265 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: My mother called me as I was getting ready for school. She and my father were down in Texas to see my sister graduate from her Air Force flight-nurse training. She told me to turn on the news because something odd had happened?a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. This astonished me but I was in a hurry so I didn?t turn on the television. I finished getting ready and left for school. I tuned my car radio onto WTOP (1500am) to get more information and they announced a second plane had hit the other twin tower. There was commotion on the radio as it seemed no one could understand what was going on. They were spewing out words like terrorism, tragedy, infamy, and attacks. I couldn't believe it. I was confused, scared, worried, and astonished all at once. What was going on? I was dazed as I drove down Braddock Road towards GMU. I wanted to turn around but where would I go? What else would I do? As I was parking my car, the broadcaster announced a plane had gone into the Pentagon. Now this hit too close to home. This was now in my area, my city, my territory. Although I did not know anyone at the Pentagon, I felt like this attack would not end. What target would be next? The Capital? The White House? My boyfriend works at a government agency only 2 blocks away from the White House. I had just lost my twin brother 3 months prior and the thought of losing someone that meant so much to me was overbearing. I couldn?t handle it. I was crying hysterically at that point. I prayed. I ran into the closest GMU building, Lecture Hall, and called him at work from a payphone. I told him what I had heard and pleaded that he needed to leave DC now. He seemed so calm and promised me he would leave soon. Only later I would find out that I was the one that informed him of the Pentagon crash first but he could tell I was already upset and didn?t want to worry me anymore. I hung up and there was someone there staring at me. Did they not understand? Did they not know what was going on? Thousands of people lives were gone in an instance and they were staring at me? I went to the bathroom in the same building to calm down and clean up my face. I then went onto my 10 a.m. class--CS421, Systems Engineering. I walked in a daze. When I got there everyone was talking about what had happened. My teacher entered and told us that ?there was stuff going on but it didn?t affect our class so [we needed to] get out our books to start our lesson.? I was appalled and relieved at the same time. I guess I could now attempt to focus on something else but I also hated the fact that there were a serious event going on and he seemed so callous about it. He later apologized and stated that he either didn?t know or didn?t realize the gravity of the situation. After class, I left and came home because I didn?t have any more money to call my boyfriend. I needed to see if he was home and safe. He was. Surprisingly he did not encounter terrible traffic. The next few days I sat glued to the television watching and hearing the same thing over and over again. The horrific images of each tower falling will forever be ingrained into my memory. I learned more about what had happened and who had caused such terror. I couldn?t comprehend why someone would inflict such terror on innocent people. I still don?t and I probably never will. But then I worried more because such an attack would surely cause retaliation from the U.S. I worried about my sister who was no longer just a nurse for the Air Force but a flight nurse?the kind that rescues wounded soldiers. I worried about my brother-in-law who was an attack pilot for the Air Force. Once Bush declared war, they would have to go over to Afghanistan. For the next few months, I prayed for my sister and brother-in-law who were over there, I prayed for the U.S. troops, and I prayed for the Afghani civilians caught in the crossfire. That was the day that my generation lost their innocence. 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 story10571.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. 2004-04-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.239.71.135 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was in the sixth grade when the attacks occured. We went about our morning as usual going through science, english and history. At one point in the morning before ten o'clock our teacher was asked to step out of the room. Everyone in the room wondered why. A few moments later she came back and said something has happened in New York, and Washington DC. We went to P.E. and wondered what it could be. When we came back from P.E. the television in the room was on and there where the twin towers with enormous amounts of smoke comming out of them. I couln't make anything of it becuase I didn't understand what was happening. I really got confused when my mom, who worked in DC, picked me up from school that afternoon. My dad also had come home early. They said the whole government had been shut down and basically sent home. I turned on TV when we got home and wondered why every channel was showing the same thing. After a couple of minutes I realized, for the most part of the horrible events that happened on September 11, 2001. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story20826.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. 2006-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 151.188.16.21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was sleeping because I had a late class tha t day and the phone rung at about 7am so that would have been 9am Eastern Time. It was a friend of mine telling me to turn on the TV. I asked what channel and she said that it didn't matter. That should have been my first clue that something wasn't right but nothing prepared me for what I saw. I turned it on just as the 2nd plane hit. It took a minute to realize that it wasn't a horrible dream. I just sad watching CNN for what felt like an eternity. I don't remember what time it was but when there was a report that the State Department had been bombed that is when I literally thought the world was coming to an end. I am a journalism major so for the first 3 days I thought of this as a news story. Maybe it was because I didn't want to let it in. I remember that Friday is when it hit me. I literally just broke down and started crying. It was just the saddest thing that I had ever felt. I mean I used to live in the NY metro area so I saw those buildings all the time and to picture the city without them I just can't do it. I remember seeing the people standing in lines with pictures of their loved ones, many hoping for a miracle that never came. Still to this day I tear up everytime I think about it. Not about the towers themselves but the people. The people who got up one morning like it was any other day and for those family members and friends who never got to say one more "I love you" or one last hug and to think that they would give anything for that just breaks your heart and will for a long time if not forever. Years from now this will become one of those days in history that you read about like November 22, 1963 or December 7, 1941. People will remember what happened but those of us who were alive at the time will remember the faces and the images and not the words on the pages of a history book. 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 story1000.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. 2002-08-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.0.36.248 Annotation Annotations to this item. Missing Persons DOMESTIC Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: As I was driving back from the ATM like I usually do on Tuesdays, to pick up my rent money for the week I had no idea that the life I had known and become comfortable in all of my 22 years would change drastically over the next few months. When I drive I usually listen to tapes or CD's in the car but for some reason I thought to turn on the radio. DC101, the pop rock station around here usually has an annoyingly interesting morning show thats sometimes fun to listen to. When I turned on the radio, and by now it was around 10:00 or so, things had changed. The news came pouring in, "one tower of the World Trade Center is gone after being hit by an airplane," Radio personalities that usually pride themselves on being funny or crazy had suddenly become very very serious. I quickly flipped around. There were reports that The Washington Monument may have been hit, along with the Pentagon. This is when I began to worry. I live only 20 miles from D.C., and that's less than a three minute flight by plane. As I got home I turned on the television only to be inundated with images of disaster in New York City. Fire and explosions would occupy my thoughts for weeks following this tragic event. I immediately called home, to the mountains of North Carolina. By some chance my call got through. Most phone lines were busy and no one was able to call anyone, including and especially cell phones. I was talking to my father shortly thereafter about the ramifications of such an event while we both watched the second tower crumble to the ground. I could not believe my eyes. Something that has always stood in incredible majisty of all its own, somewhere I had visited only a matter of months before was completely erased from existence. As my father and i watched on in horror and wonder he said "Think of all of the people trapped in there, the firemen who rushed in to save them, they are all lost." The human aspect of such an event must not be forgotten in the power of seeing it. Then came the rumors, "There was a car bomb outside the State Department, The Mall was on fire," and so on. I did not go to school that day. George Washington University was all too close to the heart of the incident, but I feared for my friends who lived there on campus and could not leave. I then quickly went through a mad search to find all of my family, most of which work around DC. I can only image what DC commuter trafic must have been like For an area infamous for it, this mad rush must have been unlike anything anyone has ever seen. My cousins, whom which I now live, made it home later that afternoon, and rushed around to find their children, pick them up from daycare and the like. Their mother whom I spent the majority of the day conversing with kept on saying in a very worried tone that "I'm just not sure I want all of my family in one place right now," as if the worst that could possibly happen, could possibly happen. I heard that my uncle who works in the Smithsonian had indeed left and was returning home as fast as possible. I contacted my other cousins who worked in Springfield, and they were shocked but alright. I later discovered that one of my cousins was scheduled to give some sort of talk at the Pentagon later that evening, but thankfully she had not yet gone out there. Then I learned that my aunt and uncle had gone to New York City for the weekend. I had no idea. Out of all the weekends to see a baseball game... but thankfully they were uneffected by the tragedy. With everyone accounted for I was much relieved. Weeks later I fell into the same patriotic routine as the rest of the nation, driving with an American Flag on my car and spending hours glued to the television. It was a couple of months later before I could bring my self to drive out to the Penntagon, only a short 15 minute drive, to see for myself the devastation. When you see it you realize just how real it is. Television does not do it justice. No sight has thus far effected me as much in spirit and mind as the one that laid before my eyes that day. Thankfully no one in my family was hurt by the terrorism, I was lucky, and I give thanks every night for this. 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 story43.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. 2002-02-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.48.0.99 Annotation Annotations to this item. Radio Coverage Rumors Television Coverage DC:3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was half watching the Today Show that Tuesday morning. The phone rang and it was my next door neighbor calling to see if I was watching TV. She is a flight attendant and had just come home the night before. We both stared at our tv's in our homes in absolute disbelief...this could NOT be happening. Surely it was a movie!!! I called my husband at his work to see if he knew and yes, they had a small tv and were watching it all unfold. Then I called the two schools where my two youngest daughters were. I asked if the kids knew what was going on and was told that tv's were on in the classrooms but that they were trying to keep things as normal as possible. That was good...cause normal had just changed dramatically. My oldest daughter called me from Waterville, OH. She was to be married October 6th and after having all our phone calls about her wedding, this one was so somber. My number two daughter called me from her work...they had a tv on and were all in disbelief at what they were watching. The need to talk to all my children or at least know they were all OK helped some. My oldest sister called me from northern Pennsylvania to tell me that her youngest son, who worked at an airport in NY, told her there was a plane flying over Cleveland that was hijacked. Later, we found out it was flight 93. One of my niece's husbands works in DC and was supposed to be at the Pentagon that day but luckily, he was not there. When our girls came home from school, we all just watched the tv in such total dispair...all those people looking for loved ones just broke your heart. We live in a city where there are a lot of Arab people and I was so impressed with my youngest daughter. I overheard her telling a friend that this one young girl, who was an Arab, was her friend, not an enemy. I was so proud of her...at least she knew the difference between friends and enemies. The following days, you prayed that when you turned the television on, it was all a dream...that it never happened, but there it was...those images were never going to go away. They are burned in our hearts forever. I am also glad to know that at least my children do not want another "holiday" made out of 9-11. My 16 year old said why should we make it a day with no school...we need to remember what happened not celebrate it like we do Memorial Day or the Fourth of July. And I believe that too...may we always fly our flags, never take our freedoms for granted, and may God bless every person who died that day and pray for their families and friends...and pray for all of us too. God Bless America!!!! Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story3502.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On Sept. 11, 2001, I sat in my livingroom, watching the Today show, like every other day of my life. Then, Matt came on the screen and announced that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I was shocked, and initially I thought something must have been terribly wrong with the pilot, and his crew couldn't stop the plane in time. It wasn't long later that the announcement of the second plane, then the Pentagon, then Flight 93 all came across the television. I immediately called my mom, and told her to turn on the television. When she asked me why, I told her something terrible was happening to our country, and she needed to turn on the television right away. One year later, I am torn by how I should be feeling. I am thankful to the passengers and crew of Flight 93, for their courage, yet I am sorrowful for their friends and family. I am grateful that our country has come together and has a renewed sense of pride, but I am embarrassed that it took such a tragic event for us to realize what an amazing nation in which we all live. I long for peace, yet I wish America could find Bin Laden and do to him what he did to us. How am I supposed to feel? I didn't know anyone who worked in the towers, or in the Pentagon, or anyone on board any of the four flights, yet I have shed tears for each of them. I've never been to New York, yet my heart aches when I think of the devastation inflicted upon the city. May we never have to survive another tragedy such as this to be reminded of the heroic acts of everyday people. May we always remember this day with not only saddness, but also the pride of being an American. May God embrace every person lost, injured, or otherwise affected by this unthinkable act of terrorism. May each and every one of us who are lucky enough to live in this great country live our lives with peace, love, and forgiveness. And may God bless America today and everyday. 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 story5367.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: At first I couldn't believe the horror of this tradgedy I wanted to compare it to the alien scare that we've heard so much about from the days when radios were our only source of news.....but as it became real I realized that that day our country didn't "fall apart" as the terrorists had hoped but we became one standing tall for our freedom and our children.I hope the world never forgets that the United States cannot be broken and any trials that come our way God will help us overcome. I pray for the families who lost that day and I know in time they will heal. We just have to remember that for everything there is a reason and God has a plan for all even though we may not know and it may be painful if we trust we will prevail. God bless everyone who reads this and I hope that one day we will understand why the tradjedies that occur do occur. Thank you for your time 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 story193.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. 2002-03-08 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.76.232.187 Annotation Annotations to this item. Radio Coverage Religion DOMESTIC Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My younger brother, David Retik, was seated in the first row of first-class on American Airlines Flight 11 as it plunged into the north tower of the World Trade Center at 8:45am on September 11. A partner in a venture capital firm in Boston, David left behind two children, ages 4 and 2, and his wife gave birth in November 2001 to their third. I arrived at my office at 8:55am on September 11. I work on the 29th floor of 85 Broad Street, located 8 blocks from the WTC. Immediately I noticed that something was wrong. A crowd was gathered in a nearby conference room. I joined them and noticed smoke billowing from one of the WTC towers. Shortly after learning that a plane had "accidentally" struck the WTC, I saw out of my office window a second plane strike the other tower. We evacuated our building and I bolted toward the New Jersey ferry amidst a rainstorm of singed office memos from the towers. On the way, I heard someone mention that one of the planes had originated in Boston. A bad fact, I thought, as I have family in Boston, but nothing to worry about. I boarded the ferry as we were overcome by a thick white dust that reeked of burned metal (a smell excruciatingly familiar to many New Yorkers by now). We learned that the smoke was coming from the collapse of the south tower. My heart sank. How could one of the towers collapse? As our ferry cleared the white smoke, rounded the Statue of Liberty, and headed for New Jersey, I saw one tower standing, burning, and thought to myself, "I hope everyone got out." When we landed, I finally got through to my wife, Michelle, to tell her I was ok. It was a really bad connection (cell service was abysmal that day), but I could tell she was crying. She said that David had been traveling to Los Angeles. We were then disconnected. This didn't make sense to me. But on the way home in the car, I learned on the news that one of the planes that crashed into the WTC had originated in Boston and was bound for Los Angeles. Still, I figured, there were multiple Boston-LA flights and it was unlikely that David was on this one. I learned the truth, of course, when I arrived home. Two weeks earlier, David and I and our families had been vacationing together with our parents on Martha's Vineyard. He called me shortly thereafter and told me how much he enjoyed our time together and impressed upon me the importance of continuing to get the families together because, in his actual words, "life is too short." This was the final time we spoke. I am forever grateful for this last conversation with my brother. While painfully prophetic, it has helped me make some sense out of this horrible tragedy and given me a much-needed shot of self-reflection. Clearly, it could just as easily have been me that was killed. 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 story288.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. 2002-03-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.37.160.21 Annotation Annotations to this item. Personal connection to someone at site NY:2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I wrote this on September 19, 2001 Every American will remember September 11; many of our world neighbors will as well. For too many the day is a day they lost family members, loved ones, friends, and fellow Americans. Everybody?s story is different, but everybody has an important one. My story seems insignificant to the many who were in one way or another directly in the path of hijacked, suicide commercial airliners on September 11. I work for the Army in the Pentagon. My office is 2A685 - that means it is on the second floor, A-ring, 6th corridor, bay number 85. At 9:43 p.m. hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 with 64 crew and passengers slammed into the southwest face of the pentagon. My organization is called the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management; I?m in the Directorate of Environmental Programs. The organization occupies several offices in the Pentagon. My office was only peripherally impacted, but the main office was directly in the path of the hijacked jet. At this time (Sep 19) I know that LTC Brian Birdwell suffered burns, and I know that Cheryle Sincock and Sandy Taylor are missing. I say ?missing? because I now begin to understand the need to find and identify people in New York and the Pentagon. Monday, our organization had a service for the families of Cheryle and Sandy to begin the grieving, and it is just so difficult for the families to proceed without absolute knowledge. Cheryle and Sandy worked in the main office. Cheryle was Major General Van Antwerp?s secretary and Sandy served as the Administrative Officer for the organization. Brian is one of our Executive Officers. President Bush visited him in the hospital last week. As he left, the President stood at the foot of Brian?s bed and saluted. It took Brian about 20 seconds to return the President?s salute, and Mr. Bush held his salute the whole time. I was on temporary duty at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO when the attack occurred. I was on my way to a meeting when NPR reported a fire at the World Trade Center (WTC). By the time I arrived at the meeting, the TV was showing the first attack on the WTC and shortly after that, the second. My first impression was that terrorists were flying the jets, but I did not, at that time, think they were hijacked jets with passengers on board. Soon the Pentagon was attacked, and that is when the horror of a mass attack hit me. Our meeting proceeded with occasional updates and one briefing from an Air Force security officer advising us that the security condition had gone to Threat Condition C and later D. The meetings, of course, were distracted, but we did not know of any other thing we could do. Threat Condition D required us to stay in the building until our scheduled lunch. At lunch time, I called Vicky, my wife, and my Mother. The rest of the afternoon included a field trip of the Air Force Academy. I left the Air Force Academy for my motel room at around 6 p.m. Mountain Time. My time in the motel that night was spent watching TV, phoning Vicky and a co-worker, and attempting to call our Directorate Executive Officer. I was scheduled on a flight from Denver airport the next day at around 10 a.m. An additional field trip was scheduled for the next day, which I considered going on and then rejected. I had heard colleagues discussing driving home. About 9:30 p.m., Tom Vorac called and asked if I would like to drive home with four other colleagues. I postponed my decision to the next morning. Wednesday morning, I called Vicky and our Executive Officer indicating I would likely drive home with the others. Then I called Abby (my daughter in Chicago), and during the conversation I became convinced I should participate in the drive home. My rationale, at the time, was that I knew the airlines would not be able to operate as early as reported on Tuesday (noon Wednesday) and this was affirmed by a report Abby had seen on TV. Secondly, I faced the reality that there could be more terrorism to come - there could be more hijackers waiting in the wings. Seems trivial, but making the decision to drive home gave me a tremendous boost in spirit. I drove to the Walmart and purchased their last flags, some stars and stripes bunting for the car, some black ribbon for arm bands, and, of course, Duck Tape to put it all together. When I arrived at the Raddison Hotel (the prearranged meeting place for the drive home) I learned that we now had six people (including me) and two cars. The Hertz and Alamo rental car agencies had waived drop-off fees, so we had a Chevrolet Lumina and a Subaru Legacy. Sal and Tom had gone to turn in Sal?s car at Colorado Springs Airport, so the remaining four planned our trip, made our trip rules, established the Colors (little flags on the antennas and the bunting on the back seat ?shelf?), and put on our black arm bands. It took Sal and Tom about two hours to drop off Sal?s car - they could not get to the airport drop-off but were getting mixed directions from the car agency. Finally they just parked the car as close as possible to the drop off. Next we dropped my car at the Denver Airport. There were state police and, I think, National Guard blocking the entrance road to the airport with concrete barriers and vehicles. The rental car agency was not in the blocked-off area, so it was not a problem to drop my car off. We departed Denver at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday: me, Tom M., and John in the Subru, and Tom V., Scott, and Sal in the Chevrolet. We stopped for breaks, snacks, gas, and rotation of positions (we regularly rotated all positions and cars). We arrived in Genesco, IL (Tom?s house) at about 3:00 a.m. Thursday, having dropped Sal off at the Quad City Airport where his car was (the airport seemed normal for 2:30 a.m.) - 15.5 hours counting one hour for the ride from Colorado Springs to Denver and subtracting an hour for the time change from Mountain to Central. Tom V.?s wife, Monica, had prepared beds and pallets on the floor for us. We slept about 4 hours at Tom?s house, got a shower, and ate donuts and drank coffee. We were also given ?goodie bags? that Kathleen Repass had dropped off. Who is Kathleen Repass? - a friend of Tom and Monica?s who just wanted us to know she cared about us. Kathleen Repass left a note on top of the home made chocolate chip cookies in one of the two ?goodie bags? - as I read it, it was the first time that I cried over the attacks and the compassion/unity of Americans. We got on the road at 8:30 a.m. - me, Tom M., John, and Scott in the Chevrolet. Tom V. was going to drop the Subru off later that day at the Quad Cities Airport. Snacks of the day were Mrs. Repass?s chocolate chip cookies, some beef jerky that I think someone must have purchased a lot of in Nebraska, and plenty of water. We arrived at the Baltimore Washington International Airport at 12:30 p.m. (15 hours making the adjustment from Central to Eastern time). Scott dropped me and Tom M. off at our cars in the ?Park-N-Go? so we could meet him at the Alamo car drop off. After a lot of confusion turning in the car at the drop off, I think we must have departed at about 1:30 a.m. I was taking Scott home and Tom M. was taking John home. I think I dropped Scott off at his house at about 2:30 a.m. and arrived home about 3 a.m. How long did it take? - a total of 37.5 hours adjusted to Eastern time and a total of 31.5 hours driving time. As I sit here today (Sep 19), safe at home at my desk, I reflect on the many thoughts and feelings that I have had these past several days (it?s already Wednesday). I?m sure that you all are having similar problems sorting out the many thoughts that go through your mind. At first I was simply horrified. Then I was afraid that the attacks were not over. Then I had a great sorrow for the people in New York and in the Pentagon. And, of course, I have a huge sorrow for Cheryle and Sandy and their families. Sometimes when I was trying to sleep or rest in the back seat on the drive home, I had some sort of stress dreams or day dreams. In one stress dream, I was on one of the hijacked planes and somehow got the seat belt loose (about a foot and a half of belt with the heavy part of the buckle on the end) and used it as a weapon on one of the hijackers. I have prayed, I have discussed it with Vicky, I have listened to the many reports, I have listened to our leaders, and I have listened to friends and colleagues. I?m still sorting out all the thoughts, but I?m left with two which seem foremost right at this moment - (1) I feel the nation is very vulnerable to terrorists; (2) I?m frustrated and disappointed that these particular ones could have been so successful. I?m sure the thoughts will continue to ebb and flow. I think we have to dismantle the terrorist machinery in a reasonable, sustained effort that includes our world partners. I hope we can find a way to do it that is effective and just. I pray for our country and it?s leadership. 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 story119.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. 2002-03-03 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 208.58.195.137 Annotation Annotations to this item. Flags Military Patriotism Pentagon Personal connection to someone at site Politics and politicians Victims DOMESTIC Sep 11- Sep 21, 2001 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: In Los Angeles on September 11, 2001 at the time the first tower of the world trade center had just been hit, it was about 6:00 in the morning. I woke up to my mother talking on the phone to my aunt and screaming in terror that we were under attack. i will never be able to forget the terror i heard in her voice. As i woke up, i had no idea what she was talking about. As i walked into the living room to join my mother and watch t.v., i was speechless in witnessing the second plane hit into the other tower. I began to cry as the real effect of what was happening began to sink in. I was in my junior year of college at Califonia State University, Northridge and decided to stay home from school in lue of not knowing what was going to happen next. Was California going to be a target? I was overcome with such an unsettling feeling i could barely get up from the couch. I have never felt so unsure of life as i did at that very moment. I was so scared and spent the majority of the day stuck to the t.v. Another thing i remember as i went to watch t.v. in that morning is hearing the voice of i think it was peter jennings. He kept saying, "oh my G-d", oh my G-d, the world will never be the same. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story4875.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. 198.81.21.32 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: The morning of September 11th 2001 was one of those routine mornings until I got a call from my relative in Houston at 6:45AM Pacific Time. I woke up at 6:30AM woke my wife and then my children to get them ready for school. 15 minutes later the whole world had changed when I heard the tragic news and switched on the TV to catch the news of the tragedy. So many innocent lives were taken and so many innocent Heroes perished doing their duty trying to save them. May GOD give strength to the families of those who lost their beloved in this tragedy. It was a cowardly act but then religious fanatism does not reason. The tragedy of 9/11 has changed not only the lives of those who lost near & dear ones but every sensible human being on this earth. I hope this will foster a feeling that we need to understand different cultures and religions which will help bring Peace and Harmony on Earth. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story5227.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. 63.92.4.115 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: September 11, 2001 It was a beautiful September morning. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was commuting from my new apartment in Astoria to 2 World Trade, where I worked for AON. Everything was going good, I just moved into my first apartment with my sister-in a great neighborhood; I loved my job and the location of it?I worked the Trade Center, what more could I ask for. I had the typical morning, arriving early, getting coffee and chatting with people in the office. I was in the coffee room when I heard a loud boom and someone screaming ?oh my god!? I ran out of the coffee room and into an office what was facing 1 World Trade Center. The only thing I saw was fire coming out of the building and paper shooting out of the building. I did not know what was happening. So I ran to my boss? office, which faced directly across 1 World Trade, to see if I could get a better look of what happened. As I walked into the office I felt this incredible heat from the fire that was directly across from his office. At that point I knew it was time for me to leave the building. I was afraid that something in 1 World Trade would explode and directly hit our offices. So I shut my computer off, grabbed my sneakers & bag and started heading down on the first stairwell I could find. I didn?t wait for anyone, I felt I couldn?t- I had to leave at that moment. And so my journey from the 100th floor began. I had always joked that if there was a fire or something that I had to walk down 100 flights of stairs. But never in my life did I actually think that it would truly happen. The stairwell was a little crowded in the beginning but there was no panicking. I had stopped on one of the landing to put my sneakers on and ran into my friend and colleague on the landing. I was joking with her that I can now go home and unpack my apartment that just moved into that Saturday. We came upon the 78th floor (that was an elevator bank that took you express down to the ground floor) - there where so many people on that floor waiting for an elevator to go down. My friend stayed to see if she could get one down. I told her that I?m going to walk down and that I would call her later. She said ok. (That day I found out she didn?t make it, she was one of the thousands that died that day) I proceeded to go down the stairs. I stopped on a floor to see if I could get a signal on my phone so that I could call my sister or mother and tell them that I was ok and that I would meet my sister at her job (41st and Park). The floor that I stopped on was dark and people in the hallway saying that a plane flew into tower one. And I remember thinking to myself what a HORRIBLE accident. At that point I was even more determined to get out of that building and away from the Trade Center. I was more afraid that the fire across the way would hit a gas pipe and it would explode with debris hitting our building. So once again I headed down the stairs. It wasn?t crowded, a lot of people where going back up or stopping waiting for an elevator. There were announcements telling people to go back to their offices that it was just a fire in tower one and that tower two was secure. And people listened to them. I can?t remember what floor I was on when I felt the building shake and saw some debris come down from the ceiling(I learned later that this is when the second plane hit tower two; so I was below the impact). I began to panic a little bit at that point, but I continued down the stairs. I remember thinking to myself ?God, you know I am ready to go when you call for me. But I can?t go like this; my family will not be able to handle this. This will break them. Please carry me out and bring me to my family. I will do anything, just bring me home.? Finally I reached the ground floor and it was complete chaos. They where telling us what entrance to go out of. I remember going up the escalators and seeing people covered in blood walking out. I had exited the exit that faces the church-it was where the Borders Books was (I believe its Trinity Place). I remember there was a cop in civilian clothes telling me to keep walking up and don?t look back ? to keep walking toward the Brooklyn Bridge. I will never forget the expression on people?s faces as I walked. They stood there in horror looking up at what was happening behind me. I didn?t dare look up. I wanted to get as far away as possible from that area. People where glued there, didn?t move, it was like they where under a spell. I frantically pushed my way through the crowd, trying to get a signal on my phone to call my sister or mother and tell them that I was out of the building and I was fine. I was going to pick up my sister and go home. I couldn?t get a damn signal. So I stopped by this smoke shop and asked if I could use their phone to make a quick call--- I told them that I had just came out of tower two and needed to call my family to tell them I was ok. They just had this stare on them, almost that they couldn?t believe I walked out of there. I called my sister at work, needless to say she was not in the best condition?she had been watching the whole thing on TV. She had already thought I was dead, that there was no way I would have survived that. Once I got her on the phone I told her that I was ok, that she needed to pull herself together and call mom and tell her that I was ok. I told my sister to stay where she was, that I was going to be there shortly. I don?t know what possessed me to get on the 6 train to go to Grand Central, but I did. As it came to 14th street/Union Square I thought to myself I can get off here and take the 4 or 5 and it will get me there in one stop. So I got off the train and wouldn?t you know---they stop all service. The subway system was on shut down. I walked out of the subway and people were all pissed off, I saw this woman cursing at a cop telling him that the MTA is constantly screwing her, that she was seriously inconvenienced at the moment?she clearly did not know what was happened on the ground level just downtown from her. I walked out of the subway station asked the local hot dog guy which way uptown and where is Park Avenue. He kindly showed me which direction I needed to go. I started walking to my sister?s job (42nd and Park). Once again people where stopped in the middle of sidewalks looking at the TV in the window, there were lines at the public phones, people crying, etc. I still didn?t know the whole story, I hadn?t stopped to ask any questions, to inquire; I was focused on getting to my sister- she needed me there. I stopped in a church just blocks from her job. I fell to my knees and started crying?I didn?t know why I was crying, I just thanked God that I was safe. Once I got to my sister?s job, there was a mob outside (they evacuated the building) I couldn?t find her-so I went upstairs to her office-she was not there. I went back downstairs and she was there with her friends from work. She just started crying and hugging me like she never wanted to let me go. Then I told her that I heard someone on the stairwell say that a plane flew into tower one. At that point our friend Nancy told me that it was a terrorist attack and that both towers were hit and they just collapsed. Words can not explain what was going through my head. I thought I was the only surviving person from my job ? you have to understand I just came from that area a saw all of those people standing there, glued to the ground looking up in shock and horror. I went upstairs to call my parents and told them that I was now with my sister and we were going to try to figure out what to do. Nancy had a friend that lived close to their job. She called him and asked if we could come by. So we went to this friend?s apartment and the TV was on ? of course showing images of what had just happened. This was my first time actually seeing what had happened. On the TV I saw the first plane hit the towers; then I saw the second plane hit the building I was in. Then the part that I could not believe; and still don?t ? was the falling of the buildings. I just started crying, I didn?t know what to do. I thought that everyone that I saw on the floor before I left had died because they didn?t make it down the stairs in time. (I later found out that a lot of them survived) We stayed at the apartment for a little bit then decided to walk over the 59th Street Bridge to our apartment in Astoria. The first attempt was not good; since we were near Grand Central there was chaos. As we turned the corner onto 42nd Street towards the bridge we saw this mob of people just running down the street. At this point I really couldn?t walk that well after climbing down 100 flights of stairs and walking almost 30 blocks. So I told my friend and my sister to lean up against the building in a little nook so they would get trampled. Well after that we decided to head back to the apartment that we were at. We stayed there for a little bit longer then decided that we really needed to get home. So we started heading home, there was this eerie feeling about the city; you could here the fighter jet circling the city. We weren?t the only ones walking across the bridge. Once we reached the middle of the bridge I looked to my right and saw a huge cloud of smoke where the towers once stood. It still all felt like a REALLY bad dream. I received a call from my aunt telling me that my uncle is at the foot of the bridge. We finally reached the end of the bridge and people where handing out water; I saw my uncle and just started crying ? I remember telling him to take me home to my mother. He met us at our apartment and a friend from the neighborhood drove us to our apartment. We were on our way to Long Island where my mother lives; and there was no one on the road. People just started calling my cell to make sure that I got out and that I was fine. We got to my mother?s house and the first person I saw was my stepfather outside on the steps ? I went to him and gave him the biggest huge. When I saw my mother I started crying again. My aunt came over with my cousin and we had something to eat. Then we all went to the living room and I remember watching the TV. All they kept doing is replaying the airplanes going into the buildings and then the buildings collapsing. And every time I started crying. That night I spoke to some friends that were wondering if I got out ok. Told them the story. In the following days this overwhelming wave of sadness just consumed me. I didn?t eat, all I wanted to do is sleep, and I felt I had to be strong for my sister and family. I didn?t allow myself to mourn properly. I didn?t want to admit to myself the feelings I was feeling. Almost if I didn?t think about it would eventually go away. At times I felt that the sadness I carried with me was too big for me, for the first time I didn?t have the answers or a plan for what I was feeling or what was going on. It was all around me and I couldn?t escape it. And dealing with the loss of friends was too much for me. I cried myself to sleep every night. I had the guilt; you know why I didn?t try harder to convince them to go down the stairs with me. Why did they stay for an elevator? How in a heartbeat I would trade places with them so that could be here with their families. One night my friends who died came to me in a dream; I was at ground zero looking frantically for them. And when I came upon a huge black box, as I lifted it up I saw the three of them in pure white gowns with beautiful smiles on. They told me that it?s ok, that they are ok. About a month after the attacks it was time to go back to the city and go to work. I will admit this was very scary for me. How would I go back to work and be among those people who experienced the same thing I did, if not worse. When I walked around the city or on the train; I felt like people could see what I went through, that they somehow knew what I was feeling. Having to deal with the terror warnings, the planes flying over NYC, the bomb threats that happened in our new building ? my nerves were SHOT!!! I still get those feelings once in awhile. Its worse the week of the anniversary, it?s almost like I?m preparing for it to happen again. I make a mental note of that I have to do, how I would evacuate the building I?m in now. There is not a day that goes by that I don?t think of that day and my friends that died. My mother says that I was reborn on that day ? that I was given a second chance at life. That it was a miracle that I walked out of it. I guess someone up there is not ready for me. I would like this opportunity to tell my family and friends that I love them with all my heart and that without them I?m nothing. I would like to thank them for their support when I was going through it and when I have my moments now. To my friends who are gone, I miss you terribly and think of you often. I know in my heart you are in a better place ? we will meet again one day. Lorraine M. Escoto Astoria, NY 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 story11303.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. 2005-02-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 155.201.35.52 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Being disabled and home all the time, I was watching Good Day NY on Fox five. I was also finishing up a phone conversation with a nephew, who lives out of state, when the first plane hit. I was telling him what had happened and that the report came over the TV that it might have been an accident. I hung up and I was glued to the TV. About an hour later, my nephew called back and all I remember him saying was: "What the hell is going on down there". I told him we were under attack, as the second plane had already hit. All I could say was "Oh, My God, as I thought of all the people I knew from the neighborhood that worked in those buildings. Joseph Ianelli, a friend, who worked in Tower 1, around the 97th fl, needless to say, his remains were never found. Our cousin's brother, Raymond Murphy - a NYC Fireman, was lost in the line of duty. I was remembering when the WTC was built. I would be in Manhattan on business and I would stop and watch these magnificent buildings go up. HOW DARE THEY ATTACK OUR CITY.... HOW DARE THEY KILL OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS. THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW US, BUT YET THEY JUDGE US. From that day on and for weeks, I taped every news report, I saved certain News headlines and articles. It's like I have to know that we got Bin Laden... I've become obsessed with his capture or demise. Since 9/11/01, I have become more tolerable and have more patience. I treasure my family more, even the ones that were not so tolerable before 9/11, And I say my prayers a little more, because I know, deep down inside, that 9/11 was only the beginning. They will try again, and God be with us all. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story4438.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. 63.210.223.122 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On Sepptember 11th,I was ona bus evacuation nd the bus driver us about the two planes had crashed into the world trade centers.At the time I had no clue what was going on and thought nothing of it.The day flew by when I got home I turned on the television and searched for cartoons but the only thing that was on was news so after a while I decided to watch it after ten minutes of watching I was devisided and could not belive what has happened and heard that thousands of people were being killed I was shock and thougt to my self why would someone do this. On the news I kept hearing the name of Osama bimn laden.This whole plan was thought of by a person that was an Afgani.Week after week we kept hearing the same thing. We are still being affeckted by this tragedy .I thank all Police,Fire Fighter,and the Paramedics. The way most people changed after this tragedy was by showing that we are Americans. We don't give up that easily we have lots of perseverance and patriotism. After Sept 11th,Every where I went to I saw American flags and everyone was showing off the fact that we are American. No one can change that. We all react differently. I was sad, But after the events I wa proud to be an American. I was so happy that we have the american spirt and was noy about to give it up. September 11th should be a time we appreciate the people who helped the victims and surviors. I think we should remeber that this was a very cowardly thing to do but they won't be unpunised and will be the thing we do to defend our country. Now we are faceing the fact that tragic things happen,and it won't be forgotten and it will go down in history. It will be a long time befor we let our contry down. 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 story8515.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-10-18 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.60.58.139 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On the morning of September 11th, I was leading my kindergarten class to their 9:20 AM music class. As we passed through the lobby, I noticed our building principal and the school librarian setting up a television and connecting the cables. This alarmed me, I could recall the television being positioned in this location, and it always was a harbinger of a tragedy. I continued down the hallway and ran through a mental checklist of possibilities?nothing, I could think of nothing that should or could prompt that placement of the television. I left my bubbling group of 4 and 5 year olds with the music teacher and proceeded back to the lobby. In those few short moments, a small crowd had gathered around the television. They stood, grim faced, and silent. Some had sat down on the small wooden airplane bench that stands in the lobby. I was unprepared for what CNN was broadcasting when I approached. Two plumes of smoke flowed from the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The World Trade Center?a place I have seen while visiting New York City?a place several hours drive from the elementary school I was standing in?a place near two friends. As I watched, dumbfounded, I could hear the anxiety and stress in the voice of the reporter, this concerned me as the live images came across the screen. Reporters are always so polished and their reports have theme music and graphics?not fear. As I stood watching the events unfold I can remember a couple of things I heard that really frightened me. One was that the German Chancellor had called this an Act of War. This rattled me, but I realized he had to be right. What are the chances of this being an accident? Then things got worse, they began to report that smoke was coming from the Pentagon and that there was a fire on the Mall in Washington. D.C. During my lifetime, war always took place across the ocean. World War II was history for me, and Vietnam was a childhood memory. Regardless, the people living in the United States always, always, avoided experiencing the war on their homeland. Planes were dropping out of the sky. The last thing I watched on TV that day was a person falling out of the World Trade Center. I walked out of the lobby and felt I had to call my wife. My two children were at the school I worked in, but I had to talk to Patty. The phone lines were jammed, or maybe I could not handle the simple procedure I had always followed for calling outside the building. I walked back to my empty classroom, choked up. The teaching assistants I work with soon came into the room and we began to discuss what was happening. Will the school close? What about the kids? Who would do this? Questions, without any answers. As with any school day, the clock drives students and teachers alike. I had to go pick up my children. I brought the class back to the room and poured the milk for snack debating with myself what I was going to say to the class. Over the years, I have had to discuss with my kindergarten class the loss of a parent, the death of a classmate and school shootings. After snack, I said nothing. I moved on with my lessons as if it were just another Tuesday in early September. The Physical Education teacher had been assigned by the principal to move around the building updating teachers. He had told me that the towers had collapsed. I could not comprehend, or accept this. I rationalized that CNN was over reacting, an easy task while isolated in my classroom. Later, he came back and said that we were to let the children know that something bad had happened in New York City. That was it, no more. Again, I said nothing. My day carried on right up until I delivered them to the school bus. When I returned from the bus line, my youngest daughter Margaret, in second grade, was waiting for me in my classroom. She said, ?Daddy what happened in New York City?? with extreme concern. New York was a place we had visited with our children. While visiting, we had met up with a friend and stayed in my daughter?s Godfather?s apartment. She was worried about those people. I tried to stay in control, but began to tear up, and I could see that this frightened her. I told her that people had used planes to crash into some buildings. ?Will they crash them here?? she said in a panicked voice. I tried to stay calm and said that President Bush had made all the airplanes land?none were flying in the air, except planes trying to keep us safe. I think I was trying to convince myself as well, but it did feel good saying that. My other daughter Leah, a fourth grader, came into the room full of details the ?older? kids had shared. I just wanted to go home, but a ?all call? through out the building asked all staff to report to the cafeteria for a meeting. The Principal informed us that it had been quite a day outside our schools walls. Panic had set in on some of the college campuses around New York. Parents were taking children home. He said the administration had done the best they could to keep us updated, and admitted that they were trying to cope at the same time. He let us go, after mentioning a prayer vigil that would take place on the Marathon village green that evening. As a family, we attended the service that night. We both grew up in this small upstate New York town, and could not recall a time when ALL the church pastors, priests, and reverends participated in one event. The mood was best described as somber and confused. Leaders of each church shared some words with the crowds and spontaneous hymns where sung. We all headed home. It was the first time, as an adult, I had trouble falling asleep because I was afraid. In the following days, I had to watch the towers fall over and over. I did not watch this on television; we do not watch it in our home. I watched my Kindergarten students build up block towers and ?fly? their hands into them. The teacher?s assistant in my room and I would just look at each other with dismay. Things had changed. In the classroom, we did discuss that we would try our best to keep each other safe. We could all talk about what was bothering us at any time. My family found out that our two friends were safe. One was on the way out of the city that morning, and the other well away from the crash site. And one year later, it breaks my heart when I read my daughter?s response to a recent homework question, ?List three things that scare you.? She wrote tornadoes, blood, and terrorists. I have a father?s hope, beyond all hope, that in the years to come she will be able to change that list of things that scare her and remove the terrorists. For me, I?m going to do my best to help both of my daughters grow up in a world without fear. 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 story2118.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.80.14.28 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at the home of my niece. I had spent the night because it was too late for me to travel by train the nite before. On the morning of 9/11, I was preparing to get dressed to go home to Brooklyn. Watching NY1 as I did every morning, I was stopped in my tracks when I saw on TV an airplane plowing into one on the trade center towers. It took a few seconds for my ears to catch up with my eyes. Then I heard the voice on the TV saying that a plane must have accidentally flown into the building. After that every thing seemed to move in slow motion for me. I grabbed the phone and started calling my family at their homes and jobs, asking had they seen what I had just seen? When it became clear that this was no accident, and then another plane flew into the other tower, I just dropped into the nearest chair and started to cry. It didn't take me but two seconds to realize that this was a terrorist attack. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. Then I got mad, right then I started praying to God to let me heal faster just in case they needed to call me back into the military. I wanted very much to be deployed anywhere I was needed to stop these mad, sick people who were doing this horrible thing to us. And then I cried some more. Finally some my family members and friends started returning home from their jobs and schools, it was like we all needed to be with each other or we had to kniow where each of us were. It was a long day and night for me and my family and friends. We had to constantly assure the children that we were safe, they were afraid that the terrorists were going to be coming down our very own streets to destroy us. We the adults finally assured them that we were safe and that our military would not let that happen. Needless to say, that since 9/11, I have done and lot of crying and a lot of praying for the all of the heros that died on that day. I will never forget that their spirits are singing the song of freedom for us all. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story415.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-04-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.198.181 Annotation Annotations to this item. Military NY:3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Hi, I?m 14 years old and my english aren?t good! At the terroristic acts, I play computer. Then come my father and say: "Make the news on!" I make the TV on, and saw the first pictures from the World Trade Center! Fire was in the Towers and I was shocked! Then we must go to my grandma: On the way to her, we have heard radio and we heard that the first Tower was falling down! The reporter was very shocked and he can?t describe the falling tower. Then we were by my grandma and we make the TV on, and saw the two Tower falling down. We are very shocked! Then we have theall time at this day, speak over the terroristic acts. At the evening, we drive at home, and at the streets are don?t driving cars! At next moring we have speak all the time in the school over the terror acts. 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 story8904.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. 2003-01-01 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 217.82.213.2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I arrived at school early the morning of September 11, 2001. I was supposed to be at jury duty, but had been released late Monday afternoon and wanted to be sure the sub would be released for the day. While I was glad to be at work, I was glad to have done my duty through jury service. It was just under an hour before the students started that the first plane hit the World Trade Center. It took only a few minutes for all of the adults in the building to know what had happened and for the televisions to go on. Fate intervened the day before when I was released from jury duty. As difficult as it was to spend that day with my students, I cannot imagine how I would have felt being away from them on September 11th. It's now one year later. I didn't know what to expect of myself or my students today. It has been a difficult day, in terms of emotions. However, my students are my heroes today. They are facing the events of last year with determination to make the world a better place. They are sharing their hopes for peace and celebrating their freedoms. Nobody could have been prepared for what would happen in our world. I could never have prepared for sharing these to life-changing days with young people. Together, we have made today, as everyday, a success. 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 story4196.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. 169.227.254.3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at school, in my second period class. The principal came over the intercom and said "Teachers, I need to ask that you not watch the news with the unfolding events in your class- time, waiat until your break." There was a hint of urgency in his voice, and of course, not many people knew it at that point, and many teachers as well as students did exactly what he had asked us not to. My teacher had lent her T.V. that day so she went into the hall and asked so,eone. At that time only the first planae had hit and we didn't know much about it. she came back saying that there was a crash between the world trade centers and it was nothing, so we all calmed down. Well, when we went to 3rd period is when everything got stirred up! The students that had watched it were in histerics and it sent everyone into panic. By the time we got to 4th everyone was still really confused, and so my 4th period teacher turned on the news and explained that we were under attack. Everyone just watched, silently. Lots of students were crying. We were asll constantly (even teachers) watching out the windows and doing nothing but talking about it. When i got home I called both my parents and other relatives to make sure everything would be okay. I remember hearing jets over the school for the next few days, and everytime everyone would rush to the window and it would just start all over again. Then one time about 2 weeks later we weere in choir and we heard a really loud sound like an engine or thunder. Everyone startied crying immediatley. We were all like that for about 30 seconds, but it seemed like 10 hours. We figured out it was just the band next door playing on the big drums, but I will never, ever forget how I felt during that time. And, now, it being the 1 year anniversary of 9/11 it just brings back all the memories and I feel even more upset because of what we know today. ALways remeber our armed forces and police and fire fighters. I always supported them because my family is a miltary and police family, but I think it's ironic, that this event, meant to send us into chaos and terrorize us, has actually helped us more than hurt us. We will always remeber and they will never ever get away with this! 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 story2597.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. 216.109.3.68 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 woke on the morning of September 11 to NPR on the clock radio. It was early here in San Francisco but mid-morning in New York, and the story was still developing. The radio came on in the middle of an interview with a Washington correspondent who, with the rest of the press pool, had been evacuated from the White House with no clear idea why. I thought sleepily, oh, great, some nut job called in a bomb threat. But then they cut back to the studio and announced, probably for the hundredth time, that a jet liner had struck the World Trade Center. I will never forget that moment. For a second or two, still mostly asleep, I played the words back in my head and wondered if I'd really heard what I thought I'd heard, and then I rolled over and stared at the radio in disbelief, as if it could explain the meaning. For the next forty minutes or so, I was glued to NPR. I was so stunned that it never occurred to me to turn on the television. I can't even remember anything I actually heard during those forty minutes. I know that when I finally did think to turn on the TV and saw the towers fall, I wasn't expecting it. It was probably a replay, at least of the first tower's collapse; I don't remember the anchors seeming surprised. But I was still too much in shock to register everything properly, and I've never been able to work out exactly what I saw when. All I remember clearly is the terrible way in which it kept getting worse: the blow of seeing the first impact, no less staggering for having heard it described again and again on the radio; the kick to the stomach of the second impact, when it became so awfully clear that it was an attack; and then the bone-chilling, unthinkable horror of seeing first one tower and then the other collapse, terribly aware that there were people in there. And I dimly remember thinking: "It's finally happened" -- the kind of horror we've seen a hundred times on movie screens and yet never quite allowed ourselves to really believe could ever be made real. The rest of the day passed in the peculiar numbness of grief settling in. There were phone calls and tears; a brief, useless attempt to get my mind out of the horror by going to work; an equally useless trip to an overwhelmed Palo Alto blood bank; and finally I sat out the evening with a close friend who had moved here from Manhattan. I was lucky: in the end, somehow, not one person that I knew was killed in the attacks. And yet I felt the attack -- and still feel it -- personally. I think we all did. One other moment in the late morning still haunts me. I had to keep a doctor's appointment -- it seemed mad to go on with such a routine bit of business, but there I was. As I parked my car, the NPR reporter outside the White House was describing how a young man had bicycled up to the crowd and declared loudly that the U.S. had got what it deserved. I started towards the doctor's office in a helpless rage. Around the corner I passed a stranger who looked like an Arab, and for the briefest instant I hated him, purely and completely. The feeling passed, but it shook me badly, because I hadn't thought I was capable of that kind of blind hatred, even for a second; and because I realized that if my own response could be that savage, then Arabs in the U.S. were in for a very rough ride, and I understood for the first time that there were more tragedies still to come. As it turned out the aftermath was much worse than I'd feared, and I never heard news of violence against Arabs -- or Sikhs, or Indians -- without the uncomfortable memory of that one awful moment of fury. 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 story1292.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-08-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 171.66.210.35 Annotation Annotations to this item. Civil Liberties/Discrimination Radio Coverage Television Coverage DOMESTIC