206 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: Just one day before the eleventh of that month I thought I was the most unfortunate man to walk the earth. Besides,I had just gotten out of a Texas prison 3 days earlier and during that time of incarceration I lost my wife, step kids and all I knew about this world out here. I thought "how am I going to readapt to this world now that I finally have paid for my wrong doings?" I basically literally had nothing to lose after my release so I thought about just starting a "new life" somewhere and where else better than to do that from scratch than in a city like New York? So for those first few days I thought about spending any money I had on the first airline ticket I could get to New York. So before I just up and left I wanted to spend some time with family and a friend I still had back in my hometown of Midland,Texas. I remember the night before the attacks clearly...a nice calm night out talking and looking up at the stars sitting in a quiet backyard lawn and watching east bound airliners fly by and telling my buddy that my time was near for me to be on one of those headed toward New York City. It got late out so I decided I was going to stay over so I wouldn't have to walk that long way back home. I woke up in the morning at about 7:45 central time and got up and cleaned up so I could do some morning exercises. I was about to head out the back door but I just had to know what the weather was going to be like the next few days on the east coast so I would know what kind of clothes I should have when I went to New York. As I turned the t.v. on I channel surfed for the weather channel and I got one of the news channels and I saw the New York skyline filled with smoke. I thought that maybe there was just a fire that was getting taken care of and it might just be some minor thing. So I went out to the back yard to begin some cardio. Well after about a few minutes of that my friends phone rang and I saw through the window that he ran toward the television as fast as he could to see what was on t.v. He called for me not knowing where I was and finally I walked in and asked him why he was hollering for me so much. "The World Trade Center has been bombed!" he said. I was confused. So needless to say we both were stuck to the television for another few hours. As we went to another friends home about and hour later we noticed not another vehicle other than ours was on the road for a long while anywhere, and everything was closed. I couldn't believe it, especially when I...me... thought I was having a bad life. I cried tears of anger, sorrow, and hate. "Is this what I came out to? A world of hate and murder?",I said out loud. It was very awkward coming out of a hell right back into another one. Or it seemed at the time. My heart goes out to all those who have to live the September 11th tragedies in thier minds over and over again and to those who survived the hellish nightmare. I am no one of great power, but with what my heart has to offer to anyone who needs a helping hand lets me know I am doing my part as an American trying to make things right with at least myself. God Bless this World. 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 story8143.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. 2002-09-26 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.48.158.1 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 the moment all too well. A co-worker was listening to the radio and told me what she had heard..."a plane just hit the side of a World Trade Center tower...". At first, I prayed that it was a horrific accident, but my gut was making me feel much different. We had no TV in the building, so all I had was a radio and my own images. Then, another tower hit, oh my God, my gut was right. I immediately began to cry and pray. I wanted and needed to hold my husband and my kids. I needed to be at home with all of them. I called all my loved ones just to give me a piece of mind that everyone was okay. I asked my husband to take off work and meet me at home. I went home to be with my family. I told them things that I thought they knew and that I had told them, but I didn't want to live another day without knowing 100% that I told every single one of them how much I loved them, how proud and thankful I was that they were my family and how much I need them. We made an agreement to never take our lives or each other for granted. I finally turned on the TV for the first time, and the real vision was much worse than my mind had invisioned possible. I prayed that evening very differently. It changed from "thank you Lord and bless my family and friends" to a more broad.."Please Lord, watch over our country our world...". I also prayed that the overwhelming feelings of greatfulness and thankfulness for everyone I loved would never fade with the tragedy. I pray the same for America. Fortunatley, the churches were filled for days after the tragedy. Unfortunately, they became less filled as the tragedy diminished fromt he media. May God Bless America...from the men and women who defend it, to the people who try to run it, to the people who live in it. And May God Bless our world. May we NEVER forget and continue to pray! AMEN. 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 story6470.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. 199.35.238.89 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: Middlesex NJ-My mother called me at 8:50 on the morning of September 11th to let my co-workers and myself know that a plane had hit the Trade Center. Not much more was known at that time so the meeting was cancelled as we ran to te radio. Noone really knew what to do after the second plane hit and one of my co-workers and Iwere already late for a meeting-so we left. Whitehouse, NJ-The first tower just collapsed-silence-tears-confusion...we left the meeting along with the business men + women we were visiting. The car-tower 2 fell-everyone held each other...people driving with dazed looks upon their faces..everyone rushing to embrace their families. My Nana's House-Bridgewater, NJ-I ran inside and grabbed my baby girl-holding her as I never have-because I was still able to. The rest of the day was spent watching the news...searching for family members in the city...earging my husband to hurry home. Raritan, NJ...we are home now...all together, holding each other...safe and sound. I went up to the attic to find my flag, I hung it outside...for the first time ever while 'God Bless America' played over and over in my mind. That was the day I stoped taking my status as an American for granted...That was the day I BECAME 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 story4310.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. 64.12.96.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On Sept. 11, 2001 I took my son to school for his first day. My son had arrived from vacation on a flight the night before. My family was very lucky I chose that night flight instead of the morning flight that they wanted or the plane would have been diverted. I was on a bus on Northern Boulevard in Queens going to work when I could see a immense plume of smoke directly in front of us in Manhattan. The bus driver and I looked at each other. He turned on the radio and we heard about the first plane crashing. First thing out of my mouth was "Terrorist Attack!" He looked at me like I was crazy. The weird thing was there was no reaction out of the people on the bus--it felt like nobody cared. I told the bus driver to stay safe and that's when we heard about the second plane--he started to cry. I told him to pray and I got off the bus. I hope his family was OK because he looked like he was in shock. When I went into work at the hotel it was pandemonium. People wanted to check out but where would they go. Flights were cancelled. People were coming in from the airports. Alot of crying. We took in about 300 + people from the airports. They didn't have their medicines, luggage, and many didn't know english. People came wandering in who had walked from the World Trade Center and were too tired to get to Bayside and Long Island. We let them sleep on the gym floors and anywhere else we had space. We set up a large dorm room for the people. Some people were calm and understood what we were trying to do others cursed us out. I felt really bad for the old people and the kids. Meanwhile the TVs were on and everybody was in a state of shock. I knew people who worked in the buildings My son was far from me at school and my brother worked in the immediate area. I was being pulled in all directions. I worked 72 hours straight and really never got to see the televised coverage. All I remember was praying alot for the emergency workers and the families at the site. We were working on adrenalin and when I finally got home days later at 3am there was silence in the house and I broke down and cried like a baby. Afterwards I remember the tourists wanting to go to the site. I have never been there and probably won't ever go. It should always be a place of reverence for all the lives that were lost and not as a place of curiosity for tourists. In the end I felt very comforted to know that New York and the nation pulled together in those immediate moments after. Every night I pray for all the people affected and I pray for peace in the world. DR 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 story21303.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. anonymously Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-24 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 70.19.74.218 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: SEPTEMBER 11TH WHAT CAN I SAY I JUST THINK OF IT AS THE DAY AMERICA STOOD STILL. I WAS AT WORK AT 7:30 AM CST THINKING THIS IS JUST ANOTHER WORK DAY WHEN MY FELLOW EMPLOYEES RAN IN AND TOLD ME THE WORLD TRADE CENTER WAS HIT BY TERRORISTS. IN MY MIND I THOUGHT THIS COULD NOT BE HAPPENING WE RAN TO THE WAREHOUSE TURNED ON THE RADIO AND LISTEN TO THE HORRIFIC EVENTS UNFOLD. ALL I THOUGHT WAS ALL THE LIVES THAT WERE WASTED THIS DAY AND HOW COULD SOMEBODY DO THIS TO US. WE CRIED, PRAYED AND HOPED FOR THESE HEROS THAT THEY WOULD BE FOUND. WE PRAYED FOR THEIR FAMILIES THAT THEY WOULD SEE THEIR LOVED ONES AGAIN AND THEN WE PRAYED THAT OUR GOVERNMENT WOULD FIND THE BASTARDS WHO DID THIS AND PUNISH THEM. I REMEMBER A PHONE CALL FROM MY PARENTS WHO WHERE IN AUSTRALIA THEY WHERE FRIGHTEN AND SCARED FOR THEIR FAMILY AND I WAS SCARED FOR THEM. I TOLD THEM NOT TO GET ON A PLANE STAY THERE AT LEAST I KNOW YOU WILL BE SAFE. WE WILL NEVER FORGET THIS DAY OUR HEROS WILL ALWAYS BE IN HEARTS. 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 story2786.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. 208.252.217.154 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 awoken by my alarm at 5:30 on the morning of Tuesday September 11th 2001. It seemed like any other, I rushed to get ready to catch the bus to school. My first period class began at 7:25, I ran into class with seconds to spare-not knowing that, on this day I was going to have far more to worry about than being late. Waiting for class to end our teacher turned to Good Morning America- as we were watching it those last few minutes of class we saw at 8:45 AM United Airlines Flight 175 crash into the South tower of the World Trade Center. In horror we all looked at eachother-looking around the room I saw shock all over my classmates faces. We all thought it was some horrible accident. The principal came over the loudspeaker and announced that we were to report to our homerooms, we returned there and sat and watched the morning news live from NY, at 9:03 AM- the second plane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, then we knew this wasn't some horrible accident. Watching that second plane hit that building is something I will never forget as long as I live, it glided through it like the building was made of air, and then there was a huge fireball. Then I thought there are floors above where this plane had hit, how are they going to get out? As I looked at my fellow classmates most of us at that time only 15 or 16 years old, sat that and came to the shocking realization that our country was under attack. We continued to watch the news until we started seeing people jump from the buildings some holding hands, some women holding there skirts and dresses down as they were dropping to their deaths. All I could think was, these poor people, who would do this? I became terrified, I tried calling my parents but couldn't reach them. At about 9:20 we went to our second period classes, all of us in shock and disbelief, and many of us very confused. Then around the same time we were told to turn on our TV's again- we watched the President of the United States state words that I will never forget "The country has suffered an apparent terrorist attack." About 20 minutes later we were told to again turn on our TV's, where they announced that the Pentagon had been struck by a third plane. The room became silent, no one said a word, we now knew it was more than just an attack on our economic capital, it was an attack on our entire country-and we didnt know if we'd be next. Then around 10 after 10 we heard wispers that the South Tower had collapsed! By then I was terrified this was real, this wasn't something that was a horrible accident, we were being attacked, a country I always thought was undestructable, untouchable, and strong-and no one could touch us. Then we heard that around 10:20 another plane had crashed in a desolate area in Penn. I thought will this ever end? There are planes crashing all over the eastern US, I was terrified for my life, and that of my family-my father working in Rhode Island at the time, reached me by cell phone to tell me he was fine,and was coming to get me. At 3:00 pm that day when I saw my father and I ran into his arms, I cried harder than I ever had before, I was 15 yrs old, and I was completely terrified. I then knew we were a very easy target. Now 18, and looking back on it almost two and 1/2 years later, I think it made a lot of us, at least myself grow up a lot more quickly than we had to. I appreciate a lot more now, those who risk their lives everyday to protect ours, and especially those who were in those towers, innocent civilians instantly turned into heros. I will never forget that day as long as I live, my father later told me it was the biggest attack on American soil since the attack on pearl harbor almost a half century earlier. This day will never leave my mind, it seems like yesterday was the day that changed the America 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 story10405.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. 2004-01-31 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.252.73.248 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: Front Row Seat to the End of the Innocence - By Ric Perrott The west bank of the Hudson River -- New Jersey's gold coast is what they call it -- was always a peaceful place to live. An escape from the hustle of New York City; it provides some of the suburban creature comforts while still affording proximity to the city, and some awe-inspiring views of the greatest skyline in the World. Of course that all changed on September 11, 2001. This is not going to be a dramatic emotional treatise which dwells on the immense loss we have suffered, it will instead tell of what happened to me. It is not going to be a call to arms or solidarity. It will simply be an account of my experience on that day, written in an effort to give some reality to anybody who might not fully understand what the people of this area were going through. Just the regular people, not the firefighters or the rescue workers, not the direct survivors or their families and not the families of the victims. Just the regular people who are trying to find ways to get through their regular days under a lot of irregular circumstances. I only wish I could forget for 5 minutes, or for 5 seconds. I believe that as a Nation, we should never forget; but if somehow I could be so lucky, I am asking that I be allowed to, if only for a few moments. The Tuesday unlike any that had preceded it began for me at 7:45 AM with a decision to finally turn the alarm off and get out of bed. My daily routine was completed 55 minutes later, and at 8:40 AM I left my building to begin my typical commute into the city. I live on the 32nd floor so at times the elevator can be slow to descend as it stops along the way to pick up more commuters. On this day I'd guess that I left my building around 8:46 AM. Most days it's a 4 minute walk to the PATH station and a 15 minute train ride into 33rd street and 7th avenue -- midtown Manhattan. That day the walk only lasted 2 minutes. At 8:48 AM a colossal thunder ripped through the morning haze and instantly shook dozens of weary commuters awake. I glanced to my left just in time to see a tremendous fireball explode from the north side of World Trade Center tower number one. I'm not sure how long I stood there, mouth agape in disbelief, but I believe it was at least 2 or 3 minutes. By that time a crowd had gathered along the waterfront promenade that encircles my building complex, and we just stood there watching the flame and smoke pour out of the tower, completely unsure of what to feel. Some folks whipped out their cellular phones, presumably to call someone either in the tower or near the tower. I calmly walked back into my building and rode the elevator back up to my floor, where I found my apartment purely on instinct--my mind still numb with what I had just witnessed--and went back inside. I picked up the phone to call the office to see if they had even known what had happened, and of course to tell them that I wouldn't be coming in just yet. I reached for the remote control to tune in CNN to see if they could offer anymore insight as to what had happened. As the television glowed to life I could see the flaming tower from a different angle. My living room window affords me a fully unobstructed view of downtown Manhattan and this would be the only day that I would regret it. The CNN anchors tried their best to report the theories so far; a plane had flown into the tower; a missile had been fired and struck the tower; a bomb had gone off on one of the upper floors. They frantically tried to get someone, anyone on the phone that could give them an eyewitness account. I hung up from talking with my employer and glanced out my 32nd floor window at the wounded tower bleeding into the sky. I caught something with my peripheral vision and everything suddenly began moving in slow motion. I know now that only 10 seconds or so elapsed from the time I saw the Airliner lurching downward and the time that it sliced through tower two and exploded, but I assure you that it seemed like 10 hours. In a perverse sort of omniscience, I was able to watch that plane eviscerate the tower from two completely different angles simultaneously. My own view out the window coupled with the south-facing view that CNN's camera was shooting, offered me a unique view of this impossible event. It is a vision that will forever be burned into my mind's eye. Every time I close my eyes, I still see it -- this most horrible of disaster movies. Now a sense of panic was washing over me, starting with the hair on the back of my neck and rapidly moving downward. My first instinct was to run, to grab my keys and get the Hell out of there, but I couldn't move. The CNN reporters were in a complete frenzy now, replaying the crash hundreds of times while I just stared at the carnage not a quarter-mile away from my window. I reached for the telephone to call my Mother on Long Island and assure her that I was ok. In the middle of that call I received a call waiting tone and took a call from a friend who happened to be on the New York Waterway ferry in the middle of the Hudson River, and had watched the last 10 minutes with the same horror as everyone else. We all assured each other that we would remain in touch and hung up. I turned to my computer which is always on and connected to the Internet. The next 30 minutes or so are essentially a blur for me. I remember pacing around my apartment, trying to get a handle on what was happening. CNN was not helping by spouting every theory that was proffered, whether it was hearsay or not. And the local channels seemed to offer coverage that was not much better. With the view that I had, the last thing I cared to see was replay after infinite replay. With one eye out the window on the hemorrhaging buildings, and another on my computer, I started to feel something. It felt a little like a miniature earthquake and I jolted my head up towards the window, through which I saw that tower 2 had begun to collapse. Never before in my more than 30 years on this planet had I ever been so completely and totally in shock over something I'd seen, but then again, I had never seen anything remotely close to this...New York City was crumbling right in front of me. By this time I was in a near panic as reports were now coming from CNN that the Pentagon in Washington D.C. had been attacked and that the rumor now was that commercial airliners had been hijacked and plowed into the Twin Towers as well as the Pentagon. The surreal image of a lone tower standing at the foot of Manhattan will live with me forever. I don't know how long I just stood there and stared out my window, wondering how and why had all of this happened, but it couldn't have been too long. Before I really had a chance to recover...tower 1 was coming down. A few more phone calls were attempted but not many were getting through. It seems that the telephone infrastructure had been affected by the collapse of the buildings and the cellular systems were being overwhelmed. Exploding buildings in New York City and no way to communicate is not a good combination. I turned to the Internet and email as well as Instant Messenger. I checked my email and there was a request from my friend Bill Shunn to check in on his website and let him know that everyone was ok. Bill had set up a so-called "Survivor Registry" on his site and had cobbled together a small Web-based program where you could enter your name and a short message. Within an hour it was being flooded with messages and even requests from worried family members. Passing the word as best we could regarding who was alive and ok and where the best place to go for information was how we passed the next few hours. Trying to help as many people as we could, and getting them the information they so desperately sought. Today, more than a month after the horrific events, I have witnessed New York City become stronger than ever. I have witnessed New Yorkers and non-natives alike give their time, their sweat, their blood and their resiliency to bring this city and this Nation back to its feet. These days, when I look out of my window, I try not to see the devastation. I try to see the spirit of the thousands that are giving so selflessly to restore confidence and faith to the people of this great city; as well as the spirits of the thousands that gave their lives. And as I'm watching the Yankees...The New York Yankees return to the World Series once again, I get the feeling that maybe, just maybe, we'll get through this ok, and we'll come out on the other side stronger, wiser, more compassionate, and 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 story20397.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. 2006-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.81.190.12 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: I work for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) in Kansas City, Mo. Sept. 11, 2001 was a special day for me -it marked my one year anniversary with FEMA. I remember thinking that as I drove to work that Tue. morning (it was a clear day in the Midwest as it was in NYC and Washington, DC). I learned of the first plane from a colleague at about 8 am CST; didn't know it was an airliner and presumed it was a light plane that hit by accident. By the time I got to a TV, the 2nd plan had alrady hit. We were conducting training in house that day and it continued. A cell phone went off sometime around 9-9:30. The guy who answered it told us that the WTC had collapesed. We went back to the TV and learned of the attack on the Pentagon (also reports of a bomb outside the State Dept. that later proved false). I remember thinking that we were under attack ala Dec. 7 and that the series of attacks was akin to a Veitnam Tet Offensive redux. I am in the reserves and was thinking I might get called up (I wasn't). FEMA went on immediate 24/7 operations and I was on nights for two evenings (Tue. and Wed.). I drove home looking up at the sky knowing only military planes were in the air and wondering what all this would mean for me and my family and the nation. I felt different in a way I've not experienced before. My wife was at home when I arrived. We hugged and spoke a bit. Out son was almost 18 months and playing in the house w/the TV on. We were glad we didn't have to explain it to him but know we will someday. 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 story6225.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. 209.3.152.35 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 the video tape stopped i saw a brief image of the burning towers flash across my tv screen,Unaware of the events taking place I asked my husband what awful movie they were showing on television, He then had the awful task of telling me that what i was witnessing was real. I felt so ill i ran to the bathroom where i thought that i would be sick, although i lived so far away my heart went out to all the people, who perished, who survived and who witnessed this terrible tragedy, my heart still to this day goes out to them. To me it seems like a nightmare, so unbelieveable,so terrible, it doesnt seem like any human could commit such an act. The stories of heroes in forms of firefighters and rescue workers where unbelievable, to this day i still struggle to understand how people could be so brave in the face of such enormous catastrophy. But I am writing this to let everyone know that Americans have the support of the world and the admiration of those wonderful people who risked their own lives to help others, it shows that earth really is a good place to be, among tragedy we have miracles, among the sad stories we have the wonderful ones, and among death we have rebirth. All Americans should be proud, not only of the Firefighters but of themselves. Continue to stand strong. 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 story9015.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. 2003-02-01 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.142.189.171 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: Oregon is in a different time zone (3 hours behind NY) so I was awakened by news broadcasts on my clock radio instead of music. There was such an urgency in the reports that I thought for a moment I must be dreaming and said 'oh, shut up' to the radio. After a few moments, I was able to focus on what was being said and got up to turn on the television. The visions were shocking and I truly thought this must be the end of the world as we know it. My husband was worried about his daughter (Michelle) who was living in New York City - we didn't know exactly where she was at that moment, but we knew she and her husband were expecting their first child in October; we also knew she was on maternity leave. My husband tried to phone her and, of course, all the lines were busy. In desperation, he called Michelle's mom (his ex-wife) in Portland, Oregon and got her message machine. He said he was very worried about Michelle and Chris (her husband) and asked that he be called when the message was received. He left for work, still not knowing anything about Michelle. In about 2 hours Michelle's mother called. She was in New York visiting with Michelle but had called Oregon to check her messages; Michelle was ok and Chris had been in New Jersey on business that day. The bridges into NY were closed so Chris couldn't get back for a day or two, but at least they were both safe. Since then, Michelle and Chris have become parents to Grayson, a most beautiful son and have moved to White Plains. They lived 15 blocks from ground zero. 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 story4924.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. 204.203.49.96 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: A Day A Day of Erased Lines Before September 11, 2001 most workers would enter their offices and give those around them a quick smile or nod. Maybe a ?Hey?, ?How are you doing? or ?Hello? but they would never stop and wait for the response. This all changed on Wednesday September 12, 2001. What brought about this change? Was it a joyous occasion, a wonder of nature? No it was when terrorists executed a long planned attack on American soil. While we were going about our everyday activities, planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in a field in Pennsylvania. The planes were used as bombs to destroy the buildings, to kill thousands of innocent people and divide us as a people and Nation. Their plan succeeded in destroying the buildings, but instead of dividing us, brought us together like no other time in history. The first plane, Flight 11, crashed into the World Trade Center tower one at 8:47am, not even thirty minutes later, the second plane, Flight 175 crashed into the World Trade Center tower two at 9:02. To most Americans the World Trade Center represents the broad financial power that America has achieved. It was built on the principles of the American dream; hard work and capitalism; it was built by all types of people from all walks of life. It shows prosperity to the rest of the world. Minoru Yamasaki, a second generation Japanese American came to New York in the 1950's to design the towers. Construction began in 1966. At first many Americans did not like the idea of having 110 story buildings but with time they grew to love and cherish them for what they represented. However these buildings did not stand long on Tuesday, for at 9:50am, after two hundred firefighters arrived to rescue those caught in the towers, tower two collapsed. Then, at 10:28, tower one collapsed. No words describe what we had seen. For me I can say the event seemed surreal, chatter was replaced with gasps for air and tears as the world stood still to watch. But James Nachtwey a professional photographer may have said it best " We have now seen a part of the world in a way it never was." During the entire disaster taking place in New York, another part of America was under attack as well. Hundreds of miles from New York, but seemingly in our backyard Flight 77 at 9:41 am struck the Pentagon in Arlington, VA. The Pentagon, which can be described as the great security blanket was the headquarters for all sectors of the military and CIA. It was built in 1943, and was said to be indestructible. When the plane crashed into the building, we saw that even though the building sustained some damage it held up to its reputation. People were killed, and part of the building was destroyed, but it was far from catastrophic. Perhaps the people that gave the most were not even in New York or Washington, but in Shanks Ville, PA. It was here that the fourth plane Flight 93 was brought to the ground in a violent struggle as four heroes, Jeremy Glick, Mark Bingham, Todd Beamer, and Thomas Burnett, all from different social classes, and unknown others gave their lives for their family and country ?I know we?re going to die. There?s three of us who are going to do something about it.? These were the words of Thomas Burnett in a last minute phone call to his wife. Because of these heroes?s thousands of people they had never met got to go home to their families. We will never know the intended target of this plane, but thanks to the people on that flight the terrorist?s plan was not carried out. So what happened after these attacks? Were these attacks directed at one type of social class, gender or race? I think not! They were directed at Americans and our way of life. Although we can disagree with one another we are all Americans. Who came to the rescue? No, not Superman, but Americans. Men and women risked their lives to help evacuate the buildings, put out the fires, and help the injured, or just be there to support each other. The reason I call this paper The Day of Erased Lines, is because Americans were willing to help each other. There was no social order, racial lines, or gender gaps. Just Americans. What had happened affected everyone. September 11, 2001 turned into the "Great Equalizer". Americans were helping each other in all sorts of ways. By donating blood, money, food, clothing or helping with the rescue at ?ground zero.? People from all walks of life were there to lend a helping hand. America was founded as one nation of freedom and liberty for all. This tragedy may have helped us regain our common bond. We are Americans and are equal despite our differences in class, race or gender. That one-day blurred the social lines that are sometimes set. It was the blue collared workers who rushed in to save the white-collared workers, the middle class who gave as much money as they could to benefit families from the upper class. Rudolph Guliani put it best when he said ?We have met the worst in humanity with the best in humanity?. Due to the courage and selflessness, 25,000 lives were saved that day. Lets continue to change America through selflessness. The benefits of helping others cannot be measured in dollars and cents. This tragedy made me realize how important it is to treat everyone with respect, tolerance and love. 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 story562.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. 2002-05-08 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.205.83 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 asleep in bed because I was bartending until late the night before. My roomate Brian knocked on the door and said, "Get up, turn on the tv!" I thought the world was ending. That was my original thought as I jumped out of bed. I turned on the tv and was horrified. I had just missed the second plane hitting live. But, the taped version was enough for me. I immediately started praying. I wondered, I'm sure like all Americans, who did this, why they did it and what was next. I saw people jumping from windows holding hands. How anyone could not want to defend our country after this maniacal attack is beyond me. I have supported my firefighters, police, troops and President Bush through all of this. How quickly we forget. As a young American, I am disgusted by some of the attitudes Americans have. I cannot erase those images or that day from my mind. I didn't lose anyone I knew in the attack, but I still feel like it was a personal attack on me and everyone that lives in this great country. If people can't realize that then they should go live somewhere else. 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 story10935.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. 2004-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.253.128.171 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 was in AP US History and we were learning about early American History when our Principal came over the intercom and announced that palnes had hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Manassas is not that far from DC and the Pentagon and I have family that worked at the Pentagon and thankfully my family members who worked there were not there that day. I remember thinking that it couldn't be that bad because i had not seen any pictures or news programs while I was in school so I had no idea how bad things really were. I remember getting home and turning on the tv and almost every station was showing pictures of the World Trade Centers and the gapping hole in the Pentagon. I went to work after school and I work at a daycare center and we were on lockdown, no one could go outside it was such an erie feeling. We have parents who work at the Pentagon and the kids really had no idea about what was going on with their parents. Thankfully we had no parents lost in the Pentagon attack. I remember the next day at work the kids were drawing pictures and one child had drwan the Twin Towers with smoke rising from them and people umping out. It made me feel so sad that these kids had to go through this because they are so young and some of the kids asked me why people hated us and why would they want to fly airplanes into our buildings, I couldn't really answer them because I really didn't know myself why they would do that. The attacks are the Pearl Harbor of our generation and we ahve to cope with this just as our grandparents did. 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 story2269.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 suspected nothing Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001 as I strolled onto the New York City subway system. I was taking my normal train ride to Canal Street, where I would transfer to the train that would take me to the World Trade Center, just two blocks away from my office. When I got to the stop where I would transfer, I noticed that the train line I was transferring to had been completely stopped. ?Stupid trains? never working half the time,? I muttered, oblivious to the fact that a plane had just hit the One World Trade Center building. So, I took an alternate train to lower Manhattan, getting off the Subway at Wall Street. As soon as I climbed the stairs to street level, I knew something horrible had happened ? something on a scale never before envisioned. I exited the Subway at 9:10 a.m., 3 minutes after the plane flew into the Two World Trade Center building, and ultimately about 45 minutes before that building would come crashing down. Of course, at that time I had no idea what had happened? I merely stood, struck with terror and dread, at the two huge holes and towering infernos in the icons of lower Manhattan that had been standing there since 1972 ? five years before I was born. After staring in disbelief for a few seconds, I asked someone standing near me what had happened. ?They flew two planes into the Trade Center!? the gentleman replied back, obviously struck with just as much horror and disbelief as me. My first reaction was the same as that of most people, I?d imagine? I thought, ?That?s impossible! Some fire got started accidentally, and has now gotten out of hand, that?s all.? As I looked closer at the buildings, however, and saw the holes where pieces of airplanes had entered and exited the buildings, it became obvious that that was exactly what had happened. The sick feeling that had been building in the pit of my stomach then getting sicker and deeper. It was obvious that many, many people had already died here this morning, and as I prayed, I felt God telling me somehow that this morning of terror wasn?t over yet. I felt all of a sudden that I had to get inside? into some semblance of a safe place. So I went to my office building, which was two blocks away from the World Trade Center. From my office in the corner of the building on the third floor, I had a perfect view of both towers, and I knew that I could watch the rescue efforts for the fire victims from that office. At this point, I had been silently praying ever since I got off the Subway and saw the horrific scene of fire and death, and from my office, I continued praying and called friends and asked them to do the same. (I also called my mother and father to tell them I was safe? my mother had already left me three phone mail messages while trying to reach me that morning.) While I was talking and praying on the phone with a friend from Houston, Texas, the most unthinkable, horrific event became reality. From my perch in the third floor corner office of Two Federal Reserve Plaza, I saw the supports beginning to snap and give way at the top of the Two World Trade Center building. I said to my friend, ?Oh my God, that building?s going to fall!? (Not taking the Lord?s name in vain ? it was actually a cry to the Lord, as was all the other times I talked to him that morning, cried to him, and shouted to him.) In horror, I watched the entire Two WTC building come crashing down. In those few seconds it took to fall, I was just beginning to process how many thousands of people I was watching die. I didn?t have time to be horrified, though. As the top of that large building hit the ground, a tremendous dust and debris cloud at least thirty stories high started rushing through lower Manhattan, and directly towards my glass-walled corner office. I suppose at any other time it would have been rather humorous to see my eyes each grow to about twice the size of a quarter in realization of something. That morning, though, as I saw a massive, ominous cloud filled with millions of tiny pieces of airborne debris rushing at me, the thought settled on me that I might actually be about to die. This 30+-story-tall mountain of moving death that was a debris cloud was screaming directly towards my glass office, and I knew I had to run. So, I dropped the phone in my hands, grabbed my computer bag, and started sprinting for the interior of my office building. After a few steps, I realized how pointless it was to carry my computer bag and dropped that, too, while still sprinting towards the interior of my building. I dove under a desk just before the pitch-black dust cloud hit our building. Fortunately, no windows on our floor were shattered, and we continued to breathe uncontaminated, dust-free air. In the terrifying minutes that followed, however, it became apparent that others in our vicinity had not been so fortunate. Several people came running onto our floor who had been on the street at the time of the collapse. These people, many of whom you have seen in magazine pictures, no doubt, were covered from head to foot with a thick dust, and most were having trouble breathing from all the dust in their lungs. We helped these people, and devised an emergency plan for our floor in case our environment became contaminated with dust and we had to fashion makeshift masks to filter clean air for us. Later, those plans would prove to be wisely laid out. After about 10 minutes of staring in horror at the pitch-black dust cloud outside our building, the building?s security PA system fired to life and an officer instructed us to stay in our building for our own safety, due to the thick dust cloud outside. We were only too happy to oblige. I can only assume some sort of bomb threat or other threat was made on our complex shortly thereafter (my company?s Wall Street offices are inside the Federal Reserve complex in New York), because the security officers came over the PA system five minutes later and told us to evacuate the building calmly, but as quickly as possible. I readied my makeshift mask we had fashioned earlier from wet paper towels, and everyone on our floor made our way downstairs to ground level. When we exited the building, I would not have recognized the street I exited to as the same street I had used to enter the building. Everything ? literally everything ? was covered in a three-inch-thick layer of a sickly, grayish-white dust. There were papers and other small debris also covering the streets; I distinctly remember passing a woman?s single, red high-heel shoe on the street and wondering where its owner was? and if she was still alive. God help her. After a three-block walk, I came across the New York Downtown Hospital, where hospital workers were passing out surgical masks to the fleeing crowds. Such brave people? I accepted a mask, blessed the people for doing a good job, and continued fleeing. After I had made it about 8 blocks to the North, I heard another horrible, deafening crumbling sound, and turned around just in time to see the second tower crumble in front of me. I was even more terrified than the first time, since I was now outdoors and completely vulnerable to any debris that might be thrown up or kicked around in the dust cloud that rushed out from the collapse. I, along with the people around me, began to run, and I prayed for God to help no one get trampled in what was quickly becoming a panicked mob. Praise God, he answered my prayer, and the people running with me were actually rather quiet and orderly in their running. We ran fast enough to get away from the major dust cloud, only being brushed in the end by a very light cloud of dust that was a remnant of the disaster. On my 3.5-mile walk the rest of the way back to my hotel, I stopped in several places to stand in horror with my fellow New Yorkers and pray with some people. At times like that, we are reduced to our most base beliefs and elements. Some of the people I talked to were scared: they had nowhere to go, no one to turn to, and even in this, the worst horror anyone in this generation has ever seen (or likely will ever see), they still could not call upon the Lord. Others prayed passionately with me, and called upon the Lord to bring healing on our land? for a passionate revival of people to come to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. When I finally got back to my hotel room, I was touched beyond words, as I had gotten calls from over 25 different people asking if I was ok, who wanted to know where I was and if I had been injured in any way. What love, what caring! Of course, in the time since I witnessed this horrible disaster, I have been going through the normal stages of grief and loss. I am still dealing with the feelings and emotions of that day?s events, as we all are. This type of horror does beg one question, though. Where is God? The Bible tells us God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omni-present? so, therefore, God knew this was going to happen, and he could have stopped it. He didn?t, though. Why? Why, God? Why did 6,000+ people have to die, with tens of thousands more suffering the psychological wound of having personally witnessed the disaster, and millions more grieving and suffering the loss, also? Why inflict this horrible pain upon us? There are no easy answers to these questions, but there are a few truths that God gives us in the Bible to cling to in times like these. First, God does not cause evil. It is true that he allows evil to enter and rule in the world sometimes, but God is not the cause of evil. James 1:13-15 says, ?When tempted, no one should say, ?God is tempting me.? For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.? Evil is the state of the world? it is the result of Satan dwelling on this earth and causing our ancestors (Adam and Eve) to sin, through which we are born with an inherently sinful nature. Evil happens ? this world is imperfect because of that. Every once in a while, a horribly evil event such as this rears its head to remind us just how terrible evil can be, but that evil is always in existence in our world. God is not the cause of it, but the Bible says that he does allow it to happen. Second, God does have the power to do away with all the evil in the world, but he chooses not to do so just yet. Because, you see, to do away with all of the evil in the world would require him to sentence all those humans who have rejected him to eternal death ? and God doesn?t want anyone to perish. He wants all of his children to come to him. The Bible does say that, although God does not want to punish any man, his holy and just nature requires him to judge everyone who wishes to be in his presence according to his standards? are they holy? Are they pure, spotless, and completely blameless? So, at some point in the future (according to the book of Revelation), God will bring all of humanity to judgment, and will judge the evildoers of the tragedy of September 11. He will punish that evil as he must punish every evil. The only punishment for rejecting God is not jail time or probation? the only punishment is death. Reserving his entire judgment for a future date, though, is problematic to those of us living on Earth. We have a limited view of the future, and cannot see God?s plan for this place. We must have faith in what the Bible teaches us, however. Evil will be punished, and if we?ve not accepted Jesus as our savior and chosen to follow him, we will suffer the same fate as those evil spirits who caused the destruction of the World Trade Center. God?s gift to us is redemption through Jesus? blood, but without gift, the Bible clearly says that we will endure the same fate as all others who are not holy ? death. We?re told in Psalm 14:3 and Romans 3:23, among other places, that no one is holy in God?s eyes? we have all sinned. The only way to be judged holy and righteous on the day of judgment is to accept the gift of sacrifice that God, in the form of his son Jesus, gave to us by dying a perfect death for our sins and then being raised from the dead. God must judge all evil, but he?s given us a way out, a way to have not only eternal peace, but peace and comfort on this earth, as well. All we have to do is ask him for it! This is not a time to lose our focus on the only one who can bring us peace, the only one who can calm our fears. This is a time to call upon the Lord ? to say to him, ?God, this terrible act has happened, and I don?t know why you?ve allowed it, but I trust you and I put my complete faith in you as our all-knowing, all-powerful God. Your word says that where sin and evil abound, grace abounds all the more, so Lord, in this time where evil has abounded, let your grace abound in me. Fill me with your spirit, draw me closer to you, and help me to know the peace and comfort that only you can bring.? If we ask the Lord to give us his peace, he will answer us, and we will be drawn closer to him in a beautiful and awesome way. That?s my prayer for our nation ? that God will use this horrible tragedy to bring us close to him as a nation, that many will seek his face, and will be brought closer to his son Jesus. Jesus brings grace, peace, comfort, love, and life. That is what I wish and pray for you. May the grace, peace, and love of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you, and may he comfort you and restore your life as you seek him. In God?s Hands, Jason C. Hortman 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 story1102.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-08-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.190.84.28 Annotation Annotations to this item. Religion NY:2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was the Horticulturist at this new golf club and had to get some help from our machanic, I went into the shop , but no one was there. I went into my boss's office where I found all the other management people I worked with-all men. They were watching TV. I thought they finally got the cable in they had been waiting for and were watching a Bruce Willis movie. When I said something to them they turned to me and said it was the World Trade Center. Before I could reply, the second plane hit the second tower. I couldn't believe my eyes! I went to my office, shut the door and fell on my knees to pray. We all watched later as the towers fell. My father was military and we were all over the world as I was growing up, and the memory that came and stuck in my mind was of Misawa, Japan. When I was in 5th grade we had to be escorted on base by armed machine gunners in jeeps because they were expecting 10,000 demonstrators at the main gates of the air base for May Day. The town with military personnel and their fammilies was only about 3,000. The terror that memory brings back is quite real. 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 story7027.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. 209.208.54.122 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11, 2001 I was in school in Bellevue ohio. I walked into 4th period which was Algebra. The teacher was watching CNN and she was crying. I had never heard of the World Trade Center before. I was shocked. I was supposed to have a football game that night it was cancelled. I was scared that we were going to get bombed again. After school I went home and watched the news all night horrified of the lost of life. Robert Buckner 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 story6481.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: I was at the corner deli getting my morning coffee when my boyfriend called me to say how he just heard that a plane hit the World Trade Center. I thought to myself, "Wow how weird that a plane could be flying so low that it could actually knick the top of the World Trade Center" and then proceeded to order my coffee. Then my phone rang again that another plane hit! That's when I knew it wasn't some kind of freak accident. I arrived to work maybe five minutes later and told my co-workers what I had just heard. No one knew anything about it so we logged onto the internet to get the latest news, eventually someone brought in a radio and we spent the rest of the day glued to the news, not believing what we were hearing trying to stay calm and attempting to call our family and friends to make sure they were okay aswell. 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 story2541.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. 151.204.153.249 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 found ourselves in Normandy on September 11 rather by accident. The four of us had expected to stay for two weeks in Brittany, but a problem with the accommodations prompted us to leave early. So we headed for Normandy, where we had expected to spend a few days seeing Bayeux and Rouen before our friends' flight home on September 13 and our flight home from Paris on September 18. Given the time of year, we took less than satisfactory lodging in a small gite in Reviers- no television, no radio, no telephone. I'm an American historian - a New Yorker born and bred, now living in Washington, D.C. - and I had no particular interest in battle sites and we had no intention of visiting the landing beaches. But with more than a week (we'd arrived on Sunday, September 9), we decided we would see what there was to see. The town larger than a crossroads we were closest to, Courseulles-sur-Mer, we found out was the only port not closed by the Germans during WW II because it was so tiny. The code name for the landing site at Courseulles was Juno Beach, where the Canadians had landed on D-Day. Our first stop on September 11, at around 2 p.m. (8 a.m. EST) was Arromanches, where the British installed Mulberry Harbor, the astonishing engineering feat that allowed the Normandy invasion to succeed without access to a sizable French port. Mulberry Harbor had been built in Britain, towed a hundred miles across the Channel and installed in 12 days, about midway along the Normandy coast. The prefabricated harbor permitted the Allies to supplement and provision the troops moving through France throughout the liberation of France. Pieces remain within site of the beach. We were transformed by the sheer audacity of the conception - Churchill's - and the fabulous success of the Royal Engineering Corps. We then continued driving west along the coast, to Omaha Beach, where the Americans had landed, taking tremendous losses because the air support had not succeeded in eliminating the German bunkers. We ended our visit at the American cemetery around five o'clock. The rows of crosses, with the occasional Star of David, recall Arlington National Cemetery, while the Channel beach of Colleville-sur-Mer runs along side below the cliff. Around 6:00, we headed back to Courseulles for dinner. We arrived at La Trottoria, an Italian restaurant on the Rue de la Mer in Courseulles, around 7. We'd eaten there before and so the staff knew we were Americans. After we were seated, the one waitress who could speak a little English asked if we had seen a television. We said we hadn't. Looking drawn, she said that the World Trade Center had been bombed and collapsed. The other waitress made a motion with her hands, which she held before her, horizontally, the bottom hand facing up and her top hand faced down - and clapped them together. No, we said. Not possible. Yes, they insisted. The World Trade Center had been attacked and collapsed. I thought that they had watched a movie and mistaken a contrived scene for reality. The waitress who spoke a little English asked if I would like to go upstairs to her apartment above the restaurant to see the television, an invitation I accepted. Her apartment, in which her mother also resided, was tiny - a living room and dining room combination with a sofa and table that could not have measured more than 8 feet by 5 feet. But a large t.v. sat in the bookcase in the wall, playing images over and over again of the Towers in flames, combusting as if a volcano. I understood only a little of the French commentary but after watching long enough to convince myself that this was not "War of the Worlds," I went back downstairs to my companions to tell them that it was true - the World Trade Center had been attacked and collapsed. As we grappled with this news, I felt as if I had to hear an English-language report. We left the restaurant and raced down the tiny street in the tiny town to a small hotel that also had a restaurant. We walked up to the desk and I asked the hostess in French (she didn't speak English) if she had a television with an English-language station on it. She frowned, as if the request were absurd. But then she realized that we were American and her expression changed instantly to one of compassion. She took out her reservation book, located an empty room, took us up the narrow stair, opened the door to a room, turned on the light, placed two chairs in front of the television, which she tuned to the BBC, and said in French that we should stay as long as we liked. We stayed about half an hour, watching again in disbelief as the BBC anchors repeated over and over again the little they or anyone knew. We were stricken, but there seemed no point to staying, so we turned off the t.v., went downstairs to thank our hostess and returned to the restaurant, where our friends were waiting. We told them the little we had found out and, with not much else to do, finished dinner. I don't remember what we talked about. At about 10:00, we realized that if we went back to the gite, we would have no information; the only radio we had was in the car. We knew from driving along the coastline that it was possible to hear the BBC from certain points. (We hadn't yet discovered Radio 4, the long-wave station, that we could hear all over Normandy.) So at 10 p.m. (4 p.m., EST), we drove to Juno Beach, tuned the radio to the BBC and listened to their correspondents in New York describe the devastation. Interspersed with the commentary were the reactions of European leaders, most particularly Tony Blair, who was all one could hope for in a leader - thoughtful, intelligent, humane, and loyal. We spent that hour on Juno Beach listening to European expressions of sympathy and alliance. Then we went home to bed. For the next few days, we tried to get up early to get the few English language papers available, French papers when the English ones were gone. After a day or two, we discovered that we could access the web from official tourist offices in Bayeux and Caen and we spent hours reading the news, chiefly from the Washington Post website - CNN was too busy. It took us two days to get a telephone line out of France. We didn't think to go to a church, and so we had no ceremonies to console us; we just wanted to feel connected to home. Our friends left for Paris on September 12, sure that their flight would leave as schedule on September 13. They actually returned on September 18, after we did. (They both worked for the U.S. government, so their extra week in Paris was not charged against their annual leave, a little irony under the circumstances.) Because we could not possibly get home, we spent our time visiting churches and war memorials, which seemed at least in keeping with our feelings. We visited the Canadian, British and even the German cemeteries, all done appropriately, even the last. If we could not be home, we were grateful to be in Normandy; virtually everyone (with the exception of our horrible landlords) treated us with the greatest tenderness and sympathy, none of the pervasive anti-American feeling typical of Paris. Though more than fifty years have passed, Americans are still "liberators" to the Norman French. We had plenty to see. Virtually every village along the Normandy coast has a small museum and a memorial marking an event associated with the Allied landing, and each memorial has all the Allied flags flying side by side in a row. After September 11, all the flags - not just the American flag - flew at half-staff. We began heading toward Paris on September 16, staying at bed and breakfasts, still without television, although I had acquired a pocket radio on which we could hear the BBC almost constantly. Our last night, however, we did have a t.v., and American companions to dine with, all of us grateful for the company. On September 18, Rosh Hashanah, we arrived as directed three hours early for our flight on American Airlines from Charles De Gaulle Airport. Three flights were leaving one after the other: to Houston, to Miami, and to Washington. Virtually all the passengers were American, the French delaying their trips under the circumstances. So about 600 of us stood shoulder to shoulder for several hours, just inside the terminal door, with no security - the most harrowing part of the trip. Once on the plane, an inexperienced and reduced cabin crew added little to our sense of well-being. The crossing was, thankfully, uneventful, but it was a big ocean that day and when we flew into Kennedy Airport, we could see the Empire State Building, holding up the sky alone. We knew when we left Paris that we were not going to connect from New York to fly into National Airport, which was closed indefinitely. Not eager to get on a plane again in any case, we rented a car, drove to Great Neck, New York, to see my elderly father. I had originally expected to visit the following Saturday via the National-LaGuardia shuttle, but that plan was clearly impossible. We drove home the following day and went back to see him again on October 6. We also made the trip downtown Manhattan to pay our respects to the site as we had paid our respects at the American cemetery in Normandy. We couldn't see very much from the pathways laid out for visitors, but the acrid smell will not soon fade from memory. Given my father's failing health and the closure of National Airport, in the next two months I made five car trips between New York and Washington and moved my father to a nursing home here. I had been flying the round-trip between New York and Washington twice a month for about three years; the next time I flew was March 25. But on March 18, we traveled by train to see the memorial lights. Alas, the day was wet and foggy. I had concluded - based upon a New Yorker's experience - that the best place to see the lights would be from the Staten Island ferry (now free, not the nickel it used to cost). We took the 5:30 ferry to the barren Staten Island terminal. Waiting for the 7:00 ferry back from Staten Island, we had coffee and wine in a place called "Rudy and Dean's" near the ferry terminal. They had a big plate glass window but you couldn't even see Manhattan, it was so foggy. The waitress there talked about the friend she had lost in the Tower, a fire fighter. On the return ferry trip, about 5 miles across New York harbor, I despaired, standing outside in the fog and rain. But as we got nearer, the fog actually lifted a little. The haze made the lights seem even more spectral -- they appeared and disappeared as the boat moved toward lower Manhattan. So, in a way, the view was perfect. I have a photograph of the Towers on my wall. I'm one of the few New Yorkers that loved them from the beginning. A fan of the Bauhaus school, I always thought them perfect in their spare and clean surfaces. The celebrations at Windows on the World over the years - the last in February 2001, a first anniversary party for a 62-year-old friend who found the love of her life later than some of us - seemed magical. I could trace the streets in my home borough of Brooklyn almost perfectly - Flatbush Avenue from the Manhattan Bridge across the whole of Brooklyn and over the Marine Parkway Bridge to Rockaway. The photograph of the Towers is next to the photograph of Mont-Saint-Michel, off the Normandy coast, which we visited before September 11 while we were still staying in Brittany. We stayed overnight on the island and came away overwhlemed by the magnificent gesture of the statue at the peak: "The Archangel loved heights." But the human spirit of the two monuments seems to me the same: Anchored on the ground, we reach into the sky and the genius of human creativity permits us to succeed at it. Even the Nazis left Mont-Saint-Michel untouched. The attackers of the World Trade Center, taking thousands of lives, also insulted human creativity. 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 story439.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-04-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.172.11.147 Notes Notes about this item. resubmitted as #514 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 fiancee was in Denver visiting with friends enjoying dirt bike riding while there and his flight was due back on September 11th. While at home getting ready for work I heard them talking on the radio about the first then second plane and could not believe what I was hearing so I turned on the television. About that time my fiancee called from Denver International Airport to let me know that he was there and that his flight was on time. I asked him if he had heard what had happened and after saying he had not I proceeded to tell him about it. He suddenly said they are telling him to board and he would see me that evening. On my way to work I heard them talking about the Pentagon and then they announced that they were closing the airports - between that moment and when he called me was the longest period of time that I could remember as I did not know if he was in the air or what. Finally, to my relief my cell phone rang and he was sitting in the plane not knowing what all the rest of the world knew was going on. He then had to go because the plane was making an announcement. Next call from him was from the inside of the airport where everyone was told to get out immediatly and he commented that it was just very chaotic because most people weren't sure what to do or where to go or what exactly was happening. He was lucky enough to have people to stay with - others weren't. September 11, 2001 was on a Tuesday and he finally made it home on Friday evening because all aviation was grounded. l will never forget this day and how lucky I was to have him home with me when others weren't so lucky. One of the passengers on the first plane that hit the World Trade Center was the daughter of a woman that I worked with at my previous job which I had left on September 5th - I was lucky, her family was not. 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 story5846.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: The morning of September 11 started out as a typical Tuesday morning. The kids had just been dropped off at school; my husband Daniel was outside working in the yard; and I was in the house. The television was on in the background as the morning chores were being completed. A news reporter broke into the local programming to announce that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Truly believing it was an accident, that the plane had just taken off and had mechanical problems, I went to get Daniel. We sat there together, watching the news, when the second plane hit. At that moment, Daniel looked at me and said "This is no accident, we are being attacked!" Flipping on our fire department scanner, we heard "Total Recall," a term that had never been heard in my husbands 20-year career as a firefighter. These words were a call for all fire, police and rescue workers to report to duty. Giving me a kiss along with a "don't worry," Daniel headed out the door with the promise of a phone call to keep me posted. So I sat and waited and waited and then waited some more. Each minute seemed like an eternity. The phone lines weren't working and the cellular lines were jammed, but after an hour, the phone finally rang. It was Daniel, he said that he was going into the city; after pausing a moment, he said "Adele, I need you to get the kids from school. I want them all home with you. Go now! So I asked him, "Daniel, is it bad?" He said "worse than you could ever believe, and Adele, I love you." My heart dropped. Uncontrollable tears began to force themselves down my face and my legs became extreamly weak. My whole body began to shake. I was afraid that I would never speak to my husband again. My three children and I would wait until midnight of that night to learn of my husbands safety. When a knock came at the door, it would reveal an image of the man we all loved. Covered in dust, almost unrecognizable, the pain in his eyes was evident of all he had witnessed that day. He stayed long enough to give each one of us a hug and kiss and to reassure us that he was not hurt. Still covered in gray dust, he returned to Ground Zero where he would spend the next few days digging through the ruins and debris looking for survivors. We were lucky that day, we didn't lose the man we loved. But so many did, and for them, we are truly sorry. May God bless you all! 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 story2607.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.40