203 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: At about 8:15 am CST, I dropped my nephew off at his school, and was told by one of the other moms in the school parking lot that it was all over the news that a plane had flown into a "skyscraper" in New York City. This would've been right after the first plane hit the towers. I went on to my office, about 5 minutes away, and we put the radio on. At this point, we all still thought it was some sort of freak accident. A few minutes later, when the second plane hit, we realized that this was a lot more than an accident. My boss put the TV on in her office, and we proceeded to wander back & forth from our desks to the TV all morning. Everytime some new development happened (the crash at the Pentagon, the collapse of the towers), my boss would cry out and we'd all go to the door of her office to see what was up. I remember feeling shock & disbelief. My first thought was to try to call New York, to see if my friend who lives in NYC was OK. Not being able to get thru on the phone. Contacting her family here in Chicago, and then the waiting & worrying until we knew that she wasn't involved. Everyone one in the office was numb. No one "could believe" that it was happening, even tho we saw it with our eyes on the screen. The older of our co-workers, from the Korean War generation, breaking down in tears. (They tend to be more patriotic than the "boomers" and "X-ers", and they grew up in an America that seemed invulnerable.) Sadness. Shock. Anger. A desire for vengeance. A profound feeling that, as a nation, we had been deeply violated, and would more similiar events keep happening? A dread that the next news we heard would be that a plane had crashed into the John Hancock Center in the Chicago Loop or into O'Hare Airport (a scant mile away from our building). A few days to a week later- will we go to war? Call-Ups of our friends who are in the reserves, overseas deployments of our friends & relatives & clients who are in the armed forces. The feeling that a really big war could develop, and yes, it's necessary, but will it be a bigger deal than we are really ready to deal with, and where will it all end? A year later, the dread is gone. The pride in our police and firefighters remains, as does the pride in our armed forces personnel. At least, we think the fear is gone. Until one of our suppliers calls in and offers four tickets to go see the Cubs play at Wrigley Field on Weds 9-11-2002, and no one wants to "take the chance" of going downtown, for fear that our enemies have planned some sort of anniversary stunt. Listening to the observances on the TV all day, tensely, hoping that a bulletin won't burst onto the screen about an explosion in NYC or Wash DC or Chicago. Looking at your co-workers around the lunch table, hearing someone comment that everyone seems to be in a bad mood today, and responding that "well, it's almost 1 pm, and so far no one's blown anything up", and being profoundly grateful that this is so. 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 story4991.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. 12.100.98.227 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: The morning of 09/11/01 I had awaken very early at about 5:50am California time (8:50am N.Y.time). I turned on the news and was mortified about the news of the 1st plane crashing into the twin towers. I sat up in bed & watched the horror. As I sat with my mouth permanently agape, my daughter, who was 5 years old at the time, trodded into my room & couldn't believe I was up watching TV at that time of the morning. She asked what had happened. I explained to her the best I could in terms that a 5 year old would under-stand & that would hopefully not frighten her to much. As we sat in my bed, I held her close, we watched as the second plane hit. I had taught my daughter not to use the words "OH MY GOD", but to use "oh my gosh", well, the words "OH MY GOD" rolled off of my tongue time after time! We watched through out the morning until she went to school & I went to work. The next 4 or 5 mornings something inside of me awakened me around 5:30am (I rarely wake before 8:00am). These were cold mornings in my house. My husband had gone to work hours earlier & my daughter was still asleep. As I lay in my bed trying to somehow warm up, I realized I was sitting in a cold, dark, and lonely room. All that I could think of were the poor innocents trapped in the cold, dark and lonely mountainous rubble wishing that they had someone with them to hold them and keep them warm. All that I could do was sit and cry until my daughter woke up. I choked the tears back as to not frighten her. I live only about a mile from Travis Air Force Base. In the days following the plane crashes, when our military was called upon for duty, there would be 2 F16's at a time take off at least 4 or more times a day. The chills of pride that ran through my body were unexplainable. It was also so amazing how courtious everyone had become. I had never been so proud of my country and the way it's people had come together for each other. Now 1 year later, I still get the same feeling of dispair for the lost when I wake up before the sun and can't go back to sleep. The families of the missing and dead are in my thoughts. 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 story1936.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.81.21.31 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On the morning of September 11th, I was in my house because the night before my mom had burnt her arm cooking so, she had to go to the emergency room and I had to take of my brother. When she came back from the hospital she turned on the television and she saw when the plane hit the 1st tower, she started calling my name so I could see what was going on. When I saw all this happening I didn't know what to think at first I thought a plane flew into the tower by accident but I was still in shock. I didn't know what to feel it was all just so overwhelming and when my dad came home he said he had seen the explosion from the pentagon. I feel really sad for what happened in NY because so many innocent people went harmed and i've lived in NY for 12 yrs and for them to take a part of our city could never be justified. It was just uncalled for and too bad that we were so vulnerable at that point which made it even worse because we weren't expecting 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 story7686.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. 2002-09-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.195 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at home. I had called in sick that day and I was in my basement office checking my e mail. My wife called and told me to turn on the TV. She told me that they were flying air planes into the WWTC. I got the TV on just in time to see the first building fall. I have had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for a long time. With a lot of help I had learned how to keep the symptoms under control and had lived a somewhat normal life. As the building fell all of my defenses fell with it. The symptoms suddenly all came back and have forced me to be on disabilty. Strangly my thoughts were for the fire fighters and rescue workers. I had been there doing rescue work at bad car wrecks and in the aftermath of tornados. To know only partially what they were going through seemed to intensify the effect. My heart still goes out to them, and I raise my glass to thier bravery. May those who perished rest in peace and those who survived live in peace. 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 story1565.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. 24.171.16.224 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: In the weeks following September 11, 2001, there seemed to be a media proliferation of new-found maturity and wisdom. Folks were writing about their own 9/11 experience, their resulting emotions, and their fine-tuned priorities. In the time that it took four planes to collide with buildings and ground, people began suddenly reflecting on big questions about what was really important in their lives and the lives of their families. In my niche, the big question was "Dare we bring kids into this dangerous new world?" I had satisfied my own drive to reproduce after five years of scheduled sex, scaling back a stressful social work career, ceasing all physical exercise save for walking my dogs, and learning how to inject myself with drugs in the thigh and abdomen twice daily during each pregnancy. Four pregnancies failed before my "miracle" child finally managed to survive my seemingly perilous womb. In my new career as a writer and online community manager for a world of infertile people, I was one of the lucky ones. I no longer had to wonder at what age I would cease the pursuit of parenthood. I'd dodged what had begun to look like an inevitable cascade of emotional struggles to adjust to an unwanted self-image: me without a child, forever. While the whole world's attention was riveted on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, I watched my two-year-old lying in a drug-induced coma in a renowned pediatric intensive care unit in Houston. Televisions over every bed replayed the horrific scenes. The looming questions for me on that day all revolved around my own child's survival, and the answer was definitive and absolute. Even if sedated to the point of breathing via respirator, he was alive and it was good. Maybe the question about whether to have babies wasn't on the minds of most people. For a few million Americans, though, the opportunity to examine one's core motives for having babies is nothing new. In fact, it becomes part of their daily life, the whole question of why anyone cares to have a baby in the first place. After the harsh realization that getting pregnant won't come easily in your own household, the costly and exhausting treatment struggle can make the most hell-bent parent-want-a-be question the value of the end point. Catastrophic events like 9/11 might understandably disrupt a person's pursuit. At least, that's what I thought. Certainly I couldn't help but wonder that day about the well-being of the thousands of people who frequented where I worked, a thriving website for people dealing with infertility. I knew for sure that one, Grace Lamoureux, worked at the Pentagon. A Technical Sergeant for the United States Air Force, Grace Lamoureux was one of my most level-headed volunteers. She and her husband, Bill, had by then done a couple of years of duty in the infertility trenches. Grace was extraordinary in her ability to provide straight-up facts with a soothing tone to the Internet community's members, mostly women, many of whom expressed anxiety-tinged desperation and even at times suicidal despondency. With her high tolerance for physical pain, she could share a different version of the diagnosis and treatment experience with needle-phobic readers. Grace was able to assure scared visitors that not only was the whole medication and procedure route to pregnancy tolerable, it was very worthwhile. She'd chosen tubal ligation to close out her reproductive life years earlier, believing that the boy and girl born from her previous marriage were enough. Then she met Bill. In these days of microsurgical techniques, divorce, and subsequent marriages, once perfectly fertile people sometimes find themselves with a medical classification of secondary infertility. For them, as for the majority of people, the notion of having children usually begins somewhere in the realm of a hazy, romantic ideal or a hormone-driven biological slip. When they change their minds down the road, their dreams of slipping easily into parenthood again are dashed: that was Grace's story. By 2001, after one tubal ligation reversal surgery, several months worth of intrauterine inseminations, and one unsuccessful go at in vitro fertilization, there was still no baby for the couple who had been long-time best friends before falling in love. Like so many double-military couples (Bill was also an Air Force Technical Sergeant), their first 10 months were spent in separate bases, in different states. When their careers allowed them to combine households in Maryland, Bill, who had no children of his own, wanted to be a dad. Already in her late 30's and, therefore, considered "advanced maternal age," Grace was prepared to go the distance to give to Bill what he called "the best gift in the world." She recalled a strong feeling of "incompleteness" without a child fathered by Bill. On September 11, 2001, the couple's personal calendar was looking forward to the month of October when they would try IVF again at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. On that day five years ago, I was struggling to cope with my own results of infertility treatment. For years, I was sure that the most painful experiences I would ever have were my several miscarriages and looming involuntary childlessness. As virtually any mother or father eventually learns, there is no separating pain from parenting. My own calendar was full of medical appointments for very different reasons. On August 1 of that year, a broken wooden garage door had come slamming down with a train's speed at the same moment that my diapered son toddled beneath it. Remarkably, the only body part injured was his right foot, but it was a devastating trauma. I witnessed the accident, and from my vantage point, I believed that my son was being crushed to death. Overnight, I learned about compression syndrome, how it rapidly devours all tissues surrounding even minor breaks for no known reasons, and how the only way to stop it is emergency surgery. By September 10, I'd learned about the prophylactic use of massive antibiotic doses, administered through a catheter installed through the chest wall, directly over the heart, around the clock for seemingly endless weeks. I'd learned how to hand my screaming baby to masked strangers who whisked him down cold, bright hallways, out of my sight yet still within hearing distance . I'd been told that my son's foot would likely never again have a normal appearance and that his ability to walk and run was uncertain without untold numbers of physical therapy sessions. The day before the planes were used to kill thousands of people in New York, D.C., and Pennsylvania, my husband and I spent a tortured 20 hours in the corridors and patios of the giant children's hospital in Houston where I'd once worked. By 2 AM on September 11, my son out of surgery four hours later than the medical team had anticipated, we were told to go home and rest while his little body was kept under heavy sedation. There was nothing we could do, the drugs made him unaware of our presence or absence, and this was our last opportunity to sleep uninterrupted for untold coming weeks. I left my child's side for the first time since his birth in 1999. Later that morning, Grace Lamoureux took her daughter to a dental appointment and headed in to her job as a videographer for the Joint Combat Camera Center in the Pentagon. She'd chosen the high-stress, deadline-driven job primarily in order to remain in Maryland with Bill, who was working in D.C., too. She also thought it would be "cool" to work in the thick of things, editing footage sent in by various military bases and producing viewable material for television networks. Her new office was windowless and temporarily disheveled as the building was being renovated. Having spent the morning on the Metro sans radio or phone service, neither Grace nor her colleagues knew the reason that there were more security guards outside than usual at 9 AM. The weather was incredibly nice. They must be taking advantage, she thought. Before she could drop her backpack and head downstairs to count and label furniture that was due to be moved, Bill called. He was watching the morning's events unfold with the rest of the country on live TV. Ironically, the Pentagon videography team was still without cable in their new office, so they relied on Bill's worrisome report by phone to hear the news that now a second plane had torn into the World Trade Center. About 15 minutes later, Grace wondered aloud to co-workers how horrible it would be for a plane to aim for the Pentagon, especially given their new office location on the outer ring's top floor, 300 yards from a heliport where dignitaries were believed to arrive. Twenty or so minutes after that, a loud but muffled sound from below shook the building with a force that up-ended computer monitors. A standing office mate lost his balance as the floor rocked. They hoped it was a downstairs wall being collapsed for renovation purposes. The calls for evacuation began. As Grace and her team descended by stair and escalator, still not fully understanding the situation, they encountered and assisted hysterical but uninjured civilian workers. As their journey progressed, it became apparent that an explosion of some kind had occurred a few floors beneath the videography office, in the area where Grace should have been labeling furniture. They gathered in the parking lot and immediately began working on a plan to get to another venue for work purposes, knowing that footage would likely be streaming in for editing. With communication and transportation disrupted, it was two hours before Bill again reached Grace by phone. In Houston, watching the TV in my bedroom as I dressed for a day at the hospital, I felt an undeniable wave of panic as my mind raced. At that moment, not knowing whether this was just the first of a possible series of attacks on our country's locales of great importance, my heart rose to my throat as my son lay unconscious in the medical center of a city built by petroleum-based money. My overwrought body couldn't move fast enough to calm my terrified mind. Nothing seemed normal -- the traffic, the looks on strangers' faces, the amount of security we met at the hospital, the droning TV screens everywhere. Still, once at my son's bedside, I had no big questions. Scared out of our wits or not, my child was here, and he was alive. Eventually, the need to escape the breathing machine's rhythmic hissing sent me to the hospital's courtesy computers. I logged on, headed for my community, and started scanning threads for news of members' welfare, especially Grace. I was frankly dismayed that there were so many posts that seemed oblivious to the morning's horrors. It wasn't that they were in a fog and unaware, it was that their own needs were so much more pressing and urgent. Women in various stages of worry about why they couldn't conceive, or which treatment might work, or when they needed to start the additional fertility medications... and I couldn't find Grace. Questioning the voracity with which someone flings herself into fertility treatment is unthinkable in groups such as our community. Rarely, if ever, were the big questions of whether and why brought to bear in these forums. On the rare occasions that such a renegade post appeared, the foolhardy poster was swiftly deemed an outsider and effectively banished by group derision. The mind-set was something along the lines of "Who would dare question our motives for wanting children?", followed by frequent complaints about the "unfairness" of infertility. After four years creating and building the infertility website, I had decided to focus mostly on writing articles, culling together a team of 12 volunteers to manage the large community precisely because I had fallen out of love with the "infertility victim" routine. I let my sympathetic team work their magic to keep the community emotionally and intellectually fed, while I managed the mundane yet tolerable administration aspects. It was painful to see, on the evening of September 11, 2001, the same sort of clamoring for backpats and attention that went on any other day in my infertility community. I wondered if I was over-reacting, emotions springing from my own circumstances which weren't even based on the day's events that were most significant to the world. I judged it better to avoid all conversations, post a message of consolation for anyone who was impacted, and put out a call for knowledge of Grace. Finally, word trickled through that Grace was okay. Eventually, I corresponded with her and learned of her impending second IVF. I posted a poll on the site asking readers to rate how much, if at all, their desire to bring forth children into this new world had changed. Grace consented to writing up her own thoughts on the question, and I published it with the poll results 13 days later. It was not a scientific survey, but it was a good gauge of my site's membership. The question: "Has the recent terrorist attack changed your feelings toward having children?" Thirty-one percent responded positively to the statement "There is nothing that could ever change my mind." There was a smattering of responses to less confident stances but, in all, 55 percent had mostly positive feelings about having children. Only two percent said that the events had "definitely" changed their minds in a negative direction. Grace's point of view essay is still frequently viewed, though on a different website. It is as candid as Grace, as reasonable and sober as her helpful posts to the community, as pragmatic as her approach to everyday life seems. She factored in all costs involved, from financial to social to emotional. She examined their emotions toward a future far more uncertain for active military than for anyone else. She and Bill did their best to avoid related conversations with their families, fearing they might hear only negatives from those who could not or would not understand. They compartmentalized their experiences, separating job from home, focused on the fact that they still got to come home to each other and their other children. Written just days after surviving the Pentagon attack, Grace explained that, in the end, they would still go through with their IVF. Today, she says she barely recalls writing it. Bill and Grace's twin sons are now four years old. Since 2005, the family has lived near Fairbanks, Alaska where Grace is stationed at Eielson Air Force Base. Just as Grace referred in her 2001 essay to the possibility of the country requiring more of both her and Bill, she was deployed to Iraq for four and a half months this year. There, she met a woman who already knew her name from having tearfully read the essay online, after searching for support and information about her own combined situations of being active military and wanting to have children. The big questions are still very much out there, maybe even more so now, as advanced reproductive technology has boomed in just the past five years, offering myriad genetic choice to parents who can afford to be choosy. Now, it's not just a matter of why one wants a child and to what extremes would one go, but picky parents can choose a gender and screen for even the simple likelihood of many genetic conditions. My son is fine now, a healthy, active, normal seven year old. More often than I'd like, I have found myself thinking of those fearful nights and days in that hospital, sick with worry and, frankly, wondering if I had done the right thing bringing this child into the world. At that time, I had to wonder about Grace and why she felt compelled to go forward with fertility treatment in order to bring another child into this dangerous world. When I spoke to Grace earlier this week, she made it clear that there was nothing she would do differently, even given the anxiety and heartache involved in being an active military mom of young children. As we talked about the many visitors to the online community who seemed so driven to distraction by the infertility experience that they lost track of the goal to parent, Grace summed up with the hindsight of a survivor, both of 9/11 and now Iraq, her own answer to the question. We were thinking how cool it would be to put the best of both of us into a baby, she recalls. We're going to raise them to be great people. With the way the world is going, maybe this little soul can grow up and make some changes. In addition to my burdensome wealth of medical knowledge gained through infertility and, then, the other shoe falling of the garage door accident, I have learned and accepted that I will never be the same after witnessing what I believed for only a few seconds to be my son's dying. Similarly, no one who witnessed the horrors of 9/11 can ever return to their previous version of whatever was normal. Finally, I realize that expecting the immediate and cataclysmic trauma of that day to have much bearing at all on the drive to have children, especially for people who must fight to continue believing that they can, makes as much sense as asking me whether I'd do it all over again if I had known the accident lie in our future. They are questions without answers. ### 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 story20595.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.92.204.26 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I awoke the morning of September 11, 2001 about 9am to get myself motivated for a business luncheon that was scheduled at 11am. I turned on the television with the intention of checking the weather channel since the local weather can be very unpredictable this time of year. The TV was tuned to either CNN (or MSNBC)and the first image I saw was an airplane hitting one of the towers. I couldn't move. All I could do was stare, in disbelief, of what I was witnessing. I am originally from New York. I grew up less than an hour's drive north of Manhattan in an area which lends itself to a fairly easy commute. When the reality of the situation finally overcame the initial shock, I began to think of family members and friends that were either working in the World Trade Center or working as Rescue workers(ie: police, fire or ambulance). My first cousin was working for a bank in the WTC at the time. She, by the Grace of God, was running late for work that day and was still on the subway when the first plane hit. I'm sorry to say I did lose a high school friend. She left behind a husband and 3 children. There is NOT a single soul in this nation that has not been touched by the atrocities of September 11, 2001. I know, we as a nation, will never forget. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story6016.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Well, September 11th, 2001.. i was a 7th grader and it was picture day... this is when i still dressed up... i had gone to 2 classes already.. during the 3rd class we got our pictures taken..suddenly the teachers all gathered around in the back of the auditorium and i sensed that something was wrong... since we were in middle school i guess they didnt want to tell us what was going on.. I got home later that day and as soon as i walked in the house and my grandmother told me "take off your shoes and your stockings... and sit and watch the television... this is what happened today... and the rest was history... My uncle was supposed to be there that day.. thank god that his meeting got cancled.. he was supposed to be in the windows of the world meeting on the 106th floor... im thankful that he is still alive.. that was the day that i changed my outlook on life. 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 story20354.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.252.130.216 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Hi. I am 16 years old but when this happen i was a freshmen in high school. the day started out great it was my english teachers birthday she went down to the office to get flowers form her future husband but then she came back in with a confuse look on her face.... she was like a plane crashed into the world trade center. we all thought she was joking but she wasnt. at that time i didnt exactly know what building was wtc i thought the twin towers and wtc were tow completely different buildings. In 1999 i went to nyc with my class i took this beatuiful picture of a america flag at the statue of liberty cuz i thought it was so beatuful. when i look back at the pic on that tragic day i notice something in every pic of that america flag i took a pic of there was the twin towers in the background. it jsut made me cry. back to where i was. so i go on to 3rd period.... thats when it really hit it. my physical science teacher was crying like i have never seen anyone cry before. she turned the radio on thats when it really hit me hard. then 4th period came around and my amth teacher refuse to talk about it then my science teacher 4 th period class came into my class because she couldnt stop crying. so we all stay in 4th period until lunch. all day i was like whats going on they wouldnt let us wathc the tv. then once school was over i had volleyball practice. then my mom picked me up and we went to go get water and etc. thats when i saw pics of what happen. i never got real congrage to actually look at the pics of poeple jumping out of windows. and still to this day i have not seen all the pics of waht happen that day. i dont know if i will ever have the courage. Everytime i hear enya only time i get cchills. but i have become more patrotic than ever. hopefully when i start a family in the future my kids we never have to go thru what i day 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 story10425.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. 2004-02-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.61.68.231 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I live in the Pacific Northwest now, but I?m from New York?upstate. I?ve got a sister in Brooklyn and a brother in New Jersey. The day of September 11, once I had taken in the initial horror, I began to call back East. I didn?t get them right away?they?d been going to work that day, of course?but these are the stories I pieced together later, in talks with them and with my mom. My sister normally takes an express bus that lets out at the World Trade Center. She works at Cabrini Hospital, as a hospice counselor. That day, reason unbeknownst, she took the subway. Whenever she tells this, she emphasizes, ?I took the subway after the first plane hit. I thought it was an accident, and I had a big day ahead of me. Then we were under the WTC when the second plane hit. The lights flickered on and off; we were at a standstill for almost two hours. There were no crashes, no structures collapsing underground, but instead the expected panic, screaming, moaning, wrenching of hands. Finally at one point a woman cleared the air. She yelled, ?Wait a minute. We all heard about the first plane and we took the subway anyway! What?s wrong with us? It?s sick, being such workaholics!? To emphatic laughs, grunts, and howls of consent, that set things into perspective. In due time, we all took a stairway up to ground level, and made our way through white dust back to Brooklyn, walking until some kind stranger picked me up. It was a war zone.? In my sister?s line of work, she has never stopped dealing with this event. My brother wasn?t anywhere near the WTC, but some of his wife?s family was. Her sister Regina, in her late 50s, works in 2 WTC. From the first crash, she maintained sporadic cell-phone contact with her husband Jack, who works in midtown. She was able to get away and was ferried to Staten Island; but Jack, having lost contact with her, didn?t know this. He began walking down to the Trade Center to find her. The devastation grew steadily worse the closer he got. By the time he reached Ground Zero, they were turning away all offers of help except from welders. Jack?s brother was a welder, and Jack had picked up some skills, so they let him onsite. Presently he was removed to a hospital for dust inhalation, then released. He died within three days. 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 story7097.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 206.63.106.171 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 arrived at work at 8:30 on 9/11/01. We were watching the progress of Tropical Storm Gabrielle and making preparations for a direct hit, which did occur 3 days after 9/11. It was also my niece's 17th birthday. At about 8:35 my best friend called me. She was extremely upset. Her husband was being transported by ambulance to the hospital. He'd had a stroke. I was sitting at my desk, terribly upset by this news and contemplating leaving the office and going to be with my friend at the hospital when the phone rang again. It was my employer's wife. She told me a plane had just hit the World Trade Center. I ran into the conference room and turned on the TV. My boss arrived moments later and I called him into the conference room. As we sat and watched the horrifying scene, the second airplane came into view. We sat in stunned, horrified silence as the second tower was attacked. We knew immediately that our country was under attack by terrorists. I was certain I couldn't have been more shocked and stunned after seeing the attacks on the World Trade Center. Of course, little did we know that it was far from over. Then there was the Pentagon and Shanksville, PA. We sat glued to the TV all day. The only calls made to the office that day were from our spouses, friends and loved ones. We closed the office early that day. My concern for my friend who'd had the stroke was greatly dimmed by the tragic events of the day. Because of the love I have for my friends, I felt somewhat guilty at being more concerned over the terrorist attacks than my friend's health, although he did make a full recovery. Until the storm hit us the Friday following 9/11 and knocked out our electricity and television cable, TV coverage of 9/11 was on constantly. As we commemorate the 1 year anniversary of 9/11, I must say that it feels like 9/11/01 was yesterday, not a full year ago. My tears still fall, and will continue to fall, for all of those who lost loved ones. My heart and prayers are ever with the families, friends and loved ones of those whose lives were tragically ended on 9/11/01. Countless heros were born on 9/11/01. To all of the rescue and law enforcement personnel, our military forces, and the countless numbers of civilians who gave of themselves to help others through this tragedy, and still continue to do so, Thank You and God Be With You. I will never forget that day. I don't want to forget that day. As tragic a day as 9/11 was, it will always be a constant reminder of how strong this country is. It gave many of us a renewed sense of patriotism and made us realize that we should never take the freedoms we have for granted. This country will stand united. This country will never forget what happened on 9/11 and we will be stronger for 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 story6708.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: En el 11 de septiembre, yo hab?a prendido la televisi?n, cuando esperaba mi paseo. Cambiaba el canal que trata de encontrar algo bueno mirar, pero en cada de un canal la misma cosa estaba en. Tan yo lo empec? a mirar. Al principio yo pensaba lo que una cosa rara en acontecer. Pero entonces de repente otro golpe del plan. El derecho de inmediato supe no era un accidente. Fui sacudido realmente, y fui espantado para la gente dentro de los edificios y los aviones. Pero entonces mi paseo vino y fuimos a una funeral. Entonces posterior ese d?a alrededor de uno en punto, yo estaba en mi manera de educar. Y en los rincones donde tratar de gente a la venta un peri?dico actualizado en lo que hab?a acontecido m?s temprano esa ma?ana. Y eso cuando supe que las cosas no ser?an jam?s realmente el mismo. 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 story7489.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.153.177.210 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 got the word from our Operations Center of a possilbe hijacking, and a flight attendant allegedly being stabbed. A co-worker ran out of her office and shouted to turn the T.V. to CNN, a plane had flown into the WTC. We watched in absolute astonishment as the second plane flew into the other WTC building. Our Washington Operations Center began to roll with the reports of the goings on around the country. Monte Belger, the ROCK of the FAA ordered to clear the airspace, never in history of the NAS had this been done. And from that moment forward, the professionalism of those in the agency, all the telephone calls from the Secretary, The White House, Congressional Officials, town Mayors, aviation industry, the general public, while still trying to comprehend what had happened. Trying to get Congressional Members, co-workers, transplant reciepients, all those who NEEDED to fly, getting them where there needed to go, while still maintaining a secure NAS. Landing over 4000 aircraft, anywhere that was closest. Watching the city evacuate ~ waiting to see if the 4th hikacked airplane was coming our way, what was the target ~ who did they want to hurt? And the days that followed, co-workers sleeping on the couches and at their desks, doing above and beyond the call of duty. People working 24-hour shifts, nights, weekends, eating donughts and pizza. Opening up the airspace, getting those folks that were stranded who knows where, to their destination. Yet still, trying to understand why. A year later ~ None of us will EVER forget ~ 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 story2513.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. 204.108.8.5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was in Adelaide - South Australia. I went to bed 10pm turned on the late news and it started to filter through that a plane had hit the WTC. I thought it was a small plane by the long TV shots of the towers. As I work for a radio station in Australia. I stayed up all night and watched the story unfold. I raced to work early as I knew this was the biggest thing that had ever happened in news. I knew we had to get this right. Then as the day unfoled I went from total horror and disbelief with some of the things I saw and heard from NYC. Buy the end of the day I stopped to try and take it all in - but was horrified as to how sanitised I had become to all the images and voices from NYC. I decided to take a step back and realise that I like most people was in shock. I have relatives in Philly and learned one was in NYC. Then the panic and terror hit me at home in Australia. I knew what some Aust, US and others were feeling when they couldn't contact family in the US especially in NY. My heart goes out to all the people that lost familes in both the towers, the Pentagon and the planes that were used. No one deserves to have this happen to them. The whole world felt the effects of that dreadful 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 story855.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-07-04 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 203.2.218.138 Annotation Annotations to this item. Radio Coverage INTERNATIONAL Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I went to work as usual on that day, and seconds after the first plane hit, a co-worker received a phone call telling her that a plane had just hit the WTC. My manager and I immediately went to our breakroom area and turned on a T.V. that is only used for training tapes. It wasn't coming in as clearly as we wanted it to, so as other co-workers were coming into this small room, they found some coat hangers and made an antenna so that we could see what was happening. At first we thought it was just an accident, but as the events unfolded before our eyes we could clearly see that this was a horrible attack on the USA. We stood in awe as the other plane hit and then as the towers came down. There was silence in the room. Many of us began to cry, recognizing the pain of the victims who perished. No one could hardly work that day. It was as if we were in a bad dream and it really didn't happen. But it did happen and it will live in the minds of all of us forever. However; this tragedy has brought this country back to the realization that we need God in our lives everyday. We need God in our schools and on our jobs. We need God because he is all-knowing, he is everywhere and he is the only one we can put our trust in! Susan Tyner Lassiter 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 story6269.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. 209.215.27.170 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 work as an administrative secretary at a small home health agency in Newark, New York. September 11, 2001 was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. I had to talk to Kim, our receptionist about something when I noticed that she looked shocked. I asked her what was the matter, she said, "I just got off the phone with my son. He says the World Trade Center is under attack!" "Under attack?", I said, "How can that be?" Kim told me that a plane flew into one of the towers. At first I didn't realize how serious this was - I had figured a small plane got out of control and flew into one of the towers. I was worried about the people on the ground getting hit by debris. It wasn't long before we found it was a large passenger jet and a second one hit the other tower. It was horrible news and so obviously a terrorist attack. One of the nurse supervisors went home to pick up a tv set and set it up in our conference room. The Army Recruiting Station next door also had a television set going and some of us went over there to see what was happening. Like everyone said, it was like a movie seeing those huge fireballs coming out of Tower 2. When we heard the news about the Pentagon, then about the 4th plane going down in Pennsylvania, the fear and horror was terrible. I got a call from my mother who was in tears, just sobbing, "What is happening? What is going on? What are we going to do?" I was just as upset, but I told my mom, "Mom, you've got to calm down. This is horrible yes, but don't panic. We are Americans! We've gone through worse! We will survive this!" I don't know if I really believed myself at the moment, but it had to do. Rumors were running wild for a while. We heard on the radio reports of car bombs going off all over Washington DC, that the Sears Tower in Chicago had been hit, and more planes in the air that had been hijacked. Thank God those rumors were just rumors! I don't believe anybody really got any work done that day. Many of my co-workers were in tears. Corporate headquarters sent out an e-mail acknowledging the tragedy and gave permission for employees to watch the television sets and to grieve. Any employees who seemed especially upset were allowed to go home. One employee from our main office left to get to NYC - his father worked at the WTC and they had no word of his whereabouts. (He turned out to be ok - got out in time) The media coverage was just unbelieveable. I tend to watch ABC News, and Peter Jennings was on the air all day every day for almost a whole week. I remember him talking about the smoke, that he could smell it because the wind direction had shifted so the smoke was coming in over Manhatten. When Congress had the press conference - it was so moving when someone broke into singing "God Bless America" You couldn't help but cry. The support coming in from countries around the world was very surprising. I don't believe any of us expected to hear the words of comfort from all over like we did. I had to wonder how long it would last. Seeing the Palestinians dancing in the streets - that burned. Any sympathy I might have had for their cause has gone right down the drain. Cheering the deaths of innocent people - I won't go into that... What happened on 9/11/01 was a wake up call. Americans knew they were the target of hatred, but I don't believe we were prepared to see how deep that hatred went. It is puzzling - why? What can we do? Right now it looks like we can do nothing. The people who hate us hate us because we are Americans. It is so deeply ingrained that even their children hate us. This is frightening. No matter what we do, we will not change their minds. Will there be other terrorist attacks? Will they be as bad or worse than what happened 9/11? I hope and pray that we have seen the worst they can do to us, but I won't be surprised if it does happen. God help us when it does. 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 story1788.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. 2002-09-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.59.144.218 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 classmates and I had just finished changing out of our gym uniforms, when we noticed that everyone was coming back only to sit in the bleachers of the gym after returning from the locker room. Nobody knew what was going on, so we all just sat around, not paying any attention as to what was really happening. Feeling like an eternity, I'm not sure how much time had really passed, an announcement was finally made over the PA system. They were telling us that a bomb of some sort went off in the pentagon. I was waiting for someone to pinch me, to wake me to get ready for school, but when nothing happened, I began to worry about my mother. With only the knowledge that she worked in the pentagon, I had no idea which end of the building she worked at, let alone where "the bomb" had gone off. The bell ending the period finally went off, and we were off to our next period. It wasn't until I saw all of my friends wandering the halls with tears filling their eyes, that the reality really hit. Immediately, I was realeased to the guidance office as soon as I entered my classroom. As I was roaming the halls with a friend, we passed by a classroom with the t.v. on showing two extremely tall buildings in New York City. The first plane had already hit, and I saw the second one, in replay, hitting the next building. References then began being made to the pentagon, when I learned that no bomb had gone off in my mom's building. I quickly made my way to the counselors, where it comforted me to see that I wasn't in this alone, although I wish nobody had to ever go through this at all. Phone lines were down, so all attempts failed in trying to reach anybody's parents, friends, or relatives. The end of the school day neared, and my best friend's mom showed up at the school to take me back to her house. I had been informed that my parents were both okay, since my dad also worked downtown, and they would come get me as soon as possible. My parents finally showed up at the front door of the town house, my mother in tears, both relieved to see me. I hurried into the car so we could go pick up my sister from her elementary school. She had no idea what had happened to the extent that I did at the time, in which I am thankful so she wasn't frightened so much at such a young age. She was just as happy to see them as I was when we finally reached her school, and we were off again, only to my house this time. That night, our t.v. was flooded with live broadcast and footage of the day in recap, all too much for me to handle. Our phones had been ringing off the hook from friends and relatives to make sure my parents were okay. I felt so helpless sitting there watching my mom cry all night. I was only in eighth grade, what could I possibly say to make her feel any better? September 11, 2003 was a day that will never be forgotten by anybody, but a day of which I hope never repeats itself again. I realize today how fortunate I am to still have both of my parents with me, since many children aren't so lucky. I look up to the men and women who lost their lives while trying to save others. It is said that "everything happens for a reason", though I found it hard to see why this certain event took place. No matter what the reason is, I can tell you one thing for sure. America is stronger than ever, and I don't know about everyone else, but my faith is stronger than ever, and nothing, or anybody can come in between that. 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 story11045.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. 2004-09-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 70.18.250.4 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: As I look back it's hard to visualize it. I surely will never, could, or should forget the place, and time. It was then, even as it is now, a year later, so hard for me to grasp. I remember just sitting, and looking out the door, and listening to the reports that were coming in over the radio, and just wondering just what could, and might be to come. I thank God for all the people that were there, and went there to help! I pray for all that were lost that day, and for all of us that lost not only our brothers, and sisters, but our innocence as well, and I ask God to be with us all. Richard 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 story2186.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.219.126.18 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: Different people have different perspectives about almost everything. Perspectives play a big role in history; it can determine whether or not wars occur, deaths, technological advancements, and many other things. I'd say that the most common perspective that is fought over is religion. And actually with time the same person could have a different opinion about something. Some people are more stubborn than others, but being stubborn goes along with peoples perspectives. Depending upon the subject, some people's perspectives can be changed. If a person does change his or her opinion, it's determined by the intensity of the event or assumption about something. And really, it's a good thing that a lot of people have different opinions, because if you two or more opinions about something you can get more information by piecing them together. I other words you get most of the facts straight. At the time that the incident had occurred (9/11) I was 13 years old. I was in school when it had happened. I didn't even know about it until about an hour had passed by. I didn't know exactly what had happened until about 5 hours after it happened. When I had herd something about a plane crash, I was in my 2nd period electric class making some splices with my teacher, Mr. Nash. I didn't even know there was a plane crash at the time, the television was on and all I saw was smoke. I assumed it was a plane crash. Later, I got a little more information from Derek Corwin and Joel Babcock; I was in Gym at the time. I heard them talking about a plane crash in Pennsylvania or somewhere around there. The television was on in the Gym too and I saw the same thing, just smoke. Then as I said before I didn't hear about what had actually happened until later, 8th period to be precise. I remember exactly what I was wearing at the time, and it was the 1st time I had worn them too. I was wearing light beige khaki shorts and a black t-shirt with a gray over shirt. It was very ironic that we were learning about the Taliban and Afghanistan a day before it all happened. So at least we had a little back-round information. Daily, we would get updates on what was happening with the United States and with Afghanistan. It helped because we (by we I mean our class?.) were learning about Afghanistan's past and why 9/11 occurred. It happened basically because they didn't want to accept change and also they felt that practicing Muslim was a better religion. Once I found out what had happened I was devastated at how many people had died or had been injured. And it was bad enough that all of those people died but the Palestinians were dancing, singing and shouting at the death of many, many good people. I heard about 2, 7year old children that had guns and were celebrating with them. I'm pretty sure that all Americans were devastated about 9/11, especially the families and friends of those who were lost or hurt on that day. Even though I wasn't in the disaster or knew anybody that got injured or killed, it still affected me. I was amazed at how people could be capable of such evil. Actually everybody has the potential to do something like that, but most people have moral principles. Except, I didn't know that a group of people whose religion taught them non-violence and peace would do that, in the name of their God. Well we're a bit hypocritical, for example; the Crusades, still that doesn't justify what they did. I thought people would be more civil about things like that, but as you can see my assumption was incorrect. There's always going to be disputes between people and nations, but I believe almost everybody will try and keep it minimal. It really doesn't help to be completely brainwashed from childhood, but the terrorists should have realized that they were doing something inhumane. 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 story680.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. 2002-05-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 168.169.8.38 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: How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I was in Walmart and saw the first one fall and thought it was an accident on (T.V) and then when the other plane struck the second tower, we knew right there that we were under attack! Has your life changed because of September 11th, 2001? If so, tell us how. "Yes!" I am more cautious of my children and where I go. What do yuo think should be remembered about September 11th? The innocent lives that were taken that our freedom can never be taken. Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? "Yes, I did put the flag up, yes!" 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 story8826.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. 2002-12-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.54.14.84 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My name is Kyung shin Nam. On September 11th, I was in my school like the other days. But I was surprised about this bad happening. So, we saw the News channel to see this happening. It was so terrible when I saw that. Many people died in the World Trade Center, New York by terrorists. They took away some planes, which rode American people in airplane. They were so poor because they had had luck. Also, when I saw that they called to their families by their cell phones, I felt so bad. They were victims because they died unreasonable by terrorists. Also, I think that the United States suffer damages their avilities and capacities for their country. I guessed that they who were killed by terrorists, were smart people because they worked in the World Trade Center. The World Trade Center was so important in the World. Also, their families got pain by losing their lovely family member. Also, they suffered unfairness about their death. It's so bad to them. Also, on September 11th, another bad terror was occured in Pentagon. I was suprised that the terrorists prepared for long time. They were so cruel and bad. The terrible events have already passed one year, but we can't forget that events. The September 11th terrors are remembered continued. We need to pray for victims of this bad happening. We remember the victims' unreasonable death. I want that we will not have something bad like the September 11 forever. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story8599.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. 2002-10-29 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.206