tower collapsed, we sat silent for a moment and then went to call our families. As the day wore on with the Pentagon involved and the plane crash in Pennsylvania, I think we all felt numb. That night, my wie and I watched all evening and held each other tight. 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 story1890.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. 2002-09-08 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.56.9.81 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: Like the rest of America, my personal images of what I saw and felt are burned permanently on my mind. But what came after is a change in my life that occured, most likely, because of the attacks. I had recently broke up with my partner and I was feeling depressed and dejected; I drank heavily and generally lost the will to just live and enjoy life. On 21 October, I stopped drinking and began to turn things around for myself. I realized the enormity of the losses of so many people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania and felt I had no right to grieve for a lost love any longer-my problems seemed so trite in comparison. Today, I am sober still and try to keep all the small inconveniences and difficulties in life in their proper, small proportions. 11 September has changed my views of what is important in this life and what is really just inconsequential "filler." 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 story872.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. 2002-07-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.135 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: Following is an email I wrote a week after Sept. 11th: At the suggestion of my Aunt, I thought it would be a good idea to tell the story of my day this Tuesday. It is not nearly as dramatic as others I have read, but I think it will be worth reading. Tuesday morning, all is normal. I wake up, get ready, and go outside to walk the half a mile downtown to my office. I arrive at my building at Hudson and Canal streets (the WTC is half a mile due south) and ride the elevator to the 8th Floor. I walk in to my desk, get settled, and go to fill my water bottle in the kitchen. I notice that a few employees are running past me. This is not so unusual, being that I work for a news-oriented company. Any sort of breaking news could trigger running. However, I notice that everyone from one side of the office is running to the other. I ask what is going on. I am told, "A plane just hit the world trade center!" I was more curious than shocked. I imagined it was a small prop plane. I ran to the windows on the south side of the office. At first all I see is a huge gash in the north tower. I see no flames. It takes me a few minutes of staring to piece together what I was seeing. Everyone near me was silent, also trying to make sense of it. It was a large black hole in the building. You could see the vague outline of a plane, a wider middle, and narrow wings on each side. The hole was at a slight angle. We kept staring, mostly in silence. Soon we noticed paper in the air, floating, the way paper does, on the air currents next to the building. Suddenly a someone screams "Oh my god! I think I see people jumping!" We look and can make out small solid objects falling from the building. We are too far to be able to see what they are. I race back to my phone and call Ed (my boyfriend) to alert him to the events. As I am explaining I hear a huge boom that shakes the building. "Oh my god!" I say "something just exploded, I'll call you back!" I hear a scream from the crowd at the windows. I run back to see a huge fireball in the south tower. At first we thought it was a bomb, but then someone said they thought they saw another plane. People began to get very scared. We ran to our set of six televisions, tuned to various local and national news sources. Soon after the second explosion, the news stations had the slow motion video of the second impact. We could clearly see a passenger jet. Being the news organization that we are, a few people had begun filming from our windows. Others ran to their posts to make sure the latest news was on our website. Others called home to reassure family. I did the latter. I called mom at home, who had not yet seen the news. We both were stunned and I had little to say other than I was fine. As our office became more and more frantic, not only with work, but also with the fear of not knowing what was happening, I recieved word via instant messenger that a third jet had hit the Pentagon. I actually didn't believe this until I went yet again to the tv screens and saw for myself. About this time, we received word that the building was going to be evacuated. The office became more frantic. We had to get WNBC's live coverage on our site. We had never used our live streaming capabilities before, so we were in completely new territory. Amazingly, it worked. Just after we added the live video to our site, I received another instant message saying the south tower had collapsed. Again, I could not believe it. I ran to the windows where some were standing with wide eyes and hands over their mouths. Nobody made a sound. I saw a huge plume of dust where the tower had been. That was it for me. I knew I had to leave immediately. I went to my desk and gathered my things. Building security arrived to make sure we were leaving. I exited the building and saw streams of people walking quickly uptown. It was silent. Nobody spoke except for those on payphones which had lines stretching around corners. I saw a few people covered in dust walking up the street staring- completely oblivious of the world around them. I walked quickly, not knowing what was going to happen next. I heard a few screams and saw people begin to run past me. I turned and saw the second tower falling. None of the dust from the first tower had reached my office, so I didn't worry that I was in danger, except from the crowd that began to surge up the street. I decided to opt for turning the first corner I came to to get off the main street. I arrived at my apartment to find my roommate who had no idea what was going on. I filled her in as she stared at me in disbelief. "I'm going to walk to Penn Station and get out to Long Island" I told her. I packed my bag quickly, taking only the essentials. Ed called to check on me and urged me to move quickly. He was worried about the state of the city, as was I. I didn't know how panicked everyone would be. It could be a very bad situation. I left the building and bought a bottle of water on the corner. I should mention that no transportation of any kind was running at this time. Therefore, everyone was walking. There were throngs of people on the streets walking. To my amazement, everyone was calm. I suppose it was more dazed than calm, but there was no panic. As I walked, I passed a few cars with radios on and caught bits of news. I heard that there had also been a crash in Pennsylvania. I walked past St. Vincents Hospital in the village, where a majority of the injured were being taken. There was a line around the building to donate blood and they were beginning to turn people away. The area was roped off and I had to walk a few blocks out of my way to get around. After about an hour of walking and talking on my cell phone with Ed and my mom, I arrived at Penn Station. I had promised that if I felt any sort of danger, I would keep walking uptown to Ed's friend's apartment at 125th street (Penn is at 34th st.). There was a throng of people around the entrance. I tried to get in position to hear the transit police announcing in the middle, but the crowd was too large. I asked the people around me and found that there was no service at all. Someone mentioned there might be limited service out of Grand Central. By this time I just wanted to leave the city by any means possible. I began to walk across town to Grand Central Station. As I passed the New York Public Library, I noticed 2 transit cops with radios trying to answer people's questions about how to get where they wanted to go. Basically, the answer was walk. They were telling Brooklyn people to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, Queens people should walk across the Williamsburg bridge, New Jersey was basically inaccessible. I also found out that there were no trains working at Grand Central. I decided to walk back to Penn and just wait for trains to resume. As I was walking, I noticed people going into the subway. I went down to see what was going on and found a few trains working. Still no trains that would get me out of the city. So I kept walking back to Penn. When I arrived, I went to another door and stood in a crowd of people. I called Ed and discussed my options. About this time, I began to hear airplanes, which I hadn't heard all day. I looked up and saw F-16s in the air. It was a very strange and frightening sight. I was reminded of the fighter jets that used to fly over my house in Wichita from McConnell AFB. After about half an hour, I decided to walk around Penn Station to make sure I wasn't in the wrong place. The people I was waiting with were all waiting for Amtrak trains, and I wanted the LIRR. As I walked around, I heard someone mention the 7 train was working. The 7 would get me to Woodside Queens from which LIRR trains were apparently departing. I walked uptown to 42nd street and the 7 train entrance. I arrived a the platform and saw 2 dark trains on the tracks. Obviously the lady at Penn was wrong. I huffed back up the stairs and back to Penn. This time, I walked by a small entrance that went direcly into the LIRR section of the station. There were people going in! I hustled to the escalator and went down. Just as I entered they announced the Port Washington train, my train! I actually began to run. I was given the evil eye by a policeman and slowed my pace a bit. I made my way to the train and sat down. I was so relieved to be on the train! I called my mom to tell her the good news. I should note that I was very lucky through all of this to get a cell signal. Most people were unable to use their cell phones at all. I waited with bated breath for the train to move. I was certain that something else was bound to happen and I would not make it out of the city so easily. Finally the train moved. About five minutes later, daylight in Queens. Rarely have I felt so glad to see Queens. I called Ed with my ETA and took a deep breath. As I sat by the window, I watched the black smoke curl in the sky. Even in Queens there was a grey haze. On my train, I noticed two men. One was grey from head to toe, covered in soot. The other was in a hospital gown and boxers holding a sack of what I took to be unwearable clothes. It finally began to sink in. Until this time I had been on a mission, just get out. I hadn't had time to really process what had happened. Over the next few days, as I stayed on Long Island and watched the news, I began to feel the enormity of what had happened. I still can't quite fathom the full extent of it, but I know it will effect the city and the nation for years to come. 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 story1146.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. 24.90.254.213 Annotation Annotations to this item. Internet Police Officers Rumors Struggle to get home WTC, attack NY:3 Sep 11- Sep 21, 2001 Notes Notes about this item. Move to emails 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 learned about the crashing of the planes while I was on my way to Geology class. A girl was listening to the radio on her walkman and telling the class what the updates were. I did not fully understand the severity of the situation until class was over. I knew it was serious, but did not understand what had happened. I left school and tried to call my boss to see if I should come into work. My work was located right behind the Pentagon and I heard that it had been hit. My cell phone did not work and was making crazy sounds when I attempted to use it. I saw that a friend of mine, who lived near the school, had called and I went to his house to watch the news and make some phone calls. I could not believe what I saw on the News. It was horrible. Why? How? I could not grasp where this came from. The impact of the event did not kick in unitl the next day when it consumed my mind. I found myself afraid of things to come and constantly watching the news so that I might grasp the situation at hand. I could not think about anything else. I literally work right behing the Pentagon which made me think about all the people actually in the Pentagon. All the people running from large masses of smoke, or jumping from windows of a falling building. For the first time in my life, I felt unsafe in my own country. Vulnerable and unprotected. A feeling very new to me. I didn't understand how we could keep ourselves safe when the enemy was willing to risk thier own lives in order to take ours. The days following were filled with suspision, fear and anxiety. I love this country and what it stands for, but for the first time, I felt true patriotism. For the first time, I cried when I heard our National Anthem. For the first time, all those songs I sang in Elementary school finally made sense. I was proud to be an American. Despite the horror of what happened on Septemeber 11, I am glad that it opened my eyes to the strength of this country and how glad I am to be a part of 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 story89.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. 2002-02-27 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.249.111.27 Annotation Annotations to this item. Patriotism Rumors Telephones and Cell Phones DC:2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Many thoughts and emmotions were let out that day. I remember sitting in class watching CNN and seeing the scene of the second plane crashing into the Second Tower of the World Trade Center. Everybody in class watched the T.V. with their mouth's wide open in terror. Some girls were frightened. Some of the Seniors were talking about enlisting when they graduated. No work was done, and if there was work to be done, people refused to do it, because they were troubled by the thought of what was happening to our country. I remember hearing people saying that they would like to kill the sick person that did it, and I remember my stomach twisting as people began jumping out of the windows. Many nights after I had nightmares about being on board one of those planes, and I thought about what ran through the passengers' minds as their lives were about to be cut short. I imagined what it was like to be a fire fighter running up while everybody else was running down. When I think of how scared I was on that day, and all of the nightmares that I had afterwards, I think of the nightmares of the office workers, the fire fighters, and police officers who were there that day. I think of the nightmares that the recovery workers must be going through now, and I think of what the fire fighters who returned to the job, after many of their brothers were lost, are going through. When I think of these things I find it easy to say that all of us were effected equally as a nation on Tuesday 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 story8058.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. 2002-09-22 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.94.23.104 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 heard of the attacks from my parents who were in LA. They called me that morning as I was walking out the door and said that planes had crashed into the world trade center in New York, that someone was blowing up buildings. It didn't make sence, I thought at first it was a joke, but I then turned on the tv and realized it was real You can always tell the intensity of a situation by the reporters voice, especially this time, I could hear fear. I will be honest and say that September 11th has not changed my life like others. I have never been to New York or knew anyone involved in 9-11. It was'nt close to home in a deep touching way that I saw other people feeling. But I held my daughter a little closer that night, I watched the sky all day, I'm not sure if it was more planes or God I was looking for. I could'nt watch the news for awhile after 9-11. The worst image I had ever seen was the building where people were going to find a loved one who was missing. they had created this system, this process of finding out if the person you were looking for was dead or still missing. There was all these people waiting in line, holding posters and trying not to cry. You could see strength in their eyes. I remember that at the end of this process of all the paperwork and forms they had the people walk down a flight of stairs to this bulletin board type area where the names of the dead were being posted. I kept thinking how could you make that walk, or read through those names, how horrible it was to know and to not know. If someone's name was there then you knew they were dead, but if it was'nt you knew no one knew where they were. I honestly don't know which one was worse. September 11 has changed my life in ways I wish it didn't. An explosion or loud noise scares me, airplanes scare me. I am constantly looking in the sky for something out of place, something not right. As mush as I hate to admit it, I live in fear that something is coming, something far worse than 9-11. But what in the world could be worse than that? I truely can't imagine something that horrible. I truley feel so bad for all the families that lost someone that day, may god be with. The only good thing to come of 9-11 was the true goodness of people. As horrible as it was to watch planes crahing into buildings, it was peacefull to see human beings running into those buildins to offer help to strangers. Any building can be destroyed, at least the human spirit can't. I take pride in that and our country and believe in the goodness and kindness of the human spirit, we will get through this. Goodness will always overcome evil. Jillian ortells Las Vegas, Nevada Age 22 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 story988.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-08-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.40 Annotation Annotations to this item. Missing Persons DOMESTIC 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 come back from checking on some insignificant temperature reading. I walked into the shop and the radio was on WTMJ. The sports guys were talking about the Packers chances against the Giants on the next Sunday when John Belmont (he's the guy who used to work for ABC in NY but moved here on '01 to be the big morning news anchor guy, and he's great at it) interrupted about the first plane hitting the trade center. We all went to the nearest TV and saw the image of the first tower. After a few minutes, I decided to go back to work, mainly to take my mind off of what had happened. I checked a few more insignificant gauges, and returned to the shop. By then the second plane had hit, and I was told I had missed seeing it live. I went to the nearest TV, and saw the replay. It had to be the coldest shock I ever felt in my life. All I could do was go to help the new tennants in the building. She is blind, but she can do more than I, a full-sighted person can. I wound up pressing a button on her CD player that cancelled the programming that made the CD player play Les Miserables at 2 AM. (yes, it was just one button). I remember saying "Mrs Silver, the world is going crazy today" She said "Oh my yes..I don't understand this" All I could tell her was "Well, it's terrorists, and they want to make us afraid to live the way we do" except I threw in a few F-bombs, I think. I remember thinking that day "These bastards want me to think that they will take a pot shot at me while on my way to work, or try to shoot me on my couch while watching TV, or while getting gas" I also remember thinking and voicing my opinion that "I will not live my life as I usually do because of some terrorist. The terrorists will lose because I will live my life and go about my daily routine as before" I hope that last sentence will become a rallying cry for this country. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story8528.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. 2002-10-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.21.205.229 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 bed sleeping,when my best friend came in and woke me up to tell me that a plane had just hit one of the world trade center buildings.Not knowing what she just said, I started to fall back asleep.She came back in and told me to get up, that something really bad was happening.So, I got out of bed just in time to see the second plane hit the other tower.All I could do was watch in horror and disbelief to witness what was happening,and I started to cry,and I find myself crying still all the time.I am sad for what has happened,I cry for all the lives lost that horrible day,I cry for the families that don't have their loved ones anymore,and I cry because we live in a world that these acts of terrorism keep happening.I have five children,and three grandchildren, and I'm scared that they have to grow living in fear that someone,somewhere, may try this again.I am thankful for President Bush, because he is trying to rid these idiots who only want to hurt our country.I pray that my ten year old daughter will someday be able to tell her children what happened on September 11,2001. God-Bless America. Tracey J. Hart 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 story6969.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. 2002-09-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.81.16.22 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: ENLIGHTENMENT Once upon a time I lived in an untouchable world. I lived comfortably with CNN, MSNBC and dozens of news channels. I cried with the explosion of the shuttle after take off, cried with the picture of the baby being carried out of the rubble at the Oklahoma bombing but never have I ever experienced such helplessness and pain as with the events of September 11th. These things only happen on CNN. I clutch my heart, shake my head, say a silent prayer then change the channel to ER, The Practice or Judge Judy. September 11th began as a beautiful clear day. I left home at 7:15am and arrived at work above Grand Central Station/42nd Street at 8:20am. I listen to CD 101.9 light Jazz. I?m enjoying the music. My husband, Gilbert, works in Brooklyn across the river from the World Trade Center (WTC). My first call from him at 8:49 tells me there?s a huge fire at WTC. He never saw the first plane, just the devastating results. We hang up. My sister, Cheryl, calls ? ?Two planes just flew into WTC?. ?Cheryl ? Gilbert said it?s just a fire ? don?t worry.? My husband calls again screaming ?get out, get out of your building, New York is under attack, leave work, get out! I just saw a plane fly directly into the second tower, get out now!? At this point everyone has radios tuned to 1010 WINS all news station. My girlfriends and I crowd into a co-workers office ? she is crying, we?re all crying ? her sister works in the WTC. She cannot reach her through her office phone or cell phone. Oh Lord! Please let her be alive and well ?we all say a prayer. I call Mom to see if she?s heard from my brother ? he works in the area but he?s always in the towers or underground at the PATH train. Thank GOD! he?s fine ? he?s called Mom. Superiors at work have not made a decision whether to let us out of the office early ? ?. . . the office will remain open as this does not affect us.? Nevertheless, I gather my belongings together. At the fall of the first tower I really begin bawling ? the words that went through my head was a repeat of a film clip of the Hindenberg crashing to the ground and the announcer with his voice full of tears crying ? ?Oh! The humanity.? I thought of all the people who worked there ? at one point I worked on the 92nd Floor ? and I cried. I haven?t spoken with my cousin in a while, where in the city does she work? My Lord ? let my family be safe. The Pentagon? This thing is nationwide. At the crash of the second tower there are more tears but everyone wants to gather husbands, wives, children and parents around to ensure their safety. Seven of us leave the office together. As we are leaving they are evacuating our building ? Grand Central Station is a prime target with thousands of commuters daily. We must get out of the city, buildings are too tall here ? each a potential target. For those of us going to Brooklyn ? how do we get out? Lower Manhattan is closed. The news says the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges are closed. We have to cross at the 59th Street/Queensboro Bridge which lets us out in Long Island City, Queens. We laugh and joke as we walk up the middle of 2nd Avenue to 59th Street. Thank God I wore flat shoes. Air space has been shut down to all planes and the drone of a plane overhead has us all ducking ? we can?t run towards a building for cover ? it?s not safe. As we approach the bridge there?s a high concrete barrier to prevent cars from taking that route to the bridge. Lady-like behavior and modesty has no place here ? we slide over on our behinds or hike our skirts up, exposing underwear, as we kick our legs over the barrier. Another barrier . . . we do the same and land smack in the middle of traffic getting out of the city. They wait for us to cross yet another barrier and get out of harm?s way. Trucks, buses or cars that can accommodate people allow them to hop on. People are hopping on to trucks? cargo area, they are hanging on to the side mirrors on the driver?s and passenger?s side of the trucks. This is dangerous but we are all trying to get out of the city. Temra, our co-worker with asthma, gets winded and we slow our pace. We?re laughing and joking but behind all the laughter we?re praying ? Lord please protect those at the WTC, look over Kim and her family; please don?t let it be as bad as it sounds. At this point in time we had not seen. Steve, another co-worker, was parked in Long Island City and give a few of us rides into Long Island and Brooklyn (as close as he could get - many streets are now closed). Thank God for Steve and his car. I arrive home five hours later. My 15-year old daughter, Whitney, has been picked up by another parent ? she?s safe. I turn on the TV and finally see what the world has been looking at for the last few hours. The crying never really stops for the next few days. The water stops flowing from my eyes but it takes one word, one thought, one newspaper article, one survivor interview, one missing person poster and it all comes out once again. Whitney has been unable to sleep in her room ? she?s afraid. A woman at work makes a statement that Whitney?s too old to be afraid. I think this woman is living in another world. She does not understand that we are our children?s protectors ? we handle the bullies and the teasers, we teach them about strangers and bad people who might want to touch; but we never thought to teach them about this ? how could we? We never could have imagined this. This tragedy has sent me to the Bible asking why. Some of you may begin to squirm when you start reading this but you must realize there is someone bigger than you or I ?we have no control here. ?We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.? 2 Corinthians 1:8-9. This is a reality check. We have our nice homes, nice cars, nice clothes and nice furniture but we should never forget to thank God for LIFE. Be prepared! Live everyday as though it is your last day on earth. Praying together was unlawful in schools and in public arenas. After September 11th they could not stop the praying in every public place conceivable ? people were praying in schools, at work and in parks. Prayer vigils were held worldwide ? we are afraid. ?in our hearts we felt the sentence of death.? The airplanes could have been bound for Southern California, Maryland, Orlando, Seattle or any of the cities you live in. Don?t wait for tomorrow to get your act together. Proverbs 27:1 says ?Do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth? We thank God for life. We thank God for the ability to praise and bless him. We thank God for sparing my brother's life and the lives of others who we know and others we do not know. We thank God for the ones who were lost ? those we know and those we do not know. We thank God for being God ? it?s not for us to question why ? just thank him. God has a plan for us. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story7717.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. 2002-09-17 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: I am from America, the State of Indiana. I just arrived in England the week before this happen.. I was home cleaning and I got a phone call from my boyfriend (now husband) to turn the TV on..I did and Iwas totaly in shock as to what i was hearing on the newcast.. They showed the twin tower being hit by a plane..smoke everywhere and then the second tower being hit by another plane..About that time my daughter living in Fort Wayne, Indiana called me.. She said Mom turn TV on look what is happening over here.. I told her i did... I have never seen anything like this. I wanted to cry..Then all of a sudden my daughter screams. Then she says my God mom the tower is falling......Such horror...I felt so stranded here..I wanted to be near my family..I was in fear as to what was going on in my own country...All flights were grounded....... I was stuck and nothing I could do for what my children was watching.. All i could do was pray and hope for the family and people that was in that tower...Through it all it made me angry and at what these terroists done. They took our innoncents away from our people. But our people did come together and this act made us strong.... Freedom will always be our goal in life and no one can take that away.... 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 story1584.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. 2002-08-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 195.92.67.75 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On the morning of 9-11, my mother called my sister at home to tell her what was happening. My sister had just gotten up and had not yet turned on the radio or TV. My mother said, "Turn on the TV! New York has just been attacked! My sister, in the confusion replied, "What channel?!?!" 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 story20581.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. 68.225.130.123 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 cafeteria, getting my morning coffee. I saw a few managers clustered around the TV set, which is set to CNN all day. Curious, I walked over and took a gander, to see what the deal was. I saw a gaping wound in the side of the World Trade Tower. An announcer told of an airplane that crashed into the side of the building. I was saddened by this, and was sorry that it happened, but my thoughts were, "C'est la vie, I hope the air controllers will do a better job in the future. Where's a cup?" I do not excuse my callousness. I went back to my desk with my coffee, and turned on WFNX. I peeked my head into Karen's office (my boss), and she was listening to a news broadcast from her station, telling of the crashed planes. ...Plane<b>s</b>? Karen speculated that it could've been a terrorist thing. Rachel (co-worker) heard, and said that ehh... maybe, maybe not. <i>Just then</i>, there was a broadcast that stated it was a terrorist attack, and that the US may be going to war. I was thoroughly stunned. I honestly thought it was just an accident... but this... The more I heard, the more stunned I grew. The towers hit... the Pentagon... the towers fell... the airports shutting down... I couldn't believe it. When the towers fell - both towers - I went back to the cafeteria, and watched reports on CNN. They did an instant replay of the collapse. I came so close to crying, and right in front of the new hardass Comptroller, as well. I was shocked - all those people... Afterwards, I decided to head over to a local red cross and donate blood. 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 story1675.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. 2002-09-03 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 155.72.100.4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 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: 9/11 & The Weeks After 9/11 will be etched in our memories forever. I know I will never forget the events that unfolded that horrible day. September 11th 2001 started off like any other day. I woke up at about 7:00am to start getting ready for school. My class at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (which is 4 blocks from the WTC) didn't start until 11:00am on this day. It was a nice, warm morning with no clouds in the sky. The weatherman predicted the temperature to reach the mid 70's. At 8:40am I was listening to Z100's morning show and had my TV on mute simultaneously. Since my class started at 11:00am I wouldn't leave my house until 9:30 am. I was listening to a song on the radio while doing my hair when the song was abruptly interrupted. The DJ said that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers. At first I thought it was a joke because the morning DJ's are always trying to pull a fast one on the listeners. However, something in their voices wasn't right. They weren't cheery or happy. I turned to look at my TV, which was still on mute and couldn't believe my eyes. I saw one of the Twin Towers with a bright red fire inside. I said to myself Oh S**t!!! I sat down on my bed to see what had happened. It was an unbelievable site. I then went down stairs in my house to tell my parents what happened. There was dead silence for a moment as we watched the TV. We were standing in the kitchen saying to ourselves how did a plane hit the building on such a clear sunny morning. A few seconds later we saw another explosion but this time in WTC 2. From that point on we knew that this was no accident. (I look back now and think about how those planes hitting the WTC changed so many things. Life hasn't been the same since.) Things just got worse when you thought they couldn't get any worse. The events that unfolded were a total shock. Not in my wildest dreams could I have predicted that both Twin Towers would collapse to the ground like they did. The phone in my house must have rung about thirty times that morning. Family and friends that were concerned, shocked, and horrified called. The whole city was virtually shut down. Then all airports around the U.S. were shut down. I also remember hearing and later seeing fighter jets flying over my house. It was totally mind blowing. As September 11th turned to September 12th and so on my shock turned to terror and anger. The images seemed like something seen in a $200 million blockbuster movie. But is was 100% real. I was numb for a number of days after the attacks. I said I can't believe it at least a thousand times. I didn't want to leave my house and I didn't need to since my school was closed. I really didn't hear anything about my school the following week, just that it was being used as a command center. I was just hoping and praying that everyone that was at school on that morning made it home safe. BMCC students couldn't go back to school until October 1st. I wanted to go back and at the same time I didn't. I wanted to try to have some kind of normalcy in my life. I remember taking the 2 train and being really really nervous and wanting to cry. It was a kind of nervous I don't think I ever felt before. That first day back we had to enter through the back entrance of the school instead of the entrance that faced the Twin Towers. I remember seeing professors on every corner standing with signs and wearing t-shirts with a flag and the BMCC logo. Seeing the professors distracted me for a minute. However, upon walking to the school I saw many police officers and we had to show our ID's before we even went inside the building. Many things had changed since last being there three weeks before. I remember being in a fog that first day back. Everyone seemed tense and nervous. I wondered how were we going to focus on our studies knowing that ground zero was so close by and thinking about what had occurred there. I was hoping and praying that a miracle would happen and people would be found alive. All I know is that life has dramatically changed since 9/11 and will never 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 story649.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. 2002-05-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.194.7.205