225 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: I was sitting in French class on what seemed to be just an idle Tuesday, staring at the clock on the wall, and pleading for class to end. The irony of that day for me was that morning I had thought to myself how dull Tuesdays usually were. At about 9:30, our principal spoke on the intercom, giving possibly the most vague speech I've ever heard. He required the children of Military personel working at the Pentagon, to come down to the office, because there had been a terrorist attack in Washington and New York. A couple of kids left the class, while the rest of us began to immediately itch to turn on CNN. The teacher, who like most French instuctors had a total stick up her ass, said that she did not want anyone who did not want to see what had happened be forced to watch. After almost a class mutiny, she finally gave in (mostly because she was just as curious) and we were instantly horrified by what we saw. Everyone's eyes were glued to the TV, and after the first tower fell, the teacher, who was infamous for showing no emotion toward the kids, turned off the TV, almost to tears. The rest of the day in each class every television was fixed on the event. Although no one died in the attack, you could see kids running down the halls crying (as they were unable to reach their parent) Our school paper which was being prepared to be printed immediately got the axe, in favor of a whole issue dedicated to the event. The main thing I remember from the whole day though was just how phony everyone was. People who usually show no moral standards went to church and pretended to be in total agony, and every car plastered some stupid bumper sticker or what not a day later. Everyone pretended that this act had somehow changed the morals and brought everyone in the school closer together.Baloney. A month later everything was exactly the same as it always was. 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 story984.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. 2002-08-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 129.174.27.179 Annotation Annotations to this item. Military Pentagon Students/Teachers Television Coverage Religion Patriotism DC:2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It is a day I will never forget. It shocked me, it maddened me, it saddened me. I never felt so much compassion for people and families I didn't know. As a volunteer victim advocate and crisis team member for Adam's County Crisis Response Team I began to try to prepare myself to be called upon for assistance, however this was a situation that no one could ever prepare for. Our crisis team was called to respond December 29 to Ground Zero to provide crisis intervention and support to those workers involved in the clean up and recovery effort. I walked into a world of pain and despair. I truly thought my efforts would be meaningless to those who endured what no person should ever endure in one?s lifetime. However, my goal was to just listen, and to make sure the workers at Ground Zero knew that I was there to just listen. I heard stories from the workers that were heartbreaking and stories that were funny. Each worker had something to say and just wanted to be heard. As I talked to each worker, the sharing of personal experiences on 9/11 or thereafter would surface and a moment of silence would follow. I would pray to myself that there was some sort of relief for that individual to have shared something so personal with a stranger. It was extremely hard to walk away from those workers at ?Ground Zero? who were not as receptive to my services, but I respected them for that. Not all were ready to talk, but to hear at least one worker tell his or her story and for them to have someone listen to it was all that mattered each day. From this I have learned, that listening is the most valuable tool and I will carry that with me forever. I will never be able to forget the pain that all American's endured on September 11, 2002. 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 story8011.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. 67.4.17.208 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 THE AIR when it happened. Flying from Appleton, WI to Denver, and then on to Burbank. My flight left 40 minutes late, at 7:00 a.m.Central time. We arrived in Madison, where we picked up the rest of the passengers. It was a full flight, 50 people. We were in the air for about 30 minutes, and suddenly we took a sharp right and began to descend. The captain spoke. "Ladies and Gentlemen, in case you noticed, we took a right turn. We have been ordered to land in Lincoln, Nebraska. There is nothing wrong with this aircraft. We'll explain more when we are on the ground." My first thought- a plane crashed in Denver. Second, the airport is on fire. Melissa, the flight attendant, who was so charming and lovely, came onto the speaker and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt sign. Please fasten your seatbelts. Return your seats to their full and upright positions and secure your tray tables. We'll be on the ground in about 5 minutes, and I'm sure you'll understand." Wow! The plane is silent for a moment. Then the stir of nervous, or angry people, broke the silence. The businessman next to me was handsome and married, therefore non-threatening. We chatted about anything or nothing for a moment. I really don't recall. Then the pilot told us that an American flight and a United flight had been hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center. We would be sitting on the tarmac a while, and then taken inside the terminal for further instructions. No cell phones yet, however, the man kitty corner to me got out his laptop and got more info for us. The Pentagon, too?? My hands went to my face and I just sat there, chanting quietly "...just bless 'em, Lord. bless 'em...". From there, my thoughts turned to self-preservation. I felt selfish, and still do. I am not the best long trip traveler, and I knew this was gonna BITE! No way around it. I had thirty dollars in my pocket, WAY too much luggage, (I went with two, but brought things back in an extra bag, totaling 3! Hmmm? 3 bags, 2 arms. Do the math :-( When we got into the airport, we still had no idea the gravity of the situation. There were no TVs, just people getting information from their families on the pay phone or cell phone. I called my parents from a payphone, and my Dad answered the phone in tears. I heard relief in his voice when he heard mine. He told me what had happened. After a while, they decided to evacuate the airport, so they put us all on buses headed for the Salvation Army Shelter. On the way, I was sitting in the back of the bus just listening to people talk. I heard someone say something about one of the hijacked planes being from Newark to San Francisco. We had a flight like that here, too. Suddenly, the old mafia looking guy beside me bursts into tears. I grabbed his knee and held tight, too loaded down with carry-ons to give him a proper embrace. He tells us, he was booked on the 8 o'clock, but arrived at the airport early. He is a United employee, so he went standby for the 7 o'clock flight instead. We all wept. A man across from me, who later became Bob, handed him his cell phone and said, "Call your wife!" That was amazing, too. People all sharing cell phones. Mine didn't work, and I would later find out that Cingular has no service in Nebraska at all. Once we got to the shelter, we were told that our luggage would be sent on to its destination, and that we could not have it, even for meds. The Red Cross would supply any medication that anyone needed. We also saw the TV for the first time. Oh My God! We all wept. Then the feeling of Oh My God, We were in the air! They could have done anything, to any plane! And I am lucky to be sitting here. A councilor came by our table. We sent her to Mr. Lucky, the man from New Jersey. There were lots of people here: volunteers from the Red Cross and Salvation Army, people in blue shirts with the logo Lincoln Police Dept. Cadet Program, United/Air Wisconsin employees. A neighbor lady and her daughter came up to us when we were waiting outside, and asked us if we would like to go to the mall or something. The Mall?! I thought, I can?t even THINK about shopping! (I will say "we" a lot in this narrative. The second we heard the news on the plane, even if we didn?t know it yet, we became a group, Flight 5771.) They fed us, even asked if there were any vegetarians. I am, and the girl next to me. Her name is Camilla, and she is a grad student and a teacher. Our other friend Julie was the one who really started our little group. When I walked up to a seating area in the airport, I had been crying. She gave me the "come sit by me" hand on the chair next to her. I appreciated that. She and Camilla had horses in common. Camilla was visiting her boyfriend in Madison, but needed to return to Eugene, OR for a horse show she was riding in, and Julie, from Dodgeville, WI was going to a stock show in CA. (my back was starting to hurt from the kindergarten sized chair I was sitting in) John, the cute man next to me at the table, shared his cookies with us. He was from Annapolis, and had flown out of Baltimore, heading to San Francisco. After a while, a man came and told us that The Cornhusker- Nebraska's Grand Hotel- wanted to put us up for the duration of our stay, however long that would be. Off we went to yet another holding tank. We arrived at the hotel, still basically quiet and shaken. When we approached the counter, Camilla said, "I think, in light of the situation, it's quite alright to be Co-dependent, Wanna share a room?" "YES!" I exclaimed! When we arrived, our luggage had been brought to the hotel from the airport. We were allowed to have it back. I don?t know if they had searched it or not, but we felt lucky that we had it, and it hadn?t been sent on to anywhere! Camilla helped me get my bags up to the room. So sweet! Our room was lovely, with a view of the state capitol and The Sower, Nebraska's spokes-statue. I thought it was a discus thrower. We watched TV for quite a while. There were so many things we hadn?t heard, unlike the rest of the country; some of who, I understand, saw it happen live! Camilla, Julie and I headed down to The Lancaster Ballroom, ground zero for us. The room was huge, with a big screen TV on one side, and a regular TV on the other. The news was on. In one corner of the screen was the footage of the planes hitting, and the buildings collapsing, over and over again. There were round tables with white tablecloths, and long tables in the back of the room that would soon become the daily buffet. The Salvation Army employees we met earlier at the shelter were there, but now there were also many volunteers from the community. We got some snacks and sat down at a table that had a few other people already there. John, the cookie sharer was there. We went around the table and introduced ourselves. Camilla, Julie, Sandy, Skip, Fern, Suzanne, John, and me. At the time I thought, if ever there?s a time to remember people?s names, it?s right now, and I guess I did! (except for one lady from Rancho Bernardo in San Diego, with whom I would later have a great conversation about Jewish/Protestant marriages) We chatted about things for a while, and then Rafael, the spokesman from the airlines, got up to a microphone and began to give us no information. Poor man. Here was a room of distraught folks, confused and tired, and he had the dubious honor of letting us know that we may be here for a while. He didn?t know anything. Bless him! But he did tell us that the hotel was taken care of, and the Salvation Army would feed us. Also, there was a board at the door that would have information for us about meeting times and meal times. These would become our mental increments for measuring time for the next 4 days. Also, channel 1, on the hotel TV would be used to inform us of any meetings, or flights out of Lincoln. Ha! After our meeting, I mingled a little more, (mingled? What is this, a cocktail party?) and then Camilla and I decided to go back to the room and watch TV. We were glad we had decided to share a room at this point. Even though I was still sitting there in tears, it was better to have another human in the room with me. Camilla was strong, she didn?t really cry too much. She later told me that she cries over little things, and stays together when big stuff happens. I told her, I cry, Period-The End. Her mother, an American flight attendant, was safe in Madrid, although she wasn?t able to speak to her. Her sister works for a law firm across the plaza from The Twins. She had over-slept, and was getting off the subway when she looked up and saw the first tower come down. She ran. Lucky girl! Dinnertime arrived and we headed down to the ballroom. Everybody was there for our 6:00 meeting. There were about 150 folks. Energy was high, because people were understandably anxious. We were offered sub sandwiches and pizza. There were tubs with ice holding all sorts of soda and water. Rafael spoke. He knew nothing, bless him! Camilla and I decided to go back to the room for phone calls and TV. We also agreed that we wanted to leave the TV on all night. We turned the volume down, and were asleep by ten. Wednesday was pretty much the same. More waiting and eating, more news and sadness. Increasing agitation, and love. More meetings about nothing. Rafael showed up every day with one more person in his crew. I think he was getting nervous. Now we were bonding with Cheryl, his cohort. They were such nice people. Cheryl told us that United Express had been bought by Air Wisconsin. When they started working in Lincoln, the paper did comics about their bad service. We couldn?t believe it. They were handling this crisis SO WELL! Bob said he was writing the editor of the Lincoln newspaper to tell them how wonderful these people were, and how wonderfully Lincoln was treating us. I watched him type. Did I mention that at breakfast, there was a woman playing inspirational songs on the piano, and the Red Cross nurse was singing? Oh, and a lady came around with homemade bread she had baked and brought down to the hotel. I asked her if she was the Ho that Made it? She laughed after a minute J Lincoln has a sense of humor. (As I try to share some of the more positive things about my journey with you, I still have to say, this was quite possibly the hardest emotional trip of my life.) Camilla and I took some subs, candy bars, soda and water up to the room. I was traveling with 3 bags of Fabulous Wisconsin Cheese Curds! We made a make shift refrigerator by putting all our stuff on the air-conditioner with a towel draped across. There was no telling where we would be tomorrow, but we were ready with some rations! We decided to take a walk down to the old historic shopping district, The Haymarket. It was fun. There was a shop called From Nebraska, where I bought tiny Nebraska playing cards, and some From Nebraska Cajun Dip Mix. Is there a large concentration of Cajun folk in Nebraska, I didn?t know? We walked back to the hotel and it was so hot. Well, it?s all relative because I live in The Valley. But it was 80 degrees, and I had on a sweater. We hadn?t been outside since they took us to The Cornhusker. Another meeting, then back to the room. John wanted to go to the gym, but I never saw him in there. We all were out of sorts by this time. We would check Channel 1 periodically to no avail. Camilla went to the hotel?s business center and did some emailing. I talked on the phone. More TV. We did a lot of chatting about how we were lucky to be in Lincoln. (We felt safe, especially when Airforce One was in Nebraska. We knew the air was being patrolled!) In Omaha, people were at a hotel, but on cots in a ballroom. They had 50 something flights. We had 5. Thursday we notice on Channel 1 that the flight from Baltimore to San Francisco was heading to the airport at 7:30 a.m. It was 7:45! Good thing we weren?t on that one. Hope! Maybe we?d get home today! We were nervous about what would happen once we got to Denver. We were only guaranteed to get out of Lincoln, and to be flown to the plane?s destination. There was only 1 man actually going to Denver! What would we encounter there? Glad Camilla and I had been saving snacks. Check out time was 11:30 a.m. and they asked us all to go ahead and check out, and wait in the ballroom for our turn. Camilla and I took a quick walk to Walgreen?s. She needed to mail her fancy pliers that were a gift from her man, home, because they would surely be taken away at the airport. The other scary thing was that we had NO idea if we would be allowed our carry-ons. Or even a purse. I packed and re-packed. I was traveling with old family photographs! Impossible to replace. We sat in the ballroom for a while. Our group was dwindling. Bob and a couple of other folks from Baltimore got together and rented a car and started driving on Wednesday. People?s family members drove in from all kinds of places to pick up their loved ones. I needed to stay with the ship. No matter what, this was the ticket I purchased, and I had no other choice. I saw Mr. Lucky by the buffet, so I went up and hugged him. I told him his nickname, and he told me a story that made me weep. Turns out, his wife works for United, too. All morning people had been consoling her and giving her condolences. Everyone knew he was on That Flight. She refused to believe it. They had a pact. If she heard nothing, he was all right. They would just trust. She kept completely calm, until he called her from the bus. THEN, she wept! I finally got his real name, Phil. What a great man! Julie took our picture. Our flight was called to a bus!!!! Woo Hoo! It?s lookin? good! I was nervous. We were leaving our ?safe zone?. What next? My anxiety was growing, but I had snacks! Camilla helped me with my bags. Lovely girl! We got to the airport. There was Rafael, half dead from lack of sleep, at the counter with Cheryl. They had been awake for the duration of this experience. We got checked in and whew! We could have carry-ons. Camilla and I got seats together, but now, a flight of 50 had dwindled down to 17. We waited for a long time in the gate area. I couldn?t believe it! Even with the constant reminder to stay with our bags, a man was actually arguing with the guard that was admonishing him. What was he? New? These are F?ed-up times, man. Why are you hassling this guard who is doing his job to PROTECT US! Argh! Just then, a nice Salvation Army councilor came to chat with our little group. She told us that they were sponsoring us for yet another meal! We should go to the restaurant where we would have an $8 credit towards lunch. I had a brownie sundae and Camilla had jalapeno poppers. Comfort foods, for sure! As we sipped the last of our complimentary beverages, they called us for boarding!!! Flight 5771, now boarding. People in the room cheered! They were still waiting for their flights. Off we went into the unknown. They took my carry-on at the door of the plane and checked it. Melissa!! We missed you! Our flight attendant was there, along with the Captain and First Officer, now I can?t remember their names! Let?s call them Capt. Karl and Officer Mike. We got in the air and she took some time to tell us her experience from Tuesday. She knew all along what had happened. She and the captain decided not to tell us until we were on the ground. If you?ve ever been on a 50 seater you know that the jump seat is there facing the passengers. Melissa had to sit there, on the verge of tears, and face us as we landed in Lincoln. I felt for her, she was so strong. She knew some of the fallen flight attendants, too. We landed in Denver and it was so very bumpy! A little un-nerving. As we taxied to the gate, Melissa told us where our luggage would be, and that we?d need to go to the counter to rebook our flights. When we walked out of the plane, there was no one except security. No employees, no passengers. It was so weird. We all went to our luggage together, our little band of gypsies. When we got to the counter, there was no one! It was all dark and quiet. We found an employee, and her response was, ?who are you and what are you doing here?? We didn?t know! Well, we knew who we were, Flight 5771. They sent us here. The employee said, ?well they shouldn?t have, we are closed!? What could we have done about it? This was so weird. One of the husbands told us all to stay together, he would find out what was up. We were nervous. United decided to put us up. We went to a counter for hotel and food vouchers. Wait! One person is assigning some of us to the Red Lion and some of us to the Doubletree. We were NOT pleased. A lady said, ?No, we want to stay together!? Funny, I was thinking that, but someone else said it. We decided it was OK because we could meet for dinner; the hotels were near each other. Whew, still a group. We waited forever for the shuttle to come and get us. Then a 30-minute drive to the hotels. It was Julie, Camilla, Betsy and I in the Red Lion. The rest went on to the other. We checked in, and went to our rooms for TV and phone calls. We met the gang at 7:00 in the lobby of the Doubletree. Gilbert, the 92-year-old WWII vet traveling alone to his reunion met us, too. He was so sweet. Peggy offered to call and rebook his flight. He decided to go on to Arizona for his meeting. Peggy spent a long time on hold with United, at which point we formed a chain. We had been told we were now on our own to rebook, along with the rest of the country. Yikes! No priority treatment for being stranded? The chain was very effective. When one person finished, they handed off the payphone to the next person and then went to alert the next person waiting at our dinner table. Quite a few of us got our flights booked with this teamwork! I couldn?t get a flight to Burbank, my original destination, so I choose the 9 a.m. to LAX the next day. Some people couldn?t even get booked until Saturday or Sunday!!! I was lucky to be heading close to home! I had the most fabulous Portobello mushroom avocado sandwich! It was the best thing I?d had to eat in days. Spicy Brown Mustard instead of plain yellow. We talked for a long time, got to know a little more about one another. Gilbert was a flirtJ And the young married couple was so sweet. They were on their 12-year anniversary trip. We were having a great time, but it was getting late, so we decided to call the shuttle. Our little group said goodbye. Some of us would not see each other again. My time with my roomie was getting short, too. We had bonded, and because I actually AM a little co-dependent, I was scared to go on the next leg of the journey without her. She was so calm throughout the whole experience. I drew a lot of strength from her, but it was clear, she was getting tired, too. Her flight would not leave until 9pm the next night! IF it left at all! I heard from her later, that her flight WAS canceled and she and Betsy rented a car and drove back to Oregon! We headed back to our hotel. Betsy had laundry in a machine. She had been camping on her vacation to Wisconsin, and all she had was dirty camping clothes. And talk about too many bags! Bless her heart, she was really loaded down with gear. (She had a tent, which we joked that we might need in the airport the next day!) It made my three suitcases seem more manageable, somehow. It?s all in the perspective. Back in our room, we watched more TV and made more phone calls. The news was saying the airports were open, but what did they know? (My mother kept saying during this whole thing, ?The news said flights will begin today?, and I?d say, ?That?s funny, Mom, Rafael doesn?t know that and we?re still sittin? in Lincoln!?) As I re-packed yet again, Camilla watched TV. I decided to take a shower, and when I went in the bathroom, I was not alone. A big ol? roach sat there looking at me like ?what are YOU lookin? at?? Ah, this was NOT The Cornhusker: Nebraska?s Grand Hotel! I couldn?t sleep. We were told to call the 800 number to make sure the flights were going. I tried but couldn?t get through. What did I have to loose? We would have to go to the airport anyway to get new hotel and food vouchers, I may as well pretend like I?m going to get on a flight. 5:00 am. I?m up, I?m nervous, and I?m getting ready to go. Camilla didn?t need to get up, but she did. We hugged, she wished me good luck, and one last time, she helped me with my bags! I could not have gotten through this without her, and I knew it! We agreed to call each other on our cell phones during the day, to stay in touch. It was unclear what would happen at the Denver airport, and our experience the night before did not give us much hope for their organizational skills. I went down to the lobby. I was all alone except for the desk clerk. I had my $4 breakfast voucher, and with it I got a large latte! Dairy even! They don?t have a lot of soymilk in Denver, I guess. I sat there in a chair. I had a reservation for the 6:45 am shuttle to the airport. It was 6:20. I felt so alone. I sat there in tears. The clerk seemed concerned but didn?t say anything. I was getting good at crying without any noise. I would just sit there calmly, but I could do nothing about the tears streaming down my face. Would I get home after lugging all my stuff to the airport? Would I spend the next day on the floor, eating the sub sandwiches from the Salvation Army? Glad I had snacks! A shuttle pulled up and the man asked me if I was ready. (NO!) I said yes, and asked if it was OK for me to go on the earlier shuttle. I was the only one waiting, so that was a silly question, I realized. This man had no idea how tired and weird I was by this time. And alone. The shuttle headed over to the other hotel. On the curb waiting was Sandy & Skip! I knew them! The tears streamed again. I think Sandy noticed. They were happy to see me, too. We talked about things, and helped the man next to us figure out what flights he might be able to get on. He didn?t care, whatever would get him over the mountain! He?d drive the rest of the way to San Diego! We arrived at the airport and I saw my lifeboat! The little cart things that you get for 2 bucks. How wonderful that I could relax about something. The guy took my bags out of the back and I loaded them onto the cart. Sandy, Skip and I went in the airport to get in line. OH! The lines! The airport was much different this morning than it was last night. People everywhere, employees with clipboards, news crews reporting on the First Day back in the air. It was unbelievable. Sandy and Skip got in line and I followed. I didn?t want to loose my group, albeit smaller now. As I stood there looking around at the lines in disbelief, I realized that we had cut. There was an opening in line where a United lady with a clipboard was checking people?s tickets. Sandy had gotten in line in the wrong place! Oh, what would I do? I?m a big believer in the whole integrity thing, such as, what you do when no one is looking speaks to who you really are. More tears. I looked at the couple I was with, retired and definitely over 65. I looked as far as I could see, and I could not even find the end of the line. I knew Sandy thought she had gotten in the line at the end, they weren?t the cuttin? kind. I had a decision to make. My back throbbed as I thought. I was SO scared to be alone. I kept my mouth shut. I knew I wouldn?t ask them to go back to the end, and I didn?t want to leave them. I closed my eyes and asked for forgiveness. No one was yelling at us, and I was so tired. I stayed, and I still feel icky about it. I cut in line! Does tragedy really bring out the worst in us? I had just seen the most wonderful outpouring of love and caring from the people of Lincoln. I had felt the caring from all the people on Flight 5771. I accepted my decision and stood there for what became 2 hours. I said goodbye to Sandy and Skip and approached the counter. I asked the woman if there would be any way they would get me a shuttle from LAX to Burbank, since Burbank was my final destination. She said, you?ll have to ask when you get there. So far, the United employees I had been praising two days earlier were becoming surlier. Another point for Lincoln! I realized how lucky we were to have been in Lincoln. I took my boarding pass and headed to the gate. As I rounded the corner I found it, the end of the line. There was no doubt in my mind that I had missed out on at least 4 hours of waiting. I would have missed the flight I had begged to get. I would have been stranded in Denver for sure. I breathed a sigh of relief, and then the tears came again. I am a bad person. I put my own interests ahead of others. I unintentionally cut in line and kept my moth shut. What would be next? Looting? Taking candy from a baby? I didn?t know. I found the line for the x-ray machines. It was downstairs. Where was the elevator? Who knew? I walked for a while in tears, pushing my blessed cart. Finally I found one, and as I reached out to put my hand on the door to keep it open for my cart, it closed on my hand! And there was even a woman standing in it looking at me! Karma? I hoped that was all I was going to get. I could deal with that. I said a few choice words, and cried. Once I got downstairs, I found the END of the line. As I got in it, I saw Gilbert being pushed towards me in a wheel chair. A familiar face. Mine lit up. So did his. We said hi, and he told me he was going home. He had missed his reunion and was going home. I cried. That was probably his last chance to see all those guys he had fought with in WWII! After all, he?s 92! Oh, I was so sad, but I kept smiling at him. The porter pushing him asked if we were together. I said we knew each other but were not going to the same destination. I didn?t need to go into detail. He asked if I wanted to come with them. But that would mean going through the handicapped gate and bypassing the line! I couldn?t do it! I HAD to stand in line! I told the guy Thankyou, but I would stay in line. Gilbert and I said goodbye, and I cried. I cried all the way through the line. They didn?t search my bags, but they were searching some people?s. I got through and headed towards the little train that takes you to your gate area. Denver Airport was huge but very well planned. I found a customer service desk and asked again about the shuttle to Burbank. The lady took my original ticket and went in the back. After a while she came out and said, there are a lot of special things we are doing, but that isn?t one of them, sorry. She started to throw my old ticket away. I said, ?Wait! I?m saving that!? She looked at me like I was a freak! She had no idea what kind of trip I had been on, and Lady, I am making a scrapbook! I took my little ticket and headed towards my gate. I got to the gate and sat down. Out the window was our aircraft, a 757 to Los Angeles. I got nervous. It was 8:30 now, and the flight was scheduled to leave at 9:00 am. The folks behind the counter were constantly forming a little huddle. Then they?d get on the speaker and apologize for the confusion, but they had so many new rules to follow, and we also didn?t have a pilot yet. More waiting. My phone worked in Denver! I called my parents. I was trying to stay positive and keep control. I called my friend Jeanette, too. I wanted to ask her if she could keep watching my kitties, because I knew that IF I made it to LA, I would have to get immediately in the car and drive to San Francisco, where I had a gig that weekend. (My first gig with this band. I had never rehearsed with them, and as the clock ticked, it began to look like I never would.) Jeanette didn?t even let me speak before she asked if I needed a ride home from LAX! I cried, ?Oh Thank You! That?s not what I called for but Thank You! Yes!? She told me that there were no cars allowed at the curb. I would need to take a bus to a parking lot and she?d find me. Yikes, but at this point, whatever! On TV was the prayer service. I could hear it, but couldn?t see the TV. The lady came on the speaker and said, ?The President has asked for 60 seconds of silence at 12:00 pm. It was 11 in Denver, but it was time. You could have heard a pin drop. The only sound you could hear was the toll of the bells in the cathedral in New York. I felt like I was hearing them live, from New York straight to my ears. The silence was eerie. If you?ve ever heard silence in an airport?I had never. I am still in tears. God, how embarrassing. No sound, mind you, just the tears. Three armed police officers approached a businessman near me. He was of Middle Eastern decent, but American in dress and speech. The officer asked him for his ticket and ID. Another took his Palm Pilot and started doing something to it. The officer asked him where he was going, even though he had the man?s ticket in his hand. He asked the man the reason for his traveling. The man had this look on his face, a look of resignation, not indignation or irritation. It was, to me, the beginning of a new time. A time when people look suspiciously at each other, and yet a time when we need to be super cautious. I noticed that he was the only Middle Eastern looking person in the gate, and the only person questioned. The officers had obviously had some sensitivity training, because they were kind and quiet with the man. No accusations, just doing a job. A job of keeping everyone safe, including this dark skinned American man. After all, these were just the first hours of flights resuming. I wept. This time I felt overwhelmed. With fear. With sadness. With deep emotions I had never felt before this moment, some I can?t even name. With prayers on the TV above me, I started to hyperventilate, quietly. I put my head between my legs, but then I thought, don?t loose sight of your bags!!!!!! How strange the human mind can be. I was going to follow the directions, even through passing out on the floor! I looked up and put my hands through the handles on my purse and pulled my Pullman up close to me and touched it, then put my head between my legs. I thought of my Yoga Zone video, of Jean?s calm voice, of my breathing. I started to feel better. The man next to me put his hand on my back and asked if I was OK. I said, ?I will be, Thank You?. It was now about 11:40 am on Friday, and they called for boarding. The lady said that they wanted to board a little differently today. Instead of 1st class, then others, they would board only by row, and from the back of the plane. Strangely enough, nobody really crowded the door like they usually do. Pretty much everyone stayed seated until his or her row was called. I was first up. I approached the gateway door and felt unbelievable anxiety and relief in the same moment. I said quietly to myself, ?I can?t believe I?m on the way home! The man in front of me asked me if I was OK. Of course, I?m in tears. I said yes, Thankyou. Always a polite Texan. On the ride home I had a great talk with the Chinese man next to me. We had a slight language barrier, and on another day, I might have put my earphones on and continued learning my lyrics for my gig that weekend, but today I felt like being connected. We talked the whole way home, about Jackie Chan movies (I?d never seen one, but somehow I was enthralled with his opinion of them), about his wife and kids, about the weird snack plate we were given. I had eaten all my snacks while waiting for this flight; peanut butter cups, a turkey sub, twizzlers. When in doubt, eat something. We landed at LAX, I said goodbye to my new friend, and headed to the baggage claim area. Yea! My bags arrived, and I had a cart, all was well. But then I realized no one was really showing us where to go or what to do. People were just standing on empty curbs. I asked a security person and she pointed us towards a bus pick-up area. Tons of people were waiting, and every bus that passed us here at terminal 7, was full and went right on past! I saw a cab behind me and I asked him if he would drive me to Parking lot C. He laughed, but said yes. They were going to have a lot of short drives today. I landed in parking lot C and Jeanette arrived shortly afterwards. She got out of the car and we hugged and cried. This time I vocalized. I was so full of emotions they were now spilling out. I was so happy to see my friend! When we got in the car we just started spilling stories and feelings. It was so good to be talking to someone I knew! I had been with virtual strangers, disguised as family for the last 4 days! I offered to take her to our favorite place, Don Cuco in Toluca Lake. She took a rain check, as she had taken off of work to come and get my happy ass. And as we entered my little house, my ass was indeed happy! We hugged, she left, and I was alone in my house. Breakdown! I held my cats, much to their dissatisfaction. They hate me for a while when I come home from long trips. I was home, but for a moment. In short, (because this has taken me a month to write down anyway), I repacked, got in the car, and headed north. I made it to the gig, performed at my all-time lowest quality, drove home, and collapsed. I was completely spent. I was at an all-time low. It was Sunday night, September 16th. It had essentially taken me 6 days to get home from a week?s vacation in Wisconsin! Oh yeah, for those of you worried about the cheese curds, they made it. Well, I was only slightly queasy when I ate them later. As I remember that week of September 11th, I remember those folks in Lincoln. Their true sense of community. I remember the people from our planes, strangers, who came together to comfort each other and wait on the world?s next move. I remember my friend Camilla, and the others from Flight 5771. But most of all, I remember those who died. Those sweet, sweet souls who lost their lives in this attack on the human spirit. The people we will hear stories about for the rest of our lives, lest we forget. I want to hear their stories, and cry with them, it?s all I have to give, really. Soon, I will feel like entertaining again, but for now, I do it because I think I should, it?s the gift I have to give, and I will give it! And if I can get up the nerve, I?ll give blood, too. Thanks for listening to my tale, and visit this website for info on our little family, Flight 5771. http://www.geocities.com/fl5771/ In the picture, the girl in the hat is I! I love you all- Cristina 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 story4797.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. 24.55.12.85 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: That morning i remember me and my friends we being so silly during first block. We weren't doing our homework and we were just talking and laughing. Then once that class was over I was on my way to the cafeteria for nutrition break and i saw a bunch of people standing right inside and outside of the counslers office watching tv. So i asked one of my friends what was going on and she didnt know either so i went and watched the tv and my jaw just dropped and my eyes just bursted open in confusement. i wasnt sure what was happening but i saw the twin towers in smoke and a plane that had made a hole. I didnt know what to think and it was so horrifying i wasnt sure what to do. So i went to my friends and asked them what was going on as we went to our class. My teacher started to explain what had happened and i couldnt believe i was thinking is this really happenind. How could someone do that? IT was so awful but i didnt really feel anything except a small sadness and i was scared. Then all we did in that class and my next class was watch the news. My 4th block class we actually tried doing work but no one could consintrate. Most of the class evn asked the teacher if he could turn on the news but he wouldnt. Maybe he thought we shouldnt be watching it so much because it could be to devestating for us. I wasnt sure what he was thinking. I had noticed a lot of the kids went home because there parents were scared adn worried and thought they should be together during that time. I didnt really feel and see how sad it was until this year. I'm not sure why i didnt. and I'm not sure why this happened. But i hope nothing will ever happen like this again. Because it was so hard for so many people and so many people lost loved ones and that has to be 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 story7530.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.93.44.182 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 we received our normal Thursday shipment for the store. To all of us it was a normal day. When the doors opened for business at 10 we heard the first of something unusuall happening. News radio filled us in on what was happening. Many of us had friends or family stationed in the Pentagon and a couple had family working in the towers. Not many people came into the store that day. By 1230 the mall had closed and all of us made our ways home to watch and rewatch the towers come down again and again. Seeing the black hole on the hillside really drove home what had happened. The hillside in Shanksville is just over the hill from where I call home. To me it was so unreal to think that all of the people could possible be dead. No one could ever think let alone do something like this here in America. Days afterward I wondered if maybe the people who had lived through Pearl Harbor had felt the same disbelieve. I was proud of how America banded together. I am very proud of my hometown area for the comfort they provided for the relatives of the heros of flight 93. 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 story5238.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 was in my office when my husband, Richard, called me from his job to tell me what was happening. I turned on our little office TV and couldn't believe what I was viewing. The devastation seemed unreal, even on a 9-inch screen it was so huge; I can't imagine what it would have been like to witness the attacks in person. I called my employer, Bill, into my office to watch with me (he is originally from NYC). We watched in horror together, then we realized we both wanted to call our families and friends. I really wanted to go home and pull my teenage daughter, Pam, out of school. Bill wanted to do the same. We both left before school got out so that we could be home when our children arrived. We later discovered that two of Bill's friends were on the airplane that struck the Pentagon. God bless all those who perished. 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 story6630.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. 198.144.141.154 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: There are two things about my reaction on September 11th that still surprise me when I look back. The first is how I responded when I heard of the attacks. I was sitting on my couch having just gotten up the motivation to start on some school work. My mom called and told me to quickly turn on the TV because two planes had flown into the World Trade Center. I immediately said, "What? Did the planes get lost?" "No!" she said, "It's terrorists!" Like so many others, I was naive enough at that moment to think that no one would maliciously fly planes into a building. What surprises me about this is that I can no longer remember what it felt like to be that innocent. When I think of my initial reaction, I can't understand how I would think of anything but terrorism because my mindset now, and even just days after September 11th, are so far removed from that naive person who picked up the phone that day. The other thing that surprises me about my reaction is that after watching the attacks on TV for a short while, I felt fiercely compelled to lock up the apartment securely. I shut all windows and bolted all doors in a frenzy. I felt that vulnerable: as if someone was going to show up at my little apartment in the middle of the NY countryside and attack me. But I really did feel that way. If someone had done this to major buildings, they could be anywhere ready to do anything. I thought our country was falling apart. I can't recapture or comprehend how I could've felt that afraid and vulnerable because it is so illogical, but I know that I did not unbolt those doors or open the windows, no matter how hot it was inside the apartment, until late in the day. Most of all, I grieved the loss of the World Trade Center. Is it possible to grieve buildings? Is it even right to do that when there are thousands of people grieving human life? I grappled with those questions, yet still found myself constantly reminiscing all of the important moments in my life that the towers had been there for: I sat in their shadow in the courtyard watching a concert with my mom during our last outing before I left home for graduate school; I looked out at them from a lighthouse on the NJ coast, near my hometown in Monmouth County, as my then-boyfriend proposed to me; I spent countless hours in Hoboken during a summer internship staring across the river at them as I contemplated my future career plans; I sailed by and marveled at them in the middle of the night at my high school Post-Prom party onboard a boat; I stood on top of one of them and saw the city lying at my feet...Yes, I had many memories of those buildings, of that skyline, and now that's all that was left: memories. I still feel guilty for mourning buildings that are only concrete and steel when there was flesh and blood to be mourned, but I could not change my true thoughts and feelings. Somehow those towers symbolized more to me and played a role in my life that went beyond just being buildings. I've only seen the NY skyline twice since the attacks despite the numerous times that I have been in NJ and the fact that my favorite place to go used to be into Atlantic Highlands to look out at the skyline. It is too painful to look now. Somehow if I don't see it with my own eyes, I can still deny that it happened. Even a year later. I'll probably say the same decades from now. It's a wound that we all bear that will never fully heal I think, but we move on and live our lives and pray for the families of the victims and that's all that we can do. Somehow, life goes on. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story6335.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. 24.58.37.115 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 just getting ready to start my day, when I turned on the TV. The first plane had just hit and the morning shows were starting to cover the fire. Noboy knew yet that this wasn't an accident. I called a friend, who has a sister in NYC by the Towers, to tell her to turn on the TV. Just as we were talking, we watched the second plane hit live on TV. We both screamed. How? Why? Who? The rest of the day is a blur. I couldn't get to work in downtown Detroit because they had sealed everything off. I stayed home, watched TV and prayed and cried. That night, I couldn't sleep. I kept watching TV, praying nothing else would happen. I finally fell asleep, only to be awakened by 2 F-16 aircraft screaming low over my house. They had been dispatched by the local air base to patrol over Metro Detroit. I was terrified something else had happened. All of us rushed out of our houses to see if we could see or hear anything. We stood in the street, in our bathrobes and PJ's, wondering what Sept. 12 would bring. God bless everyone and let there be peace on earth. 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 story4115.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: Hi Friends, I am fine, and so is everyone that I know. It was an interesting day here in DC yesterday. We were ordered to leave work around 10am, but I didn't get to my house about 20 miles away until after 1pm. Traffic was bumper to bumper, and the trains, buses, and subway system was shut down. It was really bizarre to see hundreds of people walking to get out of town. Some of the trains that carry commuters for long distances into Virginia and Maryland were shut down, so I don't know how or when they got home. We could see smoke from the Pentagon and from a bomb that exploded near the Old Executive Office Building (a block or so from the White House) from my building. As well, there were fighter jets and helicopters flying over the city, and emergency and law enforcement vehicles were everywhere. It was a pretty strange situation, but I never felt that there was any eminent danger. If it happens it happens, and at that point there isn't a whole lot you can do about it. DC was a mess, but nothing compared to what New York City must have been like. It must seem like a bad dream to those folks. I got a call last night from my cousin who lives in Miami. She was at Miami International Airport yesterday morning waiting to catch an American flight to Los Angeles to visit her sister. She said that for several hours they were told that the flight will be delayed "30 minutes," "an hour", "two hours", "canceled, but maybe we can get you on the 1 o'clock flight," until finally they were told to go home, and that everything was closed. Our folks here at the FAA shut down the entire air traffic control system for the country, for the first time ever. When my car-pooler and I drove into the parking garage of the FAA building at 6:30am this morning, there were several limos parked there that belong to officials from across the government. They were meeting to determine when to reopen the airports and the air traffic control system. I got another call last night from a friend who has been a flight attendant for American Airlines for 32 years. She was grounded in Dallas because of the shutdown of the system. She said that she didn't know exactly who the flight attendants were that were on the American Airlines plane that hit the Pentagon, but knew almost all of their flight attendants based in DC. So, she had friends and colleagues that were either killed by the terrorists or that died in the crash. My carpool partner also said this morning that his daughter, who is a school teacher, had two students whose parents were on the plane that hit the Pentagon. So this is a far reaching tragedy. It is quite in the streets of DC and the FAA building today, and will probably take a while for things to return to normal. Take care and please stay in touch. Your friend, Gene 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 story1313.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. 204.108.8.5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: As our train approached the 16th Street station in Philadelphia a little after 9am on September 11th, cell phones began to ring. We heard such comments as, ?Oh no,? ?You?ve got to be kidding,? ?No fooling.? One person turned around and announced, ?The World Trade Towers in New York have been flattened to the ground.? My husband and I looked at each other and said, ?Oh yeah.? We entered the elevator in the building where our meeting was held. A security office joined us and told us that a million people in New York had just been killed. Again, my husband and I gave each other that dubious look. As we left the elevator, we decided that something obviously had happened in New York City and we wondered what it could be. Our meeting had already begun. The room was dark while everyone, oblivious to any unusual activity, quietly watched a video. We could barely sit in our seats so consumed were we by curiosity as to what was happening in New York. Twenty minutes later, the video ended and the lights were turned on. A woman entered our room and calmly announced that the city of Philadelphia was being evacuated. She informed us that we all were to return home immediately. Those taking the trains were to hurry to them because in a short time all trains would cease operations. No one knew the cause of this. Everyone left calmly and joined the crowds on the streets walking swiftly to their cars, buses, and trains. The train platform was jammed. Some train lines had already closed down. We asked a few people if they knew what had happened and they told us that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center and stories about hijackings that were hard to believe. People rushed onto our train. Once wedged on, they asked if anyone would drive them to their cars, which were parked along a different train line. Several van owners volunteered. With relief, we finally reached our train station and drove home. We immediately turned on the TV and finally saw and heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the tragic crash in PA. 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 story1617.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. 2002-08-31 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.242.117.48 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 an ordinary day like any other at work. I work for the town newspaper. Somewhere between 8:30 & 9:00 a co-worker came running out of the newspaper and said that a plane hit the World Trade Center. So we all got up and went into the newsroom to see it on TV. As we are standing we saw the 2nd plane hit. It was the most unbelievable thing I ever saw on TV. As we are all watching this horrific thing happening, I looked around at my co-workers and there are no words to describe the looks on their faces. Just disbelief. I started crying and so did few of my other co-workers. I will never forget that image. All day at work that is what we talked about. My son lives in Chicago and I knew he was suppose to go to Iowa for business that day. I called his sister and asked her to check on him. Because I knew all planes were grounded. To my relief she called me back immediately and said he was driving to Iowa and not flying. I was relieved. The whole day was spent thinking about th! is terrible thing that was happening to my country. When the 4th plane hit, I kept thinking "What is happening?!" I cried. I was scared. I felt like I had no protection. As everyone is saying, that is a day you will always remember what you were doing, just like President Kennedy. It really hit my 10 year old grandson hard. He is very patriotic now and is much more aware of the flag and what his country stands for. Sylvia Petersen 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 story8634.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. 209.225.97.62 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 have a cousin who worked on one of the upper floors of the WTC. She arrived at work early and instead of going upstairs, she decided to have a bagel and a cup of coffee across the street. That is when the first plane hit. I am so very greatful that she decided to do what she did. My heart goes out to each and every person who lost a loved one. Women without husbands, husbands without wives, childrens without Moms or Dads. How do they even begin to move on with their lives? I would feel like my life is at a stand still. I can do nothing more for than than offer my prayers and hope their grief lessens just a little bit. Sadness can be such a very strong emotion. God bless you all and know that so many of us are thinking of you and praying for you. With all my love, Florence Carella 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 story6048.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. 216.178.85.250 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: That day I walked into homeroom and my teacher had the television on. Her and another student in the class look really conserned. I remember looking at the television and have them keep replaying over and over again a plane running into the north tower. I though to myself"someone must have been giving horrible directions that day and must feel pretty bad right now." my teacher felt the same way. She was telling us that their was a chance that it would have been a terrioist attack, but that no one was certain. Then about 30 seconds before the bell was about to ring I was watching the t.v. and one of the television news people said,"oh look here comes a resuce plane", and thats when the second tower was hit. At that time I think all of us new that this wasn't a mistack and that something was horrible wrong. As the day went by the teachers were told not to let the students watch the T.V. in the class romm b/c a few of the stundents were saying things that the world was going to come to an end. That day when I went home to see if I could figure out what else had gone on since the 2 plane crashed, I found out that another plane had crossed into the pentagon and another went into Penn. I was so scared. I thought the sure enough that for a really long time that other freaking things were goign to happen that day. The only problem was we didn't know when or where they were gonna happen. I was really worried about my cousin in NYC. We never heard from her until a week later. Thankfully she was ok. When they were giving the numbers for the amount of poeple who were missing, I was horrified. I kept saying to myself,"why would someone do this to america??, Who would want to do soemthing like this?? I now know these answers and to this day it still makes my quiver when i think about it. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story3521.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.193.126.63 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 husband and I were married on September 9, 2001 in Philadelphia after moving from Jersey City, NJ earlier that month. We had planned on leaving on our cross-country, road trip across America honeymoon to our new home in Tucson, AZ on 9/11. We wanted to sleep in after an exhausting week, month, year of preparation. The phone rang incessently from about 9:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. when I finally picked up the phone. It was my mother. "You're not going anywhere. Turn on the TV," she said. I did and saw for the first time what was happening across the river from my former apartment and down town from my former job. I was horrified. It was a horrible days as we called all of our loved ones to find out that they were safe. My sister-in-law had been in the air on a flight from Newark to San Francisco (same as United Flight 93), which departed at 9 a.m. She was one of the lucky ones. Though she was stranded in Ohio for three days. We left on the evening of September 12 for our road trip, figuring we needed to get to our new home in Tucson. We needed to begin our new life together. We traveled for two and a half weeks and watched the country mourn and unite. It was the most fascinating experience of our lives. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story490.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. 2002-05-01 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.101.177.31 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It was just another typical morning at work, getting my coffee and turning my small radio on at work. As I was getting ready to get started, I heard the radio announcer mention New York, then the word airplane crash. I immediately turned the radio up, and to my amazement, could not believe what I was hearing. A passenger jet had crashed into the Trade Center. I immediately got some of my co-workers, gathered them around my desk, just to confirm what I had just heard, it was true. Then we all went to our computers to check the news, it just made the headlines. Then shortly after, another plane had hit, then the news that the Pentagon had also been attached by an airplane. We could not beleive this was happening, we were all gathered together trying to catch ever detail of information and even trying to find somehere who might have a TV. No one was working and even our phones had stopped ringing from our customers, except for the calls from friends and family members informing us about what the TV news was reporting. We were all in disbelief, our stomaches were churned, and we were all drawned together all day. The news just seemed to get worse and we were trying to figure out, what next? We could not wait until we got home to watch the news. This will be a day that we will never forget, September 11th, 2001. 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 story1843.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. 2002-09-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.151.1.253 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 my 8:00AM Major British Authors class at NYU. We were discussing poetry by Wordsworth and Coleridge. Around 8:40AM, I heard a low-flying plane over the building. Since there are three major airports in the area, I didn't think too much of it at the time. I heard nothing more, but a few minutes later, my beeper went off. At 9:15AM, on my way to my next class, I received another beep. Both beeps were from my mother. Some people were standing in the street, talking about how a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Since a plane had once crashed into the Empire State Building, I didn't think too much of it, theorizing that it was perhaps a wayward commuter plane. I called my mother. "Are you ok?" she asked. "Of course I am. I'm on campus. I heard that a plane crashed into the twin towers, but it was just an accident." "No, they're saying it was a terrorist attack!" "That's how rumors are started. It wasn't a terrorist attack. I'm ok and I'll talk to you soon." I arrived at my next class, and as people filtered in late, I heard about another plane hitting the WTC, and then there were hushed whispers of a tower collapsing. My dorm was downtown, about five blocks from the WTC site. Collapsed? A tower collapsed? Did it just fall straight down, or did it topple over? Did it crush any other buildings? Was my building levelled as well? A security guard came into the class around 10:30 and dismissed us all. I walked out of class with a group of friends and looked downtown for the first time. That's when I saw a colossal cloud of smoke, smothering downtown New York. Cars were parked on the street, radios blasting. People were walking in the middle of the road, talking and watching. There were lines of people at pay phones. My mother beeped me again. My girlfriend beeped me. I tried to use my cell phone, but all circuits were busy. I wondered if I would be able to make it back downtown, to my dorm (it reopened two and a half weeks later). I wondered if I should stay in the city or if I should head home. I visited a comic book store with a friend. I finally made it through to my mother and my girlfriend. NYU was very fast and efficient, setting up an emergency shelter at the recreation center. I visited it and registered my name, so that they'd have a record of my being safe. A friend of mine at the rec center told me that the planes might have been carrying anthrax. He said that he saw people jumping from the upper floors. A friend offered me a place to stay, but in my terrorist-inspired paranoid mind, I wondered if the WTC attacks were a diversion to occupy the city's police forces while another, more deadly attack was being planned uptown. That's when I decided to leave the city. Since the subways were shut down, I walked from 8th street to Grand Central Station on 42nd, took the first train I could hop on back home to Westchester County (the MTA provided free service that day), and rode home. NYU was closed for the remainder of the week, and I commuted to school for the next two and a half weeks until the dorms were reopened. I know no one who perished in the attacks, but my daily thoughts are with them. 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 story1112.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. 166.77.209.191 Annotation Annotations to this item. Rumors Students/Teachers NY:3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at work in Bristol England, when I heard the tragic news about the twin towers, and I was in shock. I had just recently got engaged and was seperated from my fiance, he was back at school in Utah. I thought that people were joking with me, but when then second plane hit, I knew that they weren't. I was alone in the evening, still looking at live pictures from New York. My parents were on vacation in Spain, so I had my younger brother with me. I had to phone my finace and say that I might not be able to fly just over 2 weeks later. I was in shock for a few days, talking to my fiance every day for the next week, until my parents came home. I was crying all evening, and I couldn't stop myself. There were loads of news stories about english people working there, who were presumed dead. The images were on for at least 3 days after, all of the news reports would tell of people still being pulled out from the rubble alive. I am so glad that I wasn't in the area 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 story6502.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. 128.187.0.167 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: Our family are transplanted New Yorkers. My wife and I received a call when the first plane hit. We were out having breakfast and decided to return home to watch the news. Our initial reaction was muted as we assumed it was a tragic accident. With our eyes glued to the television,that reaction turned to horror as we saw the second plane hit! The realization that our city was under attack sickened us. The news from the Pentagon and Pennsylvania prompted us to call our children in school. Even though their phones were not permitted to be on, we reached our daughter. The school had taken the student body to an assembly to calm them down. My daughter relayed that our son wanted her to call us and come get him. As we headed out to their school,I tried to maintain my composure,hoping to assure them that we were ok. Looking back,I can still feel that sickening feeling in my body that it might be the last time we would be together. As we arrived at school, the place was frenetic. Since South Florida has a large population of transplanted N.Y.'ers,parents were parking their cars in the roads and running to the school to find their kids. We met our daughter in the parking lot and set off to find my son. After what seemed an eternity, he appears and has this expression on his face I will never forget! I tell him that our family up north is fine but with tears in his eyes he asks about two very close friends. Both worked in Manhattan,one down on Wall Street. He assumed that they we in The Towers as their former employers were located there. As I assured him that they were fine, he slumped into my arms as the relief overwhelmed him. The remainder of that day, we stayed together,watching as the events unfolded,realizing that the safe little world we lived in had been irrevocably changed! 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 story1294.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. 67.28.71.221 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 by the mere location of my residence that I became a witness to one of the most reprehensible and fiendish attacks ever committed against innocent, civilian lives. My story is not one of great heroism or cowardice but one of survival and self-realization ======================================= I was there that morning. That sunny Tuesday morning. Not because I wanted to be there. Not because it was my job to be there. Not even because it was my duty to be there. But simply because that was where I lived. 225 Rector Place. Or Parc Place as our apartment building was commonly known in our neighborhood. Tuesday began like any other day for us. Sue was up and out by 6:30. I stayed in bed for another hour or so and then got up to hit the pavement. Instead of going for my daily run I went straight to the computer to send some follow-up emails to new recruiters and H.R. directors that I had met the day before. Interestingly enough two of them had asked me the exact same question, ?Outside of advertising what would you consider your dream job to be?? My response to both of them was ? ?photojournalist.? The time was 8:30 a.m. and I was still busy banging out emails in hopes of, at the very least, scheduling an interview for later in the week. I was in the process of spell checking the last one when I heard a boom followed by a scraping sound (that is best described as the sound that the blade of a snowplow makes as it first hits the road) then a second, smaller boom. And then quiet. It was enough to make me stop what I was doing ? just for a moment. Then fire sirens could be heard. Since there was continuous construction work on West Street and a fire truck could be seen at the World Trade Center on Liberty Street practically once a day, nothing appeared too unusual. So, I finished spell checking my e-mail and pressed ?send.? The time stamp on the e-mail was 8:54 a.m. With the last e-mail gone and the sounds of police, fire and ambulance sirens growing ever louder, I decided to look out our window and see if I could catch a glimpse of what was going on outside. When I looked out all I could see was paper raining down on the street below like it was a ticker tape parade in the canyon of heroes. This was definitely not right. My gaze immediately followed the trail of paper up to a high floor of the north tower of the Word Trade Center. From my vantage point all I could see was the south and west sides of the towers. A quick, first glance from this angle revealed very little except that a fire had broken out on a floor of the north tower ? Nothing more. With a more prolonged fix on the scene, I was able to determine flames were ravaging at least two floors while smoke was billowing from the opposite sides of tower one. This was not right at all. Something was wrong. With ?photojournalist? still fresh in my psyche as the answer to my dream job, I rushed into the closet to find my camera and then made a frantic dash to our building?s roof deck. As usual, the elevators didn?t seem to go fast enough ? especially now. The doors finally opened to the penthouse floor and I ran down the hall, up another flight of stairs and I burst onto the roof deck. All was calm up there. Not that I was expecting complete chaos but in the time it took me to reach the roof deck from our apartment a number of scenarios had been running through my mind. Happily, none of them had occurred. As I walked over to the east side of the roof it became a bit clearer to me. This was not just a fire but must have been some kind of horrible mistake. There was only one other person on the roof at the time. An older gentleman with mustache and a belly that protruded from his unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. He must have been continuing an extended vacation as it looked like he was laying out basking in the warm, morning sun and cool breeze from the harbor. We didn?t utter a word to one another. We just looked at each other as if to say, ?This is pretty fucking serious.? He noticed my camera around my neck and motioned that he?d be back. Once he was gone I retrained my focus to the burning offices and the street below. By now the fire was worse and emergency crews were coming from all directions. I clicked off 5 or 6 frames and then felt an urge to find out what was going on. I thought there must be something on the news about this by now. As I was leaving the roof deck, the man who was there earlier had made his return trip. This time with his camera in hand. Again, we said nothing to one other. So, with that awkward, silent parting I raced back downstairs to #8A. I opened the door and went first to the television, hit the power button and then went to the dining room window to see if there were any new developments. Before the picture could even materialize on the TV and before I could get to the window there was an extremely loud and extended BOOM. This time the sound was unmistakable. The sound was definitely an explosion. As I stared out of the window I was in shock ? horrified to now see both the twin towers were ablaze. More paper and debris continued to fall and people on the street were beginning to scramble for cover. As the TV news team was relaying the information that a second plane had crashed into the South tower, the reality of the situation was beginning to be realized by everyone at the same time. New York was under attack! At that moment a million different questions seemed to run through my head. Should I evacuate and take the ferry off of the island? But which one ? Staten Island or New Jersey Waterway? Should I pack clothes and other things for Sue and I? What about our neighbors? What about the cat? More importantly, what about Sue? Were any other parts of the city being hit? Could this really be happening? I decided the only thing to do was direct my attention to what was unfolding in front of me. Current status was that the buildings were burning and the emergency crews were either already on the scene or on their way. How much worse could it get? That being my thought process, I changed into clothes that were more in line with what I envisioned was appropriate for a? photojournalist.? While I was preparing to go outside and perform my dream job, I was also able to see television coverage of the gaping whole in the North face of the North tower. My objective was to cover the towers from all sides. Head North and circle all the way around back to my starting point at Parc Place. Dressed in a t-shirt, cargo shorts and sneakers, I pocketed an extra roll of film grabbed the cell phone, palm pilot and keys. Loaded with my gear I took another peek outside to make sure what I thought was going on was in fact real. Confirming the situation, I headed for the door. Before leaving I placed a quick call to Sue to find out what she knew and inform her of my plan. Her voice mail picked-up. I needed to stay calm and keep the message brief. Beep. ?Sue, they?ve blown up the towers and I?m going out!? Click. So much for staying calm. I turned to the cat, ?By Jazzie, I?ll be back later.? And off I went. Neither Sue nor I were living in the city when the World Trade Center was first attacked by terrorists in 1993. When I had first started working in New York I would make the commute through a combination of New Jersey Transit and Path trains. During my first month of this commute the 3rd anniversary of that attack took place and nearly everyone on my train had been touched by the experience and had a story to tell. Now eight years later, it was our turn to experience first hand, the horror of terrorists. The ride down on the elevator took forever ? stopping on every floor. I figured everyone would be running for cover but when the elevator doors opened to the lobby things weren?t as crazy as I had expected. I found it quite strange. While two of the world?s tallest buildings were burning out of control not more than 200 yards away, Parc Place was still receiving all sorts of deliveries. Felix definitely had his hands full with requests for information as he continued to direct the flow of everyday building traffic Dry cleaning, breakfast from the diner, courier service, routine maintenance and house cleaning personnel all continued going in and out of the building. Like everyone else in the lobby I checked in with Felix to find out what he knew. He was always the go-to-guy in order to get information. Nothing went on, in or around Parc Place without him knowing about it. On this day however, Felix was at a loss. It only took a few minutes to understand he didn?t know any more than the rest of us. He was however doing a good job of faking it by telling stories from other witnesses who had already passed through the lobby. Realizing my once reliable source of information was now beginning to repeat what little actual facts he knew I decided it was time to move on. Out the front door of Parc Place I made a left heading towards our sidewalk between the building and West Street. The usually barren sidewalk was overflowing with people. Some hysterical, some crying, some yelling. And practically all of them on a cell phone. Where were all these people coming from? I made another left. Now heading North toward Albany Street I was like a salmon going up stream against a swift moving current of office workers. At the corner of Albany and West Street the tree-lined sidewalk gave way to my first view of the horror from street level. By now, fallen burning debris had started small fires in nearby parking lots. As I continued to fight my way closer I heard someone say, ?look, there goes another one!? Another what, I thought. As I stared up in disbelief I couldn?t believe what I was now watching. It didn?t take long to figure out that ?another one? meant a person. And ?goes? meant jumped. In all, I witnessed 12?15 people leap to their death. Some looked severely burned. Some looked as if they were trying to hang on to the exterior structure through broken out windows but were overcome by the heat and the smoke. Others appeared to understand their fates were already doomed if they stayed. So they decided to step off their ledge and fall together hand-in-hand, 90 - 100 stories to the street below. As difficult as it was to watch that type of event it was equally as difficult to look away. It was evident that I needed to change direction. In part due to not wanting to get close enough to see the end result of the poor souls who had determined their chances were better off surviving a fall of that magnitude and in part due to tiring of fighting the constant southward flow of people. South. Everyone fleeing the World Trade Center and World Financial Centers were running South to the Staten Island Ferry. Many probably took the ferry to and from work everyday as their regular commuter transportation. Today it would be their lifeboat and escape to safety. Breaking free from the flow of people fleeing for the Staten Island ferries I spilled out close to the Battery Tunnel entrance. There I took time to clear my head, reassess what was going on and focus on a plan of action. Still wanting to continue on, I needed to proceed north again. This time my path led me East around Exchange Place over to Broadway. The side streets that lead to Broadway were barren except for a curious few. Quickly a police officer warned me that I couldn?t go any closer and advised that I head south toward the Staten Island Ferry. Not wanting to do that I pressed on. East, over to Broadway via Exchange Place. There were many more onlookers here. I swung the camera off my shoulder and checked the remaining number of exposures and the computer settings. No time for the novice to operate manually. Auto-mode was the call for the day. Now I was moving north again and approached Trinity Church as the first recognizable landmark. Here I took a few pictures and listened to other?s conversations about what they had seen earlier this morning, where they were when it happened and what was going on now. Repeatedly, people mentioned that the towers were designed to withstand impacts from an airplane. True enough. Each of the twin towers was belching smoke, flames, debris and people and yet, each was still standing. The towers were not swaying. They didn?t look like the leaning tower of Pizza. And seemingly the entire city?s fire and police departments were on the scene. It was now just a matter of evacuating everybody from the buildings and putting out the fire. Looking on, the towers remained virtually indestructible. Invincible. Defiant. The growing crowds from Trinity Church to the park at City Hall began feeding on this as a source of strength. No longer were people running away from the scene. Rather, people were beginning to gather along the new perimeters being established by police ? Courageously standing tall with the slowly dieing towers of the World Trade Center. I guess because of the camera and photojournalist ?disguise? the police allowed me to move around freely and go about my business. I was now at the base of the World Trade Center. While at the corner of Liberty and Church Streets my freedom to move about at my discretion was replaced with a direct order to ?Move? for fear of my safety. This was a new directive and given in a much more stern manner. The previous warnings to back-up had been more voluntary in nature and most normal people had obliged. The policemen who were now assigned to setting up a perimeter had become extremely serious about moving people away from the scene. You could see it in their faces. They were more focused and more determined not to let anyone pass. The perimeter was further extended in each direction and directives for everyone to move north become more intense. This was no longer viewed as ?parade duty? by these police officers but as basic survival tactics. Did I miss something? Another attack? What about the rest of the city? What about Sue? What had happened to bring about such a change? Nothing seemed to have changed from my perspective but with such a drastic change in demeanor I heeded their advice and moved on. Besides, my first roll of film was exhausted and I needed to reload. At this point, I didn?t mind the cops ushering me further North. It was the direction in which I originally had planned to go. I was out here to document the attack and I wanted to cover the damage from all angles before heading back home. So, I continued my trek up Broadway looking to turn west as soon as possible. My plan was slowly beginning to deteriorate. As the safety perimeter increased in radius my opportunities to head West to North Battery Park City become nearly impossible. Police were on every street corner of Broadway not letting people pass and pushing them northward. Vesey St., Barclay St., Park Place, Murray St. Finally, while an officer was talking with another civilian at Murray and Broadway, I made my break back west. I was quickly forced north again but after one more block I ran down Chambers Street headed for West Street. At this intersection there were three public schools a college and most importantly, the entrance to North Battery Park City. Students were everywhere and lines for public phones were ridiculous. But with cell phones virtually useless the wait was worth it in order to make contact with a loved one to let them know you were O.K. While at the corner of West and Chambers Street I notice that I was well into my second and last roll of film. I begin to ration pictures and heavily evaluated ?photo opportunities? before preparing to make my final push back home. Being 5 blocks North of the WTC and 6 blocks from home I realized that for the most part, I had completed my mission. Now I needed to get myself home, get to the cat and figure out what to do next. However, police and fire department personnel were not permitting anyone to go south or cross the street into North Battery Park City. For now I was stuck. I could see my home. I just wasn?t allowed to go there. As the reality of my current situation began to sink-in a deafening noise redirected my attention back to the flame and smoke engulfed towers. What I saw stopped me and everyone at the corner dead in our tracks. With a huge roaring sound the unthinkable was happening. Even though my view of the South Tower was partially obstructed by the North Tower, I could still see huge chunks of the building?s exterior skeleton begin to pull away from the structure, fall across West Street and disappear in a vacuous cloud of smoke that mushroomed up like a small nuclear explosion. Unbelievable. This couldn?t be happening. The indestructible? The invincible? The defiant? How could this be? Before any of us could think it through any further the mushroom cloud of smoke and ash was heading our way threatening to envelope us if we didn?t move. Instinctively, all of us ran up West Street as fast as we could. Together, students, office workers, construction workers, fireman, policemen, EMTs, all of us who were there on that corner, sprinted away from the unknown danger that seconds ago had demolished a 110 story building. Fortunately, that section of West Street was extremely wide and not confined or restricted with a number of high rises. Once North of the movie theater and the Embassy Suites hotel the smoke and ash combination dissipated quite a bit before finally reaching us one block North from where we had just been. From our position we were lucky not to be hit with the full impact of the rolling wave of dust and ash. Instead, we were hit primarily with a discriminating acrid smell in the air and a few dust particles in our mouths and hair. I dusted myself off and went through the internal bodily checklist. Everything was fine. Nothing a little cleaning couldn?t clear-up for both the camera and me. But now, the enormity of what just happened was setting in. From my angle, it had looked like a number of the large pieces of the South Tower that had fallen across the street were headed directly onto Parc Place. Because the smoke was still so heavy at the base of the WTC nothing could be made out visually. For the second time that morning I was left with so many questions. What else has been destroyed? What was the status of Parc Place? What happened to all the people? What about Jazzie? What do I do now? My heart was in my stomach and I wanted to puke. There was a new rush of emergency vehicles screaming down West Street vanishing into the smoke that was once the South Tower. I only seemed to be in the way there so I headed back to the pay phones that I saw on Chambers. While I was walking I continued to try and contact someone on the cell phone - anyone. I kept redialing Sue?s work number, my in-law?s home in New Jersey and my parent?s in Florida. By now they must be aware of what was happening and I?m sure my mother was a wreck. My parents had visited us in our new apartment only three weeks earlier and they knew just how close we were to the World Trade Center. It seemed pointless but I kept trying to get through. It was like trying to buy concert tickets over the phone. Someone has to be able to get through - just not me ? not now. On Chambers the line for pay phones was way too long. I went east to the end of the block and headed north. At N. Moore Street I spied a pay phone with only four people in line. I quickly lined-up in the queue but also continued to feverishly work the cell phone keypad. Still nothing. The line was moving. Slowly but surely I had advanced to the point where I was number two in line. ?C?mon, C?mon. Let them know you?re OK and let someone else use the phone.? I thought. Then there was another loud rumbling sound and screams of tragic disbelief. Deep down I knew what was happening but I jumped out of line and ran over to Greenwich Street and looked South to confirm my worst thoughts. Like a spouse who dies of loneliness shortly after their loved one has departed, the North Tower had come down only 38 minutes after it?s mate had imploded and been forever erased from the city?s skyline. Now my mind was racing again. The situation was deteriorating very fast and I was still not able to get in touch with anyone. I went back to West Street to see if I could somehow cross over and head back down to my apartment. When I got there I found another rush of activity. This time the emergency vehicles were heading in our direction away from the fallen city icons. As I looked further down West Street not only were the vehicles fleeing the scene but rescue workers were now running towards us in retreat. What was going on? And almost as if on cue, a police van screeched to a halt in front of a group of us. An officer jumped out and yelled at all of us, ?Run! Run as fast as you can!? He didn?t have to say it twice. Before he could finish we were off and running for our lives, again. This time however, I knew what we were running from. As we began to flee I heard the officer say that there was a gas main leak. As we evacuated the area and ran North up West Street we picked-up other stragglers. They weren?t aware of the potential danger but when you see people running as if from the bowels of hell itself one doesn?t wait around to ask questions. One simply joins in the mass exodus. By now the little group of us that had begun our retreat from N. Moore Street had grown to a large size mob. Somewhere above Houston and West Street I couldn?t run anymore. What was the point? I dug into my pocket for the cell phone. Maybe by now the call volume had gone down. Sue?s work phone ? Nothing. My parent?s phone ? Dead air. My in-laws home number ? It was ringing! Chris, my brother in-law, answered. I let him know it?s me and immediately he asked where I was and if I was all right. I began to inform him of my location but my lips began to quiver and my throat became so tight I could barely speak. I realized if I continued this way that he?d hear me break down. So I paused and he asked again where I was and if was all right. I took a big gulp of air, gave him my coordinates (Barrow?s and West Side Highway) and informed him that physically I was all right. I began to go into detail of my ordeal that morning but was rudely interrupted by someone who wanted to use my cell phone. Annoyed, I looked over at the guy to say ?piss-off? when I saw a man in bluish-green scrubs and a stethoscope around his neck standing next to an ambulance. The sight of him snapped me back to the real issue at hand. He wanted to use my phone to try to get in touch with co-workers of his who were at a triage unit that had been set-up at the base of the World Trade Center. I asked Chris to call my parents and Sue to let them know I was on the move and told him EMTs needed my phone and that I would call later. Once off the line I handed over the mobile phone with no guarantees on ability to get through. The doctor made a number of feeble attempts to connect but to no avail. He thanked me and gave it back after about five minutes of trying. At that point, the time of day had no meaning. I was lost in a city swirling with astonishment, disbelief and shock. I wandered into the Village and sat down on the steps of a brownstone to ponder my current set of circumstances. I couldn?t go home. Sue was at work uptown well over a hundred blocks North (which was like a world away at that moment ? just as well). Jazz was alone or worse?dead. The battery on the cell phone was winding down. How could I be so self-absorbed? Everyone in New York knows how many people work in the World Trade Center. How many tens of thousands of people were now dead? How many families were desperately reaching out to loved ones who were no longer with us? The faces of anyone left on the street said it all. I needed to make contact with the outside world to help figure out what to do. My judgement was becoming cloudy and I didn?t know where to go or what to do. At one point I overheard someone say that all bridges and tunnels to the city were shut down but the ferries were still taking people across the Hudson to New Jersey. For a moment that seemed like a good idea as compared to staying on this now isolated island of terror. Not only was I isolated from the rest of the world, I was isolated from Sue and our home. Finally, I got through to my in-laws again. For some reason the 908 area code was reachable. This time it was my mother-in-law, Linda was the one to answer. It was very comforting to hear a mother?s voice (even if it wasn?t my mother, per se). We chatted for a bit and I described some of my adventures that morning. Before passing me over to Mike, my father-in-law, she informed me that they had made contact with my parents and informed them I was all right. But Sue was still unreachable. Mike and I talked for a while and he helped me figure out my next steps. I would make my way up to Sue?s School at 94th and CPW. In the meantime, they would continue to try and reach her by phone and e-mail to update her on the plan. It wasn?t until around noontime that I was able to connect with my Parents directly. I was still walking aimlessly in the Village at around the Sheridan Square Park area. When the phone on the other end of the line began to ring I stopped to prop myself up against an iron fence. My mother answered and immediately wanted to know if it was me. I had expected this to be a joyous call but instead I was choking back streams of tears trying to confirm that I truly was safe. As the conversation progressed I regained my composure. Still running high on emotion and adrenaline from the morning?s events I told them briefly of all that had happened. I informed them that I needed to conserve battery power and that I would call again as soon as I was able. We gave our love and said good-bye. That felt really, really good. I thanked the Lord for that opportunity and asked for the strength to carry on. Feeling replenished I was again on the move. Back to West Street for the long haul from Christopher St. to Columbia Grammar & Prep School. The next landmark was Chelsea Piers. The large, up-scale, sport complex and marina were revamped as a temporary morgue. It was also a staging area for doctors, EMTs and rescue crews. Ambulances were lined up the entire 6-block length of the pier. A woman was handing out free water to anyone who wanted or needed it. I must have looked like I needed it because it was not offered but practically forced on me. I was parched and my mind was beginning to wander. So, the water at Chelsea Pier was a welcome oasis. Once again on track, I decided to continue north on 10th Avenue ? Up to the Javits Center. Along the way I tried to phone Sue again. The batteries were just about out of power but this time it was ringing! I couldn?t wait to hear her voice. ?Hi. You?ve reached the voice mail of Sue?? Wouldn?t you know I got her voice mail. Well at least I got through. It would be good to leave a message and let her know I was on my way. Beep. ?Sue. I lo?..? My voice trailed off and I couldn?t even finish a complete thought. Too embarrassed of my inability to express myself I was forced to hang up and start walking faster. As I approached the Javits Center there were people gathered around cars listening to the latest news updates from the radio. Even Howard Stern was broadcasting the news and events of the morning. I?m not sure why that was so surprising but the image of various types of people (Black, Hispanic and White) huddled around the car with the doors and windows open and the radio turned up for all to hear made me think of my escape from N. Moore Street that morning. Each of us from different walks of life, ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs. Each of us standing side-by-side. Each of us running for our lives. Now, each of trying to figure out how to move on. Tenth Avenue, which was normally quite busy with traffic at that time of day, was as quiet and still as an early Sunday morning. I kept walking north until I couldn?t go any further. ?ugh. Only at 52nd street (and 10th Ave.). I searched my pockets and wallet and scraped together $9.00. Traffic had increased some since the Javits Center. I tried hailing a cab, hitch hiking ? anything to get me to Sue faster. Finally, an off-duty taxi pulled over. ?Oh great.? I though as I reluctantly got in. The driver was of Arab decent. It?s a shame how the events and news of the day changed my perceptions. Unfortunately, that?s human nature. That being said, I was taken to where I wanted to go from someone who was off-duty and didn?t have to stop to pick me up. The ride had saved at least another 2 hours of walking time and I was now standing directly across from Sue?s school. To date, it has been the best cab ride of my life. On the sidewalk outside of the front door I collected myself best I could. Rang the buzzer and proceeded to the front desk. The regular desk attendant was not there. This meant that I had to speak to the desk person to be admitted into the school. Beginning to become emotional, I managed to communicate that I was there to see Sue Longenecker. They must have been expecting me because as soon as it registered with this person that I was Sue?s husband she sent me straight through. Sue was on the other side of the building helping with dismissal. As I walked through the labyrinth of hallways to the other side I could feel the pressure, the anxiety and the love welling up inside of me. Biting my lip was not going to be enough. Now I was starting to pass by other teachers whom I knew ? and knew me. I couldn?t even make eye contact with them for fear of divulging my current and overflowing emotional state. Finally, around the last corner of the last corridor there she was?helping students and parents reunite after an extremely emotional day. I came up from behind and tapped her on her shoulder. She turned around and we embraced in a hug that I never wanted to release. Our hold was tight. The tears were streaming down both our faces. No words were needed. We were both safe in one another?s arms. Other people were looking at us now. Not that we were causing a scene but because for many of the staff and faculty, my presence represented their first ?real? human image of the tragedy that was still unfolding just 6 miles to the south. I remembered clinging to Sue for a long time and that I never wanted to let go. However, no matter how good it felt to be in her arms again it would always be bitter sweet, as there were so many couples, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters who would never again hold each other close. For us, the day ended with a positive note of affirmation. Our ordeal was still far from over but we were the lucky ones. And we knew it. For too many others, the day would fade into night with no contact from their loved ones. Night would slowly become the next morning and people full of false hope would continue through out the day with a promise made to an early autumn wind, searching for even the smallest glimmer of life from those whom they treasured most. 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 story9438.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. 2003-08-26 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.165.91.26 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: September 11 was a day of sorrow as I mourned the deaths of so many.My daughter, Kristin and I lit candles and sang God Bless America. We placed flags on our home and on our car as to say I am proud to be an American. One year later I have a different undertanding of 9/11. On Valentines Day of this year my daughter,Kristin, died in a housefire. I now know what it means to loose someone you love in a fire. Kristin had a disability and used a wheelchair.We got her to the window but could not get her thru. She was 23 years old and a major part of who I am,we were one.My understanding of the emotions of those who lost loved ones seems like the same emotion I have,we are united.I truly understand their feelings as I too feel as they do.It is very difficult to loose someone you love.Grief is a long and very difficult road.We need to continue to love and support them as one year of grief is only the beginning. Suzanne Hugueley 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 story4640.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6