285 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 have read so many accounts of what people were doing on September 11, 2001. Although I was no where near, nor have I ever been to New York, this event is one that will forever leave its footprints in my mind. I was born and raised in California and I have always wanted to visit NY but at the same time I was also ignorant about NY as well. I honestly thought the WTC was just one building, I didn't know about the Twin Towers. On 9/11/01 I woke up and as usual began to get ready for work, I turned on the TV to see a tall building with a gaping hole smoke pouring out. I then heard that a plane had hit the tower. I went and told my boyfriend who was in the shower that the WTC had been hit by a plane and it looked like a movie. There used to be a business building off of the 405 that had a large banner covering its side to be made to look like something had gone through it, it was controversial because it caused a slow down in traffic so it was removed. This is what the WTC reminded me of. I continued to get in the shower and my boyfriend then told me that another plane had gone into the other tower, he saw it live. In the time it took me to get ready, one tower collapsed, by the time I left for work, the second tower had collapsed, I thought it was just a replay of the first collapse. I decided not to take my usual route to work because I didn't want to go through downtown L.A., I didn't know if we were the next target. As I drove to work, I constantly looked for anything suspicious, I heard about the missing planes, the hijacked planes and the plane crashing into the Pentagon. I just didn't know what to expect next. When I finally got to work everyone was talking and watching TV. I worked for a large entertainment corporation so the studio was on alert for any potential attacks and all tall high risk buildings were being evacuated. I called my mom at work in Downtown L.A. and she had been evacuated due to a bomb threat. My father is a police officer so I was also worried about his safety. I called my friend from my old job, she and her husband are from NY and her mom lives in Brooklyn, I wanted to make sure her mom was ok. Interestingly, she knew nothing of what had happend and I had to explain everything to her. Luckily she did get in touch with her mom and she was fine. In time we had been told we could go home early, I didn't see the need so I stayed at work, I would rather have been anywhere but L.A. at the time. That night and for the next few nights, we watched constant TV coverage hoping for survivors but seeing none. Being so far removed, I don't know if I had really taken in the impact of this event. As time passes I constantly watch stories, read personal accounts and learn the history of this event and the impact it has made in the world as we know it. Titanic has always been one of my interests, reading, watching documentaries. I think its the humanity involved that always drew me to it. I feel the same about 9/11. To hear and read people's accounts of that day, it's a constant reminder that each person that lost their life was a human being who lived and loved. I think its very important to remember that. When you hear and read about people that woke up late that day, decided to get out as soon as the first plane hit because they were there in 93', that is all the humanity of this event. I think of the people, not only in the buildings, but the ones watching from afar, the ones whose city as they knew it was destroyed and how that would affect their lives from that day on, for the firefighters and police officers who courageously did their jobs not knowing the end was near. The human toll is great and I think in this way I preserve memory of this incident. I was not alive when JFK was assasinated, I was in elementary school when the Challenger exploded but I do remember where I was when the WTC was attacked. My heart and thoughts go out to all of the families affected by this tragedy, to all of the families of NYPD and NYFD. I have such admiration for the strength of New York residents and our nation during this whole experience. We aren't the greatest nation for nothing. 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 story9344.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. 2003-06-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 204.89.226.65 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My name is Julia Phillips. I am the voice of a mother, a medical worker, a wife and a Christian. I watched through the floodgates of my tears the tragedy unfold as I was in bed here in Alaska. Our time zone was such that it happened so early. I want to remember. I want my children to remember. I want my family and my neighbor to remember. I do not want to ever lose what my fathers fought for and died for. I know that Christ Jesus comforts and heals. Jesus please hear our cries.. No one has the power to care like the sufferer. Signed with all my heart, Julia Phillips September 11th, 2002 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story4824.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. 209.112.149.201 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I arrived home at about 7:00am. Working nights was stressful and watching the news was my way of cooling down. Before trying to sleep I decided to get on the computer and surf the web. One of my applications generated a link 'plane crashes into world trade center'. I checked cnn.com and foxnews.com and found nothing. So I decided to sit down in the living room and watch the news. Smoke was going into the air and the 2nd plance had not crashed yet. Bodies fell from the wound in the building. As the reporter reviewed known facts there was another explosion. The 2nd tower was struck. The tv kept replaying the footage and slowly the news lady found out what happened. My wife called. She is a middle school teacher. I told her that no matter what happens I love her. I watched all day. My boss said to report to work as normal. There were armed guards in front of the national guard building on the way to work. It was surprising that the roads were open. My hope was that someone would instruct me to go back home and stay off the streets. In hindsight it was wrong of me to leave her alone on such a scary night. No one called into the phone center except maybe one or two people. My lesson from this experience is: Never work a night shift job. Never leave my wife alone at night. Never work a weekend shift. September 11, 2001 helps me to reconsider my priorities. 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 story8672.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-11-24 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.81.147.124 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 about 9:45p.m here and i was just getting a late snack. I was walking back to my room when i saw what my dad was watching on the TV. On CNN i saw a tower with a s***load of smoke coming out of it. i thought maybe a room high-up may have had a fire or something, but then it replayed footage of a plane flying through and explained what had happened. I watched this for a while before i (like everyone else) saw a second plane hit the other tower. The next day it was all the talk of my school (as i'm sure it was the talk in every school and workplace all over the world) and i watched the news channels for days after. As if the terrorist situation wasn't bad enough anyway, on October 12, 2002, Bali in Indonesia was struck by bombers and i actually had distant ties with one of the victims. 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 story9404.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-08-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 144.136.243.250 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I can/could see the towers from the offices where I work. Among the many reactions from the horror of watching unable to prevent harm to running downtown to help......the following hit me after the 1st tower collapsed: When I was about 8 my uncle was part of the plumbling contractors working on the construction of the World Trade Towers. One tower was built and the 2nd was about 50 stories. I was taken to the site to see these incredible buildings. I remember standing atop the incompleted building (job sites have certainly changed) staring at the whole world and being amazed looking endlessly up to see the top of the completed building. When I returned to my office after the evacuation of downtown and stared across to the site of just one tower standing....all I could think of was the loss, loss of people, loss of the dream, loss of the wonder, and innocence of a childhood memory 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 story6369.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. 65.206.115.228 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: The first thing I remember I remember about September 11, 2001 was being so angry because my phone was ringing off the hook while I was trying to catch up on some well-needed sleep. My anger soon turned to heartache for those that had real disturbances to think about. I turned on the television just before the second tower collapsed. I was crying, shivering, and shaking my head in total disbelief. I called my mom after I pulled myself out of my temporary comotosed state to make sure that our New York relatives were not in harms way. Assured that they were, I tried to make the day as normal as possible for my daughter, who was almost three then. She wouldn't understand any of this. We went out and bought a newspaper though so when the time comes I can answer as many of her questions as possible. Looking back, I think what got me through that day, and the days following, was seeing our country unite even stronger than before and knowing that they may take some lives and ruin some buildings, but what we as Americans have can never be taken from us and that's freedom. Today marks the one year anniversary of this tragic event, and my daughter came home from preschool and recited the Pledge of Alligence for the first time unaided. Just more proof, you can't stop us. God bless. 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 story4747.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.162.43.150 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 11th, 2001, I was in the middle of a two-week long vacation with my boyfriend in Europe. We had just gotten to our hotel in Rome when the receptionist asked if there were any Americans in the lobby. There were several of us in the group, including three from New York. We were told that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. We all continued to watch closely as the scene unfolded, but unfortunately, the news channel was being dubbed over in Italian, and we weren't able to completely understand what had happened. We could only watch in horror as another plane struck the side of the World Trade Center. My boyfriend and I called home to our families to find out if everyone was okay, and to see if we could find out what was happening to our country. We were terrified, being thousands of miles away in a foreign country. We were very anxious to get home to the United States after 9/11, and we are both thankful we were able to return to our families and friends. 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 story1148.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-08-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.173.53.182 Annotation Annotations to this item. Americans overseas Television Coverage INTERNATIONAL Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My father is still alive. Until yesterday, his office was located on the north side of the 78th floor of One World Trade Center, the first tower to be hit. Had it been located any higher, he would be dead. I phoned him within the first minute of my seeing the news break on CNN. It was fortuitous that I had decided to switch the channel to watch the news. I had become disinterested in the episode of a M.A.S.H. rerun that I was watching, for I had already seen it a dozen times or so. My father had no idea what had happened. He and his co-workers were not terribly alarmed before I called. They knew something had happened, for they felt the building shake a bit. At first, I figured the building had been hit by one of the many small private planes that frequently fly up and down the Hudson River, usually at altitudes substantially lower than the top of the building. My father often remarked at how strange it was to be able to watch these planes fly below eye level. I wasn't particularly alarmed either, especially in light of how a similar event occurred at the 79th floor of the Empire State Building years ago with very little sequelae. No sooner had I hung up the phone, when one of the commentators reported that it might have been a Boeing 737. I immediately called him back. By that time, he and his co-workers had decided to leave the building. I actually delayed their departure by thirty seconds or so because my father had to return to his office to answer the phone. I went back to watching CNN. As I was watching, the silhouette of an airplane caught my eye coming into view from the right. I remember thinking that it was just someone in another one of those small planes flying by, probably there to gawk at the damaged building and the fire that was raging between the 80th and 85th floors. Within seconds, a huge explosion occurred on the left side of the screen. It was Two World Trade Center, the South Tower. I hadn't made the connection, but I was worried that my father might just be reaching the floor opposite this fireball. Still, I was not terribly worried. The World Trade Center was invincible. February 26, 1993 proved it. Then, CNN said something about two planes being involved. Why should I worry? It was probably just some other fool in a Cessna. I didn't know what to be more afraid of - the burning of the building or my father having to climb down 78 flights of stairs. It had been only three weeks since he underwent cardiac surgery to place a stent in a previously grafted bypass. Somewhere in my mind, I hoped that he would die quickly, and prayed that he shouldn't be burned alive. I figured it might be too much to hope that the elevators would still be working. For some reason, though, I began to think and act as if everything would be alright, and that my father would call and come home that evening - just like always. This was not some sort of justified optimism, though. I don't think my mind would permit any other thoughts. He had just stepped out the door, exiting the lobby, when he was literally blown back through the door by what must have been a hurricane-force wind. The South Tower had just at that moment collapsed. Lethal debris blew by him harmlessly, as he watched from the other side of the glass. Had he arrived at the door thirty seconds earlier - the thirty seconds I had delayed him with my second phone call - he would be dead. By this time, I was already with my mother at my parents' house. It was difficult to know what to think, how to think, what to feel. I guess I am by nature a positive person. I think this is somehow different from being optimistic. I began to develop a timeline in my mind, looking at my wrist-watch every few minutes as I monitored the events unfolding on the television. I knew the building. I had been in it or under it almost every day for several years. I had walked through the maze of unfinished corridors, ever-changing and partitioned by walls of hastily-erected green-painted plywood, as year by year they constructed the underground shopping mall and beautified the new subway stations. I approached the whole thing with a sort of logic based upon my knowledge of the building and its surroundings. As each minute passed, I became more and more optimistic that my father would make it. I prayed that he would think to leave the area rather than remain near the building to watch what was going on a thousand feet over his head. There reached a point in time when I predicted he would just be reaching the bottom of the building and on his way out. He was safe, as long as he would retreat to a location sufficiently far from the building to avoid the falling debris. I had in my mind an image of him standing across the street in the park on Liberty Street, or perhaps on Church Street near the coffee shop on the corner. This was far too close. However, I couldn't imagine that he would do anything different than what New Yorkers always do - watch. Then something monstrous happened. A cloud of orange-brown smoke filled the air with explosive force. A panoramic view of downtown Manhattan showed it to be almost entirely lost in a cloud of what looked like dirt. I couldn't figure out what had happened. I couldn't believe that any kind of bomb could produce such an event. How can this be? I had to assume that it was indeed a bomb, because no other idea came to mind. What I couldn't figure out, though, was the color of the smoke. I couldn't account for it. There were no buildings in the area built of red bricks - at least, not for many years. I told my mother that I was now very much more worried about this new explosion than the events occurring above in the towers. If my father was indeed in the park or near the coffee shop, he would surely be dead. Thirty seconds. As the cloud began to dissipate, it became horrifically evident that the South Tower was gone. It had imploded and collapsed to the ground. Now, I hoped that I underestimated the time that it takes to climb down 78 flights of stairs. Logically, I knew that if everything had gone just right, he could possibly still be alive. Logically, it WAS possible. I explained to my mother how things might have happened, and that Dad was still OK because he was probably still in the North Tower when the South Tower collapsed. To have hope, and to relieve us of the hysteria that had been building up to a crescendo, we were counting on my father still being in the North Tower. We enjoyed several minutes of reprise. I remember my lungs filling completely with air as I sighed with relief. Then, right before our eyes, we watched in disbelief as the second tower, an icon of the indestructible and a mammoth of invincibility, collapsed like a house of cards into nothingness. In our minds and hearts, so went my father. My mother began to cry. I hugged her in solace with the recognition of defeat and irreconcilable loss. Still, I hoped that somehow my father would emerge from this catastrophe unscathed. He always seems to land on his feet and beat the odds. We expect him to. He did. He called from a hotel located 5 blocks uptown. At the time, my mother was in the kitchen while I remained in the den, continuing to watch the television. People were calling the house every few minutes - friends, family, co-workers. Suddenly, my mother began screaming hysterically. Without a doubt, it sounded as if she had just received confirmation that her husband - her lifemate - was dead and gone forever. But I knew better. Logic dictated to me that it was my father on the phone, for a confirmation of death so soon under the circumstances of tumult and disorganization surrounding the events was unlikely. I smiled with relief and my eyes filled with tears of joy, even before my mother stopped screaming and gave hint that it was indeed my father on the phone. It couldn't have been more than five minutes that passed before I fell into a chair, completely exhausted and limp, as the adrenaline quickly disappeared from my blood stream. Thank God that today, my family and I are still living the lives that are familiar to us. I guess I just wanted to relate what it was like to be so close to such a disaster. We are so lucky. So, so lucky. My heart aches for all of you who were not as lucky as we were. I don't know what else I can say, except I'm sorry. I can grieve with you, because for a short while, I did. Sincerely, Scott 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 story254.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. 2002-03-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.89.171.54 Annotation Annotations to this item. Personal connection to someone at site Premonitions/Coincidence/Fate Telephones and Cell Phones WTC, attack WTC, pre-911 WTC, worked in (ever) NY:3 Feature 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 chorus class and my principal came on the announcement and told us that there had been a terroist attack in New York city and at the Pentagon. The Pentagon is close to where i live and i have many friends and family who work in and around the Pentagon. I was very shocked i couldnt belive it was true. The rest of the day in my classes we watched TV., cry and had disscusions. Half the school left early to try to call there parents at the Pentagon. It was all very emotion and scary. We got off of school September 12th to collect are thoughts and mourn with familys. I will never forget that 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 story2386.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 208.31.154.100 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I?ll always remember that day in little snapshots, moments that stand out in brighter colors, images that are sharper then the rest. In between these moments, everything else is a fuzzy kind of blur. When I concentrate on trying to recall more, a sick feeling comes into the pit of my stomach. If I can?t remember the details of some parts of that day, I can remember the way I felt, it seems. My day began early that Tuesday morning, at about 7:30AM I stopped at a local gas station to fill up my tank. I met up with a fellow employee of the software company I worked for at the time and in my car, we headed south of out of the city. I live in South Bend, Indiana and we were headed to a small town roughly an hour and half away. My co-worker, Patty, and I chatted on the drive. I had a music CD in the entire way there, it just kept repeating, but it was turned down low so we could talk so I didn?t really notice. We arrived at our destination, which was a home for children with disabilities to install the software package handled by our company. My first clue that something unusual was going on was when my contact for the client greeted us and said to just ignore ?some of the girls this morning.? When I questioned her, she responded in a very off hand manner, ?Oh, a plane hit a building in New York this morning.? The way that she said it was very casual. In looking back, I think this was her way of coping with the immediate situation. By trying to make it less than it was, she could deal with it. My first thoughts were of a small plane and that someone in air traffic control must have screwed up. As we were led through the facility, we passed through a large room where the children were set in their wheelchairs so that they could watch two enormous large screen TVs, one on either side of the space. As we passed by I glimpsed a picture of smoke billowing from one of the towers and started to know that something serious was happening. The lady in the office I actually had to work in that day was much more affected by what was going on. She was the one, I think, to tell me that it was the World Trade Center. I remember trying to work, to install the software, to pay attention to my job, but then there came a delay while a program was running and I walked back out into that big room with the TVs again. I stood next to the lady from the office and watched as a rather frantic reporter described the screams of the firefighters that could be heard over the radios. That was when I felt tears starting to come. It was the strangest thing, to see all those children arrayed about these screens that I am sure normally display cartoons and Disney movies ? but that day the images on those screens were of fire and death and panic. I didn?t stop to think about it at the time, but it?s a shame that someone didn?t think to move them away from those images. I?m certain that this must have bothered many of them, no matter how much they were thought to be ?aware? of what was going on around them. My next sharp memory is of walking through a hallway, my eyes on the ugly brown carpet, as I overheard someone saying that the Pentagon had been hit. I still thought it must be some kind of terrible mistake, that those outdated air traffic systems had finally burned us. It wasn?t until I heard about the plane going down in Pennsylvania that I knew we were under attack. Maybe I heard it whispered, maybe it was something I realized on my own, I?ll never know. It was then that I started to feel frightened. Up to that point, I?d just been sick at heart over the suffering I was seeing and hearing on the TV. Now it was bigger and scarier. The rest of my time at that facility is a blur, with one exception, the director announced over the PA system that there was going to be a brief prayer meeting in the main room, and everyone ? staff and visitors ? was welcome to join. He extended a personal invitation to me, but I knew that I would completely lose it and start crying if I joined in. I was trying very hard to stay professional. Patty just wanted to get done and get back home to her kids. I remember seeing a group of people in a circle, holding hands, heads bowed. The murmur of their voices echoed down the hallway I was working in, haunting me. When we finally left and started the drive home, we immediately turned on the radio and started hearing the various different broadcasts about what was happening. At this point it was probably about 2PM in the afternoon. While driving through a section of the downtown I spotted a sign for a gas station up on my left and was going to turn in so I could buy something cold to drink. Before I did more than put on my turn signal I realized that there were dozens of cars already in the lot and many more trying to turn in. A line stretched down the street. Patty realized before I did the significance of what we were seeing. ?Oh my God, everyone is trying to get gas!? I turned off my blinker and just concentrated on getting us through the traffic. I settled for drinking cold coffee from that morning while we listened to the reporters say more and more that just dumbfounded us. And every little town that we had to drive through on our way back was choked with traffic. There were lines and lines of cars trying to fill up at gas stations, police cars with lights flashing were parked here and there as their occupants tried to direct the traffic. Their faces were tense as they waved us through. And every station we passed had higher and higher prices, I think the highest we saw that day was just about $3 per gallon. More than anything else, seeing that people were panicking and reacting here in our safe little Mid-Western part of the world was bringing home the fact that this was a Big Deal. A trip that should have taken just under an hour and a half took a bit over two. I called my boyfriend at the time that worked in another city about 45 minutes from South Bend. He seemed calm and said that if gas prices kept rising the way they were now, he would be staying the night at work to avoid using gas. My heart fell because I was really wanting to see him that night, I wanted to be around someone that would make me feel safe. I called my mother and was angered by her casual attitude about the whole thing. The tone in her voice was best described as ?Oh yeah, its terrible, but do you really need to get so worked up about it?? The conversation did not last long, I hung up angry and ironically I felt better being angry. Once again, she must have been trying to control the situation by playing it down. After I dropped Patty off in that same parking lot I?d been in early that morning, I was on the phone with another co-worker of mine who I was friends with. He and his girlfriend were good friends of mine and lived close by. In response to my request to come over and sit with them for a while that night they were very kind and said to come over as soon as I wanted to. I will be grateful to them for that always. I can?t imagine sitting alone in my apartment on that first night. It was still too new. As it was I spent time with Deanne and Mike, sitting in front of the TV, watching the first interviews of survivors that had escaped from the falling buildings. Occasionally Deanne and I would go out to the porch and have a smoke, just to release some tension. Our conversation was excited and nervous. Mike pointed out that if it came down to a nuclear attack that with the Hummer plant in town we would be on the list of targets, maybe not the first on the list, but not too terribly far from the top. That just made us feel worse. I don?t remember going home that night, but I know I did. My recollection of the days to follow is that I was always listening to the radio or glued to the TV. I remember sitting on the floor of my apartment, in the dark, crying and chain smoking in front of a large fan that blew out the smoke out of the open screened doors onto my balcony. I remember seeing the footage shot by a doctor, released a few days after the disaster, where he was engulfed in a cloud of smoke and debris. I had thought I had a handle on myself by that point, but that footage made me sob again like a little baby. To this day, although I?ve quite smoking successfully for a long time, traumatic events and feelings give me the urge to light up again. It?s a defense mechanism. So you don?t know how to deal with your emotions? Do something with your hands, light up and feel that drug give you a buzz! Thankfully, I?m always able to get past the craving, but its probably going to be that way from now on. Gradually, the media coverage lessened, but for many days, weeks maybe, all I watched was the news. I couldn?t get enough. Some people would feel overwhelmed after a while and want to think about something else. I couldn?t. I don?t know why. The whole experience affected me deeply and I will always remember it. I will tell my children and my grandchildren some day. I will occasionally start a conversation with, ?Where were you on September 11?? Hearing those stories fascinates me. I have not forgotten, I will never forget, what happened. God save us all from such a day every again! Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story11313.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. anonymously Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2005-02-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.163.47.170 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 am, and will forever be, a New Yorker at heart. And I have always had an obsession with the twin towers. The morning of September 11, 2001, I was scheduled to work a 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. shift at work- pacific time. Before walking out of my door, I quickly checked my voice mail messages on my phone. There were several messages, the first being from my brother who lives in New York, then from a friend of mine also from New York who had moved here, and the third from my best friend who was out of town on business. My brother said he was alright, not to worry. I didn't know what he meant by that. My two other friends sounded astonished by an event that had happened, but did not verbalize what was going on. After hearing the messages, I simply walked out of my front door to work. I turned on my car stereo, and the radio stations were not playing music. They sounded like talk radio stations. One broadcaster was talking about a closing at a federal building. I still had no idea what was going on. My drive to work is a short distance, and I still had no idea of what had occurred. As I entered the employee's entrance I saw my supervisor who informed me that I would be very busy with guests. I overheard someone in the hall talking about a plane, still not getting any detailed information. When I arrived in my department- the lobby bar of my hotel, there were guests all around television sets. I work at the Beverly Hilton which was hosting many of the participants to the first annual Latin Grammys which were supposed to be held that night at a different location. There had been festivities to kick off the event just the night before. As I stepped behind the bar one television faced me and I watched that horrible sight as they replayed the first airplane crashing into the building. My body went limp. I stood motionless. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and almost passed out when the second plane was being shown. I didn't lose my wits only because I knew that my brother was safe-thanks to his message which was now making sense to me. But I had many more friends, several who worked at the financial center, and some that lived in battery park, all of whose fate I didn't know of at the time. Shortly later my husband called me to say he had recieved other phone calls of friends and family saying they were alright. I still couldn't believe or understand what was happening. The day felt like an eternity as the events unfolded, and all I wanted to do was go home. I wanted to break down and cry, but I couldn't. I had people all around me who were expecting my service. I had to work, and had no time to myself to grief. I just wanted to walk out of that hotel, and go home and hug my husband, and cry. I needed to know about my friends working down there...where they alive? I desperately needed to talk with them, but how? With every replay of the planes crashing into the towers I felt more and more afraid. I didn't know if we would be targets too. I was, afterall, in Beverly Hills-Hollywood, a "target" in my opinion. When the first tower began to fall I felt part of me was dying. I held back tears and pain as I saw with my own eyes people dying, and one "of my boys" as I called the towers, disintegrating into the ground. You see, when I say I had an obsession with the towers, I meant it. I would walk down 6th Avenue just so I could see them as I headed home. At dusk was always my favorite time. They always looked so majestic, and mysterious to me at that time of day. In my heart they were my twin boys. They were everything New York City- America stood for, and they were breathtaking. And they were collapsing right before me, and the rest of the world. My pain turned to denial. I think I went into shock. I finished my day on what I now call "autopilot". I rushed home to turn on the television set. Now that I was at home, somehow I couldn't cry. Why? I didn't know. My husband called me from work to check on me. I was still in shock. Then I saw something that even now a year later, as I write this, brings tears to my eyes, and a profound pain to my heart. People jumping off the towers. I lost it. I dont'think I have ever cried so much, so hard, so deeply in my life. I cried for those poor people. I cried for humanity. I cried because I felt pained by all the hate in this world to have cause this to happen. And I will never be the same. It could have been me. I could have been any of us. All of us. I will never forget where I was on September 11, 2001. That was the day I lost my innocence. That was the day I saw pure evil. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story7457.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. 209.240.198.62 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Well, I was at home playing Sim City 3000. I had Just built the Twin Towers in my city. A friend called me and said that I had to turn on the tv. That's what I did....and I saw the boeing crash into the Towers. I saw the Towers collapse too. I couldn't believe my own eyes.....It wasn't true. That's what I believed.....I refused to believe my eyes. But I couldn't. I thought to myself. Those Bastards. Like bush said That was a cowardly act. I started to cry. Then I realized how big my feelings to the New Yorkers were. I can just say right now, I feel sorry for the New Yorkers and for all of the Americans...Why did they have to do that. If I see some clips from 9/11 I start to cry...my tears run down my cheeks... I'm sorry for those who has lost family and friends...I think they are mad at the Americans because they have so much freedom and they don't...Tha's my theory......I would like to say God Bless America.....The world is never gonna be the same without the twin towers rising up into the sky.....Keep your faith for a bright future........ Martin, Denmark 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 story8179.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. 2002-09-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 62.79.86.164 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11,2001 I was siting in the lunch rom eating. i was unaware of what was happening until I arrived at my fifth period class. This was after the second plane had hit. Eventhough I live in Bellevue Ohio which is miles away from New York I was still deply devastated.Eventhough i don't have any family there I stil mourned the deaths of those who died. 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 story6496.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. 156.63.116.141 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 recovering from surgery and waiting for a new job to start, so slept late, until 9 am. After getting up, I got breakfast and wandered out to the TV around 10. I was watching a rerun of ER on TNT (or TBS, whichever one shows those) when the phone rang. It was my Dad, calling from work and he asked if I had the TV on. I said I did, but all the cable feeds were still on daily programming, I guess they didn't switch over to news feeds until later. I changed to CNN at my Dad's prompting, and then he had to go back to work. At first, I just stared. There was only one tower. That can't be. The other one must be hidden in all the choking smoke covering lower Manhattan. The clips from the collisions were rebroadcast on CNN, and I saw the whole history of the four planes, and the collapse of the first tower. Stunned, I sat, never suffering from the disbelief that others talk about. I *knew* it was real. It wouldn't be on CNN if it wasn't, and if by any chance it was a clip from a movie, it would state so. Movies also don't do smaller scale destruction like one building, it will be like Independence Day, with whole cities being destroyed. This had to be real. And then I saw the second tower fall, live. I still can picture it as clear as day, in the strongest flashbulb memory I have created so far in my life; the antenna of the North Tower sinking slowly into the disintegrating building as smoke rose to cover the hole where the Twin Towers had once been. I burst into tears, thinking "My God, there must be thousands dead," and frantically racking my brain to find anyone who I knew who might have been working there that day. My sister called, and said that they were evacuating buildings in Los Angeles where she lives, and she was going home. I watched the rebroadcasts of the events of the day on CNN again, then shut off the TV. I knew they would know nothing for days, even weeks, until the situation could be assessed, and drove to the Best Buy on Rt. 10 in Livingston. The store had closed, so I drove to meet my parents where they taught at Livingston High School and spent the rest of the day there with them. Thankfully, no one I knew or any friends of friends were killed. We are too young still, just starting our first jobs, to work in large numbers at the WTC. Sixteen people from my town were killed, however, since we live on the Gladstone-Peapack branch of the trains. The personal impact has been great despite my personal distance from the victims. I don't have the safety concerns many others do. I don't buy gas masks or duct tape in the vain hope that it will save me if something does happen, death would usually come too quickly to prepare. But I do have a deep, abiding sadness about what humans are capable of in the name of religion, or nationalism. Wars can be necessary; I am no pacifist, but hatred and violence without negotiation and compromise only leads to extremism and dangerous fanatics such as the suicide bombers. I don't know what will happen, anymore then I knew what would happen on September 11, 2001 when I woke up to a beautiful autumn day, but I will never forget what has happened, and hope that something as senseless will stop occuring anywhere in 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 story9083.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. 2003-02-21 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.19.192.27 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 am a native New Yorker. I have participated in and witnessed the heroism and calamity of New York for all of my 54 years, through my Chinese eyes. I have my bittersweet love of New York and being American to drive my community activism and patriotism, all year long, all my life. I arrived in Chinatown to work on the Primary Elections, Sept. 11, 2001 at 8:48 a.m. We'd heard the explosion on the bus and crained our necks as we deboarded the bus to see the fireball and shower of papers flying around WTC North Tower. Chatham Square (in the heart of Chinatown) had a perfectly framed view of WTC. So, many spectators were stopped mid-stride their usual frantic scurrrying to stare incredulously at the burning tower. It couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes before people were saying that the radio was reporting that WTC was hit by a plane. I pictured a small private plane and it didn't make sense. I was staring at a huge gapping hole in the side of the building with thick black smoke and three-story high flames basting out. I started yelling to people that it was terrorists blowing up WTC, thinking of 1993. While I was staring up, a police cruiser screeched nearby, the driver-officer strained his neck and head out of his window to see higher and exclaimed repeatedly, "Oh my God. Oh, my God." and then sped off down Park Row toward WTC. The blast from the South Tower shook all of the buildings and rattled my ribcage. For an instant, I thought we were at war. I began thinking of how to survive. I tried for the tenth time to get a dial tone on my cell phone to check on my wife and son. I tried reaching my 90 year old mother, who was out at the senior center having breakfast. I ran around to various polling places to see if they had any more news than I, then I watched as the towers disintegrated, turning into clouds of smoke and dust. At around 11:00 a.m. thousands of people marched out of lower Manhattan. Then vehicles covered in thick white dust and debris sped by leaving a cloud of dust and ears ringing from sirens and blasting horns. One group of people marching by completely covered in dust stopped on Doyer street in from of a pagoda styled bank to have their picture taken. No knew what to make of the event. On my long walk home up Bowery and Third Avenue among tens of thousands walking, it was apparent that Police and National Guard had no idea what they were doing. I tried to ask if the Police had any information and was told to move along. People were huddled around cars with radios loudly announcing the event all of us were caught up in. I saw the New Yorker magic-in-emergencies I've witnessed in past events and hoped my son was safely sent home from school. Like so many people, I tried to go on with my normal life, without phone service, without enough information. I stayed glued to news stations and could not find peace enought o sleep. Eventually, four days into the event, my stress peaked and I became completely deaf in my left ear and partially deaf in my right ear. My jaws were so tightly clenched that I frightened my son, thinking I was in a rage. Eventually, I learned the fate of all my acqaintances, colleagues and friends working in and around WTC. Incredibly, all had gotten out alive, or by chance were not there that day. I began visiting the site as soon as police began letting people walk down Broadway and continued my pilgrimage for several months. In the time since the event, I am certain that Firemen, EMS, Police, subway riders, and pedestrians who make up the throngs of people always crowding my City are missing and I feel their loss, their absence from my life. The ache of chronic sadness in my shuffle to moving on in New York. 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 story851.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. 2002-07-03 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.21.100.42 Annotation Annotations to this item. Chinatown Missing Persons Struggle to get home Victims WTC, attack NY:2 feature 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 first found out about the attacks on the World Trade Center at about 10:30 AM. None of the students were supposed to know, but one of the earlier technology classes had been watching the news, so word spread through the school very quickly. I was standing in the lunchline, waiting to buy food, when my friend came up to me. he said "Terrorists just flew planes into the two towers. They're gone!" I didn't believe him, partly because it was so unconcievable to me (two of the largest buildings in the world gone?) and partly because he had a smile on his face as he was telling me. Of course, he always smiled. I went to my lunch table and toild all my friends "Hey, someone told me this crazy story about the WTC being destroyed. Can you believe it?" They looked at me in disbelief and then said, "It's true." I was shocked! It took a while to sink in, I didn't know how anyone could knowingly kill so many people. My next thought was for my family in NYC. I wondered if they were ok. I later found out that my mom had ben talking to my aunt when the second plane hit. She could see it out of her window. Although many people were killed, I have also heard many stories of people who were saved. A friend of our family's sister worked in the Pentagon. She missed her subway so arrived late. If she hadn't been running two minutes late, she would have been there during the attacks. Another family I know was almost on one of the Boston flights that crashed. Their 2 year old daughter was sick, so they backed out at the last minute. Out of all the horror and all the pain that this nation has been going through, still good things have come of it. The citizens of the US are more united than ever before. I dont think that there has been such a response since WWII. Peace,and GOd blees the USA 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 story2296.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. 207.10.224.42 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 home (my parent's houseat that time) putting clothes away in my room. I had the local channel 8 news on watching the morning updates of traffic, weather and Michael Jordan returning to the game of Basketball. Urgently, the breaking news screen flashed and they began showing footage of 1 of the World Trade Center towers smoking. The reporters were asking each other if it was a bomb, then some eye witness reports began coming in of a plane crashing into the building. With the camera still focused on the tower, I watched in horror as a second plane made a sharp turn into the 2nd tower. I cried. I don't know anyone personally that worked there or could have worked there, but I still felt the overwhelming sense of sorrow, grief, helplessness and panic. I called my dad at his job and we sat on the phone, each watching different news channels telling each other the irradic reports flowing in. Then, in front of our eyes, on the phone together we watched the Pentagon come into view. Then we watched the 1st tower fall. In the mean time, I called my mother's place of work- the building had been evacuated. I tried to locate my fiancee' who had been at school in downtown Cleveland that morning. His cell phone had been off. Moments after the towers were both down, the mail lady came to the door asking for any news. I told her all I knew at the time. My mother pulled in the driveway, her building had a government office in it, but no one was told. I updated her as she walked in the house. I sat in front of the T.V. getting updates from every news channel I could. Varying reports, different information from every direction. Who did this, why, where there other attacks to come, how many where hurt, killed, missing. My fiancee' pulled in the driveway. Every building in downtown Cleveland had been evacuated and all cell phone lines jammed. On my out a few days later there were firefighters walking in stopped traffic filling boots for NYC firefighters. I always have money in my car's ashtray for emergencies and because I don't smoke. I emptied it. But I filled it back up for several days just so I could empty it into a boot, anywhere. My personal twist from most other people's- I was home that morning and not at school because I was getting ready to leave for Army basic training 11/1/01. I had signed up in June for the Army Reserves, long before any threat of attack. Now the moral dielma, should I still go? Maybe it was a selfish moment, I think we all had at least one that morning. I talked it over with my family. Most of everyone I know told me to just not go. November 1st I got on a plane to Fort Leonardwood, MO to try my part. The first time in the airport after the attacks. I was ready to do whatever I had to do. At one point during training the drill sergants sat down and we all talked about how many joined because of Sept. 11th, almost everyone's hands went up. We all got our chance to say how 9/11 effected us and our decision to join the military. I met people who where right there when the attacks happened. Unfortunately, I didn't make it through training. I was hurt and couldn't finish. Things were meant to be. When I came home I tried to get updated at much as I could and to my wonder, CNN was still running updated of vitims identified and still missing. I have a small collection of books about 9/11, including a collection of the front page from various newspapers around the world. The day the attacks occured I knew this day would be that historical day for my generation. Before mine had JFK's assasination, Pearl Harbor, Titanic and events as such. We've all seen them tell their stories on the History channel and PBS, we visit memorial sites, see exhibitions in museums. How will this history be captured, remembered, visited? 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 story4964.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.179.147.18 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 9/11/01 I was in Vallejo CA and a 28 years old. In my life time I have never ever seen anything like this and only wonder what kind of poeple are capable of taking another persons life without thinking about it or having no regrets. This was a life changing event for my because I viewed life in a different way and thought that we had no purpose as people; but after this I learned to love myself more as well as care more for other people than I do for myself and I think that we are here to help each other in our endeavors in life and that selfishness should not be a part of our vocabulry; but it does exist. I think that one of the only messages that I get from this is to love, protect, care for, embrace, uplift, and encourage each other to do good and strive to be all you can without forgetting of others. We all live in one world no matter what our color, race, or sexuallity. Most important we are all human created by one man that loves us all. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story1811.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. 2002-09-06 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.162.213.33 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My story stands to be nowhere as tragic, but one that I'll always remember. I was just waking up to go to work at a restaurant, when my fiance came plundering through the door to turn the television on to CNN. We were shocked to see that the first tower of the WTC had been hit. As soon as we heard of this, my fiance had just remembered that he just dropped his 79 year old grandma that had been visiting for the past week at the airport. We were in a panic, I had to contact work to say that I could not come to work, so that we could go rescue his grandmother stuck at the airport. I the midst of getting ready to head out, our 9-year old cat Calico "Cali" was laying dead right in the path that only a few minutes before I had to dodge because she was walking around in front of me! We then saw that the second tower had been hit on television, and we just stood together in shock as to all that had just happened in the few minutes that he had just walked through the door. We were zombies as to the world coming to an end. We watched towers collapse and were just waiting for this to be the final minutes of the world. We'll never forget the feeling of this day for all those who died in the terrible attacks and for all the USA seeing the reality of the hatred of terrorists. GOD BLESS THE USA AND GOD SPEED TO ALL!! WE'LL NEVER FORGET! Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story5427.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: September 11, 2001 It started out as a normal tuesday morning. Me waking up late and rushing to work. Work for me starts daily at 5:30am. I had a strange feeling that something just wasn't right on this morning and I started getting scared thinking something was wrong with my Father. He lived in Michigan and a few years earlier had had triple bypass surgery. So everytime I get feelings like that, I think something is wrong with him. I was soon to realize nearly an hour and a half later why I had been feeling this way. Although very devastated at what I was to soon realize was happening to our Great Nation, very thankful that my Father was okay. At work, we listen to music on the radio and soon after our 2nd rotation, the music turned to News about a plane that had hit one of the Twin Towers in NYC. At first I was just in complete disbelief. I thought to myself, "How could this have happened? Why was there a plane flying so low? Didn't the pilot know better? OH MY GOD!" I was mesmerized on the radios all over our plant. Then we heard that the other Tower had also been hit by a second plane. Again I thought, "What in the hell is going on? Is this just an ironic accident?" Never had I thought that it would be terrorists attacking America and our people. The more my co-workers and I listened the more devestation we continued to hear. The pentagon was hit, then a plane had crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Then I thought, "What is going to happen next?" The more we listened the more we heard the media saying this was a terrorist attack. My work did not allow anyone to leave. I guess upper management felt that it wasn't neccessary. Although I felt it was. All I wanted to do was go and pick up my children and hold them forever and tell them how much I loved them. I was unsure if we were going to be attacked here. And all that I could think is if we were attacked and were going to die, I wanted us to die together, holding one another. I was a single 31 year old Mother with a 11 year old son, a 6 year old son and a 1 year old daughter. I didn't know what to believe until I returned home that evening to hear what President George W. Bush had to say in his address to the Nation at 5pm AZ time. Then everything was clear to me. I became so angry but all I could do was cry. I called a friend of mine whom I met when she came to AZ as a Church Missionary from Florida. She Baptized me and my oldest son. I knew that she was now an intern in Washington D.C. at or near the Pentagon and I was so afraid for her. I needed to know that she was okay. Thankfully when I called, she was safe at home in her apartment. I wanted to go to NYC to help. Then I thought, "Who am I? I am only one person, a single Mother with 3 children struggling to survive my daily life. Trying to raise my children the best I can." I felt so hopeless. Wanting still to help in anyway I could. As I was watching the news as I had been ever since 9/11, I saw on the T.V. screen a phone number to call for United Way for Donations of anything and everything. Money, blood, blankets, food, water, you name it, they needed it. So although I don't have much, I realized I had been spared and I had more than many others had because of that fateful day. I had my family. So I called that phone number and I donated a mere $25. I wanted so much to give more but I knew I could not afford it. I then called to make an appointment to give blood. The blood banks were so over crowded even here in AZ that to give blood, there was an approximate 2 week waiting list. Which was so touching. They asked for my name and phone number and they said they would call when they could make the appointment for me to give blood. They never called. It made me sad but it was also very comforting to know that we Americans could all pull together, Nation wide for our fellow Americans in need. I continued to watch CNN and everything I could for daily information. I didn't want to miss a thing. I was glued to the television everyday, every minute I was at home for approximately 2 months. I wouldn't go anywhere, not even to the Grocery store. Until I just could not take it anymore. I had to again find some kind of normalcy in this life. Not for me but for my children. I began to realize, yes, the most horrific attack on American soil had happened, but I am still living and my children still need their Mother. I lived everyday, scared to death that the bombs were going to come and land here at my home. I was afraid to go to work for fear that if it was to happen, my children would be scared and alone without me and possibly die woundering where their Mother was and why I wasn't there to help them. As time passed I started feeling more secure that the bombs were not going to come. Somehow time began to heal the wounds. Although the scars will forever be here, I have once again begun to live. I have a new found compassion for Life, Love and Liberty. And hearing the stories from the families who lost loved ones, the survivors and the many Heros of 9/11, I have finally in some way figured out what I want to do with my life. I want to help people, either by becoming a Fire Fighter, or by becoming a 911 dispatcher, or a nurse. Something of that nature. Now I just need to figure out which one I will be able to offer the most of myself for others. Although I did not personally loose a loved one on that fateful day, I still feel the pain and sorrow of loss, of a Nations innocence. I try not to take life for granted. I make sure to always tell my family and friends "I Love You." And now on this day, September 11, 2002, the 1 year Anniversary of this Sacred Day of terror, We Remember, Pray, and Honnor all those who perished, the injured, the Families, and the thousands of Heros of that very painful Day. And also the months that came after. The clean up of these tradgedies. I can't even imagine what it must have consisted of to get to the point of where we are now from where we were 1 year ago. God Bless You All and God Bless America! I Will Never Forget. I Love you Always, Deanna Lynn Cook Mesa, Arizona 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 story4412.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.81.17.38