309 20 70359 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was on vacation in Houston, with my best friend and her family, while my husband and three sons were home in Akron, OH. On the morning of September 11th, I was awakenend by the phone ringing. I heard my friend and her daughter talking, and thought well, I might as well get up and have some coffee with them. My bedroom door opened into the living room, which at the end of was a big screen tv. Never will I forget the picture that was on of the first tower that had been hit, burning. Dumbly I stood looking and managed to croak out, "what the heck is that ?" My friend replied, "the WTC has been hit". My only thought was oh god not again. As I sunk into a chair trying to digest this scene, my friends daughter handed me a cup of coffee, and the annoucement came that a second plane had hit the other tower. The first of many sets of chills ran through me, as I realized this was no accident or random event. Shortly there after came the news of a plane crashing in Pennsylvania, and then the announcement of the plane crashing into the Pentagone. Things are a bit of a blur, but I do remember hearing comments around the room, like Oh my God, this isnt happaning, what is going on, and for the first time of many, we are under attack. My friends brother worked for the Houston based Canter Fitzgerald office, and some how had gotten the task of trying to communicate with Canter Fitzgerald employes in the Tower, via cell phones. He was trying to find locations of employes or what ever information he could get to relay to authorities in New York to get them help. When the tower that contained the Canter Fitzgerald offices fell, he called my friend sobbing saying "it's down, I was on the phone with an employee and you could hear people yelling and things crashing and then nothing". I do remember a chilling silence filling the living room then as we all stared at the tv, tears spilling silently and unchecked, seeing and knowing but still not quite comprehending the enormity of the violence unfolding in front of us. Two other events stand out in my mind that day. At some point there was news about the plane crashing in Pennsylvania. They showed its flight path and that it diverted over Ohio, and it appeared to me that it had flown over Akron. I called home to hear my childrens voices, and to my husband whom was at work and not aware of this days events. I told them all they were loved and not to leave each others sides. I cant get through this without crying even though its been 3 years now. The second event that sticks with me was when all flights were grounded. My friend lives like 2 blocks from Hobby Airport. First you noted the silence, and then later as we left to run to the store, you saw a concrete confirmation , as planes were sitting all over the tarmacs, like some childs scattered toys. Later when the first flights were allowed out, we were at the store and one flew over the parking lot. About 20 people were in the parking lot, and every head looked up. I can't speak for the others as to their thoughts for that moment, but I can't help but wonder if their's were the same as mine, Oh god please dont let this happen again, and haaaa take that you damn terrorists, you cant keep us down. I flew home a few days later, having not slept in 24 hours, bordering on severe panick attacks, to arrive in the airport in Akron Canton. At that moment all the events of the last week crashed into me, and as I met my family beyond the security check as they were no long allowed to meet me at the gate, I was sobbing. I grabbed them all, and held them so tight and kept saying I love you. To those who lost a loved one that day, my thoughts and prayers are with you. To the police and firefighters, and unsung heroes, who were just doing their job that day, my deepest thank's and respect. 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 story10963.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 70.16.233.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On the morning of September 11th, I didn't go to school because I had to get my eyes checked. On the way to Boston, my mother turned on the radio. They said that two airplanes have just crashed into the Twin Towers. I wasn't even listening to the radio until my mother said "OH MY GOD!" Then that got me to start listening to the radio. They said it again. I thought that the station was just trying to play some sick joke. My mother changed the station, but every station was talking about it. It was a huge reality check for me. After that we heard that a plane crashed into the Pentagon! Sirens where going off in Boston. All telephones lines where busy, and everyone was worried. It was just like a scene from a movie. We where trying to get to a T.V as soon as possible. We went to my mother's friend's house. My mother turned on the T.V and we saw the plane crash into one on the Twin Towers. It was horrible. I think that my life has changed since Sept. 11th.Iam even more proud to be an American. Before 9-11 being an American was just plain normal. But the tragedy that occurred on 9-11 made people raise their flags higher, and not take for granted for what life is. It made people enjoy being an American. What should be remembered about 9-11 is what it brought to us. We became a true nation after 9-11. We should remember how the fire fighters gave and risked and gave their own lives for the sake of innocent people. We should remember how Osma bin Laden gave us so much pain, but made our nation so much better. 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 story8455.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: I REMEMBER THAT I HAD AWAKEN AT 7:30AM TO GET MY BABY GIRL (THEN ONLY 22DAYS OLD) HER BOTTLE. WHEN I TURN ON THE TELEVISION TO WATCH THE NEWS. AT AROUND 8:30AM I REMEBER THAT I HAD THIS VERY STRANGE FEELING LIKE SOMETHING BAD WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. I TOLD MY HUSBAND AND HE SAID THAT IT PROBABLY WAS JUST NERVES BECAUSE OF THE NEW BABY. THEN AT 8:47AM I SAW ON THE NEWS ABOUT THE PLANE CRASHING INTO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER. I JUST FROZE. THEN I STARTED TO CALL MY UNCLE THAT WORKS THERE. THANK GOD THAT HE WAS LATE TO WORK THAT FATEFUL DAY. HE MISSED THE CRASH BY 5 MINUTES. THEN I WAS JUST DEVASTED BY ALL THE PEOPLE. IT WAS LIKE A NIGHTMARE. I THOUGHT IT WAS LIKE A MOVIE. AND THAT THEY WOULD SAY IT WAS A JOKE. BUT THE TRUTH WAS THAT IT WAS A REAL REALITY THAT OUR PEOPLE OF NEW YORK WERE REALLY LIVING. I JUST HOPE THAT FOR ALL THE PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR LOVED ONES. THAT THEY KNOW THAT KNOW THAT THEY ARE NOT ALONE. REMEMBER THAT THEY WILL ALWAYS HAVE A VERY SPECIAL PLACE IN OUR HEARTS AND IN OUR NATION. GOD BLESS YOU ALL 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 story5821.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. 216.77.216.54 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: When the first plane hit, I was just getting out of my history class. I hadn't realized what had happen as I passed through the cafetria that had the televisions on. As I was sitting in my next class, one of the other students came running in telling us that a plane had just crashed into the Pentagon. No one knew what to say or do. Our teacher didn't know whether to try and continue teaching, trying to help keep us calm or let us go adding to the chaos that was starting. Here in Richmond, people and businesses started closing. There were rumors flying around that there might still be more planes and one might hit the reserve here in the city. Everyone was rushing home or to wherever their families were. Others were trying to call family members to see if they were alright. It was then when I had heard about the other three planes that crashed as well. Later, that day as I saw the pictures on the television, I was in total shock. I couldn't believe all those people were in those buidlings or on those planes and how anyone that was human could be that cruel. For hours, my boyfriend, Bryan, and I sat on the couch watching the firefighters, policemen, volunteers, and everyone else trying to still save whoever they could. I let my son watching cartoons knowing that he wasn't old enough to understand what was going on, but he knew that we were upset. It was the darkest day in the United States. I think everyone in the country felt an enormous sadness come over their hearts and lives as this tradgedy effected us all. My heart just went out to those that lost someone on this day that was in their lives. Even today one year later, it is still so painful. We started watching a rememberence special on television. I couldn't help, but cry as I watched the events all over again. All those faces and names that were lost for no reason. I think on this day everyone lost someone. Whether it was a brother, sister, husband, son, or friend, we all lost a fellow 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 story5596.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. 209.158.200.226 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: That day, I went to school as a normal person waiting for the school day to be over. When I came home, I was different person and no longer wanted to survive only the school day, but the days. following September 11th, at school. I did not know something was wrong until lunch. My friend had no clue what had happened, but only knew that several people had left school early, and there was a big accident at the world trade center. They thought several people that left must have had parents that were injured in the crash. I got scared, so during lunch and my last class, I sat pondering what in the world could have gone so wrong. Suring our second special, the 7th grade was directed to an assembly in the gym where Dr. Tait and Dr. Colucci gave us information that they had gathered from the radio and repeatedly stated that they did not know the answers to the questions we had asked. Other students were sobbing at the thought of their parents dying in New york, because they worked there. I also heard something about the Pentagon, but at that point, I was tuning everything out. I was thinking, how could our country be attacked when we have such good protection, or so we thought? During lunch and science class, the last class of the day, people were continuously called to the office to be dismissed. The kids in my class started guessing who was the next to go. They always seemed to be right. The rest of the day, I couldn't concentrate. My heart was beating furiously and I was so scared. If the teeorists could break into the United States, they could most likely break into any place they wanted to. Could the next stop be New jersey? On the ride home, I listened to everyone discussing the day's events. Nothing prepared me for the flick of the remote when I sat on the sofa in my den. For a long time, I sat speechless and pinned to the television. The building was there this morning, now it's a pile of rubble. It was entirely hard to imagine the terror on those people's faces, trapped on those airplanes and in those buildings. I thought the world was crumbling in. The nights following the tradgedy, I was half expecting to see an airplane fly right through my window. It was scary! Why and how could anyone be so mean and cruel to kill so many 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 story180.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. 2002-03-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.247.251.68 Annotation Annotations to this item. Students/Teachers 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: It was right at 6:00 a.m. when I awoke to my alarm. I was about to begin a new job at a gas station that day. My schedule was to meet my new boss at 8 a.m. and begin work at 10 a.m. After awaking, I heard something about the world trade center on the radio. Being half asleep still, it didn't really register that something had happened. After getting out of my bed, I went and turned on the television. They were showing an aerial shot from a helicopter quite a ways away from the towers. I kept watching as they were trying to figure out what had happened. By the time I had awakened, the 2nd plane had hit. So I'm watching along and when the first tower fell, they did not know what happened. I couldn't watch much of it because I had to meet my boss at 8. Well when I got there he had not heard about it. I was briefed then went back home to watch more of the story on tv. When I got to work, things were ok. Then about an hour later, people were coming in like gas was gonna run out, which it did before the end of the day. People thought gas prices were going to go up because they heard it on the radio. Well gas was high because it was just after Labor Day. It stayed about the same for several weeks before it started dramatically dropping. Well during the day it was busy all day. It only slowed down for one minute where we had only 2 cars at the station. Then it picked up again and was very busy past the time they let me go at 7 p.m. Cars were everywhere and it was not only at the station I was working at. 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 story1375.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. 2002-08-21 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.164.183.7 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 whole class and I were in chemistry. Our teacher had just finished with her lesson and we were using the last 15 minutes or so to start our homework. She got a call on her cell phone from I assume a freind that lived out of state. He may have even lived in New York. He called her telling her that a plane had just crashed into one of the twin towers at New York. She had the biggest look of shock on her face. I remember that she had to go outside of the classroom to talk to him and when she came back in she told us what had happened. At the time, no one knew that it had been an act of terrorism, and I honestly didnt' think much of it. The bell rang and so I went down into the commons. Everyone was talking about it. At my next period we talked about what had happened and the t.v was on so we watched the news. By this time two planes had crashed. All we did all day in all of my classes was talk about the planes and watch the news, even though we weren't suppose to. I remember after school I had to go to driver's ed and drive and observe. We drove by the Camp Mabry military base and there were soldiers covering every entrance. After going home that day, our t.v. was on the entire night and my whole family watched it. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story2907.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. 206.77.47.2 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: Senior year had just started. I had finally made it. I had just started my second full day of school. First period went along as it usually did and second period was no different except for a few rumors that were circulating throughout the class. A friend turned to me and said, ?Sam, did you know a plane hit the Empire State Building?? ?Get out of here! I can?t believe that! Well, at least it wasn?t the World Trade Center?? At least it wasn?t the World Trade Center. Little did I know those words would be echoing in my head for a very long time after that. I did not really pay attention to the rumors. I figured if they were true, I would have known already. After about five minutes I was called out of my Psychology class as a notice was brought to my teacher. I heard an announcement being made that something had happened, but I was not able to make out what she had said. ?It?s probably just something about tryouts for a team,? I thought, ?but why didn?t they use the intercom to announce it? Weird.? I walked down the hall into my ?aunt?s? office wondering why she had sent for me. She was a close friend of the family, so close that I considered her to be a part of my family. When I saw her, she looked upon me frantically. I knew something had to be wrong. She began throwing questions at me, ?Did your mother go to work today?? ?Yeah, why?? ?Did she leave on time?? ?Not sure, why?? ?What about your dad? And Maryann? Did they go to work?? ?I don?t know. Dee, what?s going on?? Now she started speaking in a low voice that escalated as she continued. ?Sam, two planes hit the World Trade Center this morning. They are on fire right now. Please Remember! Did your mom leave for work on time? Tell me she didn?t!? My emotions came flying at me all at once. I collapsed onto the couch and started crying. My mother, father, and stepmother were there. How could this happen? I ran to use the phone in the Phys. Ed. office. I called my mom?s cell phone? Voicemail. I called my dad?s cell phone?Voicemail. I called my stepmother?s cell phone? Voicemail again. Panic flew right through me. I called my grandparents and heard them crying. ?Your mom is fine. She just called. We don?t know about anyone else.? All I could do was wait and panic, panic and wait. I constantly called my dad?s cell phone because it is always on. I never got an answer. While doing all of this, I watched the World Trade Center ablaze. Then I found out that the Pentagon was hit. At least it wasn?t the World Trade Center boomed back through my head. I could not believe it. How could I have such horrible luck? It was bad enough having my mother in the 1993 bombing, now this? I wanted to go to another room and look out the window so I could see first hand what was happening, but my aunt would not let me witness something so terrible. All I was able to do was watch the news. I watched the replay of the planes hitting the buildings over and over again. I watched as the towers burned. I watched as the place where my parents had worked for years come crashing down without any warning, bringing tears to sting my eyes. I called my grandparents again. ?We don?t know. We haven?t heard from your mom since the towers collapsed. We don?t know if she?s OK.? Just hearing their voices cracking made me break down again. As I frantically called everyone?s cell phones again, I remembered my father had a beeper. I knew the phone lines might have been down, but his beeper might work. I beeped him with the school number and, ironically, 911, so he knew to call me back immediately; that it was an emergency. After about an hour or more of waiting the phone finally rang, and, this time, it was for me. ?Sam, It?s me. We?re OK. I?m at your father?s house right now. Everyone is fine.? I started crying at just the sound of my mother?s voice. When I had seen the towers collapse, I felt like there was no hope. Somehow, someway, I was blessed that day and no one was physically hurt. Emotionally, we all suffered a great deal. As I handed the phone to Dee, I ran out of the school. My father?s house was just a block away, so I got there rather quickly. I ran up the stairs, threw my things down, and hugged my parents. I did not want to let go. Eventually, after we all stopped crying, we sat and watched the horrific events over and over again on the news, and they told me about what had happened to them. Small miracles can happen everyday, and this particular day a miracle saved the lives of three people closest to me. My parents and I then went back to my house and met with my grandparents and my brother. I am so thankful that everyone is still here today. My mother, father, and stepmother all were miraculously late for work on that dreadful day: September 11, 2001. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story8581.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. 2002-10-27 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 208.197.6.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was engaging in the American Dream when our little corner of the world came crashing down in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. My husband and I were in the process of buying our dream home after moving to Kentucky from Maryland. I prayed. I prayed like I had not prayed in years for the lives of all those innocent people and for the safety of all those heroic people who rushed to those terrible scenes of devastation to help in rescue attempts. Acts of courage and strength showed the rest of the world that even in our worst hour, Americans join together to stand united as one. 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 story4097.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.79.71.59 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 recently had been struggling with the whole September 11th year as the anniversary approached, it produced no less than an immensity of uncoordinated and uncontrollable emotion and insight. I had hoped that concealing myself from that day would leave me blinded to the horrific realizations I might acquire upon standing up to confront that day. I have been mourning September 11. It has been quite traumatizing and difficult to say the least, very strenuous, a tremendous struggle. Around the world, people commemorated the fallen, bereaved the lost, and offered their compassion and sympathies to the USA, my country. And on behalf of us Americans, I want to say thank you everyone else, we are so grateful for your support and encouragment through these volatile times, the world really is a terrific place with an innumerable number of beautiful and understanding individuals. We have truly defeated and overcome these lost and humanity deprived terrorists when we have forgiven them for their deplorable atrocities. Our undeterable goodness and enduring freedom shall certainly never succumb to their consuming hatred and destructive evil. Let each of us, attain vindication not through retribution, rather through contributing to and establishing in the world, that which these lost souls seek to eliminate; peace, unity, and accord with one another, throughout the entirety of the world. As horrific as these terrorists have proven themselves to be, we still owe this uplifting positivity to ourselves, our families, and our nations, more so than these fallen individuals deserve our spite and vengeance. Repay your enemies not with that which makes them your enemy, but with that which they do not possess and contain, in order that they may no longer remain your enemy, and the world shall no longer stand in the shadow of darkness and despair. This ideology can be implemented in any situation of conflict that requires resolution. Our forgiveness should not be restrained and based upon whether or not someone asks for it; all the more compelling forgiveness will be when we forgive those who do not desire it, and even more so who do not believe they even have anything to be forgiven for. Forgiveness is as much for the forgiver as it is for the forgiven, it symbolizes a completion in a sense, an achievement, and the forgiveness you eventually acquire for someone is well worth the battle and struggle you endure to get there. God Bless the families of the lost and fallen, they will never be forgotten, but rather embedded in our minds and found resonating throughout our hearts until our own lives reach their final culmination. For they are our inspiration and hope, indicative of the strength we desire in a heartless and cruel world. Yes it has brought me down, I awoke at 6am on the 11th to watch everything, i just wanted to be alone though, so i pretty much stayed to myself all day, i dont want to become depressed, but I know that is the only way I can feel it fully, yet still I resist it because as much as I want to feel its intensity, I fear that same intensity and what it might do to me even more so. Believe it or not I still have not faced the truth about the day, I conceal myself from it, yet feel it seeking me, approaching me, and following me, and I am tired of being followed by the insinuations of that day, so I let my emotions fall victim to its clutches and gave myself up to letting it catch me, and it has devoured me. I was numb to it at first, you think about a small specific aspect or fact concerning it all, and you think about it so much for so long that you begin to struggle with it and it wrestles with you in a sense, you get a brief glimpse inside the understanding of that particular occurrence or thought and then it vanishes, as quickly as it came, and you are left wondering about it all over again, trying to comprehend meaning, its purpose, its relevance. Its too enormous to get a handle on alone, but when we all join hands with family and friends, together we can reach all the way around it, encompass it and get a control on and over it, thats why its so critical that we have a foundation to lean upon. And out of optimism I say that some of the most positive things the world has ever known and conceived of have resulted from tragedies of astronomical proportions, its just for us to determine in our hearts whether or not the benefits are worth all the difficulty of getting to them, because I firmly believe that as diminished as you find yourself spiritually emotionally and psychologically because of a certain something, is the equivalent of how exceedingly positive and productive you will eventually become, its not something thats true or false, its just based upon whether you believe in it or not, and I happen to believe that you will reap the equivalent reversal of the pain, anger and loss that you submit yourself to. I listen to the stories of people, the victims, over and over again, they are all different, you try to ascertain if they have overcome that horrific day, and if so, how, we listen to them continuously to try to find some sort of meaning or practical reasonsing to apply to our own selves, and these stories will be told for the rest of our lives. I make no reservations to say that we will be listening to them and reading about them for the same reasons then as we do right now, to try to decipher their logic, which is nothing but obsolete, for it contains nothing that logic possesses within itself. You try to reach to its core and uncover its truth, but its just inconceivable, its immersed in far too much carnage and destruction, of lives, of moral, of faith, of healing., I can accept that it happened, but the stories, the facts, the people jumping, the men who bore children after they died, seeing the faces of people in the windows moments before their lives would reach their culmination and fulfillment, and I dont know what hurts more, believing they have no idea that they are about to die, or seeing them and knowing that they understand that they are about to die and perish in those buildings, the people who almost got out but didnt, the people who could have escaped but chose not to, the people who could have survived but couldnt be found, its just awful, those are just a few things that deeply penetrate your soul beyond all else, the stories, the realities, and we will forever maintain within ourselves specific pictures that we remember, an instance on that day that has found permanance in our soul, penetrating so deeply, that the soul accepts it as part of its very own being. Personally speaking, I cannot tolerate the stories of those who called home to speak with wives and husbands and children, mothers and fathers, letting them know they were about to die, but that they loved them and would miss them, too never forget about them, but to remember them and understand that it must be there time to go, that it cant be changed, that their death is imminent and insurmountable to prevention. I just cant imagine what those families must have endured. Tragic. Abhorable tragedy. Although, something so dramatic doesnt cause you to wonder why people come out of these situations with a new found understanding and perspective about themselves and the lives they lead. They, the victims, have to be instilled with resiliency and persistence though dont they? Or how then do they survive, how would they continue? Ii guess its something similar to the more difficult things are for you, the higher you have to reach to find your way out, the further you have to climb to alleviate the oppression upon your soul, and for that it is all the more difficult, but also in a sense and simultaneously, the more desperate you become to live and overcome all that attempts to encompass your life, whereby you fight ferociously in order that you reject succumbing to the evil that seeks to annihilate you. But we cant dwell on the cause, we need to come to a resolution internally, as communities and families and nations, with it, and utilize that which we obtain from that resolution to find solution and repair and rejuvination, however i think we do understand why they did it and THATS why no one can believe it. They actually hated someone so much that they could go so far as destory thousands of lives and millions of hearts. But again, the more deplorable the evil one, the more in need are they of forgiveness and reconciliation. Nevertheless, im improving now, it was hard last wednesday, i taped about 24 hours of video on four tapes, still uncertain of the memories, pictures in our minds, specific and direct, that we will never forget, embedded within us, and surrounded by our logic and perception, if any may even be applied to such circumstances. The hardest things are recalling the many who spoke to loved ones for the last time, knowing they would die, the fathers who bore children,...after they were long since deceased, that which I eluded to previously. You think you obtain insight for a brief second, into the meaning and relevance of it all, until it escapes you without notice, without warrant, and you revert back to where you initially began, attempting to ascertain the implications that consume it. Strife must be permissable, I think I would eventually feel a sense of strangulation if I continued to avoid being embroiled by the cicumstances of that particular day. But I have no intention but to produce as much positivity as i can derive from it, hopefully we will as a world be capable of being immeasurably more productive and uplifting than the amount of such that day actually stole from us all. I spoke to this woman in a chat room who lost her fiance and father in the towers that collapsed, i mean its difficult enough to endure it all when you werent even present, though you still feel as if you were a part of it, but contemplate what they must tolerate, the feelings that must beckon them to just give up and let it overtake them, suddenly your own struggles become severely diminished and profoundly irrelevant in the midst of their deplorable suffering and immediately you make every attempt by which to comfort them, reassure them, offer them understanding and perspective. Its essential that they have as much encouragment as feasible, in a sense we mourn because they mourn, and when their mourning has reached its culmination, we can all overcome this together, but until then, the thought of their daily struggle is almost unbearable and inconceivable, but trying to assist her is therapeutic in a sense, because you give more than your all to reassure them, you pour your heart out to them because they are worth your very last bit of hope and determination. I hope to encounter others who were directly affected, even as it prolongs my mourning, it makes it more tolerable while focusing on another rather than yourself, its funny how when you neglect your own needs during your greatest needs, that you find yourself to actually be less in need. And to the families and friends that lost loved ones, I say this. Permit me to provide you with a few words of encouragement, while conveying my support, though all of you, including your remarkable lost loved ones, are deserving of exceedingly more. They were undoubtedly heroic individuals, not only to their children and familes, but to the world who never had the opportunity to know such profoundly wonderful humanity. It's important to acknowledge that they were heroes, our heroes, but even more significant is to understand exactly what a hero signifies. A hero symbolizes that which we wish we ourselves were, and one day hope to become, someone who provides inspiration and instills within us a resiliency to become better people and more productive human beings. They reach into our souls and find a place there reserved for them alone, a place we can always look to in search of a revitalized solace and tranquility. A place we can resort to in moments of despair, and utilize to acquire limitless strength and courage. They alleviate our sorrow and establish within each of us a resonating sense of hope and promise. And finally, a hero, your hero, is someone who can give to you, in their loss, everything they did while they were here, someone who holds the capacity to console you and be there with you, even when they are not. Your father, mother, daughter, son, grandparents, friends, husbands and wives, have and will continue to possess the equivalent of these attributes, and undoubtedly exemplify them in their entirety. Their unfortunate passing will never diminish the transcending presence and purpose they have in all of your lives, rather you will find it accentuated with time and, subsequently, fulfilling to have been blessed with the privilege of having them as not only a loved one, but a very best friend. I anticipate that you will continue to live and progress forward through their extraordinary love, as they live and remain through your sincere memories and prayers. Concluding, find satisfaction that your bereaved loved on, indicative of their nature, gave their lives, in some way or another, as an exemplary sacrifice to others, for there is nothing more noble and honorable contained in all the earth. This cannot be reiterated nor emphasized adequately. Never hesitate to remember that it is better to give your life for another, than to save your life for your own self. These couragesous men and women, firefighters especially, not only believed in these words, they lived by them, and their deliberate actions of generosity and humbleness, along with the other victims that all saw the face of God that day, will serve to uplift and uphold millions of us for years to come. They became, on that single fateful morning, what most people can never become during the entirety of their lives! A hero, and that will be the most amazing memory each of them have left to you of themselves. Let the smile they shine down upon you with, be a reflection of your own selves that you share with, and display to the world. Let us now join together and overcome these atrocities, with undeterred peace and unparalleled love, for humanity and the world we call home. 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 story7914.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. 2002-09-18 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.149.152.16 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: Home,Scared,Shocked I had just turn 13 on this terrible day(my birthday). I was at home listening to the news and then i heard there were terrorists on the plane ride 911.After watching all the news about it i was SHOCKED. By: Annie I WAS SO SAD :( 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 story10495.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-03-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 203.134.81.142 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: This was just an ordinary day. While in school we were leaving second period. we got there and saw Mrs. Tyler changing the channels on a t.v. The first thing we see on t.v. is a plane crashing into the north tower of the World Trade Center. It was so scarry. a number of seconds later we saw a plane crash into the south tower. The news was on a Spanish channel, I was able to understand it. I ended up finding out thjat a plane crashed into the Pentagon and one n a field in Pensylvania. It was so sad i almost started to cry. It was the worst thing to happer to America in the longest period of time. I was very sad for all the famalies that lost people either in the bulidings or on the planes. During fourth period my mom came to pick me up. She was scared that something was going to happer here. When I got home I was happy to be with my family. Although i was with my borther and sister mty mom had to go back to work.Every one I know knows that i am very parinoid. I was wathcing t.v. and on every channel was the same thing. I will remember this for ever. 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 story8090.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. 2002-09-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.175.105.14 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 early in the morning and i was getting ready to go to school. I had not turned any radios or any of my televisions on so i had no clue what was happening until my door bell rang and i saw my friend looking very distraught. As we were walking to the bus stop he was relaying the whole story to me about the attacks. " The Twin Towers are gone!" was the first thing i heard and i did not understand. At this point I had not seen the news, so i did not actualy see the destruction that went on, but when I got to school all of the TV's were on and when i finaly did see what happened for my own eyes, I was shocked and it reallly hit me deep down inside that this was the beginning of something terrible. Little did i know that life as we all knew it would never be the same 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 story8273.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. 2002-10-02 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.79.71.123 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 first events of September 1, 2001. I was in the hospital where I worked as a labor and delivery nurse. The only difference was that this time I was a patient--a pregnant patient. I had just turned 36 weeks pregnant and was getting back into my bed after my shower, when I started contracting. I had been in the hospital for 3 weeks on bedrest, for blood pressure problems caused by the pregnancy. My doctor decided to induce my labor that morning, so I was getting my belongings together to move to a labor room down the hall. I had the television set on, watching the Today show with Katie Couric and Matt Lauer, and I looked up in time to see the first plane hit one of the towers and hear Matt say that they thought it had been a air traffic controller related accident. My nurse came into my room, with a wheelchair to transport me down the hall, and we commented to one another and also to my husband, that we didn't believe that to be the case. I arrived in my new room and was getting out of the wheelchair and into my new bed, and my husband turned on the television set in time to see the second plane hit the tower, and without missing a beat, I looked at my spouse and my nurse and told them that was NOT a air traffic control error, that was terrorism, and we had just been attacked. Several minutes later, the news was in and I had been right. It was on the news for the rest of my hospitalization and for days after. My doctor and midwife induced my labor on September 11, 2001, and my beautiful blonde haired, blue eyed baby girl was born on September 12, 2001 at 2pm. To this day, I refer to her birth as my "good news after a really bad day". Her birth renewed my hope for our nation and helped me to stay focused on the future of our country and the direction that it is going in. God willing there will still be a United States of America for my daughter and her generation to enjoy as generations have before her. Thank you for the chance to share my story. My heart goes out to the women who lost spouses in that tragedy, and then delivered babies later on by themselves--without their mates by their sides. I also feel saddened especially for pregnant women who lost their lives and their spouses left behind. There is a double loss in those cases. Finally, I grieve for all the lives lost in that days awful string of events. I pray that we, as a nation, can continue to heal and move forward in a positive light, led by God, and guided by His wisdom and shielded by His might. --Dona Sabine 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 story4102.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. 12.215.157.209 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 seemed just like anyother day. i was staying at my uncles house in lower manhattan when i woke up to the sound of my uncles fire scanner going off. i woke up and all i remeber hearing is that their was an explosion at the world trade center. and some saw an airplane fly into it. thats all i heard for the next ten minutes until i heard the dispatcher call out my uncles engine company to go the world trade center my heart stopped and i feared for my uncle. i called my mom in ohio and asked if she had seen the news and she said no. i told her what had happened and told her that uncle rich was on his way to the world trade center. 5 min later as i sat on the couch watching the news my uncle called me from his cell phone and told me that if he wasnt home i knew why and i told him to call me before dark. he promised and told me to tell my mom an dad that he loved us all. and that was the last i heard from my uncle for two days. my mom drove 10 hours to the city and stayed with me she tried to get me home but i said i wanted to wait for uncle rich to come home. that night i has seen a FDNY chief car pull up and i figured it was my uncle but i looked out the window and it wasnt him it was the chief and a preist.I fell to the floor and just crie with my mom. 9/11 ruined my life it took away my hero my uncle. 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 story20437.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. 66.99.186.2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was trying to restart my mineral business by changing credit card service providers over the phone via TDD {Telacaptioning device for deaf} in the kichen.My wife Dixie was sitting down to "watch" the morning news when the annoucement came over the TV in close captioning about something happening in New York City.This information was of interest to me as that is where I'm from.The shock was great,of seeing what happened.At first I though I was watching some special movie effect.Then it dawned on me that this was real,I felt sick.The rest of the day was painful and sad,it will live with me. Richard Clair I was watching "Today" on Tuesday morning, the journalist mentioned something happened at WTC,then TV showed the great smoking coming out the building. I was shocked and was glued to this horrible news till I had to leave for out of the town trip. I was stunned from what I had witnessed this horrible scene after the second plane crashed to other building, it was unbelievable but unfortunately it actually happened. I kept seeing the picture of fleeing people with ashes falling down on them in my mind... I would never forget it Dixie M Blackwell 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 story6688.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. 67.33.145.226 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: At 6:30 am I was wheeled into the operating room at UIC Hospital, chicago. My surgery was major and was expected to take up to 18 hours. As an airline employee, little did I know that while surgeons were saving my life many of my fellow co-workers were losing there's. My family's concern for me went to concern for others and through out the course of the day as they watched tv. They became grateful that I was in a operating room and not working at the airport. When surgery was finally over, the surgeon sought out my wife to tell her what a success surgery was, as he was explaining to her, he glanced over at the television, with shock he said, "What happened today." No one in the operating room, had known about the day's events. When I was moved to ICU, my wife and children came in, there was a TV on. My wife knew that if I heard the news that I may think I was in a coma for 10 years. She explained to the nurse that I work for an airline and the news needed to be broken to me gently.The following morning the nurse gave me the news. I will never know where it came from but, I responded Osma Bin Laden. I will always rember 9/11 as the day my life was saved and others were not. 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 story1653.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. 2002-09-02 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.40 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: TOWERS OF WORDS: THE PLACE OF POETRY IN CRISIS TOWER TWO 1  In times of crisis, poets lose words. Find some:      soul, soul I say, to name the smoke-beings like       constellations in the night sky of this city and cities to come.     Focus the Muses, write while trembling, deliver eternity     sky of this city and     cities to come. 5 gone gone away down in the downward up. ward rush of howl. ing graveyard lava air         Earthquake/shatter, volcano/ash, tidal wave/fear, fire/purify, wind/words disappear     Amazed I wake /committed crimes/vanishing eyes/it's different now/vanishing     I expected a second moon or sun to appear     And radiance, the gleam of it at the edges of clouds, the       gilt of clouds in the    blue sky, the blue sky, the blue sky. 10   A tremendous roar came over our shoulders, ratcheting our heads slightly to the right, a     huge what looked like a 747 at eye level & moving, then steel into steel, glass into glass.     Women in the Middle East knew nothing about it. They were washing clothes.     Planes crashing on the windowsill.     "Did the pilots get hurt?" asked the lover of pilots, a young       boy still in love with heroes, when the second plane hit.     She held her breath-but, more, wished to hold his. Him. A hymn. A him of words. 15  I, no victor, saw birds in flames. What were their names?     Victor's daughter dances the deck of the red tugboat,       marks of embers on her arms, soles of his shoes molten.     Dusty seagulls, powdered roaches, gray-flecked squirrels, ashy mice.     White birds with brown bellies high against the blue sky in Brooklyn, escape of the charred memos.     My child walks thru inches of dust that is human and she weeps for her mother. 20  We are breathing the dead, taking them into our lungs as living we had taken them into our arms.     "We are all just walking each other home."     two horizontal towers were born, those fleeing fire and those coming close. help help helping out!     She cries, her hair a morning ruin: See our burnt balconies of air.     We're breathing it in, all of it, all of them. 25  Ash-light this mask my eyes refuse to hide behind.     I look through a pupil of fire, an eyelid of ash     while running from a truth we cherish yet cannot abide.     into the residue of those screams and shouts unheard in the multilayered collapse revealed again       and again via satellite as above and below the creatures deny the supremacy of architecture,     a lock of flame-red hair or a spoke from her wheelchair, 30   but grief is my address.     I rise through the air, prayers are not what carries me.     I face the universe when I speak to the dead.     He was a friend of a friend of a friend; he knew his own mind     But never imagined how mornings can turn, how day is       relentless, how night under the lights is a burning zero. 35  Sunset over Jersey catches the sky has changed. Cranes slam metal into the barges somebody hose me down.     We stood in crippled traffic, on our way to close Claudia's Brooklyn Heights window against invading ashes.     The pigeons are confused. Me, I keep my head down     I send my eyes to penetrate the heart of the city.     New York City, capital of pain, capital of desire. 40  The emptiness at the center has made the city sacred.     That is our own black milk crossing the sky.     All afternoon, I watch a thin stream of water shoot into a flaming highrise. The fire never goes out.     The image never fades,     The smoke from that skyline stings the eyes of a nation, 45  Not even the ash of Vesuvius could cover the strata of terror that day, the day before or after.     every citizen to smash ash on their foreheads, ash Tuesday, ash robes, ash socks, ash in your soup.     I still have dust on my shoes from standing too close to ground zero,     So named it got so quickly, like pinning captions on a blizzard.     new york city is in a state of raw war, manhattan a battle ground zero. 50  The military saviour's spine is over-straight, like a full-bellied sideboard, comportment of a chief.     Let's trade, my Hank Aaron for your Nolan Ryan, bologna for tuna, my 35 San Gennaro tickets for the big yellow bunny,       my sister Rebecca for your brother, Abul.     Unarmed Afghani women bare their faces to print's dead eyes in America.     In Bhopal they're still looking for Warren Anderson.     guilty, me guilty, you guilty, the whole damn country guilty of Middle East/non-white hostility 55  -i.e.,"If anyone was ever right or wrong, this time they lost it."     "But war it is and it is our destiny or so it seems," sighs the old man on Flanders fields     Maria asks now: how attain twin-towers attar-nirvana; now ever we're yester- or reincarnate kyries?     because it is the dream of every artist to contact the world     of CNN and mashed potatoes-"comfort" food in, along with Ralph Lauren American flag sweaters. 60  I never much liked the news-and now I know why!     Too much African bones buried under all that money.     Bow-legged thieves, insolvent priests, con artists, tender beggars, all come upon you to salvage what's left.     Corrupt souls bring death to innocence and fear gives birth to Madison Avenue pictorials,     Wanting to be mistaken for one of them, always so busy so noisy. 65  I want to know did the pyramids have a 110th floor?     When I was on the very top I was lost in a cloud.     You lifted me up and showed me all. Will my love survive your fall?     Do shaking & silence yield to reason and reflection/to mirrors red, white and blue?     Let us not tremble. Let us not be quiet 70  A maze of grace? How great the art? We shall overcome?     Wisdom and Dharma shall prevail!     Sleep with the radio on all night.     blast blast wakens us, then sleep-we've become infants of these putrid waters, sad-dream dark.     Have you ever seen a suicidal parakeet? 75  Well it's been about an hour since an hour ago.     Absence is the essence of being here & everywhere at the same time.     A grief lab is built with a thousand entrance doors and a million potential exits.     Winter is coming. I tell myself to tell myself warm.     Where does a life begin & end? How fast? How far? Who but the dead can claim an end to numbers? 80  do not give up on me us you them lucky lucky lucky number number.     someone rolled the dice: chance still unabolished.     Once we knew how to count by the billions of years we were not here.     Death has done its thing and moved on/an       eternal stillness in the south of motion,     Shadows feign surprise at how frail they are,        how easily they vanish, own the peace. 85  Now that death has spoken, let the angels speak        from the white porcelain city,     So many wings; with eardrums open.     Dundun speaks because of tension on skin, squeezing the bandages of injured history.     Future Day of Remembrance: They tried to destroy us. They didn't. Let's eat.     They? We are they, and they are us, united in our fragile humanity 90  How does the healing of so many extreme days begin?       When all the meanings have changed, where is the path?     For the first time, I don't have an answer, instead I'm listening.     I hold these syllables like hands on a clock feeling the sound of time through its fingers.     With one sullen syllable, I peel back a segment of sky.     Afraid of syllables used to attach wings to breaths, 95  The words irreversible, unmistakable, come to me. Invincible leaves.     Words on page, mete out this woe; words on page undo sorrow.     Bury your breath, then sing this woe a wing a minute these days     Of black and white marks that express shades of grey in charred hearts.     Forgetting names is when it hit me, 100  a line that ends, ends at the sea.     And just think of literature, of literature we have not learned to do without.     sour hearts blacken the new page, rage is only one emotion swirling in the rubble.     26 letters is all we've got to make sense of the space between the canyons in our hearts.     Dante's mythic animals, Chippewa, Sappho's curse, village-explainer American flags? flags?       How about poetry's long stride, Whitman: we need you to save the covenant, we can't cover up       the genitalia of old Roman copies in the Justice Department, too late & soon. 105  As if you could or could not, would or would not, were or were not; as if the day ended and a new       one popped out of the imagination, free of the shadows, hurtling to an end of hurt, beyond       sorrow's gate; but could not nor can not, would not nor will not; as if promise were just make       believe and make-believe a veil behind a veil; as if the news were never told and ignorance took       the place of this incessant, miserable rain.     Love in the time of globalized greed and Day-glo diarrhea, of privatized prisons and public       poverty, of preordained propaganda and gentrified genocide, of homogenized hate and       consumer circumcision, of paranoid patriotism and preemptive poverty, of       prepackaged pollution and preempted poetry.     eye travel underground over rails of thigh bones, surrounded by my caboose of poetic lines of love,       eye surface above ground at the speed of light, on time, inside time, singing the blues, riffin'       licks of jazz & rock n roll, survey the empty space of once uponatimesleekhighsteel & glass       twinedificesofhubriticglory, see them smoldering there now in a heap of smoking memory,       after castration by two swift blows of "blowback"     I wrote this entire poem my line not among the living lines appropriate lines       disappear pure empathy with those who disappeared.        We are on the verge of imagining something else, aren't we? Can you feel the sentence forming? 110  "Love should be put into action," screamed the dirty hermit of another poem. 1 Bob Holman/Eileen Myles, 2 Martin Espada, 3 Ed Sanders, 4 Anselm Hollo, 5 Kamau Braithwaite, 6 Clifton Joseph, 7 Tish Benson, 8 E. Ethelbert Miller, 9 Honor Moore, 10 Maureen Owen, 11 Naomi Shihab Nye, 12 Joe Dobkin, 13 Jill Bialosky, 14 Kimiko Hahn, 15 David Lehman, 16 Kathleen Masterson, 17 Ed Friedman, 18 Bob Hershon, 19 Ntozake Shange, 20 Hettie Jones, 21 Alex Jacobs, 22 Cecilia Vicu?a, 23 Meena Alexander, 24 Martha Rhodes, 25 Andrei Codrescu, 26 Edward Hirsch, 27 Roger Bonair-Agard, 28 Wanda Coleman, 29 Dara McLaughlin, 30 Lee Briccetti 31 John Yau, 32 Nancy Mercado, 33 C.D. Wright, 34 Edwin Torres, 35 Max Blagg, 36 Everton Sylvester, 37 Suheir Hammad, 38 Anonymous, 39 Jessica Hagedorn, 40 Eliot Weinberger, 41 Galway Kinnell, 42 Maggie Dubris, 43 George Tysh, 44 John Kulm, 45 Michael Warr, 46 Nick Carbo, 47 Toni Blackman, 48 Jan Clausen, 49 Tato Laviera, 50 Anselm Berrigan, 51 Dave Johnson, 52 Carla Harryman, 53 Steve Colman, 54 John Rodriguez, 55 Robert Creeley, 56 Bart Droog, 57 Maria Damon, 58 David Trinidad, 59 Denise Duhamel, 60 Elaine Equi, 61 Willie Perdomo, 62 Russell Leong, 63 Terry Gelber, 64 Robert Kelly, 65 Regie Cabico, 66 Hal Sirowitz, 67 Reesom Haille, 68 Sarah Jones, 69 Indran Amirithanayagam, 70 Thomas Lynch, 71 U Sam Oeur, 72 Robert Chambers, 73 Luis Rodriguez, 74 Jeff McDaniel, 75 Kenneth Goldsmith, 76 Raymond Federman, 77 Eliot Katz, 78 Lucy Grealy, 79 Jerome Rothenberg, 80 Joan Retallack, 81 Chris Funkhouser, 82 Richard Martin, 83 Emily XYZ, 84 Vicki Hudspith, 85 Janet Hamill, 86 Gary Mex Glazner, 87 Adrian Castro, 88 Danny Shot, 89 Marcella Harb, 90 Sandra Esteves, 91 Brenda Coultas, 92 Quraysh Ali Lansana, 93 Patricia Smith, 94 Saba Kidane, 95 Mary Ann Caws, 96 Maggie Balistreri, 97 Bill Berkson, 98 Gary Lenhart, 99 Michael Gizzi, 100 Vincent Katz, 101 Marjorie Welish, 102 Staceyann Chin, 103 Jerry Quickly, 104 Anne Waldman, 105 Charles Bernstein, 106 Tony Medina, 107 Quincy Troupe, 108 Anonymous, 109 Marie Howe, 110 Adrienne Rich. Some lines were added after the graphic image of the towers was created. 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 story9312.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. 2003-05-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 146.96.204.160 Annotation Annotations to this item. da Notes Notes about this item. see image #2015 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 that day it waz like n e day but in new york tragedy waz happenin in manhattan.when i got off the bus my friend elvis williams told me that the wtc towers were hit by 2 planes.i thought he said world train center.i had no clue what it waz.so skool went on and at second period da teacher got the tv and put it on some channel and it waz bout 911.911 waz on every channel.as soon as i got home i showed my family what had happened.we were all shocked!!!it went on 4 a long time.now bush haz sent ppl over to afgahnistan.we r still lookin 4 bin laden and now we r lookin 4 that other bad guy.hes arabian too.so we give our support to all the troops in afgahnistan.and billions of dollars r still being spent to end the war on terrorism. 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 story8085.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. 2002-09-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.175.105.14 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: Thoughts on September 11th. I can?t believe people can get so angry when we ask them to think of what the United States may have done to deserve this. Can we be so arrogant that we refuse to believe that we may be wrong? If we are so righteous, there should be no threat to our ego when we entertain thoughts of our own possible shortfalls. Who are we to ask, ?How could God let something like this happen?? God does not let anything happen that is not according to his divine will. Who are we to ask, ?How could God let something like this happen to us?? As if we deserve anything at all from God. God who created us; God who provides for us; God who gave us this beautiful world to live in; God who we turn our backs on when he makes our life easy; and God who we run scared and crying to when he makes us work for our happiness. The key is to draw closer to God in all aspects of our life, and rely on Him whether or not life is going the way we like. We must also strive to keep this world beautiful, by first realizing that it does not belong to us, and treating it as something that we do not own, as if expecting the owner to return soon. In light of what happened on September Eleventh, Two-Thousand and One, we must realize that God has a reason for letting something as atrocious as this happen to innocent people, and we can only speculate as to what this reason might be. Perhaps God has let us get so far down to get our attention. Perhaps he has exhausted all other possibilities, and must now resort to what we would refer to as drastic measures to make us realize that he is what we should give our allegiance to, rather than the money we so fully rely on. Justin Watson 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 story8540.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. 2002-10-21 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 129.174.27.131