241 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: As I sit here and try to collect my thoughts about the day I feel a wave of emtions wash over. The pain is still with me, I guess.My story is as follows. I worked at Ronald Reagen national airport as a telephone technician. I was in my office when a coworker announced to us that the WTC towers had been hit. It's War he stated. Me and my supervisor decided to go to the Operation center for the Airport to watch T.V. there. On the way,I recall telling him that the date was 9/11. The Operation Area is located in a long hallway and as We approached we could see a flurry of activity near the main office. As we got closer I heard the Airport manager ask an operations officer to move a camera so that they could view the Pentagon. He stated that it had just been hit. My heart sank, my mother works in the Pentagon and My father works across the way. Just then my cell phone rang, it was my sister, hysterical, asking me what was happening. She had just heard that the Pentagon was hit had tried to call Mom and Dad but got only busy tones. I dont remeber what I told her I think I asked her to keep trying Mom and Dad's cell phone. My supervisor could tell I was upset so he sent me back to the office. On the way back I could smell the smoke in the air and I could see a large ploom in the direction of the pentagon.I could not get myself together. I was walking around the office crying and hiting the walls and kicking the doors. I could not belive it. I thought my mother and possible my farther were dead. To make matters worse there was still a plane in the Air and it was headed to the D.C. area. My sister then called a coworker to tell me that she had reached my parents they were both safe, I then talk to my sister over the the phone while she talked to my parents. I wanted my parents to walk up the street to a location were I could get them and take them home(the Airport is located about Five minutes from the Pentagon). My supervisor wanted me to get everyone in the office to a safe location because of the threat from the plane that was in the Air. As we headed outside some guys came running up to us with big battle shotguns and bullet proof vest yelling at us to evacuate the Area ( to this day I am not sure which agency they worked for). Me and another coworker got into my company truck and heade out. My then girlfriend worked at the airport with me and I wanted to find her a take her with us but I could not find her. Later she told me she saw me drive by but she was so upset she could not scream out to me. I headed immeaditly were I thought my parents might be. My path headed right by the pentagon. There were smoke and flames and fire trucks outside the building. I was then forced to get off the main highway and take a side street. As I drove through Crystal City I actualy find my parents standing on a corner. I picked them up and took them to my apartment. On the way there My boss called me and told me that I needed to head back because there was some emergency work we needed to do. The way back thought was all blocked off. I actualy used my Airport badge to bypass some of the roadblocks to get to the Airport. I spent the rest of the day and night at the Airport in case anything need to be hooked up. We did nothing but watch t.v. . I guess I watched T.V. all week long glued to every news report, we never shut it off scared that something else could happen. 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 story1429.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. 2002-08-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.172.11.147 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On september 11,2001, I was in thrid grade at Crescent Elm & Jr High school. I went to the library and I saw the twin towers coming down. Then they showed the planes crashing into the world trade center. It was scary to me all saw after they had fallen was smoke just rolling down the street,and people just coming out of the smoke and they were covered in debris and they were chocking on it. Then heard people saying that their famliy is traped inside of the world of the world trade center. It was so sad I wanted to cry. Then they showed some footage of the inside of the world trade center.This fireman had died from a heartatac.Then she cut the tv off it was time for us to go home. I went home and told my mom what happened she was in tears. 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 story20527.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.186.239.238 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My story isn't that important. I was at work at Shop Rite grocery store in Rio Grande, NJ. Usually they have piped in music over the intercom, but this was an early day for me to go to work and so we had a radio on in the back room where I worked. They had annouced around 9am that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. We then thought that is was just an accident,but then the other annoucement came over the radio that a second plane had hit the other tower, then I knew it was no accident. The store manager turned the radio on so that the whole store could hear what was happening. Then they announced that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon. One of my co-workers son worked at the Pentagon an asked to go home so she could check to see if he was ok. He was in the military and stationed at the Pentagon. Thank heavens he was not there that day and was ok. When I got off of work,which was early I went straight home and turned the tv on. I could not believe what I was seeing. I just stood there at the tv in disbelief. They showed it over and over again and I still could not believe what was going on. Then they showed the people falling from the windows and it was so hard to believe.It was like watching a disaster movie. Then the towers fell and I could not believe it. I have never been to the World Trade Center so it was hard for me to imagine how tall they were. After it was all over and it was nothing but dust, like a bomb had hit.I just could not think that those poor people in those towers and the ones who where on the ground when they came down where crushed to nothing. Its still hard to imagine it.Last year I went to the area where the Towers where and you would never know they had been there. It was so sad to see it.Some of the buildings still had the windows out and the firestation near the Trade Center was closed.I thought of the people who lost their lives at the Pentagon and in Penna. I read the 911 Commission and it made me so angry when they talked about those terrorist.It was sad reading the exerts from the phone converstations the passengers had. I just could not fathom all the missing posters and pictures that where hanging there those weeks after the terrible tradegy and what the families were going through. I was not there but my heart was and it still is. Last year I went to NY to visit my mother in law and went to the site the WTC was and then I went out to Ellis Island.On our way back we stopped there in the little park near the ferry where they have the Sphere that was at the WTC,The round ball. Its a wonder that it survived though all that damage. This was also the day the ferry hit the dock,as we were in the park when all the police and ambulances was going there.My story is not that important,but it will be a day that none of us will ever forget.It will be a reminder that this awful terrorist attack can happen here in our country.I will always stay in my heart that I must depend my country in anyway I can to protect it from these terrorist who are cowards and who say they do this for God, but God will not reward them,they are murderers and they are the "INFIDELS", not us.All I can say is God Bless our country and God Bless those who did survive this terrible tragedy, and God Bless those who lost their lives and may God always keep his arms around them. I had a classmate who died in the WTC and I know he is missed. 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 story11742.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. anonymously Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2005-08-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 138.89.204.11 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: Wow, what a day to remember but yet would like to forget. I remember sitting at home the night of Sept. 11th questioning "is this real." I was seven months pregnant with my first child. I sat on my couch watching the news sobbing and scared to death to bring a child into this world. The emotions running through my body ranged from anger to guilt to helpfulness. The victims, families and heroes of Sept. 11th will never be forgotten. One year later, Sept. 11th, 2002... I was changing my little girls diaper at 6:30 AM. I told her how valuable life was and to enjoy every second. We said a little prayer asking God to watch over everyone involved in Sept. 11th and to let them know they will never be forgotten. God Bless. Courtney Collins Atlanta, Georgia 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 story2536.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.206.201.222 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11, 2001 I had just started back to school. I remember watching Cnn and seeing The towers fall. I could not believe what I was seeing on TV. It looked like something out of a horror story book. All of America grieved that day, It was as if we all lost family members. It has brought this country together again. We will not go down without a fight. God Bless the U.S.A.! 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 story4988.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. 63.164.140.71 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 when my sister called to tell me something major had happened in New York. She had access to the T.V. and kept me updated on the phone. On one of the calls she said that the World Trade Centers had been hit and were on fire,no sooner than we had hung up that she called right back and said that the Pentagon had also been hit and the first tower had fallen. Being a military wife for 20 years I can only say that I've had this type of feeling once and that was when Desert Storm started and my husband was there and not knowing where he was. I could not imagine how many lives had been lost that day. When I got home that night the scenes on the T.V. were undescriblable and watching the death toll rise over the next few days were very hard. The images are something I will never forget. It has changed my life forever, things that seemed so important now were so small in the realm of things. I grieve for all who lost someone on that terrible day. I now pray everyday and keep my family, friends and all who matter to me so much closer and tell them each time I see or speak to one of them how much I love them. I can only hope that the children who lost a parent that day will only feel pride and love when remembering those that they lost. Sometimes it seems such a waste to bring children into this sometimes cruel world. My greatest wish for the future is that one of those children will be the great peacemaker of all time. May we never forget what happened that day and strive to make sure that it never happens again. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story6875.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. 68.99.145.223 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: What follows is a note I sent to a friend in Singapore in response to an "Are you ok?" e-mail. I sent this note on the evening of Sept 11th. Several days later, I saved the note realizing I documented my experiences that day. ------------------------------ My Note To A Friend in Singapore Thank you for your kind note. I'm fine, but today will most likely be the most memorable day of my life... but for all the wrong reasons. Going to work this morning, my Subway discharged all passengers about a quarter mile north of the Trade Center. The announcement simply said, "Due to an emergency, all passengers must discharge immediately". When I came up out of the Subway, I continued walking downtown. I noticed the flow of people was very much going against me. People quickly hurrying uptown with concerned looks on their faces. When I reached the Trade Center, I stopped to watch in horror as the first Tower was burning. There was black smoke billowing from what appeared to be a gapping hole in the North face of the tower. I noticed fire starting to spread around the perimeter of the tower. It had an impossible feeling... this couldn't be true. Other people standing around me were talking of a bomb. Another mentioned a plane hit the tower. That sounded ridiculous. I felt there was no way that was possible. I continued to head downtown and moments later stopped about 2 blocks from the Towers. I saw several colleagues on the street and stopped to talk about the amazing scene we were witnessing. Moments later, as we continued to speak, we saw the second plane flying in a semicircle around the Towers. It never occurred to us that this was a moment of destiny. We watched in incredulous disbelief as the plane crashed into the south Tower with deafening thunder. A sound and a feeling that will be etched in my soul forever. Seeing the ball of flames shoot out the other side of the tower was horribly surreal. Like being in a 1970s disaster film. We watched in horror as we saw several people flying off the sides of the building to their deaths. I couldn't watch anymore. Having no idea that the Trade Center would collapse, I made my way down to 55 Water St (the tip of Manhattan where I've been consulting). My client is on the 48th Floor of that building. While going up in the elevator, power was lost as the elevator first bounced and began to free fall. I thought the building was going down. My life truly passed before my eyes. I could only think of my family. I thought of 3 boys with no father. Luckily the elevator stabilized in a few seconds. It turns out, the building lost power when the first tower (8 blocks north) collapsed. When I made it back down to the street, I was caught in the throngs of people running away from the WTC. All hell had broken loose. I wasn't sure what to do, I but I knew I shouldn't stay where I was. I joined the masses of people in what seemed like an exodus from hell. Although it was a brilliantly sunny day, the sun was just not visible. The sky was covered with ash like debris. It became difficult to breathe. I took off my shirt and wrapped it around my face to act as a filter. I walked up the East side of Lower Manhattan trying to head north. I decided to make my way over to Broadway where I could continue to head up to Midtown. When I made it to the City Hall area (2 blocks from the Trade Center) , I felt a tremendous rumbling. The North Tower was collapsing. I saw the huge cloud of billowing debris turn onto Broadway by City Hall. I then was among the thousands of people running for their lives. People were screaming, people were crying.. The cloud shortly caught up with me and I was blanketed with debris. I was brought down to my knees. A woman who was running tripped over me and fell. Barely able to see, I crawled over to her and helped her up. We both stumbled forward trying to escape the cloud. After the cloud had somewhat dissipated, I sat down on the curb. I was in a state of shock and disbelief. I ultimately spit up the thick debris I had been inhaling. Nevertheless, I was a lucky one. I was still breathing. As I continued north through the streets of Manhattan, I would occasionally stop by somebody that parked their car and had the radio turned up so those around them could listen. I couldn't help but look at the people and realize that they were a cross section of New York... from banker to bicycle delivery boy... from black to white, and everything in between. Only at moments like these do these people all come together. Very sad... I finally made it back up to my apartment by foot at about 1:00pm. Soon after I took a shower to rid myself of debris. I couldn't help but notice small scraps of glass that had become lodged in my hair. Small pieces of the World Trade Center... washing down the drain... it was a day for that... I sat down in the shower? for the first time today, I cried... So now, at about 5:30pm, from the windows of my apartment on W43rd St, I can clearly see the smoke continue to bellow up from where the Trade Center stood just hours earlier. I'm sick to my stomach... With my 25+ years of working in lower Manhattan, I've made so many contacts and friends. The likelihood of knowing people who died today is all too great. Waking up tomorrow and beginning to learn their fates will be a horrible thing. I'll never forget this day. My heart is still pounding... Warmest Regards, Rob 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 story3611.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. 66.108.146.194 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 walking to work on Madison Ave and 49th Street and saw a bunch of people looking at TV of the WTC north tower in smoke and thought it was a movie. Arrived a Pisa Bros. before 9am. Evrey one was in the bosses office and the second plane hit, we saw it live on TV. Goose bumps on my arms as I realized that my son Vincents office is right next door I ran and called his office , voice mail, I called my daughter in law, both Lawyers,she is on 45 ans Fifth new office, and I am not sure what building she is in. I called my daughter Jennifer, who was on the 73rd floor of the WTC on 26 Feb 1993, and escaped safely, and quit her job the next day. She horrified was watching the event on her TV at UBS in Stamford Ct. I tried to call Vincents cell but one number was missing. Jennifer said Mom get out that building, I'll call Vincent. I called my husband, who said the same thing and also said that those towers are going to fall, I said no no.Then left the 22nd floor of my building. Down stairs I saw the Fire Marshall of our building, and realized I left my cell phone up stairs and didn't know where my son was. I went back and my private line was ringing, luckily it was my daughter in law Morgan, histyrical, Vincent was down there and she could not get through on the cell. I left and ran down to 45th Street not even sure where her building was. The street were full of people panic and you could see the billows of smoke from the building. I found Morgan, who still was unable to reach Vincent and was bouncing of the wall. We were a lucky family as Morgan cell rang about 1050am and it was Vincent, who reached Chambers Street and saw a jet engine on the street and all the panic and he was lucky enough to get back in the subway and back to New Jersey.I thanked God that Vincent was alright. I needed to get home to be with my husband,even though Vincent and Morgan wanted me to come to NJ. So I walked across my New York (Born and raised here) and it looked like a bad Bruce Willis movie. There were our guys now in the sky in their fantom 16 jet, empty streets with ambulances and there syrions ringing. I finally made it to Grand Central Station and got on the second train to Stamford Ct. Stunned and blank and the same time. My husband hugged me when I got home.Then the tears came later that night,loud and clear. There is not a day that goes by that I dont think of that day, and I often think how all the people who lost loved ones cope every day. Today is the first anniversary, and the terrior and fear sadness is still with us and shall never leave us. WE WILL NEVER FORGET. Nancy Brookes 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 story2483.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. 63.69.203.17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I?m a night person, and I have been working nights for the past 11 years. On September 10th, I came home from work about midnight. Normally, I would sleep till 11am ? 12 pm. But September 11th, 2001 was different. My wife is an early childhood teacher. Both my daughters attend the same school where my wife teaches. They got up early that Tuesday, and I was awake but stayed in bed. When they left I got up to work on some school work. It was about 8:50 am. I put on my television to the NY1 news channel. I saw a hole in one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I called my mom. ?Mom, what?s going on?? She told me a plane crashed into the World Trade Center. ?What?!? I told her to wake up the ?kid.? The ?kid? is my brother, who works nights just like me. In fact we are in the same line of work. You see, I was the training sergeant for the NYPD?s 32nd Precinct in Harlem, New York City, responsible for training 12 probationary police officers who recently graduated from the NYPD Police Academy. My brother was one of my trainees. We looked forward to this day, September 11th, 2001. We were going out tonight, his birthday. We were going to Remy?s Lounge, a club, blocks away from the World Trade Center. Anyway, I told her I will call her back. A little while later, I see a small object by the second tower of the World Trade Center. A plane. Then an explosion. The reporters reported that an explosion from one tower ignited the other tower. I said, out loud, ?No you idiots, another plane hit the other tower!? Minutes later they confirmed what I thought I saw. Another plane hit. We?re under attack. I called my wife?s job. Busy. My brother calls me. ?What?s going on?? I tell him, ?I don?t know, and, Happy Birthday?? I try to call my wife again, this time on her cell phone. No service. The first tower collapses. My brother calls. ?I?m not going into work bro, it?s my birthday.? I tell him no problem. I take a shower. I get in my car and go to my wife?s school. A 10 minute drive. I told her to get the kids and come home. She refuses. I ?order? her to obey my wishes. She tells me, ?I think we will be safer here.? She?s right, I think. I know I will have to go into work on my day off. I go to my youngest daughter?s classroom. ?Something bad happened and I got to go to work. I love you, ok?? ?I love you too daddy.? I go upstairs to my oldest daughters? classroom. ?Something really bad happened and I have to go to work.? Her teachers asks, ?Are you a fireman?? ?No, I am a cop.? I hug and kiss her, go back downstairs and hug and kiss my wife. I tell her I love her. ?Do you think something else is going to happen?? I tell her I don?t know. I go back home. The second tower collapses. I?m hypnotized on what I have been seeing on TV, or am I terrorized? My phone rings, ?Pick me up, I?m going in with you,? my brother says. I get my gun and shield. I jump in my car, drive to my parents house to pick up my brother. ?Get your second gun.? He tells me it?s not authorized to be carried yet. ?Carry it.? I get to East 138th Street off the Major Deegan Expressway. The Bronx cops are not letting anyone into Manhattan. We immediately display our shields out of the window, I look to my left and right and see dozens of off-duty police officers flashing their shields demanding entry into Manhattan. We get in. I walk into the 32nd Precinct. Chaos. I get 8 police officers assigned to me, one being my brother. I was posted by Harlem Hospital. An hour later several people approach me with terror in their eyes. ?More planes, More planes!? I look up and see 2 planes very high up. They are circling. I notice them to be oddly shaped. ?They?re our planes, our fighters!? It was a long night. I worked a month of 12 hour shifts with no days off. I went to the site. I saw body parts; I smelled the death in the air. I recovered and bagged body parts. There is one memory I will hold on to forever. My wife is not an intimate person. Doesn?t really hug or hold. I got home after that tragic day. I took a long hot shower and got into bed. I sat down. I was overwhelmed. My wife got up and held me. It felt as if she held me for days. I cried. Man, did I cry. REST IN PEACE MY 23 HEROES. 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 story9480.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-09-06 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.44.40.62 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: My husband and I left at 6am to go to our Canadian dentist. Our trip up was uneventful. On the way back the Border Patrol was very intense and intrusive- a 180 degree turnaround. We blew it off as a "newbe" officer. We enjoy each others company so talked all the way back to Schroon Lake where we stopped for breakfast, about 10am. It was like walking into "The Twilight Zone". Everyone was in shock. My husband, a Vietnam vet, was in tears of disbelief. I haven't yet been able to have a good cry. It is just too overwhelming. I will remember this day for the rest of my life. We will never forget. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story6098.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. 66.153.29.43 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 lived in columbus ohio and I went to a christian school.I was in 4th grade. I remembered I was in class and I was bored. I asked my teacher to go to the office. I remembered seeing one of my teachers watching a tv. I have glasses and at that time I was not wearing them, so all I saw was two pillars and smoke coming out of it. I got everything and went back upstairs to my class. A couple minutes later another teacher came into my class. My school has sliding walls so we opened the wall and got both 4th grade classes in a group. My teacher at that time, Mrs. Lincoln, told us that the World Trade Centers had collasped. I thought that it was a muesem or somethin. When I got home that afternoon my mom was on the couch watching the news. Sure enough it was the WTC. They were on fire and smoking. We watched nothin but the news that night. I remember looking up into the sky thinking," Is that going to happen to us?" I was worried or scared, some might say, for the rest of the week. I would never forget that day no matter how hard I tryed to forget it. In Christ, Matt Mckee 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 story11386.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2005-04-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 155.70.23.45 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: OH GRANDMA I'M SO SAD AND I DON'T KNOW WHY. IS IT BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE HAD TO DIE. GRANDMA YOU SAID THAT GOD IS SO KIND THAT HE CRADLES THE WORLD FROM ALL HARM. GRANDMA DID GOD KNOW THAT BABIES WOULD CRY,AND THAT MOMMY'S WOULD DIE. DID HE KNOW THAT FIREMEN WOULD TRY TO SAVE DADDY'S FROM HARM,BUT END UP LOOSING THEIR LIFES AT THE SAME TIME. COME ON GRANDMA TELL ME PLEASE. I HOPE YOUR NOT KEEPING THIS A SECRET FROM ME. OH MY LITTLE PRINCE OF A GRANDCHILD. GRANDMA REALLY DOESN'T KNOW WHY,WHY SO MANY PEOPLE HAD TO DIE. BUT I DO KNOW THIS. EVEN IF THE SUN NO LOGER SHINES AND WE BOTH CAN NO LONGER INHALE THE AIR FROM THE SKY. THE LOVE I HAVE FOR YOU WILL NEVER DIE. 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 story6679.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.38 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: My name is Izabel. I am from Princeton, NJ and now live in Texas. On 9/11 I was at my first day of work in a bank in Princeton. We opened the bank lobby at 8am and a customer walks in horrified about 45 minutes later shouting in the lobby that we are under attack. After calming the customer down, we turn on the radio and hear a radio station saying that one of the twin towers were hit by a plane. A few minutes after that we received a fax from corporate saying that we are not to panic and to keep in mind that they might close the bank early. When the PODUS declared a national emergency we received another fax from corporate saying to shut down the bank. My father works for American Airlines. What came to my mind was that he could have been on one of those flights, that he could have died as well. But, his time did not come, it wasn't his turn to go. We went to the service at Yankee Stadium, because my dad had lost some collegues from the American Flights. Colleagues that graduated with him in training school. One good thing did come from that horrifying day though. I gound out a month later that I was pregnant with my first child. 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 story10507.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-03-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.28.122.196 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 8th grade on September 11th, 2001. I had just walked out of the choir room with Jennifer from helping out durring our studyhall and I was about to go to Science with Miss Oxley third period. Normally when I walked into the room, saying as how I was the first one there, we would engage in conversation about the day before once school was over and so on. On September 11th, 2001, I walked into my Science room and started to say hi to my teacher when she snapped back with a "Shh! Be quiet!" I asked her what was going on and then I looked up at the television and saw what was so intriguing. I couldn't believe that it was happening and I fell into my seat as my friend Hope walked into class trying to start a conversation. She soon asked me what was wrong when she saw the tears falling down my face even though I wasn't making a sound. See, normally when something like this happens, I would be in shock for a moment and then just be sad for the families that were losing members as we watched, but this hit me just as if I was in the building myself. My mom was supposed to be flying to New York that day, and I hadn't heard from her in a few days so I didn't know her plans. All through third and fourth period the teachers had the televisions on and we were watching the news for any updates that we could get. Fifth period rolls around and Mr. Cox, the principal, comes of the PA system and announces that the teachers were to turn off the televisions and continue with the normal lesson plans. Some teachers listened, and others kept the televisions on as they tried to teach, but failed. I remeber thinking at one moment that it was all my fault, because I had missed school the day before and every other time I had missed school, we were informed about something bad happening the next day. I got home from school around 3:15 like everyother day, except for once, no one was in my house and I was scared to death when I found this out. I called my dad at work, no answer. I tried calling my grandmother, who lives 1 hour outside of Manhattan, no answer. And everyone else I tried calling...no answer. I was sitting on my couch crying and trying to focus on my television to see the news and updates. I stayed up that whole night watching the news and the collapse of the buildings and the smoke and everything involved. I went to school the next morning and I don't remember a single thing from that day during school except thinking about how much I wish I was at home watching the news and holding my family close to me. On September 13, 2001, I got word from my uncle that my mom had flown out to New York a couple days early, which was why I hadn't talked to her, and that she was safe along with everyone else in my family in New York. I stayed up for 3, possibly even 4, days straight watching the news. I took a trip to New York to visit my family on September 16th, 2003. We went to Ground Zero and took pictures of the debri, the cross, and everything that they have up in rememberance of the WTCs. We also took my nephew, who at the time was 2 and a half, and we also visited Liberty Island, which is also gaurded now. The feelings and the memories of September 11th, 2001, will never leave my mind. If I dug deep enough, I am sure I would be able to tell you what perfume my bestfriend was wearing that day. The 9/11 tragedy is one that will continue to live on through out many generations because it hit all of us Americans close to home and it made us come together, which is/was one thing we were having trouble with. I don't know where everyone in the world was but if you ask me where I was and what I was doing, I promise to you that I can recite my day to you because this was a major impact in my life that helped change the way I look at things to this day. Jessica 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 story11364.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2005-04-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.149.132.218 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I remember the speculation of what was going on when the first plane hit, then the second plane, then the Pentagon. By then, there was no more speculation. Our place of employment sent us all home. As we were leaving, the first tower fell. I rode home with a co-worker in somber silence. As I picked my daughter up from daycare I listened to the radio and listened in horror as the second tower fell. I made it home to wake my husband (he worked third shift). We sat the rest of the day, watching with the rest of the nation the horror of that day. When our other two children came home from school they flooded us with questions, they watched everything happen on TV. It was very hard to explain to our 5 grader and our 1 grader exactly what was going on. For a time, they were frightened, and at a time when you are also frightened, it is sometimes very hard to comfort your children. But we found comfort and solice in the Word of God, explaining that God has a reason for everything and the only thing we could do is trust in God's infinite wisdom and plan in 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 story20567.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.158.227.190 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?s strange what I do and don?t remember about September 11. I had been living on Kadena AFB, Okinawa, Japan for about a year. Okinawa gets typhoons about as often as Florida gets hurricanes, and on September 10 typhoon Bart hit the island. It wasn?t any ordinary typhoon, it was a super typhoon. The whole base had been locked down for all of the 10 and the 11. Because of the lockdown, school was cancelled. I was in 8th grade. I slept in that Tuesday morning, and don?t really remember what I did all day. I was watching TV about 8:30, maybe 9 o?clock that night and my dad came in my room to watch with me. He took the remote and started flipping through the channels. We watched a few minutes of one of the Star Trek movies, and then he continued to flip. Because we lived in Japan, with the exception of live news channels like CNN, all the American television programming is delayed by 2 weeks, because it is shipped from the US. My dad flipped past CNN but then flipped back. There was a building that was smoking from the top, and he said something about the World Trade Center. We sat and watched for about five minutes, trying to hear what the reporter was saying had caused the fire that was obviously in the building. As my dad and I watched, we saw a plane flying directly towards the camera. We sat and watched as the second plane hit the second tower. My dad?s jaw dropped, and he nearly fell off the bed. He called my mother into the room and told her what had happened. He ran to his room and told the base commander to turn CNN on, that New York was under attack. He called a few other people and then came back to my room to watch for a few more minutes. I was then told not to worry about it and to go get my shower. I took as quick a shower as I could. When I got out, my mother told me that the Pentagon had been hit as well. My dad had been working there just a year before. We still knew people that worked there. He works there now. My whole family lives right in Springfield, so close to Washington. I stayed glued at my TV and watched as both of the towers collapsed. They replayed the hit and collapse at least five times each in the span of an hour. At about 10:30 I was told to go to bed. After about ten minutes of sitting in the dark, I turned my TV back on with the volume up just enough for me to hear it if my head was two feet away from it. I don?t know how long I watched, barely able to hear it, but my mother came in and told me to go to bed. She would tell me if anything else happened when I woke up. I don?t remember if I had school the next day. What I do remember is that the American TV was delayed by two weeks. As we watched all the events unfold on CNN and a few other news networks that we got live, we saw delayed programming on all the other channels. So two weeks later, it was as if everything was happening again. You couldn?t turn on Fox or MTV without seeing the same reports, with the shocked reporters from two weeks before. Everything we already knew had happened was happening on TV as if it was just happening that day. It was horrible. It was as if we were living the previous two weeks again. My father was working around the clock for days. The whole base was locked down, even after Super Typhoon Bart left. There was great tension in the air, because we were on an Air Force base. Even more because we were the biggest base in the Pacific. Thankfully, none of my family was injured or killed, even those that I knew who worked in the Pentagon. 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 story10990.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.230.187.100 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: TERRORIST ATTACKS ON SPETEMEBR 11, 2001 HOW THE MEDIA SHAPED OUR MEANING OF IT Prepared for Dr. Robert W. Heath, Professor COMM-300 Communication Theory SECT: 6981 TERM: SUMMER 2002 University of Maryland University College Submitted By: Levon West July 10, 2002 TERRORIST ATTACKS ON SEPTEMBER 11 HOW THE MEDIA SHAPED OUR MEANING OF IT INTRODUCTION September 11, 2001 a day and year that will live in infamy. The last time the United States had heard such a profound statement on the state of America was on that now infamous date of December 7, 1941. The United States of America had come under surprise attack by the empire of Japan. The Imperial Japanese Navy had launched a devastating attack on USA soil at the naval base situated at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. History now tells us that the so called surprise attack that caused tremendous destruction to property and took the lives of many people may not have been such a surprise as the media at that time played it out to be. History further tells us that the success of the attacks was attributed to failed USA intelligence and communication among the USA military forces patrolling and monitoring the homeland. The media is a vehicle utilized as a means of communication to a vast amount of people. How people interpret the messages from the media is largely due to how the media presents it views on the messages it is sending out. The modes of media are transmitted through sources that include television, satellite TV, newspapers, magazines, radio and now the Internet. The media to a large extent also play a role in the making of history. What is reported on to include the TV broadcast, radio, video, pictures and sound recordings of the history making events will help to form the memories of those events as well. This paper will present an objective review of the events that took place on that date as I experienced them and the reporting by the media on those events. Terrorist Attacks & Media Effects The paper will further provide an objective analogy utilizing theories from Marshall McLuhan's Understanding Media: The extensions of Man and Maxwell McCombs & Donald Shaw's - Agenda Setting Theory/Framing and media news articles on how the media help to shape our meaning of the events of September 11. September 11, 2001 On that now unforgettable day of September 11, 2001, I can still remember the events that unfolded just before 9:00 am in the morning. I was sitting at my desk having coffee and having a discussion on the telephone with a friend. I was also reading the paper, listening to the radio, and on my desktop computer scanning the Internet for the latest news headlines of the day. This was my morning ritual before I started my day at 9:00Am. Suddenly, the radio personality yelled as the music had stopped playing. He said "oh my god" a large commercial airline has just flew by the studio window and that there must be some kind of problem". He further went on to say "the jetliner was heading in the direct path of the WTC buildings. Then he yelled again, but this time he was very emotional, in shock, in disbelief and said, "ladies and gentlemen the jetliner has just slammed to what looks like the North tower of the WTC buildings". My friend who was on the phone had a view of the New York skyline that included the WTC buildings said that he too could also see the explosion from his office window. Terrorist Attacks & Media Effects Since I was already on the Internet, I did a search and found live coverage on CNN, MSNBC and ABC. No sooner then I had locked on to live video of the WTC buildings a view of another jetliner also in the path of the WTC buildings appeared. I stilled had the radio on and the radio announcer was yelling "we are under attack, ladies and gentlemen America is under attack by terrorist". Then it happened again. I actually saw the live video footage of the second jetliner slamming into the South tower. At this time, because of the emotional outcry by the radio announcer and having seen the live video coverage of the second jetliner slamming into the WTC, I immediately felt grief and sorrow for the victims of this horrific tragedy. I then became very concerned about the safety and whereabouts of family and friends that worked in New York City. Then again, but this time there is further reporting now by Peter Jennings of ABC on the Internet that there is a third jetliner that has just slammed into the Pentagon and a fourth is being pursued by military F15 fighter jets. Now, I am angered because I have just learned from Peter Jennings of ABC a well respected and trusted journalist has just told me that the might of the American strength and military power has just been eclipsed by terrorist. Up until this time all of the communication that I have received regarding the September event was through the media. Was the media telling the whole story, or was September 11 an event and example of USA history repeating itself like the events of Pearl Harbor that were learned later. Terrorist Attacks & Media Effects What caused the terror attacks of 9/11? Just like the tragedy of Pearl Harbor, there had to be some reasons that led up to the destruction of these American icons. The WTC buildings represented some of the symbols of the American culture and what America stood for. It was not until after this tragedy that the American public learned of some of the key issues that were contributing factors to the worst horrific tragedy on American soil since Pearl harbor:  USA support of Israel- The backlash and discontent by Middle Eastern countries of the USA support of Israel was not reported on to any degree of significance by mass media in the USA.  Critical lapsed in USA intelligence- This is another significant failure that had been reported to the U.S. Congress, but went underreported by mass media.  Critical lax in USA airport security checks- This is another significant failure that had been reported to the U.S. Congress, but went underreported by mass media.  Critical lax in USA border patrols- Another significant failure that had been reported to the U.S. Congress, but went underreported by mass media.  USA Department of Immigration, policy & enforcement- This may be the biggest blunder of them all. The failures of this Federal department also had been reported to the U.S Congress, but it too went underreported by mass media. All of the issues listed above are all significant factors of September 11, 2001, but the media had not reported any degree of significance on theses stories, if any, until after the tragedy took place. All of the issues listed were also pre-9/11 and known by the Terrorist Attacks & Media Effects media as well. Now that the tragedy has taken place, the media has found a way to include theses stories in their agenda for sub-headlines to 9/11. These are all headlines that will help fuel the media in transmitting its messages and to sell its product to its audience. The listed issues are also similar situations that reflect Maxwell McComb?s & Donald Shaw?s, Agenda-Setting and Framing Theory. Whereby the media selectively chose what news topics and the time frame to publish and to transmit the messages it wanted the public to receive. The Media Effect Marshall McLuhan's Theories on the media focused on how the media extends our senses and our perception of reality. His theories further suggest that the media help to shape what we remember by what the media report and by what we see. In my analogy of some of the events before and after September 11, It is my intent to present some of the effects the media had on some key politicians, terrorist, American Icons, ordinary people and the now infamous American Taliban.  Rudolf Juliani, Mayor of New York City Before September 11, There was a growing consensus by the general public as reported by the media polltakers that the people of New York City were getting tired of Juliani politics. As a result of the September 11, tragedy the media was primarily instrumental in rebounding Mayor Juliani's popularity. Every television news channel you turned on, Terrorist Attacks & Media Effects every newspaper you picked up to read there was Mayor Juliani's face. The media had arbitrarily decided that they wanted a hero and chose Mayor Juliani. Juliani's popularity had risen so high that he had surpassed the President of the United States and made Time Magazine's cover for Man of the Year.  George Herbert Walker Bush, President of the United States of America President Bush had only been on the job for less than a year. The nation was divided by one of the closes, heated and confrontational presidential elections in the history of the United States. Before September 11, the media had not totally decided on their views and images of President Bush. Some media outlets were depicting him as a rich kid, college slacker who was selected as president, not elected. Post September 11, the media decided what their view of President Bush would be. Like Mayor Juliani, President Bush popularity rose as well. This change was largely attributed to the changed view of President Bush by the media. On September 12, 2001 the course of President Bush presidency had began to change. President Bush went on nation-wide television to face the nation and to report on the state of America. All the media outlets, to include the Internet covered this television broadcast. President Bush gave a heartfelt and very passionate address to the American people assuring them that he and America will respond to such horrific acts of evil. This address was the beginning of his transformation. Terrorist Attacks & Media Effects Then he showed up at ground zero and gave another American pride speech to the rescue workers that led to the chanting of USA, USA again and again by the workers at the site. And just like that, the view of him by many Americans who had not voted for him had changed.  The Terrorist Before September 11, 2001 not to many people knew of or even heard of Osama bin Laden. But on the day of September 11, 2001 Osama bin Laden became a name to be known widely throughout the world. And, there are many other terrorist just like him looking to make a name for themselves. These terrorists understand the media and their modes of transmitting messages to the public. Terrorist also knows how to utilize the media in an effort to get their messages out to the public. The media in some cases help to create and shape the images of terrorist in the minds of the general public. When they report on the rhetoric that terrorist preach to their followers and when they show pictures and videos of how they despise the American culture, the media help the terrorist to form and shape our views of them. Other terrorist that have been linked to the September 11, attacks include the religious fanatic group the al-Qaeda network, the religious Islamic fundamentalists group the Taliban and U.S. intelligence agencies are also trying to establish a link to Saddam Hussein as well. For the most part, people have heard of Saddam Hussein from the Gulf war. The media helped to shape our minds and view of him as well. On September 11, Terrorist Attacks & Media Effects 2001 and the days to follow, the media showed video coverage of middle Eastern people such as the Palestinians, Pakistanis, and other religious groups of Islamic decent celebrating in the streets for the destruction, terror, injury and death inflicted upon the American people. What they did not report on to any significant degree was the actions taken by the governments of those demonstrators for those despicable demonstrations of joy. Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat said, "the actions were only isolated incidents by the ignorant few". Chairman Arafat went on to further condemn the attacks, but the media kept criticizing him and implying that he did not do enough to satisfy their view of what they wanted him to say publicly. Pakistan President General, Pervez Musharraf following in the responses to the media suggesting that Pakistan supported and provided protective havens for terrorist announced publicly that Pakistan will enact laws that will ban the teachings of extreme Islamic views. He further went on to say " that Pakistan does not support or provide protective havens for terrorist and that the Country of Pakistan will fully cooperate and participate in the war against terrorist along with the United States. These leaders were disputing the messages and the images that the media was trying to imbed in the minds of its listener, viewers and readers. Two more last thoughts on the terrorist. The first is all of the September 11, hijacker/terrorist must have truly had a death wish or they were truly blinded by religious fanatic beliefs. In any event, the media saw to it that we became to know all of them. The last thought is that there is now reporting by the media that Osama bin Laden is still alive. Terrorist Attacks & Media Effects The media does not know this for sure, but they will report it anyway just to keep America on its toes with its guard up. The end thought I think is a responsible thing to do.  American Icons The terrorist knew that if they wanted to penetrate and inflict fear into the minds of the American people they had to strike hard at the very symbols of the American culture and society. The world trade center complex represented financial wealth, economic superiority and capitalism. This is the fabric of the American culture and what America stands for. The U.S. Pentagon represents the mighty strength and super power of the world. But on September 11, 2001 the world witnessed just how vulnerable and lax the leader of the free world was of its guard for protecting the homeland. The media made for sure that the world saw, read and heard plenty of the accounts over and over again of the horrific events that happen and the events that unfolded on the days to follow. The media selectively chose the pictures, the recordings and the videos that would become the images and the sounds that were imbedded in our minds and in the history books for years to come. Many years later, these will be the accounts of that tragic day in history. In an effort to further my demonstration of the media, I have posted some newspaper headlines from across the USA that ran on September 12, 2001. They can be found in the attached file entitled Terror Pictures. Proceed with caution. The pictures and the headlines will have some kind of effect on your emotions: Terrorist Attacks & Media Effects  Ordinary People On September 11, the unthinkable happened, but the tragedy also transformed ordinary people into hero's, survivors and some villains. The media has a way of arbitrarily selecting ordinary people and thrusting them into the public eye with their images and view of this person. There are countless hero's of this event to include all of the fire, police and emergency healthcare personnel. But, the media chose its hero and made him the single most hero for the American people. They chose an individual name Todd Beamer who was a passenger on United Airlines Flight #93 which was one of the jetliners that was hijacked. Because of Todd Beamer and the other brave passengers that formulated a plan to over take the hijackers and foiled their attempt to crash into the nations capital Washington D.C and possibly the White House. Todd Beamer went down in history with his now famous quote " let's role" which was said and heard by way of his cellular telephone. Then there are the survivors who by the grace of god live today. All of us probably know someone who has a story to tell about how they survived or how someone they know survived the attacks. And for those that don't know anyone, the media introduced all of us to countless number of survivors daily over and over again. America was also introduced to the man who the media had decided to blame for some of these despicable acts of terror. America met John Walker, who was portrayed and named by the media as the American Taliban. I want to point out that the U.S. had not formerly charged John Walker of any crimes at the time the media was plastering his face in our minds. Terrorist Attacks & Media Effects He eventually was later charged as an enemy combatant. This was a charge that was made up by the U.S government because they feared they could not try and successfully convict him of treason. Conclusion The media to a very large degree played a tremendous role in writing the history of the September 11 tragedy. The theory of the Hypodermic needle has a significant meaning in relation to how the mass media injected their messages into their audience like a magic bullet. The media had an enormous impact on how people of the world viewed the tragic acts of evil on the United States. The general public relied heavily on the media as its source for obtaining information. People wanted to know what was going on and turned to the media to be informed. The media played a significant role in shaping the memories that will be written in the history books and the images that were imbedded in our minds. The pictures that I have posted in the appendix capture newspaper headlines from around the country and video shots that were posted on the Internet. The headlines use words that help to shape the meaning of the pictures. The pictures are images of horrific acts of evil that along with the words leaves a lasting impression on your mind. There are also the pictures and the video shots that show an image of American pride, anger and patriotism. Theses images also represent what people were feeling and their emotions. The pictures and the words are that of the reporters. They reported on and written on what they wanted their audiences to perceive as their message on those acts. Terrorist Attacks & Media Effects There was so much over and over again coverage of this tragedy that the Gallup Poll Organization conducted a survey taken November 8 through the 11on how the media was covering this tragedy. On November 15, 2001, they remade the results of the poll public on the Internet in CyberAlert. The results of the poll taken indicated that 54 percent of the public disapproved of how the media was covering the war on terrorism compared to 43 percent who approved. After the publication of the poll results some media networks pledge to halt the over coverage. The ABC network was one of the firsts to announce that it was cutting back on the coverage. Rupert Murdock and ABC News Chief David Western issued a formal apology to the public. After ABC other networks such as CBS, Fox News, and NBC soon followed and pledge to also cut back on the terror coverage. The over coverage of the war on terrorism was effecting almost everyone. I as a parent had to keep the television off because my kids would get upset when they saw the horrific pictures and video coverage of the planes slamming into the WTC buildings. It got to a point where we had to take our kids to the doctor because they were having fear and anxiety attacks. The U.S. economy also was effected by the tragedy. Travel and tourism was hit hard. No one wanted to travel especially fly. I can remember being at a football game at Giant stadium and every time a plane flew by the entire stadium of people looked up. This was a reaction that became the norm because of the images we had imbedded in our minds of how planes can be utilized as weapons of mass destruction. Terrorist Attacks & Media Effects Our lives are now forever changed because of the September 11; tragedy and the media on how they covered the events that took place. Because of the media we will forever have memories of horrific acts of evil. Our lives take on new meanings. We now live in a state of constant beware and cautious of our surroundings and environment. We no longer embrace immigrants and especially people of Middle Eastern decent. This change in the way we live is attributed to the effects of the memories that we now have as a result of the September 11 tragedy and the media coverage of those events. REFERENCES McLuan, M. (2001). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press Griffin, E., & McComb M., & Shaw D., (2000). Agenda Setting Theory Butcher, P. & Byers, M., (A First Look At Communication Theory) (p360-371) New York: McGraw Hill Aufderheide, P. (no date) Therapeutic Patriotism and Beyond, Retrieved 6/20/02 from, Television Archive http://tvnews3.televisionarchive.org/tvarchive/html/ McCaleb, C. (September 12, 2001). Bush: U.S. Feels ?quiet unyielding anger? retrieved 6/20/02 from CNN.com http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/whitehouse/ No Author (September 12, 2001) World Trade Center Survivors describe ?holy hell? Retreived from CNN.com http://cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/new.york.scene/ No Authur (September 13, 2001) Passengers voted to attack hijackers Retreived from CNN.com http://cnn.com/2001/US/09/12/plane.phone.call/ Allen, J. (June 5, 2002) US May Have Identified Planner of Sept. 11 Attacks Retrieved 6/5/02 from AT&T Worldnet Service http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news Grossberg, J. (September 19, 2001) ABC Halts Replay of WTC Attacks Retreived 6/6/02 from E! Online News http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,8847.html Bauder, D. (November 05, 2001) Media Companies Apologize Amidst War Sensitivites retrieved 6/6/02 from AP Associated Press http://www.editorandpublisher.com Cotts, C. (January2, 2002) Midnight Confession: How CNN captured John Walker Retrieved 6/20/02 from Village Voice Press Clips http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0201/cotts.php Kelly, J. (June 2002) U.S. scours Web for al-Qaeda Site, closely monitors talk in chat room USA Today No author (June 2002) Hunt for Saddam shifts U.S. policies USA Today No author (June 30, 2002) Bin Laden Alive as of Late December report Reuters 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 story7694.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.89.137.57 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: September 11th started off pretty much as any other day. I brought my breakfast to my first hour history class, because the teacher didn't mind. I went to my German class, and that was pretty normal too, although the planes had already hit about 15 minues earlier. The first time that I actually heard anything about the planes hitting the World Trade Center was in between first and second hours at my high school. I was in the bathroom by the foreign language hallway. A couple of other guys came in, and were talking about some planes hitting some buildings in New York and a bomb going off at the Pentagon, or something like that. They thought it was pretty funny, like it was all a big joke. I didn't really make much of it, until I got to my third hour Lit class and saw the WTC belching smoke on the TV. My teacher's son lives in New York City, and she was frantically dialing his home and cell phone numbers, and naturally getting no response because of the lines being tied up. Eventually she started crying. As bad as that was, the next shot on the TV was the Pentagon, which another plane had flown into. The first words out of my mouth were, "Holy shit, my sister works right by the Pentagon" (My sister is on the staff of a senator from Indiana). I stared at the screen for the rest of the hour, and saw both of the towers fall. I saw a man running down the street thrown to the ground by the force and debris from the building hitting the ground, followed by the cameraman crouching down behind a car to protect himself from danger. Before it fell, I saw people jump out the windows. I saw dazed people stumbling around the street, covered in dust and soot. I heard someone say that firemen and cops had been trying to get everybody out, but they weren't sure if they had, or even if they themselves had gotten out of the buildings before they fell. I kept hearing rumors of bombs going off in Washington, D.C. On the steps of the Capital, a car bomb supposedly went off (it didn't). That scared me even more, what if my sister was in the Capital building, or leaving it? I left the class kind of in a trance, worried about my sister (who was fine, I later learned), worried what might happen to all those people. My math teacher tried to teach a lesson, but nobody paid attention. Nobody took notes, and nobody did the assignment. Everyone wanted to watch what was happening on TV. The rest of the day was a blur, that I don't remember at all. I don't need to. I had seen enough, and I didn't want to see any more. 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 story2212.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. 198.109.168.234 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I remember so vividly Sept. 11. Only 2 days prior I had reached my 41st birthday. I was already in a reflective mood that morning and as I sat down to breakfast I watched in horror as the images crossed my television of the 1st tower on fire. I really wanted to believe I was dreaming or watching a movie, but it was all too real. As I watched in horror as the second plane flew into the other tower all I could do was cry. I called my husband at his work (he is ex-navy) and told him to get to a tv or radio. I then called my boss at work and told her what was happening. I started giving her play by play details of what was happening and she at first thought i was joking around but when she really listened and her the fear in my voice she knew it was true. My mother was in Texas recovering from a heart attack and I was alone in my apartment and I never felt such fear. My husband came home that afternoon and we watched the replay of that attack and we listened to different reporters telling their version of what was happening and watching the people running for safety. It was so heart rendering, especially a story they were telling about a woman and her kids looking for their dad. They were crying and I could actually feel their pain and I just wanted to do something for them. I wanted to take away all their pain. I suddenly became very aware of where I was and how very lucky I was that I was with my husband and we were safe. But at the same time I felt guilty. All those people that didn't survive and their families....what would they do? How would they go on? That family that was hoping and praying they would find their dad...he survived. Watching them holding on to one another was a most precious moment. As this Sept. 11 neared I wanted to celebrate...to celebrate life, celebrate our family and friends and to celebrate our freedom. I refuse to be afraid and to hide away like a mouse. I will express myself and shout..because I am free to do that. And that is what that terrorist attack was all about....to take away our freedom to make us afraid and weak! But are we afraid and weak? NOOO. We joined together, as one country, one voice! We stopped showing our fears and started living and showing pride in our country. And we shall continue to be ONE! We shall not beaten! We shall rise and defeat the cowards who tried to destroy us! WE STAND UNITED! We are free! 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 story6694.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. 68.42.138.237 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 family just woke up and were starting our morning ritual of coffee and breakfast when my husband told me to come in the bedroom because an interuption with Tom Brokaw came on. We thought that it was just an accident or something. Well, it was worse. It turns out that a plane has hit one of the towers. Deep down inside me, I knew that this could not be an accident! No one in their right mind would ever let a plane accidentaly hit a huge building with people still inside. That is when I got the chills. Then as we were watching, another plane hit the other one. That's when I knew that it was exactly what I thought at first, we are under attack! Shortly after that, another plane hits the pentagon and then in Pennsylvania. This is no coincidence! I thought about the President. I hope that he is somewhere safe. Someone was thinking correctly because they had the VP in hiding and POTUS was moving and no one knew where he was. I thought that was a good idea. If it was known on the news, then all over the world people would know where he is and who knew who was attacking us?! It was smart to not let the press get ahold of the location of POTUS. I am glad today that we have a great leader like him to lead our country instead of someone like Clinton. He made his wife a laughing stock as well as his Presidency. I wish I could shake our great leader's hand some day. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story7222.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.50.54.40