218 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: Prior to the first plan hitting the North Tower, I was on a call with London. My call was interrupted by family members alerting me that one of the towers was hit - My sister Angela worked in the South Tower on the 95th Floor. The agony begins... The search for word, the second tower being hit. Angela is above the point where tower 2 was hit. I am sure she is dead. Frantic calls to every investment firm, broker, friend and colleague I knew to give me information. I feel my sister's fear and I refuse to leave NY despite our building impending evacuation. The first tower comes down..then the second. The anguish, devastation, absolute denial, panic and anger is overwhelming. Everyone in my family is hysterical. Then - Angela surfaces - hurt but alive - distraught but still lucid. "Take me to my son", "Take me to my son" is the strength that makes her take one step in front of the other. No buses, No trains, No tunnels...escape from NY begins The boats provide freedom. We see familiar faces - relief but continued anguish for the faces we dont see. As we ride the boat toward New Jersey - we turn back and see the black towers of smoke where the two towers of prosperity once stood. One year later, the hurt remains. Angela has just delivered a 6 pound 2 ounce baby girl named Emily Grace. We look at Emily and know the angels brought her to us out of a leak time just one year before. Our family has changed, so has our lives and so has New York. We are on Orange alert, we have gas masks, bottles of water and a change of clothes. We say I love you more, we leave work earlier to get home to our family, we know fear - we know strength, we know God and we know evil. 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 story2681.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. 208.247.209.15 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 slept in a little late that morning. We had company coming in the evening and I went down to the kitchen to make dessert. Our dog was yelping and howling and barking like crazy. We heard sirens, and more sirens, and more sirens. We hardly ever hear sirens here. It is such a small town there isn't even a stop light, or library. And we live 2 miles outside of town. The sirens seemed to be so close, and as we looked further we saw that the fire trucks, ambulances, and rescue crews were heading towards Shanksville. My first thought was it must have been a huge construction accident or mine collapse. When the phone rang, my friend screams to me, crying, telling me to turn on the TV and that the Twin Towers were gone. We turned on the TV just in time to see the first tower collapse to the ground. (We lived in NYC for 9 yrs. and had many friends there, so this hit home with us, BIG TIME.) In passing, we wondered if the sirens we'd heard had anything to do with the incident in New York, but quickly put the thought out of our minds until we were told that the Pentagon had been hit as well. Now we were left wondering if the emergency near us was related, and we felt strongly that somehow it was. We spent most of the day glued to the TV, watching the collapse of the Towers, and the video tapes of the planes flying into them, the people literally running for their lives, and the heroism of everyday people helping one another in a city that is often viewed as the one of the unfriendliest in the nation. However, in the midst of the worst tradgedy on U.S. Soil, New Yorkers pulled together and cared for their fellow man. There is not a day that goes by that I do not thank God for keeping us safe. Our house is just 3 miles from the Flight 93 Crash site. It could have fell in our backyard. I don't think that images of the World Trade Centers tumbling to the ground will ever fade from my mind. Had they toppled over, the domino effect would have caused much more damage, and many more injuries and deaths. The terrorists wanted to deal a deadly blow to America, and Americans. In destroying the WTC, they killed people from many nations, including their own. They tried to take from us our freedom to go about this country, freely, without restrictions. LIfe in the country did change forever, but if we cower down in fear, terrified of what might happen next, the Terrorist will have accomplished their goal, and they will win. We must strive to live each day like it is our last, and Trust God to protect us as He did that fateful day. Perhaps these attacks will prompt ALL Americans to cherish their freedoms, and honor and respect our founding fathers more, and Patriotism will be re-born, and not just something "old soldiers or veterans" believe in. All Americans ought to be Flag Waving Americans. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story8013.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.238.50.160 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'm an ex-NewYorker, living for the past two years in Ohio. On the morning of the 11th, I was on the internet, sending a note to a friend of mine in Manhattan. When I signed off, I noticed a small photo on the AOL sign-on screen that looked like a fire in one of the towers of the WTC, and even added a sentence to my note, asking my pal if he'd seen anything on TV? Then I went upstairs to the TV in my house, and cut on the network news, and soon found out that this was no small accident. I was transfixed, and for the next hour or so, stayed glued to the set. Like someone else who wrote to you, I was watching Dan Rather when the first tower went down, and he kept talking, oblivious. I found myself yelling,"Dan--the South Tower just fell--the tower fell!!" I quickly switched to Peter Jennings who knew already. I couldn't stay still, and walked outside. We live on a golf course, and I asked the women playing if they'd heard the awful news. They replied, "we heard, but we can't stop now. How bad is it?" I told them it was awful, and went back inside. I felt a powerful pull to get back to New York. I soon realized that people who were not from the City were having a hard time understanding the impact of this terrible day. Another friend from Ohio called to see if they'd have to cancel a college football game we'd planned to go see that next weekend. While he was upset that they might cancel, I couldn't conceive of two teams playing after all that had happened--and it was in fact cancelled, as were hundreds of others. The day was a beautiful Fall day in Ohio as well as New York, very quiet, and provided a confusing backdrop to tragedy. My wife came home later, and we stayed close to the TV for the rest of the day. Of all the network anchors, I felt Peter Jennings of ABC was by far the most concise journalist and the best news manager. 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 story1260.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. 205.188.192.56 Annotation Annotations to this item. Television Coverage DOMESTIC Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Hello every body. I m a french girl, i m 17 years old, and I live in Paris, France. I was at school when the first plane hurt the first tower of the World State Center, but this days, the class finished earlier, so, I came back to my house. I turn on the TV, and on almost every station, there was flash special from NY. That was really hard to understand to me... I did not really realise what was it, but I quickly understood when I saw the second plane in the second tower... And I was in panic... My big brother (the son of my father) was working in the World State Center... I saw in direct the tower fail and fall down... I prayed the Lord to my brother, but my prayer was not listened by the lord... My brother, 29 years old, dead on the World State Center with 2819 other innoncent... I lost a brother, some people lost their parents, their son, their daughter... I will never forget this day... I hope to can work in the building that will be build instead of the World State Center... I will remember every day what happened the 11 september 2001... God bless America Melanie 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 story8636.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. 2002-11-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.58.54.197 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 over heard my co-worker who sits behind on the phone and he said in a laughing matter "A plane rane in the the WTC, you've got to be kidding me". I got out my seat and went to his desk with my mouth wide open and asked him "is this true" and unfortunately it was. We tried to log on to CNN.com and get a full story, but the internet was just too slow because everybody was trying to do the same thing. We tried making phone calls but the lines we busy. All I wanted to do was to get home and be with my family. And all I could think of is WHY? 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 story2528.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.20.43.1 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: America (originally written September 12, 2001, and originally published at Suite101.com) They stood side by side, the three of them there, in the September morning sun and with dew cool on their bare toes. They were silent as he pulled the ropes down and carefully took the flag from his sisters, attached it securely, and then slowly rose it again. Higher and higher, yet only halfway up. He brought it to a stop there and they all looked upon it. ?What does it mean to mourn?? The younger sister asked as she watched this symbol float in the breeze. At seven years old, her young mind still struggled to understand all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. ?It means that we are sad for America today,? her older sister answered and looked at me for reassurance that this was the right answer. I nodded an acknowledgment that she had remembered what I had told her. ?It means that we are sad for the ones who died and that they are a part of us and we are a part of them.? ?Which part of them are we?? The little one asked and I longed to answer - to tell her for sure - though this is a facet of my heart and of the heart of a country that I am only now learning myself through grief and through tragedy. We are the voices that lifted up prayers on the morning of America?s horror and in every second since. We are the tears shed for those who lept from burning buildings. We are the minds that surged forward and wondered what the coming hours and the coming days would bring. We are the honor of the fire fighters who rushed into a dangerous scene with no thought of their own lives, but of those they might save. We are the pride of their families and their friends, silently pleading for a glimpse of them emerging unharmed from the destruction. We are the lungs filled with dust, and the hands that dug tirelessly. We are the hope of life within the shadows and the voids. We are the eyes that did not turn away, we are the feet that walked for miles in search of help. We are the blood pumped into plastic containers to be given to others. We are the shoulders to cry upon, we are the seekers of innocence within the terror. We are the triumphant cry of the survivors, we are the sob of those gone too soon. We are the comforters of families who waited for planes that never arrived. We are rejoicers of a thousand brightly colored souls that danced to heaven on wings, high above our sadness. We are the coming together of men and machine to pick up the pieces of what has been shattered. We are the resolve of our leaders and the raisers of the flag. We are the finger that etched the words ?God Bless America? in the dust upon the city street. We are the bearers of this history, the ones entrusted to carry the memory of lives lost to the future generations. The ones to ensure that they will not be forgotten. We are them, and they are us. We are one people and one country. We are that which they will forever stand for, they are that which we strive to be. 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 story1320.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. 2002-08-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.173.128.14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was sleeping when the attack occurred after working the night shift at the UPS hub in Addison IL. My best friend called and said, "Turn your TV on, we're at war." I remember my dad being so upset that he was mowing the yard all day. Yardwork is like therapy for him. My brother rethought his voluntary discharge from the military six months prior. He again went about the process of reenlisting. I remember being at UPS forever that night. Because all plane traffic was stopped, we had a mess of next day air packages. As the night wore on, we had to resort everything as the FAA was giving the go ahead for UPS to start flying again. So few people were at work and those of us who were, were stunned into silence from the day's events. I'll never forget that day as long as I live. I regret that our government while apparently knowing something, did nothing to help prevent the problem. I praise the thousands who took the initiative to voluntarily join our military and fight for this country. I feel we have failed them; Saddam has been caught, Osama still hasn't. We must never forget what happened that day and must never allow for our government to ignore warnings. In Germany, all children are required to visit a concentration camp before graduating from traditional schooling. They require this so no one will ever forget. Let's hope America does the same. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story11369.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2005-04-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.189.144.147 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 the middle school when the two planes crashed into the Twin Towers.During school, we watched what happenedn September 11th.We watched on tv the first plane hit the North Tower,and the second plane hit the South Tower.I saw the first Tower fall,then the second Tower fall down.i felt bad for all the families that lost members when the towers fell.Many of firefighters got hurt or died when the towers fell down.People got their children from school and brought them home to safety.The firefighters's and the police searched for months,one person call on their cell phone-saying Help me!!The guy was stuck for several days befor they found him. since September 11th,people in the United States have been kinder to each other.People will not forget what happened on september 11,2001.I have been more cautious of myself.For example,when I cross the street,I think terorist are driving by and they are going to shoot me!I have to wear ID to school safety.Air ports ,they have more secuity because what had happened on September 11,2001.That is why I am more cautious. 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 story8561.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-10-22 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.60.58.139 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Someone in our office received a phone call and asked if we had heard what had just happened. Immediately we turned on the TV and watched in horror as the two planes crashed into the buildings - over and over they showed it. We sat spell-bound, eyes glued to the set. Horrifying we watched as people started falling/jumping out of windows while people on the ground were scrambling to gain distance from the two buildings. Then we watched as the fire fighters and police struggled to help those on the ground and evacuate others still in the buildings. The awesome power of the two buildings coming down was almost more than we could bear. This real action was much worse than any of the made-up stories you see on TV - it was live and we all felt helpless, our hearts going out to all those in and near the Twin Towers. Tear filled eyes looked on unable to break away - an unseen force demanding that we keep looking, keep watching even though what we saw was so dreadful. Our building was evacuated around 10:30 and we were told to go home. We were also told to report in late the next morning in case there would be another attack. 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 story1390.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. 2002-08-22 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.51.171.52 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 11th, I was in school. The teachers did not tell me when these events accored. When I found out about the events, I was not mad at my teachers for not telling me because they did not know at the time. My parnts had asked me if my school told me what had happenedon the time of the tragidy. They told me what had happened and they said that two planes flew right into the Twin Towers. I was mad at who did this and sad because of all the people that had been killed and for the people that had lost a loved one. Then we sat down and watched the news on t.v. and saw some horrible things. One of the things i saw was all the smoke and dust smothering everyone. All the people were crying as they were looking for loved ones. When I went to school, the teachers and other students were talking about what happened. After we talked about it, however, we returned to our normal schedules. We had all our classes and so on. when school was over, I saw that every car had American flagson them. The tragedy also effected sports. Baseball and football were cancelled for a few weeks. We still had Super Bowl 36. Anyway, the U.S. was affected by this tremendously. My life has not changed since September 11, 2001. I do the same things as I did before 9/11. My life has not yet changed because I have no one that was on any of the planes. However, I still feel sad for the people who has lost their loved ones. Everything should be remembered about September 11, 2001. We should remember where we were hit. We were hit in the Pentegon, World Trade Center, and a field in Pennsylvania. We should remember who died in the planes, the captains of the planes should be remembered. They should be emembered because theylost their lives because of a terrorist act. They were never able to say good bye to their loved ones. Every little detail should be remembered about 9/11. We should remember what we did after this tragedy that we went to war with Afganistan, and the thing that started the war was the terrorist attacks on the U.S. Also, we should remember how many years it took to find Osama bin Laden, the person behind it all. We should know who helped us in this fight against terrorism. We should remember how we came together as a nation and how long it took to get all the debris from Ground Zero. The way we came together as a nation is that we all put American flags on cars and everyone felt sorry for those who had lost a loved one on any of the planes. We should know who the fire fighters are and what special events we did for 9/11. Some events we did for 9/1 were ceremonies for the people who lost a family member. We put 2 blue lights to represent the Twin Towers. Those are just a couple of things we used to show our love for our country and how much we feel sorry for those lost. These are just some things we should remember for the future to know. 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 story8521.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-10-18 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.60.58.139 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: During the tragedies of September 11th I was at school like most kids my age. 1st period was uneventful as usual and 2nd period (Drama) was when it hit, we had just entered 2nd peroid and Mrs. Wilks started explaining what had just happend, all were devestated, confused, and many (including myself) cried. we listened to the radio to hear all that we could about the tragedies. After 2nd peoiod ended we headed to third where we spent the whole hour and a half watching the news. But in the final period of the day we went on as if nothing happened. Now me being military and living on a military base getting onto Fort Benning took some time with the threat level up all the way. I heard some interesting and tragic stories about 9-11 and I am thankful that i dont have a tragic story to tell. 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 story3544.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.100.118.53 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I will always remember Sept. 11th. I remember being asleep when something woke me up, I couldn't tell you what it was. I just remeber waking from a deep dream and getting out of bed. I walked out of my bedroom to the living room just in time to see the second plane crash into the Twin Towers. I looked at my mom and asked her what she was watching, thinking it was a movie. She told me that her boss had just called and told her to turn the tv on. Thats when we both heard from the Today show (it just happened to be was what was on) that it was a reality. All that I could think of was "Oh, my God". There was so much confusion. Then before I could get a grip on things, the news of the Pentagon came on to the screen. Thats when I lost it and the tears came. The only other clear memory I have from that day is that when we heard about the last flight and how the passengers overtook the terrorist, I cheered. I was so proud of them. Of course I'm proud of every person that lost their life that day....because I know in my heart that they all tried to help. Even with those three planes, I know that no person on them went down without a fight. It's just not our way. I have to say that I have never been more proud to live in this country than I have in this last year. We have stood up and let everyone know that we may be pushed down and we might stumble, but we will always rise again. 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 story4674.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I will always think about school buses when I remember 9/11/01: big, yellow school buses, and happy, oblivious children. It was a beautiful Boulder, Colorado morning and I was up at seven, getting my son ready for school. The television was on kids stuff so I didn?t hear the news until I was driving him to school. At first I flipped through the channels until I realized there was no music; it was all news. That?s when I heard about the WTC. We were two hours behind so it had already happened, and the funny thing was no one was saying anything about terrorists. I was thinking, what an awful coincidence. I think I was just so secure in the fact that America does not have terrorist attacks. We are safe here. As soon as I dropped my little boy at school, (it?s a good thing I didn?t hear terrorists, or I would have taken him straight home) I rushed home and woke my husband. He was not normally home at that time, but that day he was sleeping in. From then on we were glued to the television. I honestly cannot say how many times I saw those planes hit those towers but I never got used to it. I don?t think I ever will. We got a wake up call that day. These things were happening all around the world, but we were so insulated here, so safe. Every time I think of 911 I will remember the school buses and the kids. I will think of childhood?s end and innocence lost. I think America grew up that day, and that makes me sad. Growing up can be so hard. 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 story10248.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. 2003-12-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.170.83.90 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It was just like any other day a normal day.I was in eighth grade at Tuskawilla Middle School in Oviedo, Fl. I was walking down the hallway until I got to my second period class which was math.I came into the classroom and the first thing I saw was the tv. We were all suprised at what we were seeing on tv because we all thought it was an accident but it wasn't. September 11 is going to be a day were we are going to remember heroism,sadness, and fear.Heroism because of those angels that risked their lives to help others.Sadness because of the innocent people that died.Fear because of another terrorist attack. 9-11 changed our lives but we shouldn't let fear take over us.We should be together and stronger than ever to show those terrorists that americans are fearless.That we may have obstacles but that we stand up stronger and don't let any person take away our freedom. 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 story9268.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-04-27 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.8 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: It has been a year since I witnessed, heard, smelt, and lived the terror of violence a block away from where the WTC Twin Towers were. I have been struggling to heal in the past twelve months. In this one-year anniversary, I finally accumulate enough courage to revisit what I have actually gone through and arranged my scattered journal entries, the journal entries for a day that brought futures and loving families away. I am writing to share my story in the best details on what I recall, hoping that in the years to come, we will all remember this tragedy, not for motivation to retaliate, but to remind us that the cruelty and evilness in human nature can possibly produce more harm than Mother Nature. I am proud to be an American and I do not think there is anything anyone can do to take this pride away from me. I do not, however, believe in retaliation. I honestly do not think bombing or killing people would help solve the root of the problem. I know I may have been too na?ve as terrorism will not fade regardless of how much I want to forget and forgive. I live and work in Los Angeles, which is around 2,500 miles away from New York. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I happened to be taking a vacation in New York between my two jobs and visiting my best friend Candy, whom I have known since grade eight. Candy used to work in Merrill Lynch, located in the World Financial Center that was connected to World Trade Center by a bridge. Knowing Candy, I was not surprised that she conveniently chose to rent an apartment in a complex called Gateway Plaza, which was only a block away from her work. Candy could literally get up 15 minutes before reporting to work every day and not being late. In retrospect, I am thankful that I was visiting Candy during that time because she took two weeks off for me. Otherwise, she would have been a bridge away from the WTC as opposed to a block away?..and she would probably have to face something worse alone?? It was about 8:55am on the morning of September 11, 2001 while Candy and I were still deeply asleep from our exhaustive girls? talk that lasted till 3 or 4am that morning, we were woken up by a huge sound of collision. Being woken up from our dreams and with our air-conditioning on and curtains down, our first impression was a truck collision on the street. I even jokingly asked Candy what a truck would be doing this early in downtown Manhattan. After moments of silence, we started to hear ceaseless sirens. After a minute or two of the constant sirens, Candy and I finally decided to pull ourselves up from the bed and checked out what we once thought the ?truck accident?. When we first pulled up our curtains, we instinctively looked down onto the street; however, none of us could find the ?truck?. All we saw were legions of people, police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances. And surprisingly, they were all looking and running towards the same direction ? towards the World Trade Center direction. When we re-oriented our eyes and heads in an upward fashion, we were stunned with the big dent on the North Tower, not to mention the clouds of smoke, flames of fire, and the falling debris. At the time we did not know that a plane was actually inside the North Tower. We thought there was an internal accident that caused a big explosion?. The northwest side of Candy?s apartment was directly facing the WTC. And we were living on the 18th floor. As we were so close to the scene and the Tower was so tall, Candy and I actually felt that the thick black smoke was starting to cover the clear blue sky above us. At the time we continued to believe that it was just an accident and there was no need to panic. As we were still looking from the window, we started to question whether we had indeed woken up or whether we were only having nightmares! Before we had the chance to clarify, we saw a plane that was flying unusually low and abnormally fast and was heading towards the direction of the burning North Tower! Candy and I kept shouting to each other in words like: ?that plane is flying too low and getting too close!!? Before we had time to catch our breaths and blink our eyes, we saw the plane crashed right into the South Tower and caused an immediate explosion. And as I have mentioned, we thought it was the ?plane?, not knowing that it was the ?second plane? already?..While Candy and I were trying hard to figure out what had actually happened and trying to make sense out of everything we saw, we both felt noxious. We both had to help each other to climb back to our common bed and lay down for a minute. At that time, we didn?t know what was causing our noxiousness. We later figured that it was the natural reaction from the shock plus a combination of intense heat waves and the smell of gasoline. After resting for a minute, we both managed to be up on our feet again. Ironically, Candy?s family called from Hong Kong to check on us and let us know that there were actually two planes (as opposed to the ?one plane? we had in our minds) that crashed into the WTC. It was dinner time in Hong Kong and Candy?s family were all seeing the live broadcast on TV. A light bulb was immediately shining on top of our silly heads ? why didn?t we turn on the TV ourselves to find out what has been happening a block away from us?! Meanwhile, I recalled that I was scheduled to meet with my auntie and uncle who were planning to drive all the way from New Jersey to meet me for brunch that morning. They were supposed to pick me up from Candy?s apartment at 10am. I am grateful that I managed to call my auntie and uncle to let them know what had happened and at the time, we both still thought we could meet at a later time on that same day (we both had no clue of the magnitude of the incident and its impact). I?m glad they were running late themselves that morning. After hanging up on my auntie, I instantly thought of calling my family in Los Angeles ? the ones whom I have always been dependent on whenever I am in doubts. I did not care the fact that it was only around 6am in LA and my family would still be sleeping. I first called my parents and my mom answered. I told her that I just saw a plane crashed into a building and my mom couldn?t believe what I said. By that time, Candy?s home phone and cell phone were both starting to be jammed by calls. She even had to start using my cell phone to call out to check on her colleagues in the World Financial Center. I had to be brief with my mom and promised her that I would call back with details. I never thought it could have been the last time I talked to my mom on the phone. While Candy was on the phone with her friend, I found out from the TV that the Pentagon was hit too. After watching the TV for a short while, it was the first time that Candy and I discovered we both just witnessed a terrorist attack. Okay, we thought we had seen the worst of it though. We still did not think we would physically be in danger even though our windows were already covered with layers of smoke and dusts. We thought at least we were a block away. We thought it would be the end of it and we were even thinking about going down to help out others on the street (rather than to evacuate ourselves at that time). Meanwhile, with my public health background and knowledge, I was starting to prepare a mini ?survival kit? with some wet towels, bottles of drinking water, medications, and different forms of bandages. I figured those may come in heady when we would help out on the street (and we still thought we could be helping?). The elevator was still working when we were planning to go down, but both of us were at least clear-minded enough not to take the elevator as we might be stuck and no one would be able to help because all the firemen would be down on the street. While we were on our way down using the stairwell, Candy told me that she just realized she was wearing open-toe shoes. And we had to walk back to her apartment. When Candy was changing her shoes, we suddenly heard a horrendous rumbling noise that grew louder and louder. Our apartment started to rock side to side. Although I didn?t know what it was at that moment, being a Californian who has been well-trained in earthquake preparation, I instinctively pulled Candy all the way from the windows and hid ourselves under the dining table. From a scale 0 to 10, it was like an 8.0 earthquake. Suddenly, everything went dark. No more electricity, no more TV, no more phones. By that time, all the home phones were no longer functioning and all cell phone lines were jammed. The complete darkness was accompanied by a moment of silence. We thought a third plane might have hit us as the wrong target. We started to breathe in cascades of dust and smoke. After checking with each other, Candy and I had to literally use our hands to feel the ground to tell if we were still on a horizontal level. This was the first time we realized we were in real danger and that our lives might be threatened. Though all we saw was pitch black, we started hearing screams and panic runs. Candy and I managed to reach our door and got back to the hallway, where there was limited emergency lighting. When we were in the hallway, we heard children cried, dogs barked, and one of Candy?s neighbors even screamed out that she found a broken arm in her balcony?.after meeting some of the other tenants, we all figured that it was the collapse of one of the Towers. We then followed the big crowd to head down. Candy held my hands tight and we started to make our way down the 18th floors. I kept reassuring Candy that it?s going to be okay and I sounded surprisingly calm, but I was extremely frightened deep inside. Candy and I, together with the other tenants, counted each floor as we passed. By the time we reached the 11th floor, we already saw people coming back up urging us not to go down. ?We went down to the 5th floor and we couldn?t breathe due to the heavy debris. There?s no way for you guys to go down, not even with a mask.? My initial reaction was: ?so?!?. We didn?t know what was going on, and we could only keep guessing. Imagination went wild. What used to be ridiculous now seemed possible. Anything could happen next, all the tenants agreed that it would be safer to stay inside the building. Worst comes to worst. Candy and I were even prepared to die together. While we were stuck in the stairwell, we heard cries asking for help from downstairs, tenants from the fifth and sixth floor were yelling up telling us that they needed help since there were people on the street who were climbing up seeking for help. Some of us who are younger and stronger split into groups and rotated between the floors to help. Before we could get to the fifth floor, we felt the second ?earthquake? and we realized this time that it was the collapse of the other Tower. It seemed forever when Candy and I, together with a couple of other young and strong tenants in their 20s and 30s, were running up and down helping and checking on people, especially the elderly and disabled in the building. After an hour or so, someone from the fourth floor shouted up and let us know that the dust has settled down a little bit. We decided to go down as a group and both Candy and I were carrying a child on our arms. By now, the emergency lights were so dim that we could no longer see the stairwell. We all had to use our torches for lighting. We walked, stopped, tripped over, and stood back up. I forgot how long it took for us to climb down those floors. All we would never forget though was the scene we saw when we reached the ground. That was the first time in my life that seeing was not believing. I could not believe that the Twin Towers were gone. They were converted to masses of debris, soot, and intense heat waves vaporizing thousands of bodies. Candy and I were turned into complete ?snowwomen?, or ?dustwomen? rather. In addition to the mountains and mountains of debris, clouds of smoke and soot, burning ashes, we saw everything and anything you could name ?pieces of clothes, shoes, scattered computer parts, research reports, and things that we could not even tell, or things that we were unwilling to guess what they were. All the surrounding buildings were on fire due to the gas leak and the heat waves. While we were overwhelmed with the sense of disbelief, we could walk nowhere as if we were walking in a war zone full of mines. Random things were falling from the smoldering buildings, gas was leaking, and we could no longer tell our directions. It had almost been two hours since the first plane struck, but when will our ?escape? journey end? 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 story2023.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.81.172.156 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: America reaped what it sowed.What's the fuss now?Ask the millions who have died in American wars against their countries since World War 2. Chile,Vietnam,Cambodia,Afghanistan,and Iraq.Those were real human beings too.They had families and friends too. But you Americans can never see other people's pain ,only your own. Again,I say what's the fuss? Although it was a terrible thing to happen ,it was NOT the worst crime to be comitted against innocent civilians.The U.S.A has a total monopoly on commiting crimes against humanity ,as per above countries. Ask those people what 9/11 means to them. What do you think they will reply? You only reap what you sow. 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 story9788.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 213.78.162.23 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 college, ECU, and had just left my health class for lunch. All the TVs that were usually showing music videos and other college related media, were now only focusing on the WTC fire. The first plane had collided with the building and the news casts were speculating if it were an accident or intentional. Then like in slow motion, the TV newscasts captured the 2nd plane hitting the other tower of the trade buildings, my heart was full of disbelief and sadness. We all, a room of 150 or more, sobbing like babies. How could this be happening? Not to our Nation! Then the reports of the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania flight. Was the world ending? Was this the way it was to start? All kinds of questions rang around the room and the room fell silent. The murmur of the TVs were all that was present. Sadness. A room full of strangers became one. We all felt the same thing, we all reacted the same way. We were America and we would stand together! So Bin Laden you may have got some of our people, and you may have taken away some of our national landmarks, but YOU created us stronger and more aware of brotherhood than we ever were before. We will not be so off guard ever again. 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 story3445.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I remember my alarm went off for me to get ready for work and all I heard was, "As soon as we get more information on the plane that hit the World Trade Center we'll pass it on to you." I had thought that it was just an accident and didn't think anything more of it. I then received a phone call from my mom and she asked me if I heard the news. I asked her what she was talking about and she had informed me that both towers were hit by planes and that the Pentagon was also hit. The first thing I thought about was my husband. He had just joined the military in April 2001 and he was still away in Ft. Benning, Ga. finishing up his Airborne school. I was worried that something was going to happen to him. I went to work and then when I got home that night, I had a phone call from a friend of mine. He had told me that he wanted to talk to me and of course I assumed the worst of the situation. I called him back and he had told me that he was supposed to be on the plane that hit the first tower and that the pilot of that plane was his next door neighbor. I know it doesn't compare to losing someone during the attacks, but when you know someone that could have been involved, it hits close to home just as well. To those who lost a loved one or friend in this terrible tragedy, I pray that God will continue to bless you and your families during this difficult time. God Bless America! **9-11-01** 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 story1669.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-03 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 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: Today is September 11, 2006. It is the fifth anniversary of the worst day of my life. I'm Donna Hofmann and I was the Office Manager at The Reserve Bank of Australia, New York Representative Office, a business located at One Liberty Plaza, 46th floor, New York. The building is located directly across the street from 1 WTC. It is so close that, there is (was) a tunnel connecting the two buildings. During inclement weather I didn't even have to go outside to get to my office after exiting the subway inside the WTC. Downtown is not very attractive but I loved the Trade Center. I shopped in the beautiful stores in the Concourse almost every day. I went to the TKTS to get half priced Broadway Show tickets. I bought my son clothes at Banana Republic and J. Crew. I bought something in Bath and Body Works nearly every day! I ordered lunch from Fine and Shapiro. Oh, I loved those buildings. One Liberty Plaza, occupies a full square block. The streets are Church, Cortland, Broadway and Liberty. For three days after the terrorist attacks, it was reported that my building had structural damage and was in danger of collapse (in the end, repairs were made and we returned to the building)on November 19th but with fires still burning and the air still smelling, we all had scratchy throats and red, watery eyes. On that terrible September 11th, I was in my office at 8 a.m. My private office was located next to our dealing room. I had just put on a second pot of coffee in the dealing room and returned to my office when I heard one of our dealers shout out "holy s..." in a really screechy, loud, frightening voice. I ran next door to the dealing room to see what was happening. It was 8:46 a.m. A plane had passed right by our building and crashed into 1 WTC. For the next half hour, I stood at the window, jaw dropped open, watching with horror as the situation worsened. I watched as millions of papers and tons of debris flew in the air, swirling around our windows. I remember yellow - I think a lot of the papers must have been yellow. I watched, in disbelief, as people began to jump out of windows of 1 WTC. This was within a minute or two of the first crash. Then I watched in horror as the second plane came from the other side. I saw that plane coming but could not believe what I was seeing. Then, it went right through 2 WTC and came partially out the other side, facing my office windows. It was 9:03 a.m. I was in shock. I was also the fire warden for my office and we were getting messages on the public address system to stay in the building. I did not agree. I discussed this with my superior Michael and we agreed it was time to leave the building. At that point there were only six of us. We headed for the staircase. It was about 9:15 a.m. We had to walk down 46 floors which are actually 92 flights of stairs. The staircase was crowded but calm. People were rushing but not panicked. We reached the street at about 9:35 or 9:40 and my colleague Anton said he thought one building looked like it might "come down." I am middle aged and I was a smoker at the time so I was out of breath. My legs were like rubber and I wanted to rest (and smoke) but Anton said we needed to leave the area immediately. However, we then realized that we had been separated from the only other female colleague, Peggy, during our decent in the staircase. Anton agreed we could not leave without her. We waited for what seemed a very long time but it was probably only about five minutes and then she came out. Also a middle-aged smoker, she was in the same shape as me. "My hero" as I now call him, Anton, took charge. He told me and Peggy to take off our shoes. Then he took my handbag and gave Peggy's handbag to another colleague, George. Then he took my hand and we started to run. We were running East on Maiden Lane because we had exited the building on Broadway. (Anton and me and Peggy and George - We had lost Michael and Jon in the staircase but they made it home safely). Anton never let go of my hand. After a few blocks, we stopped to buy water at Duane Reade which is on John Street. Therefore, we must have gone north for one block. We got two bottles each and drank one. We had just continued on our journey toward uptown when the first tower collapsed. We were spared from the terrible cloud that overtook so many people but, only because of Antons worst case scenario, we better get out of here attitude. Otherwise, Peggy and I would most certainly have been sitting on the stairs of One Liberty Plaza, smoking a cigarette and would have been caught in the collapse. It took us all day to get home. But that is another story. I did eventually get home in the late afternoon but I couldn't walk for two days. I had been walking for hours "on adrenaline" and I had wreaked havoc on my legs. I set up a home office. I worked from home to see that the administrative needs of the company and employees were met (payroll, bill paying for all the expatriate staff expenses, etc). Then, repairs were finished on One Liberty Plaza and our building was re-opened. November 19th, we returned to work at One Liberty Plaza. But I had changed. I had stopped listening to music. I no longer enjoyed shopping whereas, prior to September 11th, I was a shopaholic and loved to spend hours at shopping malls. Then, when the area re-opened to the public, I began to resent the tourists, "gawkers" as I called them. It really annoyed me that they were there, clogging up the streets and gawking and taking photos and smiling. I was fearful on the subway and in tunnels. I had to look at and walk past "ground zero" every day, to and from my office. I was unhappy. I was depressed. I could not sleep. I cried every day. I decided that I had to make changes in my life. I gave up smoking. I resigned from my job. I sold my house and I have moved to Ohio. I live in a beautiful college town where I am surrounded by life. Thousands of young, exhilarating students. Trees, birds, deer. I live near relatives that I love dearly. I am doing volunteer work but my private health insurance is costing me too much so I need to get a job with benefits. I hope to get a job in a non-profit environment here. My preferance would be in some type of crisis center. I don't care how little I earn as long as I have health coverage! I am hopeful that by doing something that makes me feel good, I will satisfy my social conscience, which in turn will bring some peace to my life. That is my plan, my dream, my hope. And, by the way, not one single day goes by that I don't think of September 11, 2001 and what I witnessed on that day. Not one single day, ever. 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 story20660.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.210.248.52 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: There's a song somebody does...I can't remember who it is...but the first lines of it were "It was all a dream. I can't believe this is happening." That's a good way to describe what HAS happened. It was September 11th, 2001. I'm sure that everyone who was alive that day remembers exactly how they first found out about what was going on. It started out a little strangely for me, but nothing completely out of the ordinary. I had gotten out of bed early that morning, and was surprised to find my sister, Lee Anne still at home. She usually left for work at about seven, so she was up getting ready by six every morning. It was six thirty now, and she was still in her shirt and shorts, on the computer, chatting with someone on the Internet. "Why aren't you at work?" I'd asked, walking over to the chair beside the computer desk and petting Lee Anne's sleeping cat, Chella. I was still drowsy as heck, and was planning fully to go back to bed as soon as I'd answered this question. "I'm not going to go in until one," she'd answered, with something of a shrug. She'd missed work the day before...I could assume this was because she didn't feel well. Accepting this answer, we exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then I'd staggered back into my room, sinking back to sleep while smiling at the pictures and posters of various WWF wrestlers on my walls and ceiling. Matt Hardy, Christian, Spike Dudley, among others... So I was considerably disturbed when, roughly three hours later, I was shaken awake by a sobbing Lee Anne. "Lindsey..." she said shakily, still shaking me even though I was awake. "Get up, come in here, hurry." Our mother hadn't been feeling well for the past few days, and I assumed her health had taken a turn for the worse...or someone had died, or one of the cats was really sick...something along those lines. So I jumped out of bed, stumbling a little in my covers, and ran into the living room. My mom was sitting on the couch in front of the television, and my sister was already sitting beside her, not a word from either of them. I was puzzled for just a second-then I looked at the TV and saw smoke. Nothing else...a frantic newscaster's voice, that was all. Just smoke...and the words "Attack on America" flashing across the bottom of the screen. "What happened?!" I pretty much shrieked, falling into a chair and staring at the screen. I'm not sure if they answered me or not...it gets fuzzy right there. But the news answered me well enough. Two planes had flown into the World Trade Center...the Twin Towers. They were burning and it seemed that a few hundred were dead. Was it an accident? Who did this? I sat and watched the news, sometimes breaking down into hysterical sobs but mostly just staring with tears running down my face. And then the other news hit as well. "The Pentagon has also been struck." I honestly don't remember anymore of that morning...frantic phone calls to family and friends, staring at the television and the horrific footage of the plane crashing into the second building, the reports of the fourth plane going down in rural Pennslyvania, people running for their lives, all the rescuers running into the buildings to get out the poor people who were trapped, scared, jumping for their lives. "Both of the Twin Towers have collapsed." They were gone. They and everything around them. Everyone. The massive plumes of smoke drifting into the air at an almost mockingly slow speed. More deaths. The brave, selfless men and women who had run inside the building to get out the helpless victims were now the helpless victims themselves. There were warnings about possible gas shortages. I can't remember why...something about the refineries being closed. At any rate, me and my mother and sister jumped into the car and took off to town. We had called ahead to my father, telling him that we were going to get our money out of the bank and stock up on supplies. In retrospect, I should have been amazed at what I saw. Even in this town, Texarkana, from Texas and Arkansas...people. There were people standing in their yards, staring out at the road dumbly. People like me who couldn't keep their nervous gaze from the sky. A man and a boy I think was his son were lying on a sidewalk, holding each other and sobbing. Even this far away, people were crying in the streets. It was incredible. I can't believe this is reality. 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 story10957.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. 2004-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.14.215.60