200 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: When I first heard about the attacks, I was in my English class. One of the students told me that the Towers had been attacked. My first reaction was "No way, he must be pulling my leg." After I had heard it more and more, I realized this was no rumor but had really happened. Our school board had forbidden us from going home and watching the broadcast on TV. My English teacher decided to break the rules and brought a TV into the class. One of the students cleared up the picture by making himself into an antenna by holding two ends of wire. The odd thing is: it worked. We caught the news report just in time to see the second plane slam into the side of the Second Trade Center tower. We watched in shock as the towers collapsed. As soon as I got home, I ran to the TV and turned it to the news. The odd thing was, I didn't feel sad. Or angry. Or upset. I really didn't feel much of anything. Just kinda numb. I had been to New York that summer and had been by the Trade Centers. I really didn't think much about them at the time. Now they were gone. It was a complete shock. 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 story3764.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 206.77.47.2 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: Sep.11th. 2001 (Recollections and reflections, written between 19th and 25th September, largely) A week and a day on from that Tuesday I saw a look of such devastation on the face of one of our fellow teachers- an American. From New Jersey, probably not far from Frank Sinatra?fs hometown. He can be serious about some things, like work, but what I saw tonight was a seriousness beyond the realm of work concerns. And when I asked him I wasn?ft surprised to hear him tell me how he wished he was there, in America, not here in Japan. To be there with family of course, but I suspect, to be there among other Americans, to make and feel common cause and grievance. Others had said the same- how much they wanted to be there, to do something rather than just observe from afar. I wasn?ft far behind them- I feel a kind of yearning to be in New York right now. Having visited there in ?f78, when I was about 14, New York became part of my psyche and my universe. Being Irish helps, perhaps. For me, New York was a place where I could find?cwell?cjazz, for one thing. In Times Square, the never-threatening massive surround of buildings gave onto a wealth of street-level sights and sounds. I found the streetside intimacy of two black musicians playing a dark and poignant music on an upright bass and a harmonium (of all instruments! –liberated from the music room in my Belfast school). I stood transfixed for ten minutes, gave money, and went into the nearest record shop and bought a cassette of Charles Mingus-The Atlantic Years. Over the three days we were there (my parents and I), I also purchased Jaco Pastorius?f debut album, and a record by my favourite musician John McLaughlin. I bought Guitar Player Magazine, which ran an interview with him from a shop, which, I was informed, made his guitar. This was a million miles from Belfast! New York to me was jazz- and pizzazz. And I was in awe of its giant buildings. I couldn?ft get enough of them. For me, The Empire State was by far and away the jewel in the crown. I think I really wanted to go up that one, but it been overtaken by another just a few years previous and, well, if we were going to go a big building in Manhattan, we might as well make it the tallest. The World Trade Center, I felt, lacked the Gershwinian 50?fs feel of The Empire –but it did have a height advantage. The superfast elevator speeded us up to the upper floors, and, taking one look at the interior of the cafeteria we arrived at I felt my disappointment confirmed, a little. The bar-counter was garishly illuminated with, looking back, what was a very 70?fs kitsch design. This, I felt, was not my jazzy 50?fs-frozen New York, but some new and plasticized proto-New York. I think there?fs a photograph of me, with that in the background, looking remarkably non-plussed. Of course, at the age of 14, there?fs an enormous variety of things you can summon your non-plussed look for. What changed things, however, was a trip to the roof. Not only was the vastness of the world below and beyond so immediately impressive, the other tower was there with us- tantalizingly close, and yet an abyss away. Other real estate suspended in these lofty heights with us. My eye roved over the features of the other roof, and then, sickeningly, slipped its gaze off the monolithic shape, down the fluted other wall, down the opaque windows, hurtling the abyss downward further still and the rest was out of view. I could feel my body crumbling, my backside bunch up, and my stomach crunch into itself, at the notion of how high we were. How vulnerable. I could see light aircraft flying out over the water, beyond The Statue of Liberty, below us. I made a kind of return visit there, just this week. I found a homepage which had virtual tours of sights in New York. By clicking on the digital photograph and dragging I could move around, and see up and down and all around. I could be up there again, in that high, scary, beautiful place?cwhich no longer existed. With these virtual views, either from down below or up on the roof, I could revisit, and tempt my senses with the reality of it. Of course, it only served to heighten the true reality behind the image. The violent, obscene destruction of it, and the sudden and cruel ending of the lives of so many thousands. For some, it would have been sudden. Perhaps an aural indication of something beyond the realm of the office interior, like a buzzing, growing suddenly in intensity. Some, no doubt, had time to turn around and look, to see the aircraft approaching. Was the visual enough, or rational enough, to convince the brain of its reality? A matter of seconds. The more you stared, the more it sank in. A matter of seconds. Not so for those on board the plane. Theirs was an ordeal lasting nearly an hour. Gripped by the violence of what the experience must have been I scared myself just the other night, lying in bed in the dark. I put myself on the plane and observed how I would react. Predictably, for a child of Hollywood, and my own indefatigable optimism, I have an inner-hero, a resource that merely waits within me, but of which I have no doubt will emerge on cue at times of need.?@?@But five days after the attacks, the self that I put aboard the plane was closer to what other instincts have told me along the course of my existence, that I may indeed be much less heroic or brave than I would hope. It was the violence that did it. Confronted with the realization of just how violent, brutal and impervious to humanity the hijackers must have been, I found myself becoming paralysed with fear. I felt my strength drain, felt my abject being implode, and my limbs lose all power. And that which I had become almost yearned for destruction as a release from this hell. This hell was the complete and utter breakdown of all my instincts to survive, and the complete betrayal of my identity. It scared me, terribly. I slept a kind of miserable sleep, emotionally exhausted. In the morning I looked back- perhaps after meeting with my kids or my wife, and, somehow, I knew that that me was not the real me. That, confronted with these bastards, I would do everything in my power to kill them. That I would ignore my fear, or translate the energy of it into a kind of battle-mode anger. I felt the comfort of this return to my inner-hero, however realistic it was. Of course, I told myself, to get to that point, the point where you can summon a fear-eclipsing anger, you have to have to be either someway confident of your chances, or just incensed and unwilling to go down on your knees. Regarding the first, if you believe there?fs a possibility that you may survive if you do nothing, then doing nothing will be very tempting for most. Until that Tuesday, this would have been most people?fs reaction to a hijacking. The idea that someone might hijack an airplane merely to convert it into a deadly missile seemed too inhuman to be real. Perhaps every passenger hoped these hijackers would be just like all other hijackers in the history of the world and have their demands and their threats but wouldn?ft necessarily kill anyone. Perhaps the hijackers gave that impression, although, of course, their actions may have been extremely violent on board, killing a passenger or flight attendant. The reason why the one flight which didn?ft hit its intended target was because the passengers learned of the hijackers intent via telephone. They realized the plane was only good to the hijackers as a missile, that there would be no demands and threats, so those who decided to act had indeed reached that point where the fear had to be eclipsed and if success meant death, at least it was not the death the hijackers had intended. I surmise then that the passengers of the flights which crashed into the World Trade Center Towers were very probably unaware of their destination, at least until it was too late. At the most, they had only a minute to realize. It took me more than a minute to realize what was happening. Tuesday had been the day of typhoon no.15 in Japan and, starting late at work, I?fd watched it in all its glory, through the window, and on the TV, earlier that morning with the kids. The morning was a little stressful, actually –a combination of not being able to go out, Ken crying, and Leo resisting all entreaties to do something, like draw pictures, instead of lying about watching TV or asking me to turn it on. Things improved with a ?gtrip?h to the nearby secondhand bookshop. Interestingly, I picked up, for the pittance of a hundred yen, the CD of the soundtrack for ?gTitanic?h, and when we got back to the house, Leo suddenly became absorbed in the idea of ?gTitanic?h. It?fs not the first time. Titanic is up there with ancient Egyptians as fascinating for Leo. He said that listening to this music made him want to cry ?ga little?h, he added quickly, ?gmaybe?h. So I couldn?ft resist his entreaties for me to put on the movie, which I have on tape. I showed him the iceberg scene and a few others, but I refused to let him see anything too scary, like the destruction of the ship itself. ?gWhen you?fre older?h, I said. Little did I know that the very next day he?fd be watching real scenes of destruction involving, invisibly to his eyes at least, the death of many, many more souls than died in 1912?fs disaster. The next day I told Leo, ?gThis news is bigger than Titanic.?h To him, perhaps, they were only images. There was no dramatic music to accompany them. ?gIt?fs like a movie,?h everyone said. Well, the hijackers, or those behind them, were certainly thinking like Hollywood directors. Until Tuesday, it had almost become a genre in itself: the destruction of New York on screen. Independence Day. Godzilla. Deep Impact. Armageddon. AI. And I?fve just read they?fre not going to release an up-dated version of H.G.Wells?f Time Machine, at least not before they modify it somewhat, because ?gthere?fs a scene in which fragments of the Moon fall on New York City.?h Always spectacular and always thrilling, and you always leave the cinema knowing full-well that New York is of course completely untouched and perfect. Not only perfect, but beautiful. Bold beauty. The same bold beauty, totally distinct and totally itself, which attracted the filmmakers, and the hijackers, too. They might see the World Trade Center as a symbol of capitalism, but New Yorkers would see it as a symbol of their city?fs brash, enormous pride. I turned on the TV at 10pm to catch the news (aired in a choice of Japanese or English) and find out about the typhoon. What I saw, however, was a giant burning building, looking unreal. And then I saw an aircraft crash out of view behind it, which confused me, as much as it did the woman commentator. How can this be a recording of the ?gaccident?h when the building?fs already on fire? Meg was upstairs trying to make the kids sleep and initially resisted my request for her to come down- but I insisted. She?fd gone up the building long ago too, before we?fd ever met, and so we both felt a sense of some connection to the giant structure. The shock of destruction was soon supplanted, however, by the realization that this disaster was no accident, but the product of human intent. That human beings had actually reached a point where the wanton destruction of innocent, non-military people in vast numbers had been reached. Now, as I write that line, I feel the need to pause. It?fs not the first time innocents have been killed in such numbers, or greater. Look at The Crusades of the Middle Ages; the Conquistadores in South America; look at the Holocaust; the Japanese massacres in Nanking and other places; Rwanda; look at what the US did to Japan- the cities they bombed were not military compounds, but places where civilians lived. And died, suddenly, on a massive scale. The ?gmitigating?h factor of ?git was war?h, of course, puts it in its own category, distinct from what happened on Tuesday, but it was still heinous in its own way. Arguing that it was necessary to end the war, how necessary was it to drop a second? So, yes, humans had killed in massive numbers before. But what happened on Tuesday was, and remains, completely in its own category. And it happened live, on TV, for all the world to witness. It had shock value as spectacle even before we knew anything about the number of casualties. There was known to be about 50,000 people who worked in the World Trade Center on any given day. Could it really be, we asked eachother. And could people really have intended to do such a thing? And why? My mind filled with all these questions and attempts at answers. One of the first things that came to me concerned George Bush as President. Was it possible to conceive of an American President less interested in, or even aware of, the rest of the world than he? His policy of ?ghands-off diplomacy?h in the Middle East occurred to me with frightening forcefulness- if this was Arab violence, it was a rude tap on the shoulder to Bush, to say ?gYou can?ft ignore us.?h Bush, with his eye firmly on his navel, looking up only to imagine a miraculous shield protecting him and the US from the nasty big world out there, was probably the most shocked man in America on that Tuesday. Strange how, just that day, with my kids, we?fd watched the iceberg scene from ?gTitanic?h. Power, size, disregard for ?gout there?h, the US was cruising along nicely in thrall of these. Nobody could see it coming, least of all a government which seemed to care so little about the rest of the world. As the shock settled down and desire to make sense of it took hold, I could find myself choosing any number of potential causes, or a combination. Reading the newspaper helped, too- I needed to absorb as much as possible, because this was not merely an American thing, it was a global attack. One thing, however, was sure- the essence of the attack was hatred. Terrorism, it might be argued, is a form of communication. It is a way, albeit an abominable and unjustified way, for people to draw attention to themselves and their grievances. So when a Hamas member walks into a disco full of young people and detonates the bomb strapped to his body, killing 20, he, or rather Hamas, is making a statement. It says: ?hWe have a grievance, a grievance which you Israelis are not addressing. And because you are not addressing our grievance in any shape, manner, or form, and are continuing to repress us and deprive us of what we believe to be ours, and of our dignity, we do this. We do this because you have not listened to our entreaties, and you ignore the voices of our people. Do not ignore us.?h It is a dirty, disgusting, debased, and debasing, language, the language of terrorism, but one born of desperation, and a degraded sense of humanity. I pick up the paper, read about the suicide bombing, express my heartfelt disgust and anger at the murder of innocents, and, then, accuse Israel, and America, of helping to create the environment which led to this.?@?@If both sides have intelligent leaders they read the language behind the horror and, after a period of necessary delay, they initiate or resume or restart dialogue. Often, one of the elements in this process is the amount of violence that has been used to push the situation to this point. In a very crude way, the crude way that politics has become in the Middle East, it comes down to numbers. If a handful of people have died the delay will be short- if it?fs twenty the delay may be very long, but it will be only a delay. Of course there?fs no ?gacceptable?h number of deaths in any conflict, but in people?fs minds perhaps there?fs a kind of unspoken agreement about how much too much is: a point of horror past which dialogue cannot endure. To do so would defeat the purpose. ?gTerrorism?h is the language of the desperate forcing the power-broker to dialogue. Call it political terrorism, because the end, if not the means, is political. If, last Tuesday, the hijackers had hit only the Pentagon, the use of a civilian aircraft and the death of its passengers would have been deplored, as indeed the destruction of the building and the deaths of those within, but it would have been in some way recognizable as an act of political terrorism. Attacking the World Trade Center, however, coupled with the use of civilian aircraft and their passengers as deadly missiles, went veritably beyond the pale, completely off the scale of what we know as terrorism. It was by no stretch of the imagination an act of political terrorism, in the sense in which others can be interpreted. There was no statement in these acts which might seek to push people to some sort of dialogue. The latest casualty-count stands at well over six thousand people missing or dead. It could have been much higher even. Innocent non-military civilians, running the gamut from billionaire executives to unskilled deliverymen, and of nationalities of over sixty countries. This act was meant to humble the superpower that is America. Carried out with inhuman spite, the end could never be dialogue, but just to express hatred, and to instill fear and hatred in the hearts of Americans. Hatred of America, certainly. Burning and intense. The question persists: why? Today, George Bush gave an address to Congress in which he tough-talked about all this and how ?gterrorism?h would be stamped out etc. etc.. I didn?ft find what he said necessarily all wrong. I felt he was giving eloquent expression to the nation?fs feelings, and doing so with a language that matched his office (he avoided saying he wanted bin Laden ?gdead or alive?h!). He spoke with a determination and a focus which I felt was justifiable and laudable. But on the question of why the terrorists hate America he was a little more than disingenuous. (To paraphrase) ?gThey hate our freedoms, our way of life, our values.?h In my book, a totally inadequate answer to the why question. He might have mentioned, for example, how, for ten years, since the Gulf War, America has starved Iraq with punishing oil embargoes, resulting in the deaths of so many hundreds of thousands of children. How they have routinely bombed it in the course of those ten years, with no regard for the civilians down below. He might have touched upon the fact that America has, particularly since Clinton stepped down, done nothing to ameliorate the politics of the Middle East, and indeed has tacitly and overtly condoned and supported Israel?fs suppression of the Palestinians. He could also possibly have referred to the fact that the U.S. government was happy to use the Afghani people and fighters to do what it hoped they would do, namely push back the Soviets – that they supported the very people they are now accusing of terrorism. That the U.S. armed and trained the forces in Afghanistan, and possibly even their latest Most Wanted Man, Osamu bin Laden. And if George Bush had really wanted, he just possibly may have made some tiny reference to the fact that ?gterrorism?h, in 99% of cases, is a phenomenon born of some grievance, some political mess which must be addressed as a political mess, beyond the realm of Gordian-knot-cutting military action. Eradicating ?gterrorism?h necessarily entails addressing the causes of the various groups involved in such activity. (The British Government certainly tried to destroy the IRA militarily without addressing the politics for long enough. It was a fruitless and ill-conceived enterprise.) How about even just a word from him on just how unequal the world is, that while such political, economic, and social inequality exists in the world, you will always have something we call ?gterrorism?h? Just one word, Mr Bush? Is it just bad guys and good guys? This time, it has to be admitted, the ?gbad guys?h are actually very bad indeed. What they did was psychopathic on a massive scale. What they did was to instill fear in the world. The stage may have been America, but the reverberations are being felt in every country. No-one can feel safe. It is an act which perverts humanity. How they might claim to justify what they did in the name of their god is pure blasphemy. In their world, humans are unequal: there are believers and non-believers. The latter, for them, are lesser things, and so whatever they, the ?gbelievers?h inflict on them, is OK. Death. Injury. Maiming. Humiliation. Violence. Intimidation. All of these are OK to these supposed ?gidealogues?h. Inflicting pain on others is OK. Killing other people?fs dreams is OK. Ending the life of a four year old child is OK. I saw her picture on the TV. Her mother was Irish. I?fd read about this only two days after the event on the Internet. The mother?fs brother had been in the World Trade Center and had just escaped. Unbeknownst to him, his sister was one of the passengers on the second plane to crash into the WTC. Forty four year old, beautiful, a flamboyant looking woman, like some latter day Maureen O?fHara. Then they showed her daughter, who was with her on the plane. Four years old. She possessed the inherited good looks of her mother, but she had her own incredible cuteness. She was beautiful. What a life she would have had. There was a voice-over by the father, who was not on the flight, saying how, when out walking with his family, everyone would stop and say how adorable and pretty and cute their daughter was. I know how that feels because I have two adorable and cute kids myself. I looked at them after hearing that father?fs words and wondered how profound his grief must be. Grief is something I learned about just a few brief months ago. The loss of Meg?fs mother left a gaping hole in the family. After the immediate shock and the trauma of her passing, and after we?fd observed many of the rites and ceremonials special to Japan, there was merely her absence to dwell upon. Not a feeling that necessarily pushed me to tears –the tears were part of the early shock and trauma. No, just a feeling of unconquerable silence, a simple, sad realization of reality. That realization had crept up on me previously as hopes for her recovery had slipped away, so I suppose the beginning of my grief had been the harsh countering of my hope, and that was difficult because the hope that I had built was strong. With that experience inside, the later feeling of unconquerable silence was one, which, no longer able to destroy my hope, was, in some way, an erosion of my innate optimism, my positivism. I tell myself it can never do that, of course, not really, because that would be a legacy counter to what was truly important –her life, not her death. That her life, not her death, was the reality which should affect all our survival and continuance. Her joy and her positivism could never die, as long as we carried it in us. I feel I want to say something like this to even some of the people who lost loved ones. To that father, and husband, for one. There?fs a lot of grief in America right now. Yes, people die on massive scales in earthquakes and natural disasters, and the country in which it occurs is traumatized also, but this is different- someone actually inflicted this grief on purpose. This act was a body blow to America. And to their very American sense of pride, to their positivism, their optimism, and their confidence. America has a ?ghero culture?h –the need for heroes is an integral part of the collective American psyche. The charity concert set up soon after was called ?gTribute to Heroes?h, not to victims. In another country, we?fd be talking about victims, not heroes. Of course, there were many heroes that day. Members of the New York Fire Department, the Police, the Emergency Services, ordinary people who went back to grab someone and lead them down the stairs, the teachers at a nursery school who grabbed all their kiddies and, bunging them in shopping trolleys, got them all away from lower Manhattan as fast as they could. The firemen rushed into the buildings with no thought to their own personal safety. Over three hundred of them died. In the charity show, between each performance, a famous person, often famous for being a celluloid hero, would address the audience and tell of one person?fs brave act. For a non-American like me, while it was moving in many ways, I wondered why they felt the need to translate the tragedy so completely into a roll-call of heroes. Perhaps it was the need to have heroes, especially at this time of great loss. On September 11th, America watched in shock and helplessness the destruction of their cities. A sense of collective vulnerability and fear suddenly entered the American mind: it sat uneasily with the self-image of strength and pride and heroism. There was no Superman or Arnie Swarzenegger: no-one to help as the destruction, fear and panic unfolded. Hollywood movies suddenly (or not so suddenly) seem so childish now. I wonder how audiences will react to ?gsave-the-day?h blockbusters after this. (Or to violent movies. What was witnessed on that day was a kind of super-violence. The images, and the imaginings of what it must have been like for those on the planes or in the buildings, like those poor souls who chose to jump to their death rather than be consumed by flame, will live on in people?fs minds. Violent movies may not enjoy the same acceptance and popularity of before.) Yes, there were many heroes that day, from firemen to businessmen to nursery school teachers. Many, many heroes. But there were also many, many victims. Concentration on the hero element as opposed to the victim element bespeaks a psychology which may delay people?fs ability to terms with the reality of that day. Now they?fre talking of the possibility of biological or chemical strikes. They?fve grounded all 3,500 crop dusters in the US as a precaution. One of the main hijackers was a frequent visitor to the mini-airport where the crop-dusters flew from, asking all sorts of questions about how much weight in chemicals they could carry etc.. People in New York are buying gas-masks! What is happening? What will happen? What will war entail? Right now these thoughts course through my mind and the minds of so many others on the planet. The newspaper has become an essential daily purchase, and every night we watch the TV for news and developments as the forces amass on all sides of Afghanistan. The population of that country is miserably poor, and largely innocent of any wrong-doing. They are the next victims, but their suffering began a long time ago, and they are unlikely to receive the sympathy and outpouring of grief which has been given to those who died in America.?@?@The Taliban and bin Laden are viciously unconcerned with such diurnalities as getting food to the people, improving facilities and working on an infrastructure. The former seem more more concerned with imposing a debased and debasing form of Islam upon the people. The burqua-clad women, deprived of all education and work, are an indicator of how backward and inegalitarian the Taliban are. And bin Laden, with his eyes firmly set on the destruction of the Western world, no doubt couldn?ft care less about the lives of ordinary Afghanis. Otherwise, why invite such danger upon the people of which he is supposedly a ?gguest?h? He needs to be told, by an Islamic scholar, how far he has strayed from what he claims to believe in. To claim what he does in the name of all Muslims is an attempt at manipulation of the masses. He is trying to confuse the concepts of politics with religion, cloaking his psychopathic hatred in a mantle of religious vision. He needs to be destroyed by words before all else, and before the eyes of all Muslims. To quote a recent article in The Independent, which attempts to clarify basic ideas about Islam: ?gThe Koran clearly states that ?eIf anyone murders an (innocent) person?cit will be as if he had murdered the whole of humanity?f. And Muhammad is recorded as saying that Muslim rules of engagement forbid attacks on ?enon-combatants, women, children, and men of religion?f; they outlaw attacks on the ?emeans of subsistence?f of those who ?eoffer no resistance?f.?h Of course, I don?ft think I really need to be told that mass murder of people, innocent or otherwise, is contrary to any religion, but it?fs good to see the words in black and white in Islam?fs holy book. These are the words that need to be expressed at the highest level, by the greatest and most respected scholars, at this time especially, and then faxed to bin Laden, wherever he is. Indeed, while they?fre at it, they might want to fax off a message from another leading Muslim, a person who is a definite candidate for America?fs greatest living hero, Muhammad Ali. He spoke on the charity show: ?gI?fm a Muslim. I?fve been a Muslim for 30 years. I want the world to know the truth about Islam. I wouldn?ft be here to represent Islam if it were the way the terrorists made it look?cIslam is for peace.?h Speaking in a voice trembling with emotion, coming from a body trembling from the effects of Parkinson?fs disease, what he said was quietly powerful and eloquent. He showed us not only the hurt that the attack itself had inflicted, but the terrible, awful doubt, fear, and hatred the attack may have unleashed- about Islam. These events have caused such division. ?gAnd?h, he ended, ?gif there was something I could do about it, I would.?h I wrote the above between the 19th and the 25th of September. It?fs now nearly a month since the attacks. From what I?fve read and seen, as I well expected, I?fm truly ignorant of the whys and wherefores behind these terrible events, and a naïve political commentator at best. Especially about bin Laden. I now see how the motive may be more to do with the stationing of American troops in the country (since the Gulf War) which houses Islam?fs holiest sites, Mecca and Medina. That?fs just one thing. There are so many other aspects to this, which I had no idea about, but, then, I?fm probably not the only one. What I wrote was a kind of therapy for me, just to express what was going through my head in the immediate aftermath. Because, while I live far away, while I?fm not even American, I still felt in a state of overwhelming shock. (Why do I talk in the past tense?) I was assaulted by images, and words which were not my own, and had to make my own voice heard, at least to myself. This terrible tragedy shocked me greatly. And those around me, my family here, and my family in Ireland, friends, my Japanese students, too, one of whom was in tears the next day. The loss of life. The destruction of a beautiful city. And the beginning of a fear about ordinary life, and the future. After this, it seems anything is OK. That scares me. What disgusting event lies before us? What?fs next? I?fm asked if I agree with war. It seems too simple a question, as if there were an alternative, which might serve as a way of making the world a safer place. I certainly hope the perpetrators of this act are caught, at the very least. I hope also that if military action is carried out that it will not involve the deaths of innocent people. The situation is, after September 11th, that whether or not the States hits back, America, at least, has become vulnerable, and another terrorist attack, even more depressing for its inhumanity, is something we all have to expect, and hope and pray is prevented. I was talking to another fellow teacher, a Canadian, the other day, about how I was feeling. I introduced it by saying that when the seasons change I always feel somewhat off-kilter, and on the verge of a cold. Then I suggested that maybe this time it wasn?ft just the change of the season, that, I asked, ?hIs it just me, or do you feel kind of weird about all this, like something has changed, in a bad way??h She replied very easily to the question. ?gNo, it?fs not just you. Something has changed.?h Something has changed. The world just became a scarier place. Yesterday, at our kids?f Sports Day, they flew the flag at half-mast. Here in Japan, people know it, too. What happened in America happened to the world. Martin Connolly, 7th October, 2001 Isehara, Japan The following homepage contains the above essay, plus two others on events afterwards. http://www.nextftp.com/binboop/ 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 story1707.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. 218.223.134.25 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 opinion on what happened is that i think we should of struck back not gave them food and suplies to help them. I think that was the stupidest thing we did. America should not of helped them in any way what so ever. We should of nucked them the day that they had planes crash into our towers. When we bombed them, i think that would bring us much closer.That would make everyone fell just a little better. We should also get rid of everyone that eather looks arabian or has something to do with terriosim. 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 story7753.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. 64.18.33.4 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: It was so unbelievable to hear what was going on. I had to hurry to finish putting on my makeup and rush in to work to find out what was going on. I turned on my radio and was listening to the disbelief and horrors as the second plane hit the second tower, then the Pentagon was hit, and then the plane crashed in PA (at least that's the way I remember it). We had TV's in the cafeteria and lots of people were crowded around them, including myself, looking at the live news broadcasts in disbelief of what was going on. And there were a few tears being shed by women and men alike. My first thought was, of course, my family. I went back to my phone and started calling my 7 kids (one at elementary school), my Dad, my Sister, and friends. I wanted to talk to them in person before the day went any further. My second thought was that maybe we should leave town because a nuclear tower is located at the J. J. Pickle Research Center right next to the IBM plant. But I settled myself down because I didn't want to add to my children's worry. I decided it would be best to stay and weather the storm, so to speak. No one could really concentrate at work, so I went out for lunch. You want to know what was really strange?? I noticed an eerie silence outside while walking out to my truck. There were no cars gunning their engines to pass each other. There were no airplanes flying overhead and making their passes to land at the airport. There were no honking of horns in fits of road rage. It was eerily quiet except for the quiet humming of car engines as they drove by, going the speed limit or slower. There's a railroad track right next to the plant, and no trains were going by either. Nothing was flying overhead, no tempers were being lost, people were frightened. Of course, everyone figured that we were just being cautious, but part of the reason had to be that we better be quiet before something falls upon us. Let's not bring any attention to ourselves unsuspectingly. When I picked up my daughter from day care and went home, I felt so relieved. What bothered me was that my husband didn't even ask how I was doing, considering the day's events. I felt hurt. I thought he loved more than what he displayed. Maybe he just figured that nothing would happen to us, who knows, but that is part of my memories now too. Yes, it was a day to remember. I don't look up in the sky every time I walk outside any more in dread of what might be coming at us. Flights returned to almost normal about a month later, just not as many flights. I was hoping that my children didn't have to live thru such terror and war as I did with Vietnam, but you never know what the future holds, right? All that matters now is that we learn from this and make our homeland safe and secure, and appreciate our families even more. Our family makes it a point to get together once a month and just appreciate being together. We used to wait for holidays, but not any more. We had to strenghten our bonds and our faith. We cannot let terrorists affect our way of life, our freedom, and our pride. We will not twist our religious beliefs as a means to a perceived justifiable end. God is always watching over us, I believe, and He will always be there for us. Say a prayer at night thanking Him for all the freedom he has given us. Keep God in our Pledge of Allegiance. We shouldn't turn our backs on what sacrifices were made to give us our freedom. 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 story3103.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. 216.40.192.238 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It was just another day at the office until my boss came into the room. I was working at a federal bank in downtown Pittsburgh, across from the tallest building in the city, the USX Tower. I was in the computer operations room, which is virtually sealed off from the outside world. I first gained knowledge of the events of 9-11 when my boss came into the room and said that he was sending me home. I had no idea what was going on. He then told me about the planes hitting the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and the crash not too far from Pittsburgh, in Shanksville. This was quite a lot of info to take in at one time. Downtown Pittsburgh offices were evacuating in fear of an attack on the city. A skeleton crew was going to be working the computer room and I had to stay at work for two more hours to wait for them. It was very difficult. I could see from my window all of the roads packed with cars leaving the city. The roads were mostly clear on my way home. It was kind of weird to see downtown desserted. When I finally got home I spent the rest of the day with my family taking in all that happened on that tremendous 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 story2044.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. 2002-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 170.201.180.69 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 mid town that day, after the towers collapsed I left the city and went home to New Jersey. The next morning I was back at the Javis Center ready to volunteer my time and services. At 10:00 AM I was riding on a bus full of iron workers to the WTC site. When we arrived I was shocked.. It was like a battlefield... WTC 7 was still burning..firefighters were on their ladders trying to put out the blaze. I met up with another volunteer named Craig and we picked up cases of water to hand out to the firemen. As we walked to WTC 7 passing in front of the Bank of New York I handed out the water to some firemen near WTC 7. On the way back Craigs eyes were about a mile wide. He said that a pane of glass had fallen from the top of Bank of New York and missed me by a second. It then dawned on me that this was dangerous. I walked around that day passing water bottles out, shoveling debris, unloading supplies from boats, putting ice on the victims remains. I left the site at about 10:30 that night. The next morning I was back at it..this time to work in the bucket brigade.I will never forget the feeling of joy as the men deep inside the rubble shouted out WE FOUND SOMEONE !! we cheered.. we sent up saws, water and everything they asked for.. however, the joy turned to sadness as a victim was carried out.. I helped carry this person with 5 firefighters to Brooks Brothers. As we laid the victim down the person in charge asked if it was a firefighter, they replied no... a civilian.. We left and headed back to the ruins... passing buckets.. when they blew an alarm.. and people shouted RUN !!! its coming down.. we took off running, it was difficult to run over and thru debris,but as we ran people warned others of what to watch out for (amazing). I had no idea what building was coming down, all I knew was I wanted to live and I was so upset at myself for not being a fast runner.. We ran to a little park off of Trinity Place.. where we gathered ourselves.. I had enough. I was mentally drained after all this. I felt very guilty because I couldnt take it mentally anymore. I had seen enough and I still dream of those sites. Thanks for reading Al Nardi 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 story9513.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-09-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.136.47.242 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: we were having a training session that day. that session ended quickly. we had other employees in from one of our branches in cleveland, oh. we heard what happened and they immediatly headed home. columbus,oh is not all that far from new york, just a skip and a jump. this hit home---too close to home. my father was a retired firefighter and he has now passed in 02/02 from a long illness. he wished he could help even tho he wasnt able. i feel for all the families that lost loved ones. when your in a firefigher family all firefighters are family. i am glad you are doing this because this is a part of history and our future familys need to know. they need to know that they should cherish what they have and love as much as they can. because someday the person you may love the most may not be there. love and cherish everyone in your life and especially your family, they are the ones that love you the most. 9/11 was the biggest tragety that has hit my life with the exception of losing my father. im still trying to cope with that. the only thing i can say is love your families close, they love you the best. 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 story8038.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. 2002-09-21 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: We are a group of fourteen friends, we all went to high school together in Chicago, in the 50's. Every two years we get together in the early fall, to reconnect and enjoy each other's company. In 2001, we planned a special trip to celebrate our 60th birthdays. After two years of discussion and planning we settled on Newport, RI as the place for our "mini-reunion". With the exception of four of us, most of our group live in and around the Chicago area. I live in Las Vegas, so flew into Chicago, and left with the group for Providence, RI. In PRoovidence we rented two big vans, and drove to Newport. We had rented three condos..a good time was had by all..until Tuesday 9/11/01, the morning we were scheduled to check out and fly back to the midwest. As a rule, we rarely turn on the TV during these get togethers..there is just too much to say and do. But for some reason I did turn on the Today show that morning, in one of the bedroooms. I then fogot about the TV, and left the room to help get ready for our checkout time of 10 am. After checking out, we had planned a day of shopping, and a long farewell lunch before returning to Providense for our 6 pm flight. Someone came into the kitchen were we were cleaning up and said: "Turn on the TV, a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Center". We watched in disbelieving horror, as another plance hit the huge tower. All had the same feeling that a bad movie needed to be turned off. WE quickly realized we were not going anywhere by plane that day. But we checked out by 10 am, and all fourteen descended on a small TV in the Condo Clubhouse. We took turns calling our families, to let them know where we where, and that we were ok, and watched the terror unfold. We held a meeting where it became apparent that approximately one half of us wanted to stay put, and the rest...well I personally felt that we should get in the vans and start driving inland. So seven of us left by 3 pm and drove north through Rhode Island and then upper New York State, before turning west toward Chicago. At that time we were not at all sure of what we might come across, we expected bridge closings et. Indeed, all roads leading to NYC were shut down. It was of course a beautiful sunny afternoon. As we drove through small RI towns, we saw many flags already at half-staff. Blood mobiles were set up in church parking lots, and town squares. Signs aking us to : "Pray for Peace" were evident in the small picture book towns we drove through. All this within just a few hours since the first strike on the WTC. We stopped for the night at a town on the New York boarder, Port Jarvis. The motel just off the highway, was jammed with travelers, it was a mess, phones were not working, or the lines were jammed, credit card machines and ATM's were not in operation. We were surprised at the ferocity of the attitudes of the people we met there; most wanted to simply "nuke the baastards". We checked into two rooms, and watched the TV in disbelief as the horror was replayed over and over. We left early Wednesday morning, and again headed toward Chicago. At every restraunt, and rest stop we heard stories of the general flight from the east coast, and New York City in particular. One woman at a Pennsylvania rest stop, showed me the new Jeep Cheroke, she bought the day before in NYC, as there were no cars left to rent. Those of us in the rented van repeated over and over;"thank God we rented these vans". The rest of our group left Newport on Wednesday, they included members from Tennessee, and Indiana, who were dropped off at bus stations along the way. The rental car company was terrific, they did not charge us for the extra miles we drove the vans. It was a long worrysome trip, we listened to NPR, read newspapers, and longed to be home. We considered how lucky we were, as New York City had been mentioned early on as one of or "choices" for the location of this reunion. I was the last of the group to get home. I was on one of the first flights out of Midway airport on Saturday, and arrived home in Las Vegas that night. God Bless America, Margaret Panke Solomon 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 story10457.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-02-27 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 172.198.229.36 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 early that day to get my daughter ready for preschool. I turned on the television right after the first plane hit the World Trade Center. They didn't even know if it was an accident or terrorist activity. I called my husband, who was in Florida on business, and my sister to alert them of what was going on. Both of them thought I was a little crazy that day. I then watched in horror as I saw the second plane hit a second building. It was live, and I just wanted to jump out and grab the plane to keep this from happening. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. I remember feeling so sad I could hardly breathe. I continued to get my daughter ready for preschool as I had decided that it was best for her not to see this tragedy unfold. My neighbor was watching a different station, and called me to say that the Pentagon had been hit. At that point, I lost all sense of security. If they can hit the Pentagon, then no one is safe. I cried for hours that day and for many days after that. The best thing that came out of this tragedy for me was that I began to help in the fight back. I joined a group to send "goodies" and letters to our military. They need our support in fighting this war against terrorism. May God bring us together and bless those that have lost loved ones as well as bless those that are fighting for our freedom and safety. May the United States of American stand united. 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 story4231.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. 12.237.95.112 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 already at work that morning, sitting at my desk doing paperwork. My middle daughter called and said, "Mom, a plane just hit the World Trade Center." I remember thinking oh no, a plane has had engine trouble and gone out of control. Terrorism and being under attack never crossed my mind at that point. I shared the news with some other colleages and went to the small breakroom where we have a television. I couldn't get a picture on it, because it is used only for VHS viewing. I left the office and went a few blocks over to my Mother's house. I needed to see what was going on. I had just walked into her living room when the second plane hit the other tower. I said, "Was that a replay?" But we knew as we were standing there that it wasn't, there now two towers on fire. I began to pray in my heart, Oh God, please help these people to get out! All the time thinking, why is this happening? I returned to work, and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. We had managed to get a television set up to watch the day unfold. My heart was breaking for New York City. The people and the city didn't seem that far away anymore. I guess I felt like many Americans that day, I wanted to help, but there was nothing I could do except pray, and I did continously for the next several days. In the days that followed, I will never forget the bond that was felt throught-out our community and even the rest of the Country. Being from the South, it seems that were almost always arguing and debating one thing or another. But for the first time in my 41 years of life, all of that was laid aside, and we were truly "..one nation, under God." I have to say that it was the best, most peaceful feeling I have ever experienced and I remember praying, "Jesus ,please let this unity grow stronger and stronger." I think the events and tragedies of 9-11 have changed us all in one way or another. We are never going to agree on alot of things because we are such a diverse nation, (Thank God!). But we can all agree that we are proud to be called Americans, and we'll stick together to keep the freedom given to us by God and fought for by other great Americans! 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 story6189.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. 205.144.228.12 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 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: When I first heard about 9-11 I really could not believe it until I heard it on the radio in one of my class. When I was thinking about it came to me I forgot that my grandfather works there so it hit me pretty hard and I could not wait to get home and call to see if he went to work that day and if he was ok. It was a miracle because my grandfather did not work that 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 story2517.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. 208.31.154.100 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 being at my machine when I heard from one of my coworkers what had happened. She asked us if we were at war and I said not that I know of. Israel and Palestine were at war. She told me that the WTC had been attacked. Of course I did not believe this and was like no way. This can't happen to us. At break my coworkers and I sat down as they brought in the tvs. I saw the first tower on fire. Then not long afterwards I saw the second plane hit. I just sat there in shock not knowing what to think. I thought that this was all a dream that I would wake up and it would all be over. This was something out of a movie not real life. I went back to work. A little while later came back for lunch and the towers had already collasped. I still think about it from time to time and what I was doing and where I was. To this day I still can't see those planes hit the those towers. People jumping out of the buildings so as not to burn alive. Cried for the people who did not make it. The families who lost loved ones. To me it is very important that we as Americans continue to live our lives and not let the terrorists win. We must rebuild as was to show our determination our defiance. To give up is to let the evil win. America is strong, Americans are showing a newly rebuilt patriotism. September 11th was a day when America cried, but also became much stronger and closer. Heroes were born, courage was shown. We as Americans must be a beacon to the world, show them that there is still hope in a dark and evil world. I wrote this poem a long time ago but it is what we as Americans need to do. LIVE EACH DAY Live each day like a task Live each days as if it were your last Live each day knowing who you are Live each day knowing you wil go far Live each day knowing what you want to be Live each day and see the things you want to see Live each day and soar like a bird Live each day to be heard Live each day as if it were your own Live each day knowing you are not alone Live each day like a task Live each day as if it were your last. Shari Mong 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 story7547.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 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: On september 11, 2001 it was a beautiful day like any other going to school on a boring tuesday,i remember that i had this huge assignment to do and it was late so i'm doing it in 2nd period when the t.v comes on and the principl comes on the intercom and tells us that the world trade center has been hit by a plane, everyone froze like they couldnt talk or anything. i felt a total numbness throughout my body. i couldnt even imagine anything happening like this, i thought i was fake like a movie. all that day every body was like a zombie people were crying and it changed the way we look at things. but i think we will all get through this terrible time. 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 story6108.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. 156.63.116.140 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: We were getting the children ready for school that morning when I looked up at the television to see a plane crashing into the first tower. I called my son in to look and we stared in disbelief. We had no clue it was a terrorist attack, because the image of a tiny airplane crashing into a building on my tiny television just didn't seem like an airliner to me until later. I couldn't believe some pilot could not miss a huge building like that. When a second one crashed into the other tower and the reporters started talking about terrorists, I had never heard of Osama Binladen. As the story unfolded of all those brave people on the planes and the rescue people in New York, I was mesmerized and couldn't leave the vicinity of the television. I washed all my windows with the television blaring loud enough to hear every report. I have about 10 eight hour video tapes all recording the events as they unfolded each day for the next two weeks. It was a beautiful fall day here in Utah. It was so hard to believe the suffering all those involved were going through. I got on the internet and began to make a scrap book of the images there. I was touched to tears to see pictures of people all over the world stopping and crying for us as a nation. As our President rallied and spoke to us, my pride for us as a Nation swelled. I am proud to be an American. How blessed we are to be a God-loving Nation. I want that American Pride to stay with us. I try to fly my flag every day. I have a wonderful neighbor across the street who flies her flag each day as well. To see all these wonderful towns and cities all over the nation flying their flags. Flags adorn cars and buildings reminding us of how lucky we are to be such a strong nation. How blessed we are to have such a military as we do. I thank God for our blessings and continue to pray for the families of the victims. God Bless America. Anita Hahn 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 story1600.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. 166.70.4.244 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 regular Tuesday morning I got up and got ready for school like I normally would do. I left for school a little late that day because I saw a few friends of mine in the morning and we were just standing around talking about the last nights sports and stuff like that. I got on the train and got off at 8th avenue as usual, I was going to get on the A train which is express but after one stop the train stopped and they said that we must evacuate the trains because two planes had hit the World Trade Center. I did not know anything of any terrorist attacks, when I first came out of the train station. All I saw were two black clouds of smoke and heard nothing but sirens. But it still did not hit me what was going on so I proceeded toward school not knowing what was going to happen. I got about two blocks from the trade center when I saw tons of debris falling from the building and I also saw people just plunging to there death it was the worst sight I will probally ever see in my life. People were still trying to get closer and I remember walking with two kids my own age and a man from the FBI telling us "If I were you guys I wouldnt try and get any closer cause he could hear the explosions from inside and he thought the tower was going to fall soon." Then the unthinkable happened. The south tower fell and people were runnning everwhere in a panic, so I just ran north with the crowd I was not close enough to get covered with debris like you saw on tv. The next thing I thought of was to get out of there fast so I continued to walk north along the river watching the faces of horror on everybodys face. When I got further away I remember looking back and just seeing one tower and I could not believe it then just remember hearing everybody scream as tower one fell down and all the people were screaming. I then walked to Jacob Javits Center where my father works. When I got there I saw a couple of my father's friends that I had met a few times and I saw my mother hysterical crying cause she knew I was in the area When I asked where my father was he was walking downtown looking for me. I remember hearing his voice on the nextel when he foundout I was saw there was a sound of releif as he walked back to be with me and my mom. When I got home that evening I remember going outside with all my friends and looking at the huge clouds of smoke and I dont think it hit any of us what actually happened. Yet we were all in shock of what was going on. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story603.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. 2002-05-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.83.125.95 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 around 6:45 on the eleventh of September. I was getting ready to leave for school when my mom called me into the bedroom to watch TV. She said to me, "Sarah, look at this. A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center in New York." I looked at the television and started to watch the news for a minute to see what she what she was talking about. Every channel was filled with coverage on the incident. I watched for about less than a minute, turned, walked away, and continued getting ready for school. I don't know how, but at that moment, I didn't think much of the situation. I know that in my mind I was thinking of how stupid people can be, how many plane crashes there have been in the past, how many tragedies there have been, how much sorrow our history has contained, and most of all, how many problems our country has had. I thought to myself, "Just another accident." But little did I know, It was one of the biggest "accidents" our country has ever seen. I continued on with my morning routine and walked out the front door ten minutes later to go to school. Everything looked typical at school. That is, until I walked into my history class. My teacher informed all of us on what had happened in such a sad and serious tone. It was then that I realized how big of an impact the crash had made. It was then that I realized that this could be the start of a war. I was scared. Instead of thinking about all of the crazy things that people in the world have already done in the past, I started to think about my family and the future. I thought about my four brothers being drafted into the army. So many thoughts were racing in my head. I was terrified, frustrated, speachless, clueless and angry. I was furious at the thought of one person planning to create such incredible damage. I felt so helpless here in California. I didn't know what to do next. I didn't know how to react. All I could do, just like every one else, was sit and wait. Wait for the president to guide us, wait to hear more information, and wait to hear even a reason. And that's all I did do. Throughout the week, everyone was glued to the television. Instead of being taught about the past in history class, all we did was talk about history being made in the present. Although I was not directly affected by the attack, I know that I will never forget the impact that September 11th made and how it has changed our country. We all see how it created complete chaos and destruction, but it has also pulled an entire country and its people together. Many heroes have been made from the attack and many people have come out of the ashes stronger because of it. September 11th is a day we shall 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 story8250.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. 209.79.81.241 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 sitting in 2nd period and my teacher turned on the television the last 5 minutes of class and that's when i first heard about it, but i didn't know what was going on at the time. so i walk into third period french and i am watching the tv and i saw the planes crashing into the twin towers. i saw the first tower fall, i gasped. i saw the second tower fall, i cried. i watched the tv with absolute horror. someone finally told me what happened and i thought to myself who would want to do that to so many innocent people. i cried so hard for the people who died and gave their lives for those in need. i felt horrible at the same time though, because i realized how lucky i was to have a family and friends and all i complain about are the simpliest things that are not going to affect my life in a year from now. there are no words to express how i felt that september day. but i do pray for the enemies. i know it is hard but i know that God will take care of it. i love the U.S.A. and WE ARE NOT COMING DOWN!! -Caitlin Weatherly 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 story8009.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 151.213.233.226 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 mid-way through my pregnancy September 11, 2001. As I watched the television coverage of the horrifying events of that day, I wondered what I was doing bringing a child into a world so full of war, famine and disease, hatred, violence and intolerance. As the day progressed, I was also witness to more of what our world, and specifically our country, has to offer -- courage, generosity and compassion, inspiration, hope and love. I vowed that day to teach my child to accept people and beliefs other than her own and to respect our country and cherish the gifts we sometimes take for granted that come with being an American. 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 story5666.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. 12.248.132.33 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My third day of basic training for the United States army started off like the 2 before it, very early and with lots of yelling. That day I was scheduled to do KP, kitchen patrol. The drill sergeants marched us down to the dinning facility and we got our assignment for the day. Being one of the bigger guys I was put on the loading dock, which is not really a good job because you are out side and away from the radio in the kitchen. This may not sound to important but when your in basic any contact with the outside world is a very big deal. After a long morning unloading 2 eighteen wheelers and a small cargo truck, I decided it was time for a break. The first thing on my mind was food but lunch was not going to be ready for a while so I decided to sneak back to the sinks and listen to the radio for a minute. After listening to the new Brittany Spears and wishing that this was a TV not a radio, the dj cut in with some ? breaking news?. He announced that a plan had crashed in to one of the world trade towers. The first thought in my mind were so far from terrorism that I figured it must have been some guy in a propeller plane who?s GPS failed. On that note I thought it was a good time to go back to the loading docks and get back to work. About an hour later I went back inside for lunch. When I walked up to the table I noticed that everyone was whispering to each other and not eating. Now this may sound like a normal lunch break to you but in basic talking during a meal is not exactly smiled upon. That?s when I saw all of the drill sergeants where outside talking, this really got my interested in what was going on. The next 2 minutes or my life where something to remember, I was told by the others on KP that the plane that hit the world trade was a 747, not a propeller plain, and that the second tower had been hit 30 minutes before. For once in my life I was speechless. My mind went racing, who would do such a thing, was anything else going to happen. In the hours that fallowed we heard about the planes that went down in the pentagon and Pennsylvania. After KP was over there was a formation of the entire company out side our barracks at which we where told of all the news the drill sergeants had at that time. Any one from NYC or D.C. got to make a 2 minute phone call home to check on loved ones. Being from Northern Virginia I got to make a call. I was fairly sure my family would be ok because none of them worked at the Pentagon but I still wanted to make sure. My conversation was not more then 30 seconds, my mother said that they where all fine and asked if I was ok, I said yes and then the drill sergeant took the phone out of my hand and told me to go inside. The feeling of relief was amazing. The events of 9/11 will never feel real to me. After that day we heard nothing about it for the remaining 4 months of training. I did not even see one picture of the events till Christmas that year. When ever I see replays of it now it?s like I am watching a movie. I keep expecting some hero to come in and save the day, but that never happens. I ended up serving in Iraq with the 3rd Infantry division during the initial invasions of Baghdad. It seems ironic to me that I an event that shaped today?s world and hand such a personal impact on my life seems like bad movie when ever I see 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 story11197.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-12-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.227.210.139 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was suppose to be getting ready for my morning class at Texas Tech University, but the previous night I had decided to give myself a break and sleep in. When my roommate came into my bedroom to wake me up just because my father was on the telephone for me I was a bit frustrated about having to wake up, but that all quickly vanished when he told me what was going on. He said that they were watching Fox News and heard that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I jumped out of bed and ran to the television just in time to see the second plane hit. Chills hit my body and my father and I quietly said goodbye so that we could focus on the news. I sat there all morning long through the breaking coverage and my heart sank as I watched the great towers collapse into a heap of rubble and dust. The images and words of that day will forever be etched into my memory. Never will I forgot what happened on "that morning without reason." 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 story90.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. 64.216.41.146 Annotation Annotations to this item. Television Coverage DOMESTIC