188 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: My wife and I had been married a little over a year on that fateful day. I was running a bit behind schedule, drving down Dorchester Road to avoid traffic. Just as I arrived at Goodwin Elementry School the news came on the radio that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I got on the cell phone my wife. We were speculating how some pilot mut have had a heart attack and flown his small plane into the building. As we were talking, news broke that the second airliner had struck the 2nd tower. At that moment, we both knew. Something sinister was happening. I turned around and went back home. We stayed glued to the TV the rest of the day and stayed up all night long. How did we allow this to happen? What could we do to help. The next day I started calling the National Guard only to find out I was too old to sign up. I can't tell you how disappointed I was. To this day and as long as we are fighting a war, I will support our efforts. All those people, the 2900, need not hae died in vain. The lives that were taken and given, uncovered our weaknesses and opened our collective eyes to the danger and cancer of TERRORISM which the rest of the world has been dealing with for decades. GOD BLESS THE USA 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 story20766.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. 24.88.68.87 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: The morning of September 11th, is one I'll never forget. It was the day I had lost someone that I truly loved. I am a 14 teenager from Toronto. My mom works at a Royal Bank. That week, she was in New York in the World Trade Center for a meeting while my father was at home taking care of me, my 2 sisters and my brother. It was Spetmeber 11th. I woke up that morning around 7:00, getting ready for school. All I could remember was my computer teacher telling us that 2 airplanes crashed into the World Trade Centers. I got up and ran to the nearest phone. I wanted to know if my mom was alright. Was she still alive? Only until 1 week later, no phone calls from her, we knew she was gone forever and never coming back. This has been the hardest time of my life...losing my mother at the age of 14. It's been hard. I've thought of commiting suicide because of this. I really miss her. I'm just letting everyone out there know, that you really should appriciate the people you love and you don't realize how much you love them until there gone. I'm challenging everyone that's reading this now, to go out and do something that would make one of your loved ones proud. Take someone out for supper, bring them shopping, or simply tell them that you love them, because I love my mom so much, and I'll never get to talk to her or tell her how much I love her ever again, and it breaks my heart to think that. Thank You Jenn 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 story570.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. 2002-05-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.196.226.113 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I will never forget that horrific day ever, i was at home resting after i got home from work. My wife called me from her job at MCV hospital and told me to turn on the tv and i thought i was in a dream or nightmare as i see it now. I swear i thought the world was coming to an end and i just burst into tears thinking about all those lives lost. But americans are strong and we have carried on,it just still sends chills thru my body as 9-11 was just 4 days before my birthday and i dont have to tell you i was not in a birthday mood after 9-11 for awhile. 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 story11400.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. 2005-05-08 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.97.20.169 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 mom was getting ready for work in our room, and her hairdrier usually wakes me up, but on that day she had the news on, and after the hairdrier went off, I had just come out of my state of unconciousness associated with sleep, and heard something about the WTC buildings. When I woke up I saw that the first building was burning, and they were reporting on the news that there was a fire, and they really didn't have a clue what was going on, and why the fire would be just in the center of the building and have taken up so many floors in the short time it took for them to dispatch their copters to that area. While my mom and I were sitting on her bed watching we saw the second plane coming and saw it hit the second building. Unfortunatly, I had class that morning, but my class didn't start until 10:25. In the car on the way to school, the towers were still standing, but I stayed in the car for a couple minutes after pulling into the parking lot at my college campus, and the second building hit, had just crumbled to the ground. I was sorry that I had not stayed home from school that morning. By the time everyone was in class and we were all talking about it, the second tower had collapsed. Hours after I got home, we were watching on the news, and I looked out the back door to my house, (we live on the water) and i motioned my family to come to the door, because I could see smoke. I live about 100 miles from NYC. And in just about 4 - 5 hours, we could see the smoke billowing from there. It was a scary site. As we watched the news over and over again of the crashes and the collapses, it was sickening, it felt like it wasn't real, and it was a movie on TNT or something where they repeat the things over and over again. So later on in the day (my second class had been cancelled) we went shopping. But a couple of months later I would have this dream that my family and I were in the WTC. And it was on the verge of collapsing, and we just couldn't get out. Finally we did, and got safely away, but i remember in my dream hearing people say "don't look out the windows towards the crashing noises" they said it was people jumping. It was a nightmare and September 11th was a nightmarish day as well, that will live in the minds of thousands of people for most of the rest of their lives. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story8923.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-01-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.39.176.241 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at work listening to the radio when they made the announcement that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I ran to the television set to see exactly what had happened. I truly thought it was going to be a small plane who had an accident so I wasn't prepared to see what I was about to see. When I turned on the television and saw the first tower on fire and my heart stopped. I was glued to the television until the second tower collapsed. At that point, I couldn't bear anymore and began crying uncontrollably. I had visited the Twin Towers in September 2000, among other places, and had made the decision of moving to New York. Today, a year after the attack on America, I still plan on moving to New York as soon as I get my Bachelors Degree in December of this year. My plans are to get a job and use all of my spare time as a volunteer helping New York rebuild. God Bless 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 story5191.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My September 11, 2001 Story Kirk Foster On Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, I had to do another day of my 2-week annual tour as an Air Force Reservist. So I left our home in Springfield, Virginia, and made my way to the Pentagon. From the Pentagon, I would take a charter bus shuttle to my reserve office in Rosslyn, Virginia, which is an office building community up the road, past Arlington National Cemetery. I got on the bus at its usual place outside the south side of the Pentagon, near Corridor One. As usual, my Pentagon ID pass from my old job in the Pentagon got me on Although I finished my job in the Pentagon in June 2000, the Air Force never took away my Pentagon ID. It didn't expire until July 2002, so I just used it as a form of ID to get on the bus. The bus was one of those nice, air-conditioned charter buses with good seats, so I closed my eyes and tried to take a catnap in my seat, which was a window seat on the right side. I remember thinking it was too early and I didn't want to be there. The bus soon began its route to Rosslyn. It passed around the west side of the Pentagon, about 50 yards from the helicopter pad. I recall the time was 7:45 AM. At about 9:10 AM, I was at my computer terminal in my Rosslyn office building and checked my e-mail. There was a brand new e-mail from the division secretary, Ms. Brenda Germany, saying a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center..."the top half just exploded." I figured it was a horrible accident. A few minutes later, I got up to go to the bathroom. In the hall, I met Lt Col Bruce Lennard who said "Did you hear what happened?" I said no, and he said both World Trade Center Towers had just been hit in a terrorist attack. "It's on TV in the Conference Room," he said. I recall saying "no, you gotta be joking." So I went into the division conference room and saw everyone gathered around the TV. One of the major networks was on, and it showed the second tower being hit. I also recall it showed the billowing smoke pouring from the buildings, both up close and from a long-distance shot. I figured now was a great time to go get a cup of coffee down the street and think about this. As I left the coffee shop at about 9:40, I saw dozens of Air Force personnel, and dozens of other people, streaming out of the office building across from mine. I figured big conference had just finished, and people were getting back to their jobs. I continued back into my building (1501 Wilson Blvd) and returned to my office up on the 7th floor. There, I found Earl the paralegal looking at the internet on his computer. The internet said the Pentagon had just been bombed. Everyone was ashen faced; Earl said he'd been able to see black smoke billowing up from the direction of the Pentagon a few moments ago. I went to the window and saw a large cloud of yellowish white smoke coming from the area of the Pentagon, about a mile and a half away. You couldn't actually see the Pentagon. Everyone in my office was walking around, trying to get any information available. There wasn't panic, but real concern. Between 10 and 10:30, I recall, Doretha the secretary said my wife Shirley was on the line. Doretha transferred the call into my office. Shirley told me the World Trade Center had just collapsed. No, I told her, that can't be right. She said they're showing it on the TV. Shirley wanted to know if I was coming home now, or what the plan was for us in the office, and I told her I didn't know either. By this time some of the phone lines were jammed, and so were some of the internet sites. So I told Shirley to call me back at around 11:00. I went back to the TV in the conference room and saw the collapse on TV, too. There's no way people can breathe in that cloud of dust and smoke, I thought. People in the room were thinking tens of thousands of casualties, because the TV talked about 50,000 people are in the towers on a business day. The fire chief of Arlington County, where the Pentagon is, already was being reported as saying 800 were dead in the Pentagon. That dumb-assed remark - with no proof - made the panic worse for a lot of people. When I went back to my office, I turned on the radio and heard that several airliners up in the air were unaccounted for. That was when I felt scared. For the first time, I realized that people in tall buildings were being killed, that hundreds of military personnel nearby had just been killed by a rogue airliner, and that another one might be on the way to the DC area. I looked out the window and still saw military personnel streaming out of buildings. About two stories beneath my window, on the plaza level of my building, was a large shrub in a big pot, so I figured that if on the bizarre chance my office did get whacked, I could jump on that shrub and maybe just break my legs or something. From my office, there was a Shirley called again, and I recall putting her on speaker phone so that everyone could hear the latest. The chief of our entire Directorate, Colonel David Thomas, had come by earlier saying he had received no instructions on what we were supposed to do or go, but that he would let us know if he did. He had three floors of Air Force personnel, spread out from the seventh to ninth floors. We waited for another 5 hours or so. I recall the phones hardly rang. As I looked out the window, very few people were on the street. At 3:00, Major Chris Van Natta said we'd been given the go-home signal. But the shuttle bus and the metro was shut down, the roads near the Pentagon were closed, and I-395 (going past the Pentagon) was jammed solid. Luckily, his carpool was going to my town of Springfield, and he gave me and two others a ride. We headed west, as all the roads to the east were closed. There were police directing traffic at all the major intersections in the area. I got home at about 5:00. When I got home, Shirley told me that our old neighbor from Mississippi, Katie Swanson, called her that morning, told Shirley four rogue airliners were heading to Washington DC to kill everyone, and that she (Katie) was sorry. That's how Shirley got wind of the big picture. Prior to that, she was up at Caroline and Alex's school when a teacher came in and said "your husband works at the Pentagon, right?" Shirley said no but got word from this lady that the Pentagon had just had an airliner hit it. Shirley was told not to turn on the TV for the kids, as they were trying not to scare the children. By the end of the day, the school had issued a letter talking about how to deal with the attack with your children, and what the school could do to help. Aftermath Thursday, September 13: Still on reserve duty, I caught ride with a man driving to the Pentagon that morning. The traffic was backed up pretty good, and as we rounded the crest of the highway I could see why. The blackened gash in the west side of the Pentagon was clearly visible, and there seemed to be a small city of tents, construction equipment, and lights next to the impact site. It was pretty creepy. The guy giving me a ride calmly remarked that he climbed out from his west side, fifth floor office at the Pentagon on his hands and knees. That's the side the jet hit. All the usual bus sites around the Pentagon had been quickly relocated across the interstate to a office tower community known as Pentagon City, about a quarter mile away. He dropped me off there, and it took about another hour to get to Rosslyn about a mile away, using the metro. The shuttle bus still ran from my Rosslyn office to the Pentagon at the end of the day, so I took it, to try to begin my commute home from the Pentagon. The driver really didn't have a plan; everything was disrupted. He dropped us off on the far side of the Pentagon, next to the river. That was not good for me, because I wasn't about to use my Pentagon pass to try to take a shortcut through the building - I feared they'd deactivated it and it would set off some sort of alarm if I tried to use it - and there is no sidewalk around the outside of the Pentagon that allows you to skirt the outside. So I started walking until the sidewalk ran out in front of the Pentagon exit used by the Secretary of Defense. The gate guard picked up on me real quick. He challenged me and I told him I was trying to get to the "slug lines" on the other side of the Pentagon where people catch rides home. He told me that entire side of the Pentagon outer area was closed and he directed me to Pentagon City again, about a mile away. So I had to cut through parking lots and walk along access roads. When I got to the South parking lot of the Pentagon, it had been taken over by soldiers and emergency personnel. There were army vehicles, armed guards, open sided tents, and firefighters napping on the highway embankment. About 100 yards away, near the west side of the Pentagon, was a community of tents. Many of the tents were white - no red crosses - and it had the eerie look of a morgue. By this time, I had thought about my colleagues and I being left in our building for 6 hours September 11th, with no instructions from our JAG superiors either in the Pentagon or at Bolling AFB, across the river. I began to joke to others that apparently, Plan B was to leave us lawyers in the building as bait for any secondary terrorist attack. By this time Shirley and I had received a lot of calls and messages from family, friends, and acquaintances asking if I was OK; it was a very nice. I've told people that judging from my bus route's regular path, relative to the final path of the plane, I missed being killed by about 90 minutes. I may well be wrong, but I feel I'm right. Wednesday, October 3rd, 2001. My last day of reserve duty for a while. The morning shuttle bus at the south side of the Pentagon was running again, and I got a good view of the damage to the Pentagon's west side. The gash is only about 30 feet wide, but it runs from top to bottom. I could see the "C" ring (the middle ring of the Pentagon's 5 rings of offices) through the gash, but it was pretty beat up too. For about 150 feet on each side of the gash, however, you can see extensive fire damage to the interior of all the floors on the outside E ring. That's about it. I'm still unsure about what September 11th, 2001 will mean in the long run. But this is my story from that day and afterward, for what it's worth. October 5, 2001 Kirk Foster, Major, USAFR 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 story252.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. 2002-03-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.44.109.90 Annotation Annotations to this item. Military Pentagon Premonitions/Coincidence/Fate Rescue/clean-up workers/volunteers Rumors Struggle to get home Television Coverage 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: I was in school, and because I am so patriotic i decided i was going to join the army reserve and go to college. Then i heard that the first WTC got hit by a plane. Just like everyone else i had no idea what to think. As the day went on and terrorism was brought up in the news. I got mad, very mad. September 12th 2001 i visited my local Army recruiter. i graduated highschool and now leave to report to Ft. Leonardwood Missouri on Sepember 17 2002. I am goin to be a combat engineer an also a paratrooper. At first i joined the army because i was so upset with the eniter situation. As time went on and i though more and more about my situation i realized i didn't join the army because i was mad. I joined to show the civilians of america that their are people out their that arn't going to run from terrorism and bad situations. Just like all those firefighters that America lost that faitful day. 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 story6684.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Sept 11th did not only have its affect on americans but also arab americans were affected too. They make it seem as if we do not care about America when it is our country too. America is made up of many nationalities. There isn't any pure americans. There are Arab American, Hispanic Americans. Black Americans and so on. No group is superior to the other, no one is perfect. Every nationality has a few rotton apples that certainly doesnt mean all are bad. If we lived in a world where if one person committed a horrific act that means whatever his/her nationality maybe that they are all the same ... I think not. That is like saying every black man is like O.J Simpson or that every white man is another Timothy McVay. It is wrong to accuse a whole nationality for one or a few people wrong doing. Sept 11 is a tragedy for all. Everyone felt what happen it felt as if you youself lost someone close to you when you in actuallity didnt. Everyone felt hurt and cried......... my family and I even felt the pain and we cried too it is our country too we are Arab Americans. After Sept 11th "Americans" became so filled with hatred and wanted to hurt and get rid of arabs. Why is that because an arab committed this act what does that have to do with the rest of us just because we are arabs too. The media is what filled everyones minds with hatred towards arabs. Saying that every arab was happy and dancing in the street. One not everyone is the same. Second there is a variety of arabs that are catholic, muslim, orthodox etc. Why is it when Arabs come to mind they think terrorist or muslim. It is because that is what the media has filled in their heads. The events of Sept 11th changed my views on the world. I felt very little respect for people who were bad mouthing arabs on and off tv and even online. On AOL you find many americans with their profiles saying we should kill all arabs, we should destroy their countries, who should deport them etc. We even have americans come into arab chat rooms and curse us out. I dont see anything done to stop this! People thought that the events of Sept 11th would make the arabs scared and run. For what!! Did we do this? NOO. It was my first semester at college and the day after i went back to school and people were bad mouthing arabs and teasing girls that are muslim. Well i dont take anything from anyone so i stood up for myself I said I am an Arab American and i have a right to be here i am a citizen and i vote. I also stood up in one pf my classes because a few students said they disliked arabs that they should destroy arab countries. I stood up and said I am an Arab American and told them not all arabs are the same how can you even say that you dislike arabs because a few people that did this terrible act. I gave them the examples of OJ Simpson and Timothy McVay and they felt pretty stupid and afterwards they apologized. Even my cousin who is a shy girl was in a sociology class with a professor that did not know he had an Arab American student in his class was bad mouthing arabs everyday...... she is a person who keeps to herself and does her work and couldnt believe her professor. This bad mouthing of arabs hasnt stopped. People still have hatred toward arabs but that is not going to stop us from living our lives. We are human, we are people, we bleed just like the rest of you guys, we cry, we mourn, we are no different from anyone and no one is different from us. My name is Nariman and I hope people will stop being ignorant and treat everyone equally. We are in America aren't we ! 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 story883.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. 2002-07-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.189.136 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My name is Nora Reed. I work at Liberty Hospital as a Linen Aide. My partner Mary Kay and I are the only ones to deliver linens through out the hospital. It was a busy morning that day I was up on the floors doing my morning delivery while Mary Kay was filling carts. I passed a waiting room with a tv in it when i saw a tv report saying something had happened. I went in in and asked someone what was going on and they told me a plane had flown into the world trade center. I was in such shock. Who could be so mean to do such a thing to us? Then shortly after that a second plane flew into the second tower.I was so shocked but i was also angry and scared. I din't know what was going on and i wondered if perhaps it might happen to us. I went around that day and the days to follow in shock and denial.One year later it is still hard to believe that it happened. I mourned those people(even though i didn't know them) because they were innocent people who did not deserve to die. I still pray for those people families as well for the rest of our country and our allies.I believe that we should all pull together and stand tall against the enemy instead of fighting amongst our selves. I WILL NEVER FORGET SEPTEMBER 11TH FOR AS LONG AS I SHALL 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 story4610.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.160.205.13 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 taken a few hours off work to take my daughter to the doctor. we were on our way home from hicksville ohio. she had fallen asleep in the car. i was driving, listening to the radio and thinking what a beautiful day it was. the skys were so blue and pretty. i kept thinking, i really don't want to go into work at all. litte did know how true that would be as the next few minutes went by. over the radio came the message "AMERICA IS UNDER ATTACK" the complete and total horror and fear that swept over me is a feeling i will never forget. i woke up my daughter and we listened together in silence for the rest of the ride home to edon ohio. the home we always felt secure in and now we were scared. afraid for our freedom. but the us stands strong. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!WE PRAY FOR THOSE WHO THIS HAS TOUCHED SO CLOSELY 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 story6058.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was on my way to work, I had just dropped my 6 year old Daughter off at school, traffic was heavy and I was listening to my favorite radio morning show when suddenly they said someone have driven a plane into a tower of the world trade center, I was not worried about it at that time thinking it was a small plane. When I arrived at work I turned on the tvs there only to find out it was a airliner that hit one tower, throughout the course of that morning I watch in terror the other tower being hit, people jumping to their death and the two twin towers falling, from there I called my childs school to make sure she would be safe. I then went to my church later that night to pray for my country and president. 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 story3275.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.116.173.188 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 first learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center at around 9:50 am, upon entering the hallway after my second period Biology class. All around me, I heard a tremendous human buzz, a cacophony of hushed terror. Droves of people walked about frantically, like ants, looking for their friends and crying out across the hall. For the first few minutes I was bewildered; passersby spoke rapidly of planes and explosions, but I caught only fragments of their hurried conversations. I made my way to my third period Art class. There, the TV was on. CNN replayed footage of Boeing 767s smashing into each of the twin towers. The raucous humor that usually accompanied my Art class was mostly gone. A few people cracked mild jokes in an attempt to lighten the mood, but most watched the TV in dumb horror. No one did anything related to Art. Within an hour, both towers had collapsed. By lunchtime, the Pentagon ad also been attacked, which stirred a new level of terror and uncertainty among the students. Would the White House be hit, or the Capitol building, or Camp David? What about our city of Lansing, home of General Motors, and a potential key player in the war industry? More importantly, how would President Bush respond? No one knew for sure what was to come. The rest of the school day proceeded slowly and tensely. Arab and Muslim students spoke nary a word, and many went home before school oficially ended. As for many at my school, September 11 was the most turbulent day of my life thus far. 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 story2463.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. 198.109.168.234 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11, 2001 I woke up to what I thought was just another day. Unknown to me, this day would prove to be one of the darkest days of U.S. history. What I remember most about September 11th was staring at the T.V. not believing what I was seeing right in front of my eyes. I was in shock, it was all so surreal. What made what happened really sink in was hearing on the news about the horrendous number of lives lost and the huge number of people who were still missing. On that one day thousands of people lost family members. In the days following the attack, Americans slowly began to realize that what was attacked was our way of life. In the weeks and months after the attack America united and grew stronger than ever before. We showed our attackers that America would not take an attack lying down. We raised money for the families of victims, we boosted our economy, but most importantly, we drew together as a nation like never before. The is a popular saying that states, " What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger." The September 11th attacks didn't kill America as the attackes hoped, it made us even stronger and ready to defend againist anything or anyone that threatens our nation or our way of life. America will move on, but we 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 story8330.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. 64.12.96.206 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 going into my homeroom class when, I looked up and saw the t.v. on and it was on the news (not our school news either). It was talking about how one of the world trade center towers had got hit with a plane. At first I didn't even know what the twin towers were But, when I went to my first class which was english we sat there and we watched the news.Then our whole class watched as the second tower got hit by the second plane. All of a sudden our principal came on the intercom saying that we had to turn off all the t.v.'s because we shouldn't be watching stuff like that. We were all getting scared. I remember my friend jill crying because her aunt was working in the World Trade center and she didn't know if she was ok.I was really scared because my aunt lives in New york around that area and, I didn't know how she was doing. Another weird thing happened at school our power had gone out.Everybody in my class was really scared saying the terrorists were trying to come after us. All day at school parents were getting scared and picking up their kids at school. AT lunch it was like half the school was gone. The front office had set up a table and chairs for parents who wanted to pick up their kids. 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 story9233.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-04-27 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.189.136 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 could not believe what I heard when I turned on my radio in my car on the way to work.I first heard the announcer saying that glass was flying all over the place, so I thought it was another earthquake in California.Then the news continued that a plane had hit the world trade center.I knew the traffic was very heavy,only then I realised why. I was on the service road to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in Brooklyn which overlooks the WTC and Wall Street area.I looked up and saw burnt papers flying in front and on my car. I saw the twin buildings engulfed in flames,fire coming out of everywhere. I got so scared, wind up the glass in the car and kept on looking to see where I could get off,but everywhere was jammed with traffic. As I drove, I continued to see more and more of the destruction as I got up unto the highway.At this point I was approaching the underpass to the Brooklyn Bridge.All I kept thinking that they might blow up the bridge too and we all would be in danger. Nervous as I was I tried hard to calm myself down.There was a vast amount of smoke and fire shooting out from every angle of the building that I could see and in my paranoid state of mind then,I thought that we would encounter some disaster too;Then suddenly I thought I saw like one of the bldgs leaning, and before I knew it, I heard on the radio that the building was falling or something to that effect. I sped up and tried to get under an underpass. In my confused state of mind I started thinking that all the gas fumes and flying objects etc.would be sure to get us as we were right across the river.Thank God nothing of the kind happened.I got off the exit and had to pull aside all sweating and shaking. This is something I will NEVER forget.It was very traumatic for me in every sense of the word. I remembered when the WTC was building when I worked in that area.Imagine,I SAW it go up and I SAW it come down.Imagine all those families, few of whom I knew,not personally,perished senslessly.My deepest sympathy to all the families.We know how much they are missed as it dawns one year today. 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 story5976.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 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 was at my desk in the office the morining of the 11th, I had just pulled up the WFAA.com web-site of a local TV station to check what the weather forecast was for the day, when I saw that a "breaking news" headline had been put up that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I thought it was probably a small plane and either felt it was some sort of accident or a suicide attempt and did not pay very much attention to the report. About 30 minutes later someone in the office said another plane had hit the WTC. At this point I and several of my co-workers felt that this was obviously not an accident or isolated incident. Being a financial services firm we have TV's in our trading room that monitor the financial news of the day and we all went into the trading room to see what was going on. At that point we saw what had happend and then watched to video replays of the second plane flying into the WTC. We also watched as both towers collapsed. The reaction was shock, dis-belief, confusion, and of couse grief and sadness. 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 story2380.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. 65.170.26.82 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I went to work, specialist at the outlet mall at 8:00 am. around 8:50, the lead cashier's husband called and told her that New York's Trade Towers were under attack. we had no radio and no tv. what to think? I received a call from the school my children attended 40 minutes away to inform me that they were closing. The manager was informed that the mall was closing immediately and we had to leave. I'm leaving things out because the whole 15 or 20 minutes that this took place has melded into a feeling of indescrible fear, disbelief and where are my children. I live near the coast guard academy/submarine base/naval hospital in new london. the ride home was the most frightening ride in my life. I know I sound selfish, but I will never forget the helpless feeling of that ride home. I did easily 80 and I'm a typically slow driver. I found my children around 11ish. neighbors had taken them for me. Somehow these words have nothing to do with the fear. I am home today. My children were afraid if anything happened I would be too far away to find them. We went to the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the entire ride there my 7 year old was devising plans for survival if it happens again. We went to Philadelphia and the hole in the sky in New York where the towers should have been is easily the scariest thing I've ever seen. Nothing to compare with the heroe. just a commoner's story. 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 story3549.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: At the continued insistence of my sister, I wrote my recount of 9.11 a few weeks after that day: On the morning of 9.11.01, I left 10 minutes late to listen to an elderly woman on the Today Show give advise on how to live a full life. Had I not dawdled, I would have caught the earlier bus that would be crushed in front of Century 21 within a few hours. My daily commute to Manhattan is on an Express Bus that takes the Laganus Highway to Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. I sat in the second row, as I usually do, and looked up from my reading to see the beautiful late summer day with a wonderful blue sky, and was alarmed to see a large dark cloud at the top of Tower 1. I looked around the bus and no one was panicking or even looking up so I thought I must be crazy and that this was just a dark cloud. Odd, though, with the sky so blue everywhere else. As we got closer to the tunnel, I continue to gaze at the Towers and noticed small silver particles in the air, and thought this must be some sort of illusion. I realized later these were specks of the plane or the WTC building - reaching all the way to Brooklyn. As we approached the entrance of the BBT a broadcast message came on in the bus. It said a small plane had hit the WTC and that we would be rerouted to the east side of Manhattan. We entered the east side of the tunnel. Traffic slowed to a crawl in the tunnel. A passenger in the first row had a radio-walkman and told the bus driver of the unfolding events. The driver stood up and reported that a second plane had hit the Towers and that Bush had declared this a terrorist attack. He then received a call directly on his bus phone and announced that we would be immediately rerouted to the west side of the tunnel once we arrived in Manhattan to return to Brooklyn. The full bus collectively began to grow nervous and to speak with one another. A woman in front of me worked on the 34th floor of the WTC, she had managed to call her co-workers on her cell phone. The caller on the other end told her they were fine and were beginning to evacuate the building. This was the only call that managed to connect despite the frantic attempts of many passengers. Another woman across from me worked on the 39th floor of the other tower and began to quietly cry. I thought she was being overly sensitive. It took about an hour for the bus to inch its way through the tunnel. Unbelievably, passengers in other vehicles became impatient and began to walk out of the tunnel on a side partition towards Manhattan. I thought surely it must be illegal to walk through the BBT, and wondered what could possess these individuals to walk towards what must be a disaster site. A passenger in our bus walked up to the bus driver and asked to be let out. He refused and asked everyone to remain calm. As we neared the end of the tunnel, the lights suddenly went out, but an orange reflective light gave some visibility. A man on the bus said that this must be serious because he had never seen this happen before. I was glad to be on a bus with interior lights. Finally we could see daylight at the end of the tunnel. I was relieved because we were all becoming claustrophobic in the tunnel. (The tunnel exits at Greenwich and Edgar Streets, about 3 blocks north of the WTC) As we came out of the tunnel I looked up and screamed at a sight I will never forget. Coming at us, at an unbelievable speed, an enormous gray cloud full of debris. It is insignificant to call this a cloud, it appeared as a massive and thick wall of smoke and pieces of debris, some of which were obviously very large - I distinctively saw a large piece of metal flying high in this "cloud." Those who had previously walked out of the tunnel were now running at breakneck speed back towards us, dwarfed by the cloud, and very quickly disappearing as the cloud overtook and swallowed them. I did not know what was coming, but the thought that this tunnel was a refuge to them terrified me. Daylight was immediately disappearing. I always thought I would be the sort to stare at such a sight, but I was so obviously in harms way and immediately terrified that I had to look down and into the bus - I could not look at what was barreling towards us. I experienced an incredible rush of adrenaline. I knew for certain that I would die. I did not know what had happened, but that cloud rushing loudly towards us was so enormous and horrific I thought the island itself was crumbling into the ocean. Trembling, the world became surreal, images and colors were more starkly real, my reality slowed. I quickly told myself not to panic and not to think about what was coming but to focus on surviving. I had to make the right decisions or I would die. A man running towards us was bleeding profusely from his head. I looked down at my fragile body, and quickly weighed my options - did I want to risk being crushed or thrown in the bus or did I want to risk my exposed body being hit by debris or crushed in the tunnel. My flight or fight response kicked in and I yelled at the bus driver to open the door. With a very uncertain voice he screamed no, it's safer in the bus. A man in the back of the bus threw open the emergency door and passengers rushed each other to get out. Everyone began screaming, go, go, go! The bus driver opened the front door. The woman beside didn't want to move, she said "No! It's safer in the bus." I almost climbed over her when she finally got up. Pushing one another we very quickly piled out. I left my laptop in the bus without a second thought - I did not want anything to slow me down. Time was obscured, but I believe it had been only a few seconds since I first saw the cloud. We all very quickly turned into panicked individuals, each on our own. As I stepped out I tried to bolt into a run but almost immediately could not see nor breathe. The cloud had overtaken me. I was completely enveloped in a dense, heavy, indescribable substance. There was no way to get air in your lungs. I willed myself forward. I realized I was still trembling and knew again with certainty that I would die. In an intense inner voice I made a wish that I would die from suffocation - I feared the tunnel, would crumble, and imagined a very painful death, drowning or being hit by concrete or the silver beams I had seen in the cloud. I again willed myself forward. My mother, a survivor of WWWII, had always drilled into us that when something terrible occurs, such as a fire or a bomb, to run like hell and to make it out no matter what. My mother had experienced the bombings of Berlin at a young age and she had considered this absolute critical advise. I repeated this to myself - get out, get out. People were screaming all around me. "Go, go, go." "I can't stop and help, I'm sorry I can't." In their rush some people must have stumbled over one another and I jumped over the legs of someone on the ground. It was almost pitch black in the smoke, and I didn't see them until I was almost on top of them. I did not want to be trampled, nor to trample anyone. I am very courteous person, but instinct was carrying me forward and I could not stop to help. I cursed the length of the tunnel, which I now know to be 1.7 miles, the longest underground vehicle tunnel in the world. The car lights provided some light. I could not breath - I pulled up shirt over my face. It didn't help. Somehow I wasn't breathing but felt I was moving very fast, but on very wobbly legs. I thought of my mother, brother, my boyfriend who I had just said good-bye to. I thought of my sister with whom I should be closer. I thought I would never see anyone again - I was going to die alone, they would not even know just how I died. I couldn't believe this was how I would die, I didn't think it would be like this. I kept going, trying not to bump into the cars I could not see. I very distinctly felt a new wave of smoke and it became darker again and the air more dense. The second tower had fallen - of course I didn't know this at the time. I passed a man helping another man out of a car and into a wheelchair. They were obviously having difficulty. I desperately wanted to be the person who would stop and help. This will haunt me forever. I knew with some certainty that these were people who would not make it. But it did not occur to me that I would, this was a marathon that could not be won. Still I marched on. I do not know how to describe the different levels of smoke, but it did clear very slowing as we made our way through. I later found out that the tunnel has an air exchange system, but the smoke got trapped in that tunnel. I twice climbed onto a narrow side ramp, thinking it better than bumping into the cars. It was single file only and people began to push one another and to scream, go-go-go! I climbed back down. Frightened children were being helped along by their parents. I noticed women in their bras only and realized they had completely taken off their shirts and tied it around their heads. Breathing was so difficult, I put my hand to mouth. I realized the inside of my mouth was full of black soot, I tried to clean my tonnage and teeth on my shirt, but it didn't help so I preoccupied myself again with moving as fast as I could. As I walked I too took my shirt off and tied it around my head. It didn't seem to help. There was a door on the side that people were rushing into, I climbed back up the ramp, but already they were rushing back out because it was locked. I later found out that door led up to Battery Park. I climbed back down, very disappointed at my false hope for some sort of escape route. I became dizzy and light-headed. People had left cars on in their rush to get out and I smelled the carbon monoxide distinctly from the other hot, heavy smell. I started to slow down and felt faint. Like a miracle I passed a bus that had been left on and felt a rush of cool air. I looked at the bus and realized the air inside was clean. I stumbled on and collapsed in a seat. It was heaven, I could breath in here, unimaginable. I tried to take a deep breath but it was impossible, I had to take quick shallow breaths. I thought now I could help and screamed out in a weak voice at the door of the bus, "There's air in here, there's air in here." A few women climbed in after me and sat down. We said not a word to one another. I was very dizzy, I didn't know if it was 2 or 4 women who got in after me. I tried to take some deep breathes, it hurt. I climbed back off. Eventually the smoke thinned out some. I could see and breathe more clearly, but people were noticeably slowing down. Some sat at the sides, unable at that time to continue. The two lanes of cars ended and the road in the tunnel was open. We had been part of the last vehicles allowed in. I walked as fast as I could, I remember thinking suddenly that I might make it. A man was yelling at people to go through a side door. This door looked like the other one I had attempted to go through so I was suspicious, but climbed up the side again and walked through with no idea to where it went. It opened to the other side of the tunnel, which didn't have nearly as much smoke. That side of the tunnel opens to Manhattan more to the West side, and didn't get as much smoke. This was the last leg of the tunnel. We came out of the tunnel as refugees, covered in dust and gasping for breath. A woman passing me kept mumbling, "Our lives will never be the same again." I put my shirt back on. I can't describe the relief I felt. It had taken me nearly 2 hours to get out - which is damn good time considering the circumstances. A man with a notepad took my name and date of birth. There was another man taking names and social security numbers - I didn't know why. There were 3 small EMS vehicles with beds and oxygen. I wanted to get oxygen but went instead to the back of a pick-up truck with men giving out water. I washed my mouth out and spit out black soot. I thought I would throw-up but I steadied myself leaning on the side of the truck. I took 2 cups to wash out my mouth and a third to slowly sip. I was dizzy and sat down at a tollbooth. Smoke was funneling out from the east side of the tunnel and people continued to stream out. Smoke was also coming from across the river and the air was misty. I looked at Manhattan, and thought there is so much smoke over there that I couldn't see the towers - then realized they were gone. I heard the news from others sitting on the tollbooth. The towers had been hit by commercial passenger planes and had both fallen, the Pentagon was also hit. I still had the urge to flee but was feeling much safer. I was alive! I sat there and it began to snow a dark gray ash. I sat in disbelief and almost burst into tears because now my precious cup of water was littered with ash. I was obviously irrational. I got another cup and carefully covered it with my hand so that ash would not get in. I sat for awhile. Time was completely lost to me and I was very much in shock. I wanted to see if the people would had been bleeding would come out, or the man in the wheelchair. People slowly streamed out, I was one of the last because I was at the front of the tunnel. I did not see those I looked for. There was, I believe, a policeman standing at the highway behind the toll booths. I saw no rescuers entering the tunnel and realized they were all in Manhattan. The highway was empty as far as I could see, and I became angry that they had let us in the tunnel when a few minutes later they must have stopped traffic and directed everyone off the highway. There were people all over just sitting on the toll booths, talking to one another, in shock, trying to get through on their cell phone. I asked a woman if I could borrow her phone. I couldn't get a signal. I was quite upset and a man told me to try his cell. I couldn't believe it but I got through to my boyfriend. He was frantically crying and I could tell he thought he would not hear from me again. It was about 12pm - he had not spoken to me me since I left home that morning. He wanted to come and get me, but I told him it would be quicker if I found my way home. Hearing his voice made it somehow real, I didn't realize the gravity of the situation just yet. When noone had come out of the tunnel for awhile I decided to head home. The BBT opens into Red Hook, which is far from my home in Bay Ridge. I started walking, as we all did, heading home. I came upon a kitchen modeling store and knocked on the door. They let me in to use the bathroom and wash up. My hands were completely black and I was covered in dust. I looked at myself in the mirror and was surprised at just how dirty my face and hair were. The owner gave me a bottle of water and I continued on my way walking. I passed a prison, there were many policemen outside the prison instructing us to cross the street, away from the prison, and to walk under the overpass. Someone said one of the terrorists convicted from the '93 WTC bombing may be held in there. I was 2 blocks from the WTC in '93 - I began to think it may be time I left this city. I walked quite a long way and finally managed to catch a ride. Everyone seemed to be outside - people were all over the street talking with one another. The roads were crazy and it took a long time to get home. On the drive home, passing 86 Street in Bay Ridge, I was saw a man lying in the intersection and a car stopped next to him. He had just been hit by a car - unbelievable that I would see this after everything that had happened. I couldn't see what shape he was in, but I wondered how long it would take for an ambulance to arrive since they must all be helping those at the WTC. 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 story408.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. 2002-04-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 170.148.10.23 Annotation Annotations to this item. Environmental/Health Impact Police Officers Premonitions/Coincidence/Fate Rescue/clean-up workers/volunteers Struggle to get home Victims NY:2 October, 2001 Feature 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: The morning of Sept. 11, 2001 I woke up later than normal, I had just been laid off. I started the coffee and turned on the T.V. I could not believe what I was seeing. The first plane had already hit. I asked my roomate what was going on and he had no idea, he was getting ready for work. And as he walked into the room, the second plane hit. We just looked at each other in disbelief. We just sat there, mouths wide open, just glued to the set. I don't know why but I just started calling everyone that I could think of. I just had a feeling that I needed to talk to my loved ones. I just needed to reach out and know that everyone was alright and to tell them I loved them. The night before my girlfriend and I had gotten into a huge argument, that now seemed trivial. I tried desperately to get a hold of her to make sure she was o.k. and tell her I loved her, however, I was unable to. During my phone calls, the pentagon and then flight 93 over Penn. had also crashed. I called my grandparents to see if they could help me understand what was happening. They had no answers either, they said it was like Pearl Harbour all over again. I still could not believe what was happening. I was in a cloud of confusion, not knowing what to do. I didn't know if I should go to a bomb shelter, or what, I was just scared. I still hadn't gotten a hold of my girlfriend which was making me panic even more. It wasn't until late evening she showed up at my door. It turns out that her work had let her go early and she went to church to pray. Which is where I should have been, but I said my prayers right in my living room for all of the people involved in the tradgies. My thoughts and prayers are still with all of those families of those who lost loved ones, on this the one year anniversary. After watching all of the specials on 9/11, those same emotioins that I felt, are still there. I know my story may not mean much or be comforting to others, but it means so much to me. That day changed all of our lives, for the worse, and dare I say for the better. I make sure I tell the people I love that I love them, I cherish the time I spend with my famliy, and when things seem to be going bad in my life, I just think about others who have it so much worse. And to the families who lost loved ones, my thoughts and prayers are with you ... 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 story5410.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I woke up around 9:00 am (our time) I went to the bath room and turned on the tv. Normally I shower first then go about my day. I never watch tv in the morning. Well that day I did. As I'm flipping I notice that there is the same thing on every channel so I stopped. I could not beleive what was happening. At this point I beleive they were still standing, I dont quit remember. But I kept thinking to myself that they were knocking them down and I couldn't understand why. So I immediatly called my mom and told her to turn on the tv. She had already been watching. So as the day went on, the tv never went off so we could find out what was going on. I think so many emotions went through me during all of this, and still do. I still do not know what to make of all this and I dont think anyone will ever know why this happened to us. But we will stick together as AMERICANS and get through this emotional and disturbing moment in our lives. UNITED WE STAND FOREVER!!!!!! 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 story7241.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. 65.117.140.219