280 20 70359 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was filling in a form for acceptance of my welfare payemnts commitments and reading the latest news on Teletext when a report flashed up in yellow on the page I was reading "Plane crashes into World Trade Centre. More soon". I had to admit that I didn't know what the World Trade Centre was until six minutes later when every terresital channel dropped their schedules and joined their own 24 hour rolling news network. I saw the second impact, the reports from the Pentagon, both collapses and President Bush's live statment all in a state of absolute unbelievabiltiy at what had happened. In fact it was until the end of that week that what had happened finally sunk in. 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 story9811.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 194.217.194.138 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: Escape From The 80th Floor September 11, 2001 As I told my husband, I truly never expected to add "survival of a terrorist attack" to my resume. My company was located on the 80th floor of One World Trade Center, the north tower close to ground zero. When the plane struck the building it felt exactly like an earthquake. The only advanced sound was a large windful swoosh. At first we had no idea if it was a bomb or the building had been struck. The mayor was correct when he talks about the toughness of New Yorkers. It was amazing how calm, supportive and helpful everyone was throughout the day. Here's my personal account of the day. It began as any ordinary workday. My husband dropped me at the Dover, NJ train station and I caught my usual 5:47 AM to Hoboken. It has always been my habit to get to work early. I like those quiet early morning hours in the office. Once in Hoboken it was a quick run down the stairs to the Path Train and a 10-minute ride to the World Trade Center complex. Lately I had begun to walk up the stairways and even the one long escalator to the shopping mall level. As a Baby Boomer it had become important to me to get in better physical shape. At the top of the escalator I walked over to the Fine and Shapiro Deli. One large flavored coffee to go please. I love their cinnamon flavored coffee but there wasn?t any this day and I settled for Vanilla Almond. Immediately upon leaving the deli I passed an Asian grandfather who walked with a limp. I never knew his name but he always boarded my train at the Summit stop and it had become our laughing habit to wave at one another or sometimes to even stop and speak to each other as we re-met every morning outside the deli. I remember we only wished each other a ?good day.? I continued walking past the flower kiosk and admired the sunflowers and lilies. The flowers were beautiful but I remember thinking always too expensive for my budget. On past the Gap and checking out the windows to see the latest in their fall fashion offerings. On past Banana Republic and the American Caf?, into the revolving door and out onto the first floor of tower one pulling out my building pass as I walked. I looked up to see an elevator with it?s doors open in bank one and rushed ahead to slap my ID on the electronic reader and push through the turnstile and into the elevator thinking how happy I was that I didn?t have to wait extra minutes as there were only a few elevators available in this bank. Two had been out of service for over 6 months as renovations were taking place and one had been commandeered for the use of Windows on the World for the past month or so. Here visitors to the 107th floor received escort service. It strikes me now that I never paid much attention to how long the elevator ride took, it always seemed like minutes but it may have been less than a minute. The doors slid open onto the 78th floor lobby and I along with other passengers moved onto the next level of elevator banks to get to floors 80 to 107. Those going to the 79th floor took an escalator. It was now 7:15AM and there was already trade center personnel manning lobby posts and waiting for the visitors who would be shepherded to the top floor for a risk management conference. A co-worker reminded me, that we had been working to get a speaking spot at this conference. The coincidences of the day still amaze me. The door to the second bank of elevators slid open and I stepped out onto the 80th floor. Two other passengers continued to higher floors as the doors slid closed. I think about them and wonder if they also made it out. I stooped down to collect our copy of the Wall Street Journal and moved down the hall through our office door at my company TheBEAST and into the reception area. We had recently installed an electronic clock-in system and I punched in my employee number to register my attendance. The clock read 7:16 AM. As I moved through the office on my way to my desk, I waved to Jerry Sabbagh and Luke Liotti, two fellow workers monitoring our server farm. I went to my desk and booted up my computer and began my workday. As other co-workers came into this side of the office (which we had dubbed the West Wing) we said hello to one another. Jeff Borenstein one of our sales staff who suffers from MS, Josephine Buonaguro another marketing staff member planning a December wedding, Carl Carrie our President and CTO who had recently recovered from two broken wrists, Geoff de Lesseps our CEO, Peter Rushing our resident Power Point guru, Kim White Sales Administrator and Sharon Premoli our EVP of Strategic Partnerships and Alliances. I know others were also arriving on the other side of the office; our official list includes a number of our technologists. I later found out that the exact count was 16 of us on the floor when the plane struck. Jo stopped by my desk to comment on how we were both wearing the color red. We had an ongoing joke about the power color of the day being the one color most employees were wearing on any given day. Pete and I had a discussion about changes to be made to a presentation that Geoff needed before 9AM. I picked up a research survey and headed to the copy machine. The copier was on the interior of our side of the office just outside Sharon?s office. I stepped over to speak briefly with her. She?d recently lost of pair of reading glasses and I wondered how she was making out. Had she found them, did she have to get them replaced? I walked around the corner to see how Pete was doing and he commented that he was just about finished. Later I would learn that he had just hit the save button when all hell broke loose. I walked back towards the copier when we heard the almost silent swoosh of wind, followed by a loud thunderous ka-boom, and the building shaking under our feet as if an earthquake had rippled by. Ceiling tiles fell and both Sharon and Carl ran into the hallway. We felt as if something had hit the building but everyone thought about the potential of a bomb. No one thought about a plane being used as a bomb. I headed for my office intent on grabbing my purse. Only a few months earlier I had complained loudly about the fact that a fire alarm had been installed directly over my desk and the matching strobe light on the opposite wall. I kiddingly told everyone that if there were a fire someone would have to come and get me because I would be both deaf and blind from the alarms going off. One of the sales staff had joked back that they would tie a rope around my ankles and extend it to the fire exit where there would be a sign that read, ?in case of emergency pull this rope.? But the alarm didn?t go off immediately. Other than our own voices, it was amazingly quiet. We heard no screams or further explosions. The office did fill with smoke within a minute or two and our personnel headed for exits. A hallway wall that had been pushed in blocked the way out from the northeast hallway that led from the front door of our office. We believe now it may have been part of the plane that pushed the wall in. It would also account for why the elevators would have filled with flame and smoke so quickly. I wonder if they knew that and aimed on purpose for that side of the building. It may have saved our lives. We exited into a stairwell and started what we thought was a long climb down 80 flights of stairs. We got only as far as the 77th floor when we came up against a locked door. As we discussed options, the smoke started to get thicker. I was incredulous and frustrated. How could a damn door be locked in what was meant to be an escape route? I used my scarf to cover my mouth and nose. I heard a commotion behind me and heard people saying someone with a key was coming through. We stepped aside our hopes rising. The key made no difference, the door was jammed shut. We were ushered into the Port Authority office on the 78th floor. There was no smoke here and we could breathe. We were told they were looking for another way out and we should go into any one of the empty conference rooms along the south west side of the building. We asked if we could turn on the TV and use the phones. I turned to look at the television to see the exterior of our building. I could hear that our building had been hit by a plane. No mention of a terrorist attack. As I turned to watch some of my fellow co-workers making phone calls, there was a second ka-boom, the building shook again and debris started hitting the windows. I thought some part of the plane or some part of the building that had been hit by the plane had exploded and debris was sliding down from the floors above us. I would later learn it was a second airplane diving into the other tower and it was debris from that explosion hitting the windows. I advised people to move back into the interior of the office and away from the windows. Thank God they never shattered. We left the TV and so never saw or heard any more about what was happening. It struck me later that at that moment I only had one fleeting thought that perhaps we were stuck on the 78th floor and I might not get out. I immediately dismissed that thought and just knew I wasn?t going to die there. Within 5 or 10 minutes we were advised that another route out had been found. I would learn later that another coincidence of the day was ending up in the Port Authority office as they had all the keys to all the stairwell doors. One of them would lead us out. We moved to the opposite side of the office forming a single file line. I could see Carl, Sharon, Lee, Angela, Kim and Leslie ahead of me. I expected to move immediately into a stairwell and was surprised that it was a hallway. As we turned the corner we entered a second hallway where one of the employees from the office we had just left was hosing down the ceiling above our heads. You could see where they had put out a fire and where it was starting up again. Ceiling tiles lay at our feet and smoke was still filtering through the gaping ceiling as we ducked down to get under wires hanging loosely from the ceiling and then ducked under the hose and sloshed our way to the stairwell. This is what I mean by the spirit of New Yorkers. It is because of the initiative of these Port Authority employees that we got out. We started down. I started to pray that none of my co-workers were in the elevators on their way up when the plane struck. We didn?t pass any other building personnel, firefighters or police. I assumed that the flames and smoke shooting down the shafts from the explosion of the plane?s fuel on impact had immediately knocked out all the elevators. I knew that the only method for getting up or down now was the stairs and 80 flights is a long way whether you?re going up or down. The calm of the people around us as we walked down was amazing. People who had been hurt or were having a problem getting down were being assisted at every point. When congestion slowed us to a stop no one shoved or made a scene we all waited patiently until we could move again. People passed information up and down the line to try and keep people informed about what was happening and those with blackberries sent as many emails as they could for folks around them as none of our cell phones worked. I was about a third of the way down and we had come to a point where we were stopped for a few minutes when I heard my name called out. I turned around and saw Jo and Peter about a flight and ? behind me. Jo asked if I wanted Peter to send an e-mail to my husband. I was so glad to see some of my co-workers as we had become separated when we left the Port Authority office. I reached a stairwell landing and stepped aside to wait for Jo and Peter to catch up. I would later suspect that doing this saved my life. We sent Roger an e-mail. I realized he probably wouldn?t be logged onto our home computer but I couldn?t remember his work e-mail. His address was always just a click in my work computer?s email address book. I pulled out my palm pilot and looked it up. We sent a second message. He would only see them after I was out and had spoken with him by phone. We finally got out of the smoke when we hit the 35th floor. It felt great to breathe fresh air and lifted everyone's spirits. We had been walking down for a little over ? an hour at this point. Peter took my book bag and Jo mother-henned me into taking off my jacket. We could feel the heat in the stairwell. Peter continued to offer to send e-mails for those around him. Jo always asking if I was ok and reassuring me, I thought, how strange, she?s younger than I am and I?m really not afraid. Perhaps I don?t look as tough as I feel. At this time, we also started running into building personnel. One young black man standing at the back of a stairwell landing advising everyone to be careful, hang onto the handrail, don?t slip because an injury would mean you?d have to be carried out. He told us that; ?God loved us and would see us through this. He was with us and we would get out.? We shared a smile. I doubt he ever made it out. I thought to myself, ?you sound like one of God?s angels, sent to reassure us that we were not meant to die this day.? Around the 27th floor we ran into firefighters climbing up. I can't imagine what it must have been like to walk up that many flights with all the gear they had. They looked so winded at that point. I doubt that they made it out before the building collapsed and my prayers and thoughts are with them and their families now. By the 7th floor, the stairwells were flooding with water from what we assumed were the firefighting efforts or maybe building sprinklers that had gone off. I looked down at my feet and the water was ankle deep. The stairs became even more slippery and we clung to the handrails. I felt one moment of panic when I thought, ?would these stairs hold up under all this human and water weight?? And then a feeling as if someone had squeezed my shoulder and whispered in my ear, ?you are going to survive this, do not be afraid.? I was immediately calmed. We continued trudging down. We were feeling buoyant when we hit 3 and thought we're almost out of here. It had taken us a little over an hour to get this far. But the adventure it seems was far from over. At that point, as we learned later, building 2 collapsed and hit our building. Once again it felt like a bomb had gone off as the building shook again and there was this tremendous whoosh of air that almost knocked us off our feet. At that point the lights went out. We were pulled into some sort of vestibule until the air had calmed. Jo and I clung to each other until the noise from debris falling had stopped. Jo always reassuring me that we?d be ok, we?d get out. I believed her. I knew that by waiting for Jo and Pete I had just missed being on one of the lower floors now covered in debris. There was so much debris that our way out was blocked. I remember thinking there is no way I walked down 77 flights to die 3 floors from safety. There was a fireman on this floor with us. He advised us that he was going to look for another way out. Someone passed up a flashlight and he and another person moved through the vestibule and down a hallway. We heard there was no way out we?d have to go up. We formed a human chain each person hanging onto the person in front of them and in back of them. We climbed back up to 4. No way out. We were advised to climb another flight. I hung back and said no, it?s the wrong way, we have to go down not up. Then the news came up the line to turn around, come back to 3, a firefighter has found a way out. We clung to each other as we followed the person in front of us and moved toward the flashlight we could see ahead of us. The firefighter had punched a hole in the wall to get us out. We made our way out into the 3rd floor rotunda in the dark. We got our first glimpse of what looked like a war zone. We walked through ankle deep dust and I remember thinking that I was disgusted that my shoes were going to be ruined. I loved them and they were fairly new. Then I heard my husband?s voice in my head telling me that was the last thing I should be worried about and I could always get new ones. We followed the directions of rescuers telling us to hug the wall and walk toward the flashlights. We were directed through a doorway that led into the outside plaza in front of the US Customs building. As we were directed to a stairwell leading to street level we climbed over girders and moved around office furniture and layers of office papers, twisted metal, broken glass and other debris. I remember thinking it was too much debris to be just from the top of our building. We still didn?t know that the south tower had collapsed and with all the smoke and floating ash we couldn?t see that it was no longer standing. I still can?t quite picture exactly where we were despite the fact that I walked through that plaza almost daily at lunchtime. Nothing looked like it used to. By now we were wet and covered in this ash. People all looked like their hair had turned pre-maturely gray. We were told to walk quickly up the street. By now my eyes were burning and I couldn?t see anything because I had so much dust in them. A man came up and told us there was an ambulance on the next corner where I could get my eyes washed out and he started walking us towards it. Just as we got there, it drove away. He left us and Jo and I walked another block where we found a truck giving away bottled water. He handed me one and I upended it into my eyes and washed them out. We turned around and saw Geoff de Lesseps and Jeff Borenstein walking towards us. Then we saw Pete who we had been separated from when the lights went out. He had helped a woman who was having trouble walking to get out. Within minutes of getting out (we now know it was no more than 4) we heard a rumble, turned to see our tower begin to collapse and a large cloud of black moving up the street. We ran. I don?t know how many blocks we covered before we couldn?t see the cloud chasing us. We slowed to a walk and I tried my cell phone. It took a few tries and I thought, I won?t be able to get through and Roger and Steve won?t know I?m alive. Finally, the phone rang and I heard my husband say ?hello.? ?I?m out, I?m ok.? Oh, God it?s a miracle he cried, where are you?? I thought he meant what street are you on and I tried to find a street sign. We continued to talk reassuring each other. I told him I needed to save the phone battery and I?d keep checking in to let him know what I was doing. Geoff got stopped 3 times by press to be interviewed. We finally came to a small corner park and stopped to see if we could find any of our co-workers. We made calls and started a list, one column for those we knew were out and safe because they weren?t due in the office that day, vacations, business travel, trade shows, doctor?s appointments and one for those we didn?t know anything about. As Jo reached her mother, the offer of an apartment on 23 west 10th street came and we began to walk up. We spent the better part of the rest of the day in that apartment on 10th street, calling around to track down the rest of our co-workers. By Thursday we would know that all 65 employees were safe and sound and we owed God our thanks. At 3PM Pete and Jo?s mother went for pizza. We discovered that all the ATMs and credit card machines had been shut down and the only place open were a few pizza shops. Nothing ever tasted as good. At 3:30 PM we got news that trains were running from Penn station. Kendra who had come across town to join us, Pete and I walked up to 6th Ave and took a bus up to 32nd Street. We got off and walked up to Penn. I looked up at the board to see that the 4:07 PM was delayed. I was tired and itchy at this point. By 4:30PM they announced a gate and like salmon we swam towards the gate and down the stairs to the platform. The cars, aisles and doorways filled up quickly. I couldn?t get on and for the first time felt frustration. I had to get on the train; there might not be another one. I turned and ran down the length of the train in the opposite direction until I found a doorway with enough room to squeeze through. I walked into a car and sat down. The train was packed, standing room only and would take almost 2 hours to get from New York to Dover. As we pulled into the Chatham station I saw people in hazardous jumpsuits and boots. One lady, accompanied by a man got on with a bag marked hazardous materials and sat down right next to me. I turned around and saw a lot of empty seats and thought, ?why me?? I stood up and changed seats. I?d had enough adventures for one day. I would later learn that the bag was full of clothes of people who had been in the WTC incident. The rumor was there might have been some kind of chemical (like anthrax) on the plane. I was met first by the local and state police and then by my family, Steve, Kim and Roger at the Dover train station. I had to be interviewed by the police. ?Had I seen anyone celebrating on the bus or train?? No, everyone was very sober, thoughtful and sad. Finally, I got to go home. It is surely by God's miracle alone that I got out. I am grateful to be alive and grateful for my family and friends who prayed for me that day. Amazingly, I never felt afraid and I believe that was because I truly felt God's hand upon me. It was not my time and I'm sure he heard all the prayers on my behalf. I feel sadness for the families and friends of those who have not been found and I add my prayer now to those of others from around the world. I'm not sure what is next. But for now smelling the flowers is just fine with me. 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 story1514.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. 2002-08-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.3.88.200 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11th 2001 I was preparing for my best friends wedding that day and had to make a run into a local Meijer to pick up odd and ends I will never ever forget the masses of people that were standing infront of the display of T.V's people were crying and holding one another and then did I finally realize what was going on. I dont think my eyes blinked for not even a second,I was watching a man shaking his head when the second plane flew into the second tower my heart dropped and I began to cry. The horror of what I was watching was enough to cancel the wedding and I remained glued to the T.V I have no family in New York but I could feel the pain countrywide. We have begun to put the pieces back together but to the familes of those who had loved ones in any of the places we are remembering today my heart will always and forever go out to you. To the Unsung Heros who never hesitated to save another human life regardless of what danger they had to face,every night You are also in my prayers. God bless everyone on this awful day. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story4906.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I heard of the World Trade Center attacks while I was online doing research. Went to the living room to see what the news was talking about and then saw the second plane hit Tower 2. Still can remember me reaction "Oh S- - -" Called my wife at work to make sure she was okay, since she work on E 26th Steet off of 5th Avenue. Told her I was okay and was scared for her. Took a quick ride over to Ft. Hamiliton Garrison since Grandmother needed some things from the Commissary that's when I learned that the Pentagon was hit, more dispbelief that America was hit yet another time. Had the opportunity to drive two (2) female soldier home that were shopping at the Ft. Hamilton Commissary, DID NOT take any money from them to take them home, it was at least I could do for someone in the Armed Forces of the United States, after all serving our nation at a time of Nation disaster. All that day tried to get my wife on the phone to make sure that her and her coworkers were okay, found out later on all were present and accounted for. For a good part of the time had to call my in-laws in California in order to call my wife in Manhattan (right accross the East River from Brooklyn). I was so happy once my wife wallked off the train several hours after she left work and had to walk from E. 26 Street in Manhattan to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a sad day also, since family friends had lost family members in the Twin Towers and it was not a pleasant feeling going to the wake. I am grateful for the many people who got out alive. I am grateful for all the Firefighters, Police, AMbulance Workers, Volunteers who worked at Ground Zero for so many days and months in the search and rescue. For Fr. Judge giving his life ministering to the Firefights that day. It is still hard to watch the images on television, hard because so many lost their lives. God Bless America and Our Troops here at home and overseas for the job they are doing. 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 story1647.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. 2002-09-01 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On the day of september 11 i was walking into class and i saw the tv on the news showing one of the twin towers on fire i thought they were showing somthing from a bombing in 1991 so i thought nothing of it.Went to second peroid my geoghraphy teacher he told us all about it. So we are just watching it and my teacher is pretty worried cause he has family up there and so did I. The class was silent and then the second plane hit everyones mouths droped didn't no what was going to happen nexted.No one really believed it was happening i mean it was like a movie alot of people said. We are asking why is this happening i mean who is doing this and my teacher had nothing to say he didn't no what to say. So we are still watching it no one is taking there eyes off the bells for are class changing have just stop everyone is jsut watching the news.We see people jumping off a heaving cloud of smoke from both towers there trying ti evaquate the biuling as fast as they can and some people get out but then it starts to cruble and fall like a pile of sticks. Some kids were like NO NO No i mean how why speachless didn't no what 2 say. The English teacher runs in from next door told us to put it on cbs the petagon has been hit 2 and then every light in the whole school went out the called a code red everyone got under there tesks.People were so scared thought we were going to be hit or somthing no contact with one on the outside and then i membered i had my radio in my book bag took it out and usaully iw ould get in trouble but my teacher was like some on tell us what is going on. He heard it had been hit and it went on like this for a half an hour just us listeing to the radio. LIghts came back up everyone let out s sigh of releafe but not quite safety.Principal comes in and says we will try to have a regular day it is to much violence for these children i am like what this is wack we have a right to no what is going on and him and my geoghraphy got in to a agrument. Kids were geting picked up and called out left and right i heard my name so i went up and my mom pciked me up and we went and got my sis. Went to 711 cause my sis wanted a slurpy they had the tv on there and the cashregister guy said just take it and Godbless wich stook in my head for a while.My friends had got picked up as well and we all went to watch it on the big screen Tv and we just sat there all say listening to news reportes hearing bout the chrash in PENn that could of hit the white house and we were like man this is crazy and we all didn't really sleep that much waking up and going back till morning and school the next day. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story9192.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-04-18 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.8.232.40 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It was a normal day at Barker Central High School. Well, at least it had seemed like a normal day. I was in my second period class when one of the other Social Studies teachers came into the room during the middle of the period. This was rather odd because no one usually visits the room until the period has ended. My teacher and the other teacher walked out in to the hall to discuss something so she told us to hold on for a minute. When she came back into the room she did not seem like she was in the same happy mood that she usually is in. She turns on the television to CNN and there on the screen it showed the World Trade Center towers. There was a thick grayish black colored smoke coming from them. At first, I had thought that the building had somehow accidentally caught on fire. This was when only one of the towers was crashed in to. When CNN had played the video footage of an American Airlines plane running straight into the trade center at full speed had I finally figured out what a great tragedy had taken place. People had first claimed it was some type of failure with the plane. This was not the case at all. A second plane had crashed into the other tower just a few moments later. That is when I knew that this was not an accident. It was not possible for two planes to both run into the same building in the same day. During this time of the year we had first started learning about the Taliban and it?s effects on Afghanistan. What a coincidence that was. I was totally outraged when I thought of this conclusion and that it could possibly have had to do with that organization. The bell soon rang for class to end. I ran to my locker to see what new news everyone else had heard about this devastating event. Many were thinking the same thing as me. What is going to happen? Is this going to start another war? I was so angry at that moment that I could have punched my locker as hard as I possibly could. Luckily, I didn?t. All I could think was, why would someone want to do such a terrible thing to our country. What had we done to make them so angry with us? It was not until the second period that I had heard that the first tower had collapsed. During gym no one seemed in the mood to play any sports. We all stood around the whole entire period and watched the news to find out any more information we could. The day went by very slowly. In every class that I went to we did not do anything but watch television. Some people had thought this was funny. It was not funny at all. I could not see any reason for why and how they could even think that this was funny at all. The World Trade Center was perhaps one of the strongest buildings in the United States of America. Many firefighters and policemen had risked and lost their lives for innocent people. September 11th will never be forgotten. That day brought us together. It was a great tragedy but it also made us much stronger. 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 story597.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-05-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.153.79.47 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 I was in Tower One (North Tower) on the 86th fl. when the first hijacked airliner struck . My boss and I were the only ones in at the time in the morning. My Boss saw the plane it the building. After the shock of the plane hitting the building, we tried to get out, after the celing and walls came crumbing down we had to dig our way out, but still could not get out becuase there was to much smoke and we could not see anything. So we ran back to our desks and made calls to our love one's and I changed my high heels and put on flats. We new the drill as we were there in 1993 when the building was bombed. We then made our way back to the door the hallways was clear, and we made our way down the stairs. If took 1 and a half hous to reach the bottom, we never new anothr plane had it the building. When we reached the gound floor we know we were safe and were hugging and kissing and thanking GOD. Then building TWO fall, which cause an explosion. I was blown from one side to the other side, I was tired and hurt, wet and scared I had been blown into a pile of glass on my knees. It took every bit of strenght I had to go on but I did. I heard a man's voice saying if you see the light come to the light, and I did and he got me out. One year later I have 40 stiches and I have had to have an operation on my knee, and I sit here today with a case on my knee as a reminder of 9/11/2001 Yvonne R. Barker 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 story4372.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. 162.83.145.160 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: How did you witness history on september 11th? Share your experience. Wayne called me telling me the first plane hit the World Trade Center building. Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so ,tell, us how. Yes I view life to be more precious. I don't take freedoms we have as Americans for granted. What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? The sacrificing the Americans (firefighters) made to save other fellow Americans. We need to be more aware of who our enemies are and to defend our country. Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? Yes, we did fly an American flag and we still do. No, we always had strong feelings for what the flag represented. 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 story8834.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. 2002-12-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.54.14.84 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: Even tho I was not directly affected as so many in this country were and my prayers still go out to them, just wanted to share.I was at my desk till 3pm listening on the radio to everything.Listening to the choas and devastation going on in so many places. As I left work and walked to my car, the sun was shining and the birds were singing and it was just so peaceful that afternoon in Warrenton, everything else that day seem totally unreal, expect that I know it wasn't and that only God could turn all this around and bring good out of it. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story7013.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.200.132.23 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: When I first heard about the first plane crashing into the towers I thought it had to be an accident but when I heard on our local radio station WCBK that another plane had hit the towers we all knew that it was not an accident. my 10 year old child was getting ready for school and she was so afraid for all the people she started to cry. What had started out as a beautiful day turned into a nightmare. all we could do was pray. I believe that I was as worried about all those people as I would have been if they were my own family.I felt so bad for all the family members especially for all the mothers. being a mother myself I could not imagine the pain and fear that those mothers felt. There are still times when I pray for peace for all the mothers,fathers and all the family and friends of those lost on that horrible day. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story4867.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: i was worried. i was watching it in every single hour if school. no we did not get called off of school. i was scared because i have family down in mexico and we could not get a hold of them because the phone would not work. so we were so scared but we could not tell them what has happend. 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 story242.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. 2002-03-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.56.6.21 Annotation Annotations to this item. 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: On Tuesday, September 11th, I arrived on the PATH train directly beneath the World Trade Center, nothing appeared amiss as we stepped out. When I rode the escalator to the next level, gray smoke hung in the air. A blue fire alarm light was flashing in the distance. I did not like the diesel-like odor and assumed that I was breathing something harmful. The time was 8:55; seven minutes after the first plane hit the North Tower. "Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God For to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; In the morning, I lay my requests before You in expectation" Assuming that I was witnessing a PATH station fire, I quickly moved to get on the long escalator that would take me to the shopping mall that is underneath World Trade Center complex. I was starting to feel nervous because there seemed to be a lot of police around. As I was riding the long escalator, I heard panic-stricken shouts beneath me and looked to see a stampede heading in my direction. Now I was scared, because I assumed that someone had opened fire with a gun. The police at the top of the escalator and the police beneath me immediately began to yell at all of us: CALM DOWN! WALK! EVERYTHING IS ALL RIGHT! The police beneath me moved right into the middle of the stampeding frenzy and everyone stopped running. I was very shaken. What was going on? When I arrived at the Mall level the police kept yelling out orders: KEEP MOVING! YOU MUST EXIT THE MALL! DON?T STOP! (My one thought, ?I don?t want to be part of a headline-making catastrophe, I just want to get to work.?) I was more than happy to head to nearest exit, which coincidentally faces my building, One Liberty Plaza. As I did, I looked down the Mall hallway that led to both towers and it was filled with thick white smoke. The Trade Center is on fire, I thought, I hope that it is not serious. As I was heading up the escalator to exit to the street, I saw Rick Klepper walking up the stairs next to me. He told me that a commuter plane had accidentally hit the World Trade Center. He looked unconcerned. As I exited the Mall, I saw office papers and chunks of wallboard everywhere. The papers were blackened by fire around the edges. I felt relief. Now I finally knew and could see what was going on. I was facing the south side of the North Tower (the opposite side of the gaping hole) and could only see fire on two floors. It?s a good thing that it was only a small commuter plane I thought; the people above it will be able to get out. I headed toward One Liberty Plaza where my office is on the 32nd floor. The street level farmer?s market was hastily packing and closing up their tents. The time was 8:59 am. "You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with You the wicked cannot dwell The arrogant cannot stand cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all who do wrong." I made my way past many people who were standing and staring up at the North Tower. I could not bring myself to join them, man-made disasters are ugly and I was not interested in watching it one minute longer than I had to. I entered One Liberty Plaza and went straight to the elevators that would take me to the 32nd floor. One opened and I got on with several others. When it stopped at the 28th floor, I heard the fire alarm going off and I blurted out, ?We are going down, now!? The person closest to elevator buttons pushed the first floor button. The doors closed and we headed straight down. I exited the elevator and walked into the lobby where people were calmly watching the North Tower. There were no signs of an evacuation of One Liberty Plaza. I made up my mind that I was going home and that I would work from there. Then I remembered that I had nothing to work on in my laptop case. It would be a lost day unless I quickly went to my office and grabbed a bunch of files. So I got back on the elevator with several others. It stopped at 28 and one person got off. It stopped at 30 and another got off. It was almost at 32 and the elevator stopped dead. The time was 9:05; the second plane had just hit the South Tower; we heard and felt nothing. Now I was afraid again, why did I get back on the elevator? A woman began to panic. We told her that we were fine; we will find a way out. One man managed to open the elevator doors and we could see that we were about five feet below the 32nd floor. The doors at the 32nd floor were locked and would not budge. A security guard was on the elevator with us and we began to ask him to use his walkie-talkie. He finally did and there was no response. I thought that I should pray out loud and then decided against it, as I was concerned that it would be perceived as grandstanding. I prayed silently (?please help us get out of here, Lord?) and then found the alarm button and set it off. I looked at the ceiling for a trap door to climb through. We tried again to open the doors that led to the 32nd floor. A voice came on the elevator intercom. I answered it and explained that there were seven of us trapped. We were told to wait a minute. Then the voice came back on and told us to make sure that the doors were closed. The elevator started again and went to the 36th floor and the doors opened. We were told to use the stairs to exit the building. Once again, I felt relief. The time was 9:12 am. "You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors." As we headed down the stairs, the woman on the elevator who panicked tried the door that opened into the 32nd floor; it was locked. She tried again at the 31st floor and the door opened. She started to go in and a security guard blocked her way and told her to keep going down the stairs. She loudly argued with him and then we all chimed in and told her to come with us down the stairs. She reluctantly listened to us. When I reached the sixth floor, my pager went off. I stopped to read the message: ?8584911?. It was Beth using our agreed signal, i.e., I was to call her at home ASAP. I waited until I reached the ground floor. Security guards were forcing everyone to leave the building through the Broadway exit that was the furthest one away from the World Trade Center. As I left the building, I was told that a second commuter plane had hit the South Tower and that it was no accident. This was a terrorist attack. The mood in the air was fear and there was now a lot more debris everywhere (papers with burned edges, chunks of wallboard and pieces of concrete). I exited One Liberty Plaza and dialed my wife on my cell phone. It did not connect; after two minutes, it went to redial. I stopped the redial and tried again. Same thing. One more time I stopped the redial and tried again. Same thing. I started to yell at Beth in my mind, ?if you?re going to page me with 911 because you have heard what is going on, then stop talking to your friends so that I can get through.? Little did I know that the cell phone network was overloaded with calls and that no one was getting through. Feeling very tense, I could not wait for the cell phone anymore and so I stopped the redial for the last time. I crossed Broadway and began to head north to look for a payphone. I knew that Beth would be very worried. I wanted to reassure her that I was okay. I found a payphone on Broadway near the intersection with Maiden Lane. I joined the line of four waiting to use it. I had a clear view of the burning towers and for some reason blocked out the thick black smoke pouring out of them. All I saw were yellow fires on two or three floors at the most. I could not see the gaping hole in either tower as I was looking at the east face. One could feel the raw hatred that motivated these attacks. It hung in the air like a putrid stench. I wanted more than anything to see fires that were localized and controllable so that the people trapped above them would have a way of escape. Then I said it out loud, ?We need to pray for those people trapped in the upper floors that they get out safely?. I heard two people behind me say ?you?re right, we need to pray?. Today, New Yorkers were willing to admit they needed His help. As I stared at the North Tower, I saw a chunk of glass break off above the 90th floor and flutter to the ground like a broken leaf. I saw it land and heard it shatter loudly in the complex where some people were standing. As far as I could tell it missed everyone. The person at the front of the payphone line said that the phone was not working. That was enough for me. I could not stand there anymore and watch the fires. Even though I had mentally blocked out the black smoke, I knew that people were trapped above and were most likely inhaling toxic fumes. I felt as if I was watching people suffer and die. So I left the payphone and walked to the Maiden Heaven deli on Maiden Lane, about 1000 feet away from the South Tower. The time was 9:35 am. "But I, by Your great mercy, will come into Your great house; In reverence will I bow down toward Your holy temple. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies ? Make straight Your way before me" I entered the deli and went downstairs looking for a bathroom. There was no bathroom in the basement, but there was a payphone with a line that was only two deep. Finally, I reached the front of the line and dialed the number. David answered. He shouted, he yelled. I could not talk. He was so glad to hear my voice. He told Beth who got on the phone and then started crying. We talked like we had been separated from each other for an eternity. I was so happy to relieve their fears. I told Beth that it was going to take me a long time to get home and that she should not worry if she did not hear from me for a while. I told her that there was something wrong with my cell phone and that available payphones were hard to find. She told me that she loved me and it was okay with her. She understood that it would be hard to get home. I hung up the phone and found the bathroom upstairs. I felt relief in every possible way. The time was 9:55 am. "Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; Their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; With their tongue they speak deceit Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, For they have rebelled against you." I bought an apple, a bottle of water and a brownie. It had been 3 ? hours since I had breakfast and I was feeling drained from the adrenaline rushes I felt in the PATH station and on the elevator. I decided that I needed to eat the apple for energy so I sat down in a window seat to eat it. I was only 1000? away from the South Tower. I was on my third bite when I heard a KABOOM, followed immediately by screeching metal and an earth-shaking rumble. I heard the most hideous screaming as the rumble increased and came toward us. Everything was shaking. I ran away from the window overwhelmed with terror. All I could think was ?I should have been gone a long time ago. This is it.? I expected to die and I was afraid that it would hurt. I desperately looked for something to dive under because it sounded as if the whole lower end of Manhattan was being destroyed. It was the sound of thousands of people dying at once and I felt despair. I wanted to stay alive because Beth, David, Paul and Ali need me. Outside the deli window, everything went black. Two people ran into the deli so covered with concrete dust that they looked like they had fallen into a vat of yellow flour. You could not tell at first that one of them was a black man. Next to me, a man started yelling ?SHUT THE DOOR!? I joined him as I was afraid that behind the black cloud was a fireball (I could not bring myself to think the word ?nuclear?). A deli employee shut the front door and ran to join us at the back. The air in the deli was filled with yellow dust. I was still alive. It felt as if the angel of death had passed over us. The concrete dust man said that the building collapsed. I did not believe him. I thought that terrorists had hidden a bomb on the ?commuter? planes. We all went into the basement and started breathing through handkerchiefs. The concrete dust woman sat at a table in the basement and wailed inconsolably. She sat and shook for an hour. The owner brought her water. I sat across from her and prayed out loud. There were about a dozen of us. We had no idea what was happening or what to do next. We knew that we were safe for the time being in the deli. I got on line to use the payphone line and called home. Beth answered this time, ?thank God? she said over and over. After I told her that I was still in the deli, she said that she would never tease me again about making sure that everyone was well fed while we were on a family trip. She was thrilled that I had food and water. It was hard to end the phone call; I was so glad to be alive and talking to and praying with Beth (who I love more than life itself). Others were waiting to use the phone and so we ended our conversation. "But let all who take refuge in You be glad; Let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, That those who love Your name may rejoice in You. For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; You surround them with Your favor as with a shield." The concrete dust woman had used up her water and I bought her another bottle. I asked the deli owner what he thought we should do. He said that we should stay there until we were sure it was safe. Then he told me that he too was a born-again Christian and that he heard me praying. We went upstairs and saw that it was still black outside. The owner found a radio and brought it downstairs to plug it in. I heard another low boom like the first and blurted out ?Here we go again!?. It too grew and grew and grew, but it was farther away. I was afraid again but not for my life. Then we heard on the radio that both Towers had collapsed and that a plane had smashed into the Pentagon. Then there was a report that a plane had crashed in Pennsylvania. I could not feel fear at this time. All I knew was that I was alive. All I could think about was getting home to my family. I paced the floor like a caged animal, I could not sit still. The phone rang. I answered it. It was a very upset grandmother looking for Maria. I found Maria and told her that the phone was for her. I tried to talk to a man wearing a Mets hat, but he had no interest in conversation. The concrete dust man wanted to leave. The shop owner did not want to open the front door so he showed him a way out of the shop from the basement. I went back upstairs with the owner and saw that it was a little less black outside. A glass door to our right that was always locked had cracked glass, evidently broken by someone?s pounding to escape the collapse. The time was 11:00 am. We went back downstairs. Maria announced that her grandmother had pestered the Brooklyn fire department and that they were sending a truck to rescue us. The concrete dust women did not want to wait anymore. She said that she was going to walk to her house in Brooklyn. The shop owner let her out the back way. When he came back, I asked him if he saw any looting and he said no. I was very concerned that looting would start and that the Maiden Heaven deli would no longer be safe. I was prepared to spend the night if necessary. At 11:45, people started walking upstairs to look out the shop window. It was no longer black. A yellowish haze hung in the air. At 12 noon, people started leaving Maiden Heaven through the back way. I called Beth to let her know that I was leaving the shop and that I would try to keep her informed as much as possible. She prayed for me to have a safe trip home. When I got off the phone, I was alone. I felt panic, but then I calmed myself and grabbed my computer bag. At that, two of the deli workers came back into the basement and I felt relief. I then left the shop through the basement exit. I came out on Maiden Lane just 10 feet east of the main entrance. Maiden Lane itself was covered with 3? inches of yellowish concrete dust as well as office papers and magazines. I knew that these papers and magazines most likely belonged to people who were now dead, but I could not dwell on that. I had to get home. I looked down the street toward the former Twin Towers, now a hellish sight. A jagged remnant of the steel exterior leaned drunkenly to the north. The entire sight was backlit by a yellowish-white fire that created a black halo in the smoke. I could not find a single thought that put such a scene in a context. Thousands of people lay dead inside that black halo. I pushed that thought out of my mind so that I could focus on getting home. I was well aware of what the rescue professionals have said over and over again. At such a scene, they want the uninjured like myself to get out of their way and to keep myself uninjured so that they have one less victim. I was going to do my part and leave Manhattan. I headed down Maiden Lane away from the World Trade Center and I saw four grinning teenagers headed toward me. Here it is, I thought. I am about to get mugged. But they kept walking right past me. And then I saw behind them, a police officer armed with a huge shotgun. Cool, I thought, they have declared martial law. I walked up to the officer and said ?thank you for protecting me? at which he pointed the shotgun at me. I instinctively put my arms up and said that I meant no harm, then I saw printed on the shoulder of his uniform ?The Federal Reserve Bank of New York?. At that, I realized that he was not guarding me, but the Bank itself from terrorists. I wandered the streets which were covered with two inches of dust. A rescue vehicle sped by and left behind it a blinding choking dust storm. I had to carry my rolling case. I started toward the ferry that picked up at the World Financial Center but thick black smoke lay between me and that dock. I was still breathing through my handkerchief. I went up to every police officer I saw and asked if the ferries were running. Finally, I found the answer I was looking for. A police officer said that the ferries were running at the bottom of Wall Street to Brooklyn and New Jersey. I went straight for that ferry. As I got further away from the World Trade Center, the dust got thinner and thinner until it was hardly noticeable. I got on the line for the Hoboken ferry. Everyone was polite and orderly. No pushing and shoving today. The line was a long one and I was a little concerned that I would have to wait for the next one. However, the operators were squeezing on as many as they could fit and were not charging any fare. I made it on and went straight to the upper deck to sit in the warm sun. It was a perfectly beautiful day. When the ferry rounded the tip of Manhattan and headed toward Hoboken, all conversation stopped and everyone stared at the smoking hole where the Twin Towers once stood. Thick black and white smoke blanketed all buildings to the southeast. We arrived in Hoboken and were herded to a small fire truck equipped with a spray nozzle. I knew that they were concerned about asbestos dust. The spray was so effective that I was soaked through in two seconds. My briefcase was included as it too contained dust. Then we went through a line of EMTs that were checking us for shock. My pulse was 62. We were asked repeatedly if we had any problems, so I finally raised my hand. ?What is it?? asked the closest EMT with real concern in her face. ?I have to go to the bathroom,? I said and I heard people around me laughing. The EMT smiled and pointed to a bar across the street and said that I could go in there. After the trip to the bar, I found my way through all of the police lines into the Hoboken terminal. I boarded the 1:47 for Hackettstown. I settled into my seat and called Beth. After that call ended, I felt very tired and wanted to sleep, when I noticed that everyone was leaving the train. I followed them. We were being herded to a spot in the railyard away from the train. I was told that the reason for the evacuation was a bomb scare. I looked around and saw a shed to hide behind in case a bomb really did go off. Then I said out loud, ?I have had enough bombs for one day. I really think that I have satisfied my minimum daily requirement of bombs.? Nobody laughed, but I felt better. After 30 minutes we were told to exit the railyard into the adjacent street. I then had to circumnavigate all over again the police lines around the terminal. When I got back in, the train was still there but the sign no longer said 1:47 to Hackettstown. I boarded and saw Ratana from my office and I sat down next to her. We shared stories. She was at 14th Street when first Tower collapsed. When I tried to describe what it was like to be in fear of one?s life and she tried to correct my thinking. I dropped it immediately and realized that I had experienced something that few would understand. The train left at 3:30 and Beth and David were waiting for me at Dover when I arrived at 5:30. Beth gave me the choice of where we would go next. I chose to go to our church and participate in a prayer service. I wanted to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and pray for those who lost loved ones. 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 story11116.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. 2004-10-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 206.252.74.198 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11, 2002, my daughter, Marielle, and I planned to join another daughter, Adria, and her husband Mike and their two small children at the beach in Bethany Delaware (about 3 hours from my home) for 3 days. At a little after 9:00 Marielle drove up and asked if I'd seen the news. I had been watching the Today Show and like the rest of the world was in shock and denial about what I was witnessing. We decided to drive to Bethany Beach anyway, and turned off the television just as the third plane went into the Pentagon. I live in a suburb outside of Washington, DC and as we got onto the Beltway (I-495) we could hear sirens everywhere. We were heading east and they were heading west toward the Pentagon. After about 20 minutes on the Beltway we had to go up a ramp to get onto Route 50 E which took us to the beach. As we ascended the ramp we could see billowing black smoke from the direction of the Pentagon. I imagine that our learning about the 9/11 disasters, with the exception of those first incredible pictures on TV, was a lot like the world must have gotten to know about Pearl Harbor, 60 years earlier. Our news for the next three hours was via radio. Every radio station was affiliated with one of the large networks and slowly the verbal picture began to unfold of the horrors of that morning. The general tenor of the reports was that no one could believe what they were witnessing. When we arrived at the beach, Adria and Mike were glued to the television. For the next three days we alternated between the grim reality of life in New York and Washington and the seeming unreality of joining our fellow Americans who had picked that week for a vacation at the beach. We'd go from the horror of television images, into the most gloriously bright, blue, sunny uncrowded beach imaginable. There were a few other families with pre-school children, and a number of older people. We could hear snatches of conversations about the terrorist attacks everywhere. Being with my two grand daughters, aged 2 and 6 months, added so many layers to the experience. In the first place, I was grateful that they were too young to comprehend what was happening. I was appalled when I thought about how the world and their future had irrevocably changed. And it was surreal to bounce between the TV images with its terrifying commentaries and the delight of two babies at the beach. The 2 year old was overcoming her fear of the water,building sand castles with relish and the 6 month old was experimenting with how sand tastes and feels. So simple, so enchanting, so very innocent. At two different times, each of them fell asleep in my arms as I sat under the beach umbrella. Pure bliss for me mixed with the knowledge of the tragedy of so many families who were victims of the attacks. When we returned home after our trip, the reality of what happened still hadn't penetrated. Six months later, it is still difficult for me to get my mind around how humans could have so little regard for themselves and others to become suicide bombs. Perhaps they needed an idyllic time at the beach surrounded by supportive parents and relatives who could teach them the preciousness of life. 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 story32.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. 2002-02-03 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.172.11.147 Annotation Annotations to this item. Radio Coverage Television Coverage DOMESTIC Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I feel a little silly now when I think back to September 11, 2001. I never realized I was so naive. It was a beautiful fall day with bright blue skies and big white fluffy clouds floating in the sky. I was driving my grandson to school that day, when the DJ on the radio announced that a plane had hit one of the towers on the World Trade Center. My first thought was: What pilot could be that much of an idiot to have hit a building so tall and large? In my minds eye I envisioned a little four seater plane that could cause minimum damage. I shook my head with little concern about the event and continued about my business of taking my grandson to school. I wasn?t quite home yet when the DJ announced that a second plane had hit the other tower of the World Trade Center. My reaction was: Oh my God, that pilot was a bigger idiot than the first! He was so busy checking out the accident from the first plane that he wasn?t paying attention and hit the second tower!!! No sooner had that thought crossed my mind when the DJ suggested it might be terrorism. ?What do you mean terrorists??? Who would ever think to do something that awful? Didn?t they realize if they crashed the plane they would die too? What could make someone want to kill so many people along with themselves?? I don?t think that DJ knows what he is talking about, it was just a crazy accident!? When I returned home, I turned on the TV to CNN. I was not in the least bit prepared for what I was about to see. It was like watching a horror movie!!! I sat staring wide eyed at the TV thinking this was sheer madness. I was watching live coverage that showed all the dust and smoke and debris. I couldn?t believe it was a commercial jet that hit the first building. They had a film showing the tower before it was hit and after. You could see the damage the plane had done and the people running in the streets in mass confusion. People crying and screaming and gasping to get a breath of fresh air. When the second tower was hit, it seemed more devastating than the first. The people running and trying to get away were acting like they just wanted this nightmare to end. Please make it stop!! I could not peel my eyes from the TV. My emotions were building with such sympathy for these people. I had to try to control my stomach to keep from retching. Then it became even worse. As I sat watching all the live chaos, I saw the second tower collapse! There were people down there. That building was now burying people alive. The death and destruction was starting to overload my brain. The phone rang. It was my daughter in law. She was crying. She was sitting in the parking lot at her kids school. She told me she was so scared, she just wanted to take the kids out of school so she could protect them. I told her that was not a bad thing, this is a time that families need to stick together to love, protect and comfort each other. She left the school, kids in tow, and took them home where she felt a sense of safety and security. In the meantime, all the planes in the air were told to land. There was to be nothing in the air until further notice. Another plane hit the Pentagon. ?This can?t be happening, this has got to stop!!!!!? A little later, there was a plane missing. It was in trouble. A wife received a phone call from her husband stating terrorists had taken over their plane and he and some other men were going to try to take the terrorists. I was hoping for a happy ending like in a John Wayne movie with these people landing the plane and being heroes. Unfortunately, the plane crashed and they all died, but in my eyes they were great heroes anyway. Good over evil, they tried to defend themselves, they gave it an honorable shot. I didn?t go to work that night. I could not leave my TV. Radio could not relay the same message. I sat in front of the TV for three days. Maybe I was in shock. All I know is that it is now seven months later, and I still feel the same as I did on that horrifying day. I feel sad and empty, and very protective of my family. I would like to go back to the way I felt before September 11, 2001, carefree and secure in my American Dream, where everyone in the world is kind and caring and gives more than they take. I guess that world was never really there, September 11, 2001 was just my wakeup call to the harsh realities of this world. I pay homage to the heroes of that day, the firefighters, police, doctors, nurses, and the average American person who helped in any way they could. I honor and mourn all the Americans who died that day. Their brave and heroic actions prove to me that although everyone in the world does not believe in the American Dream, we as a nation stand proudly together as one united family. September 11, 2001 was just the beginning of this cold calculated war. Even thought the fighting is not on our land, there are still people dying daily, people we do not know, but who still have the right to live. It?s a sad thing that there are people in this world that feel they need to take another persons life, but this is not a perfect world. I think I will be sad for a long time, if not forever. I worry for my kids and grandkids, about their safety, happiness and freedom. No one knows the future and the total effect of September 11, 2001. All I know is, September 11, 2001, is one day in history that has affected our world as a whole, and has changed the lives of all Americans. The freedom we began to take for granted has been challenged, and is now a priceless commodity we have found worthy of fighting for. 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 story443.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. 2002-04-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.19.51.73 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 BEGAN AS JUST ANOTHER ORDINARY DAY. I GOT UP LIKE MOST PEOPLE DREADING GOING TO WORK. I AM A BILL COLLECTOR. I WAS SITTING AT MY DESK WHEN AN ANNOUCEMENT CAME OVER THE INTERCOM THAT A PLANE HAD HIT THE TWIN TOWERS. IT BROUGHT CHILLS TO MY STOMACHE. ONE OF MY GOOD FRIENDS HER HUSBAND WAS SOPPOSTED TO BE IN THERE, SO IT MADE MATTERS WORSE. A FEW MINUTES LATER WE HEARD THE SECOND PLANE HIT. NOW I WAS A MESS. IT WAS ROUGH AS CO WORKERS WERE FRANTIC. WE ARE CONSIDERED HEARTLESS PEOPLE FOR THE JOB WE DO, BUT HEARING THIS BROUGHT TEARS TO MOST OF OUR EYES. TURNS OUT MY FRIEND'S HUSBAND WAS STUCK IN TRAFFIC + NEVER MADE IT THERE. I WILL NEVER FORGET 9/11.......THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE. 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 story7338.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. 2002-09-14 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: I'm a biz reporter and was in DC, of all things, listing to FEMA talk about disaster insurance coverage. AS the heads of FEMA spoke to a group of bored reporters, the head of the National Press Foundation came in and said a plane had hit the WTC. We thought he was pulling our chain. He grimly flipped on CNN and we sat there stunned. Then we started discussing building insurance. The director then came in again and said the second tower had been hit. All the reporters froze and some started to cry. Then came news of the Pentagon and we all grabbed our notebooks and ran out of the room. As we left,. I caught a glimpse of something falling outof the corner of my eye on TV. Later, a woman I was interviewing said the WTC towers had collapsed. I was sure she was wrong. The streets outside were jammed and the sidewalks packed with people trying to leave the city. When we were interviewing a family near the WH, a guard came screaming across the front lawn, shouting to run as fast as we could away from the WH. "The next plane is only 5 min. out" he yelled. The crowd froze and then turned into the buildings. The family of six that a reporter and I were interviewing began to run. The adults figured if we heard the roar of engines, we'd each pick up a child and run like hell. No plane came. And the 3 year old in the group announced she had to go to the bathrooms, which were now being guarded by police with automatic rifles. While walking toward the Pentagon, following the black plume of smoke, I kept trying to reach my brother in law, who was to have B-fast that day at the Pentagon. I found out later that the morning meeting was switched to Crystal City. So he was alive. Otherwise, he would have been having b-fast in the outer ring of the Pentagon, in the Navy section, which took most of the brunt of the impact. I'm sure he's alive now, because of that last-minute switch. I'm also sure that many people, including myself, owe our lives to those who fought the terrorists on flight 93. barbara clements, Kent Wa. 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 story5252.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.109.75.134 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at work and we were just about to go on our first break at 8:00 AM(PDT) when the management of the contractor that I work for called everyone out onto the West loading dock to tell us about what had just happened...that someone in INS had just come over to the front office and reported it and that security had just ordered the building evacuated.We then were instructed by the management to quickly and calmly get everything cleaned up,get our things and go home.So we did and what was really remarkable was that all of us were driving in a safe manner but we weren't really paying much attention to the speed limit...but the police around didn't go after any of us.It was obvious they knew...so they just let us all go.It was clear to everyone including the police that at that time no one knew what location in the country might be next so everyone was trying to get away from the building as fast as possible in case it did go up.We wanted to be out of range of any possible flying debris if it did.Anyway,I got home,I live in the city of San Juan Capistrano,California and turned on the TV and like so many others found myself in a state of unbridled horrified shock.It was a very frightening experience and to this day what I felt emotionally has never left me.I doubt that it will ever will leave me...and I sincerely hope that it doesn't because I don't ever want to forget.A fan's sign during a baseball game in NYC at Yankee Stadium that I just saw on TV on Wednesday(9-11-02) night said it best I think.It read simply "We are ALL Yankees!" Go 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 story7449.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.178.186.80 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was in my precalculus class at the time in High School, and we watched the whole bombardment on TV and we basically took the rest of day off. Me and my friends were talking about how lame the passengers were for just sitting in fear of a few guys with box cutters. They could have easily retaken the plane with the sheer number of people in the plane. At worst someone would have gotten a partially bad lasceration. I guess they felt like being blown up and not coming out as heros with a few scratches. 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 story10407.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. 2004-02-01 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 165.121.65.80 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: When my two year old daughter turned on our tv we were just getting up and moveing it took both my husband and i a moment to relize that the cartoons we normally listened to were being replaced by the news. My daughter told me that the tv was broken. We went into the living room just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower. For me it was life changing for my husband it was life shatering as september 11 is his birthday. that day i think was the first day he relized that the world was made up of more than just our little town and our lives. For me it was worse as the day wore on. First i called my mom in seatle and told her to turn on the t.v. we both whatch in horror as the towers fell and the pentagon was hit it was after we hung up that we heard about the fourth plane. it was then that i relized i needed to try to call my sister in paris. I knew she was suposed to fly in that week but i couldn't remember which day. when i finially got a hold of her she told me that her fiance saved her life that was when we heard that she was suposed to be on the second plae that hit the second tower. I thank god every day that her fiance had to work that day and that he delayed her trip, but its still sobering to know that had he not i would have sat in my safe home in indiana and whatched in horror as the plane carring my sister flew into the south tower and might never have seen her agian. I still wake up every morning a nd thank god that she is still here and that i'll be able to see her agian. For my small family september 11 truly is a celabration of life, god and hope.Now not only do we have a birthday party we have a life party. My husband is now learning a new way to share and as a family we found a new faith in god. 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 story6721.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: We finally had achieved our goal! After a year of financial and emotional stress, we sold our old home and moved into our dream home that we had built. Eighteen blissful days later it happened. With the two older children at school, my husband and youngest son were enjoying a morning swim as I made lunches. My husband jumped out of the pool and turned on the radio. He was frozen in his tracks as I saw him from the window, so I asked "What is it?" "Turn on the tv" is all he said. It didn't matter which channel; all showed the same horrifying image. It felt like we could feel the pain of loss although we were a thousand miles away. I remember thinking or maybe I actually did say "Oh my dear God NO!" And then shear panic hit me, and I could think of nothing else but to get the kids home. I chose not to, in hopes of not worrying them, and also trying to set a weak example of courage. My father calls from his home in Ecuador and he is crying like I haven't heard since a girl and that is when I realize what an impact this has had on the entire earth. I will never forget those vivid scenes of people running in the street like an Apocolyptic movie, or the imbedded image of husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, jumping from their buildings with brave hopelessness. May God bless the World. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story4391.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