294 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 heard a little about the first plane crashing into the first tower when I first got to work. Everyone was trying to figure out what caused the crash. Most of us thinking something faulty with the airplane. Then we heard of the second plane crashing. I began to call my mom every few minutes to find out the latest news. She was close to the television. My heart fell into my stomach. Of course as the day went one we heard of all of the other events. Everyone was just walking around saying they couldn't believe this had happened to the USA. My heart ached for those families not knowing if their family member was coming home. I lost someone this past April from a suicidal death and I have been going through post traumatic stress disorder from that. I have great sympathy for all of those who are going through that and the ache from their lost loved ones. I lost the man I thought I would spend my life with. I, like a lot of people, took for granted that tommorrow would come and he would be here. Since then and September 11, 2001 I have said the little things that mean so much in case tommorrow never comes. I have been doing more giving. I am more proud of this wonderful country than ever. There may not be justice for the terrorist here but a much higher power than any ruler here will make justice his. I am glad that this brought our country closer. Too bad it took such drastic measures. I am grateful for the smallest things that used to go unnoticed such as a flower or a hummingbird, the fact that I got out of bed this morning, etc. Too often people complain over the smallest things when they should be thankful for what they do have. There are alot of people who have it much worse be it healthwise, financial, etc. Be thankful if you have a family or friends, a house, a car, freedom to speak, freedom period. Just be thankful. I hope that every American will be more giving and less judgemental. That they will be grateful. That each day they will take the time to say the I Love You's and do acts of Kindness. Set and example and be someone that will leave a good impression. You never know whose life you might touch. My prayers and thoughts go out to all law enforcement, firemen and women, our military and their families, to all the families of those who parished on that day. To all construction workers, to anyone who has been touched by this in anyway. You are all true heroes. May God bless you and keep you. Let Freedom Ring. Sincerely, Cheri Reaves 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 story5304.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: September 11, 2001 I Never Wept Before Today I am in Boston on business. I work for a software company, as an application consultant. This means that I customize our software for our customers. Yesterday I arrived at Logan airport in Boston from Minneapolis ? my home. I came to do, what we call, a knowledge transfer for a customer and a partner. But that is not important. In fact, my whole notion of what constitutes important has been radically challenged. At about 9:00am est my wife called my on my cell phone. I was in the middle of my presentation and I simply sent the call to my voice mail. Immediately, however, I received another call from her and then I knew something was important. I answered the call and my wife began to describe events that, little did we know, would only continue and intensify in their horror. After I got off the phone I, and seemingly everyone else in the office, headed toward the break room which had a big screen TV. There I saw images that will be forever burned into my memory. I saw the one of the two 110 story World Trade Center Buildings with a gaping hole about 2/3?s of the way up belching flames. Just several minutes later that building, what is largely regarded as a symbol of the U.S. economic way, collapsed all the way to the ground. A passenger jet liner that left from Boston?s Logan Airport destined for Los Angeles, California crashed, as a missile, into the trade center tower. The jet liner, laden with enough fuel was a guided missile in the hands of what is in all likelihood, a terrorist. The horror of this event was inexplicable. But it only increased in scope and magnitude. 21 minutes after the plane crashed into the Trade Center Tower, another jet liner, laden with fuel for a trans-continental flight missiled into the second of the trade center towers. The results were the same but the effects, the horror, and the fright that this second intentional crash generated were exponentially greater. Both towers are now gone. 2 hours later another jet liner, having taken off from Washington Dulles airport bulleted into the Pentagon. One section of the center of our National Defense department was completely lost. A bit later another jet liner crashed into a rural field 80 miles outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The thought is that this flight was destined for another target in New York or Washington D.C. This is so overwhelming, yet the events of the day had not completed. World Trade Center building 7, a 40 story building, damaged severely by the collapse of the other two buildings, itself collapsed. The day saw 4 hijacked passenger planes with passengers and crew aboard, used as guided missiles; apparently at the hands of a highly synchronized terrorist attack against the United States of America. The collateral damage, that is, the damage not directly attributed to the impact of the plane/missile was even more than the direct damage. As the trade center towers collapsed, rescue personnel and civilians were trapped and many killed. Mouth agape, I watched all this unfold on a big screen TV in Boston; 1200 miles away from my wife and family. Only several minutes had elapsed since the initial phone call from my wife. As the tragedy unfolded, all air travel in the United States was suspended, the financial markets closed down, baseball was cancelled. Nearly everything we take for granted was violently and quickly brought into sharp focus and not taken for granted any longer. The rest of the day has taken a surreal and dreamlike sheen. Because we couldn?t go anywhere, we tried, lamely, to pick up the ?knowledge transfer? where it had left off. The banality of our metadata discussion stood in bleak contrast to the events that unfolded and continued to unfold as the ramifications of the attack swept over us. When I finally got back to my hotel I was overcome. I have never actually wept before, but broken, overwhelmed, and scared I sobbed on my hotel bed. Tears streaked down my face and I buried my face in my hands and wept. I wept at the magnitude of the devastation, I wept and cried out to God on behalf of our nation and those directly impacted by the destruction of the attack. There are those who are saying that the price of our freedom as a nation, as we know it, is the possibility of these kind of attacks. That possibility was realized today. What remains is the analysis and answering to the questions of balance between freedom and security. Casualty numbers are not in, nor are they important. The numbers great or small do not change the magnitude of what has happened and how the United States of America has been compromised. Yet this is but a taste of daily life in some other parts of the world, especially the middle east. It is not late, I am getting tired and may try to sleep. I doubt I will though. This is the Pearl Harbor of Generation X. A terrorist attack on America. Images haunt me, on this day, my Pearl Harbor day, a day I will remember like Boomers remember the assassination of JFK, the day I wept. September 12, 2001 Today I saw F-15 fighter aircraft flying protective sorties over the city of Boston. This was no air show, it was not a tribute to a downed pilot. They were flying for defense. Never thought I?d see air defense flying over a major U.S. city. Yet there they were. 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 story1113.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. 12.40.184.3 Annotation Annotations to this item. Economic effects Military 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: Asleep. 9:00 a.m. 9/11/01 I was sleeping in, as I had afternoon classes that day. My dad called me, waking me up from my snooze, insisting I turn on the television -- something had happened in New York City. I said, "Nah, I'm going back to sleep." He said, "Sleep some other time. Go turn it on. I must go. Bye." I rubbed my eyes, drowsy, and shuffled down the hall. Turning the TV on, I could make out a building on fire, with a blurb at the bottom of the screen, in all CAPITALS: "WORLD TRADE CENTER, PENTAGON UNDER ATTACK." Then through my tired eyes, I saw the buildings fall. For some reason it conjured no emotion in me, due to the shocking chain of events unfolding all around me. I was so "dazed and confused" that I didn't know if I should go to class or not. I decided to go. The campus was deserted. About 10 people were in my classroom, too dumbfounded and shellshocked -- as I was -- to know whether to go home or open their books or cry or move. I walked out of the room, drove home, and turned on the TV. Replay after replay of the buildings being attacked, of the towers collapsing, and of the masses upon masses of people fleeing for their lives -- it was then that I realized what had happened to the country -- to the world. At that moment, I knew that this was going to be a morning of mornings when it was the lucky ones who slept through it. To make a long -- and oft repeated -- story short, I spent the rest of the day (and weeks to follow) still rubbing my eyes, waiting to awaken from the nightmare of that morning. 9/11/01 9:00 p.m. Awake. 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 story957.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. 2002-08-01 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 172.139.216.218 Notes Notes about this item. Students/Teachers Television Coverage DC:2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11, 2001, I was sitting in my sophomore scripture class at Boston College High School. During first period, an unexpected announcement came over the loud speaker that brought the entire school to a bone-chilling silence. We were informed that the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York had been struck by two airplanes in an act of terrorism. I remember my teacher's mouth dropping open. After the announcement was finished, there wasn't a sound made on the entire floor. No one began talking for a few minutes. My teacher eventually tried to calm any fears we might have had at the moment. After the period ended, I remember going to the library for my free period to find a computer but I don't think there was a vacant one in the entire school. As I sat in the library I remember some of the rumors that were going around the school, either just made up or false reports on the internet. "There are still nine planes missing in the sky", "Boston is supposed to be another target". This news was shocking and terrifying as what used to be Boston Gas had an enormous gas tank located on the same boulevard as my school. All throughout the day I remember seeing worried parents arriving at school and picking up their kids in fear of an attack on Boston. I stayed in school and remember that every time a plane was heard overhead the school went quiet. My high school is right beneath the route that planes take to land at Logan Airport, which is where the planes that crashed into the Trade Centers originated from. I remember my math teacher was very emotional over the event and many other teachers either dismissed their classes or just took the class time to inform the students of exactly what was happening. When the last bell of the day rang, teachers and faculty members lined the hallways telling the students that they had to get their books and leave as soon as they could. When I got home at 3:00, I finally got to watch the atrocity on TV for the first time. It was the most awful sight that I had ever seen in my life. The documentaries and magazines that came out in the ensuing months reinforced the feelings of disgut and hate towards the revolting act. It is an image that I will never be able to 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 story9560.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. 2003-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 141.149.180.98 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 will never forget the morning of September 11. My husband and I had been planning our wedding to be held on September 22, 2002. That morning on my way to work I listened to a tape of music prepared by my organist so I could determine what my favorites were instead of listening to my morning news show. When I arrived at work people were frantic; the first plane had collided with the World Trade Center. Our office was chaotic, everyone had on their radios, we were receiving telephone calls from family members updating us with what they had heard, many of us were huddled into our break room where we have a TV.... I guess the worst part for me was when I heard a plane went down in Pennsylvania. My husband and I are "implanted Wisconsinites" we are originally from PA and were preparing to travel home for our wedding in a few days. A lady in the office came running to me and said Heather, another plane went down in some "burg" in PA, you better call home. I was frantic for a few minutes, I just wanted to hear my mother's voice to know that everyone was okay. I later felt very selfish about these emotions, I was lucky that day...I did not lose anyone close to me. I will never forget the surge of emotion I had. The bravery showed by people that day is just amazing. I am proud, more now than before, of my heritage and the fact that I am an American. 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 story4543.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. 208.171.49.126 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 social worker in Silver Lake Specialized Care Center, a rehabilitation and respiratory facility on the North Shore of Staten Island...where the back windows face downtown Manhattan. I came into work late that day, having stopped at the bank on my way in, but I heard a loud boom while waiting on line at the drive thru. I erroneously thought that it was a construction site across the street, not knowing what had happened. But by the time I got to work, I began to realize. I witnessed the smoking towers, and the fall of the first tower...something I will never forget!!!!! Other co-workers witnessed the planes hitting and the fall of the second tower, as well. One co-workers husband was among the missing, and when the first tower fell, she fainted. Thankfully, he walked all the way to Brooklyn, and eventually contacted her. Another co-workers daughter, also walked to safety and just last month gave birth to a miracle baby girl!!! Sadly, one of my co-workers lost her brother. Our hearts and prayers go out to her and her family, as well as to all the others who suffered great loss at this time. I live on the South Shore of Staten Island, just up the street from the Great Kills Land Fill. My family and I witnessed, every day, the tents set up there and the debris, and the bright lights on all night long, as the recovery effort went on and on. We often saw large dump trucks on the expressway loaded with twisted steel and metal beams. Overall, I must say, the whole experience was unbelievable. 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 story5242.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: How I witnessed history on the 11th of September was looked at as a tragic to me. I didn't really know much of what happened until I got to school were then my teacher explained to me what happened. She had explained to me that two planes crashed into the World Trade Center a.k.a Twin Towers. She also that many people had lost there lives and some of her family was in the one of the two towers.I was in such shock when I had heard the news and scared at the moment more than I had ever been in my life. When i had got home from school I turned the television on to watch and on every channel I saw the president having a little ceremony for this very sad and special day. A question that I have to ask is why? Why did the terrorists have to kill so many innocent people? My life has not really changed but has somewhat changed. The way that I think has changed because now I think a lot more about history than I ever did in my life.My life has also changed because I wasn't as afraid to go on an airplane. What I think should be most remembered about September 11th is everything. I don't just think that only one thing should be remembered because just t he fact that this happened is important. All historyshould be remembered and kept in mind. In conclusion September 11th will never be forgotten. So keep in mind history is gone but never forgotten and so is September 11th. 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 story8465.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-10-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.60.58.139 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It is my hope that you have already read my article ?The Attack,? which is readily available for view or downloading from www.cinemind.com/atwater. That article was done in a hurry, as there was no time then for a more in-depth sharing. Now, I want to be more specific and delve more deeply. Consider this the follow-up to ?The Attack,? and, like the previous article, it can be reprinted by anyone, anywhere, as long as credits are given. For those who do not know me, allow me to introduce myself. I have been a researcher of the near-death phenomenon since 1978 and have produced five books on my findings. I am also a multiple experiencer of near-death states. It?s because of my own episodes that I became a researcher. On occasion I have ventured out to speak about what I see and hear and experience on the ?inner planes? of the spirit realms, and I do give intuitive readings; but, for the most part, I have steered away from the usual psychic fare. I define the ?inner planes,? by the way, as that dimension, that space, that vibrational resonance wherein lies the untarnished soul (our Higher Self) and the reality of A Greater Plan for humankind. September 11th I had gone in spirit form to the inner planes at ?Ground Zero? in New York City after the first attack to help where I could, and was there to witness what followed. It is from that perspective, and from numerous other intuitive promptings and additional research, that I base the information for this article. A rush of odd accidents, illnesses, weather blips, people with similar feelings and dreams (whether positive or negative) always presages major events, accelerating in number the closer the timing gets. You don?t have to be a psychic to know something is about to occur. You need only learn how to listen and watch. The attack on America was no different. Changes in the environment and how people behave are ?readouts? to me, like looking at a barometer to check the current state of affairs in the earthplane and what may be building up energy-wise for the immediate future. Starting July 5th many people, myself included, suddenly became ill from unusual bouts of ?u, heart and lung distress. A level of frustration, almost a low-pitched anger, was apparent to me throughout the general populace, as well. This picked up July 15th, at a time when clusters of tectonic activity occurred, earth crustal slippage, and into August with unusual shark attacks and bee stings, powerful sun spot activity, the eruption of Mount Etna, and so many tremors and oscillations across the globe that it seemed as if the earth?s pumping system was in overdrive. None of this, in and of itself, meant that much, but taken together these incidents were beginning to form a pattern, one that bothered me deeply. Then, in late August and early September a barrage of mishaps blanketed our country, little things like cars that wouldn't start, enterprises that failed, people?s backs that went out, folks falling down and hurting themselves. Almost on cue, the phone calls and e-mails began pouring in from individuals almost desperate to talk about a feeling or dream or premonition they had had about a crash or explosion that would soon happen and a building would topple. Some were haunted by visions of death on a massive scale. I?m referring here to the hundreds who contacted me. The majority of them were so bombarded by these ?messages? that they developed headaches and stomach problems because of them. A number were specific: ?There?s a plane going to hit the World Trade Center in New York City.? None knew when, but most were convinced it was Middle Eastern terrorists. I want you to realize this, that our nation?s 911 emergency was ?known? and reacted to, I believe by tens of thousands, long before it occurred. We humans sense things, we sense the ?currents? major pockets or clusters of energy masses generate as psychic/emotional ?voltage? increases in the ethers. Because most of us have no belief system to accommodate this type of reality, that thought-forms and feelings have substance or that tension and stress can build up in the atmosphere, we miss the size and shape of what?s coming and the possible whys, and react instead as if we were jelly-like ameba being pinched or pushed around. Our busy lives blind us, too, as few there are who make room in their schedule any more for periods of prayer and meditation, or simply quiet reflection. You need to slow down a little to allow what?s ?eating? at you or being a bother to reveal itself. I make this point because I have no doubt that the attack on America was ?fated? in the sense that the people of the world, not just in our country, needed to awaken, recognize and admit how their desires/actions were hurting themselves, others, and the lovely ?blue marble? upon which we all dwell. It was a ?blow? that caught everyone off guard, including the terrorists, for more will come of it than any statement the misguided sons of wealthy fathers could have imagined (and many of the terrorists were indeed from rich families of the Muslim faith). A ?call? has sounded in the ethers and none of us will ever again be quite the same. As a matter of review, let me briefly describe what I witnessed on the inner planes at Ground Zero in New York City, the Pentagon, and at the field in Pennsylvania where one plane crashed. For most of Tuesday the 11th I couldn't separate the dead from the dying from those who survived. There was that much confusion. Too many souls left their bodies too fast. Wednesday there was still some confusion, a few screams and cries, but the majority of the departed souls were beginning to form a huge wave, like a ?hand? stretching. They were coming together as if one energy mass and they were ?waking up,? becoming aware. I have helped at many tragedies and led prayer vigils, but never have I seen anything like this. My sense was to aid the injured and those who hurt, as they needed me more right then than the souls of the dead. By Thursday morning the soul wave was fully formed, each soul totally conscious and possessed of knowing. The sound they made, their tonal vibration, was one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. Music, the music of a great love, the love of those willing to die for the benefit of others overwhelmed me. Before I could think, the soul wave and I merged. This is what I saw, felt, knew, and experienced when that happened. Each person who died, regardless of who, victim or perpetrator, had agreed before birth to be part of this event to be there at that location at that time as that person. They had not ?contracted? as souls to die, necessarily, but to be present and accounted for, to be part of the energy that would ensure this event occurred. It was only as the moment neared that final decisions were made. A wake-up call was needed, one horrendous enough to reverberate across our country and the globe, affecting every man, woman, and child and in every nation. The people who died sacrificed their lives to make the needed statement that we cannot continue to live as we have, with the same motives, habits, and beliefs. We must change. Many are those who have grown complacent or frustrated in life, sloppy of dress, rigid in beliefs, uncaring in the consequences of personal activities, ever craving another addiction convincing enough to prove they are alive. In our country we have put ?things? ahead of service and long-term investments. We have numbed ourselves to a consumerism gone mad, a spirituality deemed little more than new age nonsense, a game mentality that puts profits ahead of reason. This will not be the only horror to occur. There will be more: this year around the holidays, next year from summer on, and throughout 2003 - and as many other times as necessary to make certain no one sloughs back to their former lifestyles. Even the Presidency of the United States will not be immune to the force of the call that has sounded. Weather challenges will heighten. On Friday, as an embodied human being, I joined the soul wave and dedicated myself to help with the healing. This for me entailed an immediate phone call. An editor in downtown New York City had a manuscript of mine on his desk when the attack occurred, and I felt guided to tell him I would be adding a new chapter on mass death and soul commitments. Over the protests of the editor, the book, The Real Truth About Death, Myriam?s Gift, was rejected by the publisher before I could mail in the rewrite. The reason? Not commercial enough. Although a publishing house turned thumbs down on the book I wrote, refusing to even consider the additional material on America?s tragedy, I am energized by the incident. It is no accident to my way of thinking that a book designed to help alleviate the pain and fear of death, written at the urging of my granddaughter?s soul after she had died, was sitting in the midst of the attack scene and since has been rewritten to accommodate that event from the perspective of the soul. I have no doubt that a more insightful publisher will now be found. Action like this can happen when you join the soul wave. And anyone can. Declare it so, and join in through your prayers, your activities, and your willingness to put God (Deity) first in your life. That means everyday, from now on. I was told while in the soul wave to dress up, stand tall, and step forward with courage. Whatever you are told or feel or sense that would make a positive difference and uplift others, it is important that you do it. Among the tasks you take on, consider becoming a healing helper. There is an article entitled, ?Healing Helpers,? on my website that has one idea of how this could be done in a church or group setting. The enemy in this affair is not who or what we think it is. Yes, we can look at ourselves personally and at our nation and see many faults and acknowledge many mistakes. It is good that we do this, and that we agree to overhaul our penchant for ignoring what we don?t want to see and for basing decisions on short-term expediency rather than valid, commonsense solutions. Just because something is traditional, for instance, does not make it right. On the personal front, here are a few issues many of us bypass: anyone who uses drugs for purposes other than medical or in sacred ceremony is directly contributing to the economic and governmental destruction of at least five countries, not to mention the quality of countless lives. Anyone who lashes out at another because of race, religion, or gender becomes the hated ?offender.? You never thought about these issues that way before? Maybe you should. Argue with me if you wish, but changes don?t happen until we the people initiate them first in our own life. Along the lines of questionable decision making is a campaign currently being conducted by pharmaceutical companies that would severely restrict the right of anyone, anywhere, to choose vitamin/mineral therapy, homeopathy, and any other ?natural? product in their healthcare. This campaign is aimed at the United Nations and the World Health Organization as they seek to establish a universal food code through the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The goal is to set international safety standards for such things as vitamin and food supplements, with enforcement of availability and dosage left to the World Trade Organization. But, what began as protection for the common good, has evolved into the criminalization of individual choice. Codex regulations, once fully instituted, will override existing laws in member nations, including ours. Personal letters and phone calls to legislators are the way to oppose this. Refer to Ruth James for more information, via her website at www.therealessentials.com. Now who?s the enemy? Us? Them? And who?s them? Is the enemy the terrorists who killed so many people and did so much damage, forcing our country into a recession? The truth is, terrorism is to Islam what the Klu Klux Klan is to Christianity an abomination. Still, there?s more to be said about this. Osama Bin Laden and his network of assassins are not Muslims, per se, but members of a totalitarian corruption of Islam known as ?Wahhabism.? Founded in the late 18th century by Ibn Abdul Wahhab, the cult was associated with the mass murder of all who opposed it taking as a literal command that verse in the Koran that says, ?Death to the infidels.? The Prophet himself warned that from the city where Wahhab was born would emerge a source of corruption and confusion a prophecy fulfilled by the spread of Wahhabism. The ideology behind the cult is an extreme form of puritanism, demanding inordinate punishments, with a hatred of ?ostentatious? spirituality, and harboring an ancient fear of women and female intelligence. Wahhabism, as one of the world?s leading sources of institutionalized terrorism, has spread in power and influence to over twenty countries, among them Pakistan, Chechnya, Bosnia, and through the Taleban into Afghanistan. It?s main money source and support comes from. . . Saudi Arabia, the protector of Islam?s heart. (Refer to the work of Stephen Schwartz and his book, Intellectuals and Assassins, Anthem Press.) Add to this mix the fact that huge oil fields have been discovered in the Caspian Sea Basin, enough oil to supply the world?s needs for another 500 years. Because of the terrain, the only possible supply routes out of the Basin are either through Chechnya and the Balkan States or across the length of Afghanistan. Now who?s the enemy? The Wahhabists as perverters of Islam? Muslim clerics who turn a deaf ear to ?brothers? who defame the faith? Osama Bin Laden and his network of terrorists? The Taleban? Saudi Arabia?s undisguised interest in the Caspian oil fields? Our own CIA and the actions they take to protect national interests in a drama that has wound up being more about the greed of who controls the gas pump than in ensuring the ready availability of ?black gold?? The notion that we are in the final days of ?ancient sunshine? - the waning of the Arabic oil fields as a source of fuel - is false. Neither is it necessary to drill in the Arctic tundra for oil, upset nature?s balance in wild and beautiful parklands, for there isn?t that much oil in those particular fields to begin with, nor will drilling in that area free us from dependence on our present suppliers. Turning our scientists and inventors loose on replacing the internal combustion engine and thus replacing not only the fuel we use but the pollution it causes, is a far wiser choice. But, experimentation takes time so, for now, we commit ourselves to a path complicated by Saddam Hussein?s desire to replace Osama as the world?s number one purveyor of mass murder. His weapon of choice - biological and chemical agents. And there?s another twist to this. In the book, Fortunate Son by Lewis Puller (Grove Weidenfeld, publisher), there is mention of the early days of George W. Bush?s oil company, and how his principle backer at the time was Salem Bin Laden, Osama?s older brother. Our President became quite wealthy thanks to that venture and the links he had then to the Bin Laden family. Not only Bush but several members of his administration have fingers in big oil whether that?s an advantage or a disadvantage is unknown. What is known is that the United States has become increasingly involved with the very nations that might one day pipe out oil from the Caspian Sea Basin, and so has Russia (reexamine, if you will, the Russian conflict in Afghanistan and the war they are still waging in Chechnya - as per ?motives?). And don?t forget China, as they are a source of weaponry to buyers in that region. We are warned that terrorists are everywhere, well-funded, and ready to attack ?the infidels? for the protection of their religious faith, their culture, and what they have been brainwashed to believe is a ?better? way of life dead or alive. And they will strike again. And they will continue to refuse negotiations, spitting on any peace proposal, compromise, or practical solution. Civilized societies such as ours are especially vulnerable to this madness. There is a counter-movement to the retaliation that is being planned by our government and those sympathetic with our cause, a loud cry springing from some individuals in various colleges, churches, and social groups. They propose nonviolent measures and point to how killing only begets more killings. And they point to Gandhi and how he championed nonviolence in his campaign to win India?s freedom from Great Britain. Those who quote Gandhi the most often forget another of his remarks, where he admitted that nonviolent tactics would have been useless against Nazi Germany and its Gestapo or any country or group like them. My memory is still emblazoned with the imagery and sounds of World War II. I know well what Gandhi was referring to. For that reason, I will not sign any petition asking for peace with the Taleban or with Bin Laden. I will, however, support, and with fervor, any measure that seeks to lessen the grip of what produces terrorism and the mindset of those who would enslave others. I am already active in prayer groups dedicated to this; my husband and I careful of how dollars are spent and where for each and every dollar any of us spend or invest is a vote cast for the world we would live in. We have a ?cutline? (extra sentence) printed on all our checks, and located over the signature line. The cutline reads: ?All our expenditures are our investment in life.? Whenever we write a check, we reaffirm the truth in what that statement means. Pages back, I said the enemy isn?t who or what we think it is. I?ve given you various ways since then to consider just who or what the real enemy might be. Now I want to give you another one that has a deeper place in our psyche. In several of the world?s great religions, particularly Christianity, there are stories of ?The Fall,? wherein some of God?s angels were cast from heaven for refusing to obey God?s Will. The first to disobey in the biblical version was Lucifer, the light-filled ?morning star.? Humankind has supposedly been plagued by this evil one and his ?light workers? ever since, tempted to commit misdeeds by them, seduced by pleasures of the flesh and the desire for power and attention. Those more fundamental in their religious thinking use this story to validate their fear-based opposition to spiritual tenets, the ?light? of enlightenment, cases of near-death experiences, and the process of transforming and refining consciousness. Any reference to ?light? they claim is a sign of the devil, proof that Lucifer, the great deceiver, has won over another convert. At issue here is not an ancient legend or myth of some devil running around deceiving people, but, rather, a fear so deeply embedded in the human psyche that it skips the notice of most moderns - and that is, a fear of individualism and the power of free will. That fear defines the line that separates Eastern and Western cultures, democracy and imperialism, corporate mentality and the entrepreneur, creativity and compliance, gender/racial dominance and relationships; and, for the purposes of this article, the line between surrendering to God?s Will (the religious challenge of Christianity) and submission to God?s Will (the religious challenge of Islam). There is no self-righteousness here, no chosen or privy anointment of sacred trust. Just a primal instinct to feel threatened or confused by or jealous of any person or entity capable of surviving and thriving in an environment where the power to choose and question is balanced with personal responsibility and self-discipline. You?d think we citizens of the third millennium would have outgrown this primordial fear by now, but we haven?t. Like a shadowy figure, it still lurks about in the subconscious mind, sabotaging the best efforts of many, blinding the rest of us to how ?civilized? behavior could possibly be viewed as rude, ungodly, or arrogant. There?s no give-and-take when any one side dominates whoever the ?us? or ?them? is. If ever a new goal or mission was destined for humankind, a time of awakening, it?s here now. Staring death in the face has a way of rearranging and redefining priorities. I know. I?ve been on that ?knife?s edge? three times. Our common enemy knows how to endanger our comfort zone. With drugs Afghanistan raises and produces three-fourths of the world?s supply of heroin and cocaine and they have stockpiled huge harvests. With money the terrorist network has seriously manipulated the stock and bond market and money transfers worldwide. With violence they have eliminated three centers of world trade, part of a military hub, nearly 20,000 jobs, in excess of 5,000 lives, several airline companies, and brought on a nationwide recession. . . all within minutes on a single day. But, our common enemy forgot something the will of a free people to remain free, the will of civilization itself to protect its potential for growth and improvement. In America, the generation many had given up on, the ?lost? Generation X, has become our most enthusiastic patriots, enlisting in the Armed Forces, giving blood at Red Cross drives, waving flags, giving generously to help those who hurt. The new children, the geniuses of the Millennial Generation, at last have a mission, a unifying goal they can tackle. These new kids are the creative problem solvers. Nothing like them has ever existed before, at least not in the numbers we now see. The Millennials are indeed the hope of the world, and we the people, you and me, will ensure that they have a world to live and thrive in. Our work is cut out for us. The month of October will be an example of how strange things will be for awhile, but, then, so was December a long time ago when the screaming sirens of Pearl Harbor were heard on my front porch in Twin Falls, Idaho, and throughout our nation and the world. We have birthed a global village since then, one people, one heartbeat. We can no longer afford to hate each other. We finally must learn to care. 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 story314.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. 2002-03-25 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.66.222.101 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 fell really bad for the people that where hurt and people that died.I was watching Tv about all the people family members that on september 11,and i fell sad for them.I know that i will never feel the pain that those people are filling.I wish i could help.I fell that some people need to move on with lifes.im not saying to forget at about all the people and what happened on sept 11 im just saying to be strong because there are still with you in some. I know that peoples Uncles,Dads,Moms,Grandmas, ,grandpa and aunts and husbands and Wives where killed.People think because this happened they dont believe god anymore.Well what we have to relize is that everything happens for a reason.And if you stand by god you will get better step by step.And show more appreation for the police officers that where there and put there life on the line for other people. 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 story3385.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. 156.63.41.73 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: My son,daughter-in-law and 9 month old grandaughter and myself were on our way home after spending 5 relaxing days in Cape May, NJ. We stayed overnight at my daughter-in-laws sister's house which was located right outside of Philadelphia. We were loading the car at 8:30 AM, Sept. 11, when I was having a cup of coffee, watching the Today show, when it came on with the report of the first plane hitting the WTC. My, son, who had worked in Manhattan, was surprised,but continued loading the car. Then the picture & announcement of the 2nd plane, at which time Mike said, This is no accident, we're being attacked. As we watched in horror, news of the Pentagon attack, & subsequent airplane going down in Shanksville,PA, at which time I said let's get out of here, we're too close to Philadelphia, which could be the next target. We started home, going on the northeast ext.of the PA turnpike. We watched as we saw numerous State Police cars at all toll booths, plus National Guard & Reserve trucks heading down the Turnpike towards, Philadelphia, NYC & Washington. Five hours later we arrived home in rural PA, on my farm. What this did was bring back memories,I had buried many years earlier, that being when we were attacked by Japan at Pear Harbor. I was only 5 or 6 at the time, but it's something you never forget as I'm sure so will Sept. 11th be also. 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 story2998.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.97.74.78 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 and I was on my way to science class and when I walked in my teacher had already had the TV on and it showed the North Tower smoking with fire and everyone was wondering what was goin on. Everyone was very anxious to know what was going on. And then during the live broadcast I was able to see the second plane fly into the second tower. We were all in disbelief. And then after a while they had switched over to show the Pentagon and showed that it too had been struck by a plane. And thats when everyone started getting nervous because it was so close by. And later my mom had come to pick me and my cousin up from school and and we went to our aunts house and met with all our family around there and make sure everyone was ok because my dad and my uncle worked in DC. And from there on it was just a blur to 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 story20499.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 151.188.16.21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was sitting at my desk in the tallest building in Salina, Kansas when a co-worker called and told me what had happened. I told several other staff and we all went to the Internet to get as much information on the situation as possible. Several of us had our radios tuned in for the latest news breaks. I remember hearing that the Sears Tower and other office building in Chicago were evacuating to safety reasons. I have a sister that works downtown Chicago. Worried for her safety, I called my mom and asked if she had heard anything from my sister Donna. Mom didn't know what was going on, I told her what had happened and to turn on her television. Finally after about 1 hour my mom heard from my sister Donna and she was on her way home. I was so sad to think about all of the families that lose someone very close to them. And thinking that this is happening way to close to home for me. God Bless the families that lost a loved one, the firefighters, policemen and women and all of they other emergency workers. But most of all God Bless America! Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story2058.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 208.191.40.43 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I customarily watch morning news shows as I get ready for work. Just as I was about to leave at 8:50 A.M. (CST) I saw the smoke come out of the first tower. I thought it was just fire and thought about the Windows to the World and thought it could have caught fire. I left for work and only one person had a radio and they exclaimed as to what was happening. I was shocked and I still had not seen any television pictures. I once lived at the Watchtower Headquarters in Brooklyn Heights from 1991 to 1993 on the 10th floor of the refurbished Standish Hotel. I always kept my windows open so that I could look at the WTC every morning. I had grown to appreciate their majestic appearance over skyline. I took several pictures from 1991 to 1993 of the towers and I take them out and look at them often. I remember going to take pictures for a friend's wedding in the atrium overlooking New Jersey. The images on the televison showed the same area but now it was completely destroyed. I remember the first bombing in 1993 and how NYC was able to recover. This was just a tragedy. It was not called for. I spent many days in Lower Manhattan. I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge at every chance that I had. I also lost friends in this tragedy. On September 11, 2001 I cried harder than I had ever done before. I felt pain and deep sadness for the senseless act. I felt pain for all the people that had nothing to do with affairs on the other side of the world. They did not have to suffer and they certainly did not have to die. My wife and I were engaged at the observatory of the WTC and it was a special place for us. He hoped to return someday to celebrate our anniversary there but now it is gone. The good thing is that we are still here and together and will get through this tough year together. I want to let everyone know that I don't feel patriotic. I want to explain why. This act of violence was meant to attack everything that is decent about human beings regardless of their nationality or race. This act was wrong regardless of the origin. I feel proud that we can overcome tragedy and that is testament to the human spirit not just the American spirit. Nothing good has every resulted in any war in our history. Very little benefit if any has been produced by further violence. Although war seemed like the solution at the time -- it has never been the only or the best solution. Good always wins over evil. We have to all stive to be good.I feel hurt and I don't like to feel this way. One year later I still feel hurt and it will take sometime for this to go away but I want all of us to move on and be positive. Take the initiative to make those around you feel special. Make your own little corner of the world a little better for all of us. Take the time out to read God's word daily, it is medicine for our broken hearts. It contains more wisdom than a whole cabinet of advisors. Only if we apply what is written will we ever find the solution to the world's problems. 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 story5859.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. 63.52.138.207 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 school nurse in a High School in Brooklyn. At 8:30 Am a girl came to my office for a copy of her immunizatons. She had dropped out of school the year before and was going to start an Equivalency Diploma program the following night. She apologized for coming at the last minute. She had meant to take a day off from work some time over the summer but never got around to it. The radio was on and we all heard the events being reported as they were occurring. The girl started to quietly cry. I asked her if she know someone who worked there. She said that SHE worked there; she took TODAY off to come here to get her papers together for the GED program. She tried to call her boss, but of course, she couldn't get through. When the towers came down she was crying hysterically. I told her there was a reason that she was here and not there. There was a reason why she came today and not any of the other 60 days of the summer. She was destined to do something wonderful with her life, beginning with her getting a High School diploma. I don't know who she is or what she is doing but I am confident she will make a difference in the world someday. 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 story5534.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Well I don't really remember a lot, but I do know that when I got home from school. My mom was cring. She said that her nephew, my cousin, worked in the trade center.When I heard that. my heart dropped. Now every September 11, I will remember that he died on this date. 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 story20579.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.186.239.238 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I believe September 11th was a Tuesday because I was at a Managers' meeting at a Waterfront Call Center in downtown Buffalo. The meeting began at 9:00 a.m. Shortly before the meeting got started, one of the managers received a telephone call on his cell phone. It was his wife stating the a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers in New York City. What seemed like only moments later, another cell phone rang and the caller stated that a second plane had hit the Towers. One of the Call Center staff interrupted the meeting immediately after that and stated that America was under terrorist attack. The agenda of the meeting changed from reviewing the last quarter's activity to managing the work environment. Approximately 300 staff and employees had reported in for first-shift work that day. Many of the employees had relatives who lived in NYC and, of course wanted to know if they were alright. The senior management team contacted headquarters and a plan was set: Employees who wanted to, could go home and/or follow-up on the status of their loved ones (both in Buffalo and in NYC). A conference room was turned into a command center. A computer linked to the internet, a radio, and a television were in the conference room and anyone could go in at anytime to receive updates. The Call Center management ordered lunch for the staff. Human Resource personnel were available to provide counseling and support. I, along with other managers, walked around the Call Center to provide some level of comfort to the staff and reassurance that all would be okay. People were crying as they may futile attempts to contact family in New York City. The circuits were so tied up, no calls were getting through. I called my husband and spoke to him. Our stories were similar He remained at work as well that day. An attempt to complete any work related tasks was useless. Everyone was so overwhelmed by the horrific event. When I finally arrived home that evening, I immediately turned to CNN to watch the news. I must have sat in front of that television for most of the evening. I just could not believe what had happened: The Towers were there and then they were gone. It was surreal; like something out of a movie...a horror movie. I watched every time the planes were shown crashing into the Towers. I must have watched that film clip several hundred times. Each time I watched I realized how fragile life was; how much hatred there is in the world; and how much we need each other. September 11th will be forever in archives of my mind just as the day that Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, and the day the John F. Kennedy was assasinated...and the day my mother died. Each event touched my heart and my soul. Each event had a profound, life-changing effect on me and how I view life on the planet earth. I pray for all of those who lost loved ones on September 11th. May they find peace in their memories. I pray for world peace and unity among nations. I pray that the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, the God of the living and the dead, my God, bless us and keep us now, hence, and forever more. Amen. Dr. Traci A. Jackson 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 story5317.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.54.71.88 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: 9.11 Ranting Well it has been one year since the unthinkable horror of September 11th, 2001. During the past year we have been over saturated by endless words and phrases that describe how much America and it?s population has changed for the better, how we are more unified than we have ever been, how proud and patriotic we have all become, how much deeper our regard for human life is and how much better we treat one another. Shortly after the attacks, President Bush announced that ?We will shine the light of justice on those responsible for this.? One year later, I feel it is high time someone shined the light of realism on America, the world and human nature. Let?s dispense with all the patriotic cliches, oversimplifications and generalizations long enough to take a good, honest look at ourselves and who we really are. Okay, maybe we are slightly more polite, maybe we hold doors open for others more often, maybe we even say please and thank you to grocery clerks, waiters and the like with more consistency and regularity, but is this an indication that we have changed for the better? Has the murder rate dropped since September 11th? What about rape? Assault? Kidnapping? Theft? Child abuse? Two thousand, nine hundred, ninety nine people were killed as a result of foreign interests on September 11th but if we looked at the statistics, we would see that the horror we inflict on each other on a yearly basis FAR surpasses that number. Many more Americans die at the hands of other Americans than they do as a result of terrorist attacks. One may argue that ?those? types of Americans who commit these crimes are lower class and ignorant -- minorities and gang members who dwell in ghettos or poor, white, backwoods, trailer park trash who have sex with family members. But we know that this is not true. And true or not true, the sad truth is is that these people are still Americans, protected by the same laws and constitutions as everyone else and allowed to enjoy the same freedoms as the rest of us. If the law ever does manage to catch up with them it is almost a certainty that our backward legal system will have them back on the streets as soon as possible. These freedoms that we hold dear are the same freedoms that allow Americans to continue to inflict death and destruction on each other. This is why all these blanket statements about the strength and unity of our citizens are unrealistic, exaggerated and largely untrue. For some reason when we are victimized by a foreign power, we become outraged enough to start a war against these attackers. How much federal funding do you think President Bush has at his fingertips for this war and how much has already been spent? One billion? Two? Three? More? Chances are it?s more than any of us realize, but for some reason, no president in history has ever tried to mobilize that amount of money to attempt to end the war that Americans wage on each other on a daily basis; a war that results in horror and death for thousands of AMERICANS each year. Americans have been shouting ?world peace? from the rooftops since the dawn of this country, yet right under our noses, right on our very own soil, the real American war rages on. I am not trying to be cynical or negative, only realistic. The truth of the matter is, human nature cannot be changed. Forget about all the rapists and murderers, etc., the reality of humanity is that we thrive on conflict, we are vengeful and retaliatory by nature, envious of others more successful than we are, materialistic, narcissistic, easily angered by others, egotistical, vein, hedonistic and the list goes on. Let?s be honest with ourselves, who has not cursed someone out or flipped him or her off on the highway since September 11th? Who has not been rude to a telemarketer? Who has not gotten in a verbal or physical fight with someone based on trivial matter? Who has not said, ?I can?t stand that person? to a friend? Who has not thought negative thoughts about someone? Who has not talked badly about someone behind his or her back? And again, the list goes on. We all cried ON September 11th and we?ve all done bad things to each other SINCE September 11th. Furthermore, as Americans, the negative aspects of our human nature is exacerbated by the fact that we have become accustomed to having anything we want readily available to us. In short, we have become spoiled and we take for granted that our every desire can not only be satisfied but can be satisfied at lighting speeds. And our basic needs like clothing, food, water, plumbing and shelter are taken for granted to the point where we don?t even think about them, even though these would be considered luxuries for the millions of people around the world who go without them every day. This is not to say that human nature does not have it?s good qualities-- heroism, pride, empathy, kindness, loyalty, devotion, graciousness, generosity, helpfulness and other similar attributes are all a part of our DNA as well. But the difference is is that these qualities are not as readily apparent in us until we are inspired by tragedy or hardship to let them flourish. Our less admirable qualities are far more accessible to us. You would have to be an absolutely soul-less monster to not be deeply saddened and emotionally altered by the events of 9/11. But just because these feelings have inspired our good nature does not mean that we are suddenly all saints. The reality is that September 11th has caused us to show these qualities more often and readily than we have in the past but our less admirable qualities have not disappeared or gone dormant as the media and Bush would have us believe. So it is time for our denial to stop, it is time for us to stop kidding ourselves and it is time for us to go back to accepting ourselves for the deeply flawed people we really are. We are Americans and we are human, this is our nature and there is no changing it. As long as we are drawing breath we will continue to act out of greed, envy and egocentricity. As long as our heart beats, our drive for goals and materialistic gain will cause us to mistreat each other. And as long as our brains are functioning we will hurt and abuse each other out of hatred, anger, jealousy and self-centeredness. And no amount of foreign terrorist attacks on our soil will ever change that. It is a biological impossibility. Yes, we may be closer to our loved ones since September 11th, we may be more introspective about our existence and we may be more gung ho about our freedom and the protection of it, but has the foundation of who we are really ?changed? as the media and President Bush say it has? Absolutely not. Those of us who do not fall into the murderer and rapist category have merely risen to the occasion of showing our overall empathy and support for the victims and their loved ones. This is also part of our nature but it creates a major paradox in who we are: we can empathize with anonymous victims of tragedies and have compassion for the overall plight of humanity while at the same time inflicting negativity, physical mistreatment or verbal abuse on any individual when prompted (usually by our petty pride, impatience and/or materialism). ?Therein lies the rub? as they say. You cannot create peace by fighting those who oppose it or those who destroy it. Peace begins in your heart. You choose peace when you ignore an insult from a stranger instead of reacting to it. You choose peace when you don?t retaliate against someone who has wronged you. You choose peace when you back down from the challenge to fight by some drunken loud mouth a bar. The examples of how peace begins are endless. We CAN still have peace in our hearts even though we are jealous, materialistic, etc. by nature. Peace comes when we allow getting what we want, being right or exercising power over someone to take a back seat to those other, more positive aspects of our human nature. And ?world peace? will only come once every person on earth learns how to do this individually. September 11, 2002 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story6463.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. 129.174.27.149 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 eleventh was when the "world" ended and humanity began. Heath Bartel 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 story5878.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. 64.80.15.153 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 awakened by an early phone call, "Mom, turn on the TV." I saw Peter Jennings and started recording on video...I have over 16 hours on tape. I watch it from time to to remind me of lives lost, heroes taken, families devastated. My youngest daughter was living in Manhatten, just blocks from the WTC, she has since moved to Colorado. I did not hear from her for over 6 hours and I could not get through on my cell phone. Huge anxiety set in. She often visited the WTC. Was she there today, I asked myself. No, she wasn't, but she was in a state of shock and scared to death. She was watching the Today Show and Katie Couric said, "What was that!" My daughter heard it too. I just wanted to take her in my arms and make her safe. We talked for a long time. I told her to go to the computer and start writing about her feelings and observations. She did and will pass it on to her children, so we will never forget. I told her she was at ground Zero during the most tragic time in American History. I said this because my Mother was pregnant with me when Pearl Harbor was bombed. She did not know if he was alive or dead, he was in the Navy @ Pearl Harbor. He had left Pearl the night before on a Naval destroyer with a secret mission. I know I still feel the pain she felt while waiting to hear from my Dad, which did not happen for four months. He was not preent at my birth at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Virtginia. 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 story3328.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. 67.24.239.233 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 morn of Sept. 11, 2001, my just turned 5 y.o. Haley and I were viewing the coverage on the television. When the plane hit the North tower she turned to me and said, "mom, there's people in there.". I replied, "yes, there are," and we both started to cry. 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 story2005.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.81.16.186