319 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: That morning was really bright and nothing would tell us something so outrageous would happen. I remember that Tuesday completely. The sky was so clear and the wind was blowing in a different way, bringing memories from my childhood. Everything had changed and it would change even more. I was about to present a seminar, I?ve entitled Cinema: the Dream Factory, to 250 students from high schools near the campus. I was modifying the last details on my powerpoint presentation and I spent some time in front of the computer but I didn?t turn on the internet and I don?t know why because I am a kind of addicted to news. Then I turned the machine off and I went to the auditorium to install my presentation in the other computer to train it. I spent almost the whole morning inside that place, isolated from the world outside and not knowing what was happening. Suddenly, the sound technician turns on the microphones and tells me something horrible just happened and I wouldn?t believe it (it seems it is happening right now). He had heard ONE the big towers in NYC had fallen because of an explosion and I should go home immediately because I would be late to my seminar. I live three blocks from the university and in three minutes I was standing in front of the television, watching those planes being destroyed towards the WTC, the towers collapsing and thousand of lives being silenced. No more cries, no more suffering from those who were missed during this terrible event... Now, just the (whole) world outside was mourning to the parents, brothers, sisters, fathers, sons, daughters, friends that were lost in the tragedy. I couldn?t stop the tears. They fell down in terror, quiet... I took a shower that seemed eternal though it was very short. I laid my head on the wall tile and the water took my tears away just for one moment. I looked myself at the mirror and I was living something that never happened in the movies: the World Trade Center falling apart, taking many lives with it. I have heard once ?we are not enemies, but friends...? although passion sometimes darkens our life and our vision. We don?t see what is right or wrong just because our believes cover our right judgement and the hate dominates our soul. It sad that so many souls had to be lost because someone?s hate. When the world is going to let love and fraternity guide our reason and to stop the hate to prevail between us??? When the tears will stop??? When??? I hope soon... I keep myself wondering that September 11th is the day that, for just some terrible hours, hate won the battle against love and life turned a little bit darker... 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 story6617.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. 200.225.144.145 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 visiting my youngest son in Louisville KY and was getting ready to head back to NY that morning. I was watching the Today Show at his apartment, and he wanted to change it to ESPN to show me Ed McCaffrey's leg break in the Bronco game the night before. I decided it was time to say good bye and head out on the road back to New York State. I cried when I said good bye, around 8:15 that morning, and my mom who was with me said dry your tears before we hit the highway. As I was driving I said to her, "I know, he is only in Kentucky, it could be worse", meaning he could be overseas as he is in the Army Reserves. About 40 mins into the drive, I pulled in for gas listening to an Oldies station on the radio. When I got back in the car and turned it on, Matt Lauer and Katie Courick were talking about a plane hitting the World Trade Tower. I figured it was a horrible freak accident and then they started talking about a highjacked plane from Boston. I figured that was why it crashed because of a struggle. Then they stated another plane hit it, and I thought how awful and weired, but not really thinking of terroism. As we drove along listening they were talking to a gentleman at the Pentagon, and listening live he described a sudden boom that shook his windows and smoke coming from by the helipad. He didnt know what happened but thought maybe a bomb went off. Then we listened in absolute horror that a plane had hit it. It was then that I began to panic. We were heading over the Ohio River into Cincinnati when they talked of possible more planes being hijacked and the FAA grounded all flights. I still had a 9 hour drive ahead of me not knowing what was going to happen. I thought dear God we are under attack. What if the planes start falling out of the sky. Then in disbelief they talked of the plane crash in Pennsylvania. My horror hit me then, because I thought oh no, we will probably retaliate and my son may have to go to war. Every mothers fear. And my worst fear is that I wouldnt be there to see him off. My other fear was when they said the plane hit somewhere south east of Pittsburg. My other son goes to college in PA and I knew he was east of Pitt. I felt so out of control being away from my children. They talked on the radio as the WTC building crashed to the ground. I thought oh dear Lord, all those people. People on the local radio stations started praying and we watched cities in Ohio send home their workers and we had a long way to go. We listened all the way home, not even stopping to eat. We just sat in silence listening. When I arrived home I called both my children. I choose to get grief counseling as all I could do was cry all week watching these poor families going through what they did, and worrying that my son would go to war. I pray every night for him, and I thank God everynight for them. I also pray for everyone affected by Sept. 11th. It had to be the most devastating thing to anyone. 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 story6627.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. 216.42.123.33 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was sitting in my 2nd period class and all of a sudden the teacher next door comes running into there saying that the world trade center has just been hit. Mr. Carpenter turned the news on almost immediatley and I felt my stomach drop as I watched the trade centers callopse. A goood friend of mine, Justin Henshaw was there in new york doing some modeling for polo and he was only a couple blocks away from where it hit. I was told that he went to the trade centers and the firefighters were letting him go in with them and help get people out. It was unbelievable. Justin came to visit us a couple months ago. He os now in the army and is alrady at the top of the list. This experience changed his life and so now hes trying to help save others in this was against terrerism. 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 story9056.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-02-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 168.11.62.2 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 had just woken up and was watching Good Morning America when they showed footage of the first plane hitting. I thought it must have been an accident or a crash. I drove to work when I heard on the radio the country was under attack with hijacked planes and that my work had also been evacuated. I worked at the Mall of America at the time and they felt this could also be a possible terrorist target. I remember that I have never felt so frightened in my life to have to worry about a terrorist attacking and not knowing what was about to happen next. I spent the rest of the day watching the footage and news on television in utter dismay. My generation had hardly seen war let alone an attack on our own soil. The events of September 11 put everything into perspective what was important in life and that we should never take life for granted. 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 story4453.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. 216.17.92.18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was on an extended weekend getaway with a few friends at a resort in the North Georgia mountains. We were packing our things to leave that day when I turned the T.V. on & saw a news report about a plane hitting one of the towers. We all gathered around the television together, and watched in horror as everyone tried to understand what was happening. As we were watching the live reports, we were shocked & horrified as the second plane hit. None of us moved away from the television that day as the terror unfolded. The things I saw that day will forever be in my memory & in my heart. I had a friend in New York City that was lost that day in the towers. It was the most frightening thing I've ever witnessed in my life. I also have family & friends in the military who have put their lives on the line for this country & for the chance to protect us from the horrors of that day. Please, everyone, take a moment to reflect on all of those who died that day in the planes, the towers, the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, PA, as well as those who gave their lives in the rescue efforts that day & the ones who have given their lives serving in the military to protect this country. Always remember what happened that day. Never forget the people who lost their loved ones, & never forget the heroes who died in Shanksville to save the lives of countless others. God bless you 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 story20672.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. 68.223.108.253 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 at home enjoying my beautiful 3 day old son, Jason. My husband was home with me on that terrible day. He, my husband, went to let to dog out for his morning walk, and the neighbor asked us if we had our television on. My husband said no and asked why. The neighbor then told him to get inside and turn on the t.v. to any news network, that America had been attacked. My husband rounded up the dog came inside to turn on the television. We turned it on just in time to see the first tower fall. My world stopped right then. I was brought to tears by what I saw. I was fearful, too, that my uncle was at work in the South Tower. I later found out that he had decided not to go to work that morning. I am lucky that I didn't know anyone in the towers, at the Pentagon, or in those planes. Every morning I am reminded of that horrific Tuesday morning. For what seemed to be the beginning of a wonderful September day, turned into a day of heros and saviors. Today, September 11, 2002 has been marked as "A Day of Remembrance" and I shall rembember that day for as long as I shall live. 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 story4973.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.122.78.143 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at my mother's in Binghamton, NY when my sister called from Las Vegas, NV, and asked if we had the tv on? Then she told me what had happened to the WTC, and I said, 'Oh sure. . .', and sort of laughed. Until turning on the tv, and seeing the actuality. All of the victims, will not die in vain! Many who've died, have left us to find peace in heaven. We must continue to work for peace on earth, as it is in heaven! 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 story7657.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. 2002-09-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.94.61.28 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It was early in the morning when the first plane hit. We heard a loud "boom" and looked out the window. All we saw was confetti like debris falling from the sky but no more than 10 seconds later we saw file cabinets, documents and other things as well. We then went down to the lobby where I proceeded to phone my friend in NJ. He called me back within 2 minutes and told me that a plane hit the Trade Center. I initially thought he was kidding until I heard all of the talk around me. We all just presumed it was a freak accident of some kind but we KNEW we were not going back upstairs... we just had a feeling. I was on my way out of the lobby when I noticed a coworker of mine crying. She said her sister worked in the Trade Center and she needed to call her to make sure she was okay. I gave her my cell phone and walked away, that was my first mistake because it delayed me from going home. That is when we heard another boom and saw crowds and crowds of people running away from our building. I grabbed my coworker's hand (not the one with my phone because I could not find her) and we ran out of the building and merged with the crowd. We got a few blocks away when we ran into the coworker with the phone and decided our best bet would be to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. All I could think about was my one year old daughter and how much I wanted to hold and kiss her. Since we knew we'd be walking for a long period of time, we went into Foot Locker where I bought them each a pair of shoes (that was my second mistake) because no sooner did I pull out the card when we saw what looked like all of NYC running frantically by the store. We didn't know what was going on so we just kind of stood there, frozen. A man (God Bless him whoever he was) started to bang on the door and tell us to get out of there NOW!!!! That's when we snapped out of it and ran for our lives. We saw mounds and mounds of billowy smoke but thankfully it never caught up to us. We walked and walked and walked until we got to 40th Street near the UN building. Along the way we stopped at pay phones because the cell phones weren't working to call our loved ones and to make sure my coworkers sister was okay. I finally got in touch with my mom who contacted my coworkers mom and found out her sister was okay. We finally found a cab that was willing to take my 2 coworkers to Queens, NY. I decided to walk home (I live in the Bronx). I didn't get further than 2 blocks when I heard voices calling my name. I turned around and there they were, telling me they couldn't leave me because we started this together and we are all going home together. So into another cab we went, and headed for Queens, NY. My coworkers family was so sweet and polite and we stayed there until 8/9pm that day. My boyfriend came and picked me up and I finally was able to go home to my daughter and kiss her up which is something that I wanted to do ALL DAY LONG. To this day all I think about is what if my friend and I would have went shopping in the Trade Center concourse which we planned to do because it was early and no one would be there. What if we didn't make it? Thankfully, I did not know anyone who perished in the building but that does not stop me from mourning for all of the people who did. All I can say to them is Be Strong for God has a plan for all of us. He called his Angels to him because he needed them with him. By the way, my coworker's name is Emma L. and Deborah O. A special God Bless You goes to Emma because without you I do not think I would have made it through another year. ;-) 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 story2683.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. 205.183.154.6 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 am appalled at the way the event has been used--to justify an unjustifiable war, clamp down on civil liberties, discriminate against innocent Muslims. It just seems to me that it is the universal excuse for doing the wrong thing. I am also appalled at the politicization of the memorial project. Oklahoma City had a brilliant and moving memorial so soon after the event. I am appalled at the lies Christie Whitman told and the neglect of the health of those who worked so diligently and with such care after the event. We have compounded from within the damage that was done to us. It was a horrible act of violence but it would seem to have made us turn that violence against ourselves. 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 story20668.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. 68.161.124.130 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: Writing about September 11th poses many problems. On the one hand, you almost feel a need to write deeply, and to paint in broad strokes about how the day changed your life, and made you think in Clintonesque platitudes about ?our common humanity.? And at the same time you reflexively feel obligated to either declare your newfound love of country, or to step back and temper your patriotism with some sort of pseudo-intellectual criticism of American foreign policy. And so in writing about that day I am trying not to simply add to the same tired patriotic or demagogic arguments or declarations, but at the same time be true to what I felt that day that when I was working at the White House. It was eight o?clock on September the Eleventh when I passed through security, skipped up the grand staircase to the second floor and entered my office. The lights flickered alive, and I turned on the decade-old television propped atop a file cabinet as my coworkers began to stream in. The CBS Morning News was on and Bryant Gumbel was nodding as his guest gushed about some topic or other that, in any event, I didn?t especially care about. ?Have we staffed out the education remarks for Thursday yet?? someone asked. ?No, they?re still with Public Liaison?? another trailed off. Every day began like this: it was going to be a quiet day in the White House?s Office of Speechwriting. And while that sounds melodramatic and reads like the intro to a cheap cliffhanger movie, the reality for those of us who were awake and beginning our morning work just after eight o?clock in the morning on September 11 was precisely that. We weren?t shaken awake by our hysterical roommates, and we experienced the same weird sensation of turning to the television at one moment and seeing normal, perky morning television and turning back a minute later and seeing a gaping, smoldering hole in the side of a familiar building. We wondered dumbly what had happened, as if it wasn?t obvious, as if we didn?t somehow already know the answer. We all told ourselves that there had been some sort of mistake, but we all knew deep inside that planes don?t just hit buildings at angles and in locations that, coincidentally, would do the most damage possible. We knew what had happened, and so nobody really believed the news anchors when they said that a small plane had hit the World Trade Center and yet the raw footage clearly showed enormous engines under the wings of a banking, diving, clearly under control airplane. I can?t speak to how everyone else at the White House reacted during those initial moments. We left our office door open and people on their way to the West Wing or to the political offices down the hall briefly stopped by and, unsure what to make of the scene, continued on their way. Within my office people tried to continue their work; preparing for a flurry of presidential speeches to come over the next few days. Certainly the more important people, the ones who worked closely with the president and were able to make things happen, were on the phones and funneling the raw information on to the president?POTUS. I tried to call my parents back in California?a circus act that took me about fifteen minutes to perform because the phone lines were already jammed?everyone else in my office was on the phone, and I imagine everyone else in every other office was too, or would be soon. Nobody knew what was going on, and we hadn?t even come to the self-important realization that ?nothing will ever be the same again.? We remembered Oklahoma City and how most of us had probably, until Timothy McVeigh was captured, fantasized about B-52s turning by their fiery deliverance the sands of Arabia into a sheet of glass. We held our judgment; we knew who had done the deed, but everyone tried to wait and see, tried to remain intellectual and removed from the situation. Until the Pentagon was hit. And then, within about twelve seconds, the arrogant objectivity and removal from the situation was gone. If someone had the ability to crash multiple planes into high-profile targets and they had just hit a target of lesser importance and fame than the one in which you were standing, you don?t worry about the effects of U.S. foreign policy on the environment or on the poor, and you don?t worry about who might have been upset about the rejection of Kyoto or who is upset that U.S. planes are protecting the Holy Land from Iraqi assault. And what followed was sort of a personal experience that I imagine was different for everyone. The press said that the White House was evacuated shortly before 11:00 a.m., but we were all gone a good 45 minutes before that, so I don?t know who the Secret Service was able to evacuate. The streets were crowded with staffers from the White House, from banks, lobbying firms, and everywhere, and it was one of those impossible moments when nobody bragged about where they worked or how important they were. We were all flesh and blood and in that moment totally aware, albeit latently, of our mortality. Everyone walked?few people ran?away from The Ellipse because we all expected it to be hit within minutes but nobody wanted to look as terrified and clueless as we were. And with distance from the potential new Ground Zero our strength returned, our resolve, and once the towers came down, our hearts filled with love for country and complete and utter hatred for the enemy?whoever he was. For my part, the day had many lessons to offer. I learned how and where to give blood, and I learned how many people really cared about me when I was finally able to check my Instant Messenger and voice mail messages. I thought of the thousands of energetic, young, thoughtful people my age and a few years older working in the Towers that day, and about how many didn?t get out fast enough because nobody really thought that the Towers would come down. I can?t say that I took away one specific, lasting lesson from September 11, 2001. It?s just a day of memories. I think often, and in private, about Flight 93 and where it might have been going, about whether it would have killed me had brave Americans not decided otherwise. I think about the geopolitics of it all, and I suppose I simply don?t care why it all happened. I know why, but I just don?t care, and maybe that?s one of the lasting effects of proximity to it all. Selfishly though, I suppose I felt privileged to be at a place that was in the crosshairs and yet wasn?t hit. I felt almost special to be able to say that I was at a certain place when everything went down, but I think now that that kind of thinking was just a way of not confronting their logical extension: that yes, in fact, I and everyone else at the White House that morning, had narrowly dodged a bullet. It?s a feeling that no new AU freshman (I imagine) will be able to understand in the same way because they weren?t here for September 11 or for anthrax, and while they could worry about the possibility that their local city hall might become the target of Radical Islamists, they probably knew as well as any of us that the real targets were in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, London, and?above all else?in Washington, D.C. Asking what it was like to be at the White House on a year ago September 11 is an impossibly loaded question. Everyone had their own unique experience, and everyone took away different things. By virtue of my proximity to events and to potential events I suppose I took a rather uncompromisingly Spartan view of things. But my experience is no ?better? or ?worse? than anyone else?s. The closer you come to proximity to the events of that day the more upsetting, I think, everything becomes. Certainly if you were in one of the Towers or at the Pentagon or aboard Flight 93, you were in a place nobody would ever want to be. And, once you put your politics aside, nobody would have wanted to be in President Bush?s shoes after his chief of staff, Andy Card, whispered in his ear, ?Mr. President, a second plane has hit the World Trade Center, America is under attack.? Proximity is fun to think about when you?re a safe distance away, but as someone who was too close for comfort that day, I wish I had just stayed at home and been shaken awake like everyone else. 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 story6698.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. 147.9.158.101 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: Iam a Sgt In the New York State Police, On September 11th I was to report for work at the Brewster NY barracks at 3:00pm, so that morning I was going to the hardware store to get some items to do work around the house. While going to and from I put on the radio and I thought it was odd that no music was playing, then i heard a plane had hit the World trade center, at first I thought it was a small private plane and continued on my way, soon I realized it was something much more when I heard the radio DJ state that one of the towers had collapsed, I immediately went to the nearest TV set which I knew was at my doctors office, ant there i saw the tradgedy unfolding i immediately called work and was advised to report to work and pack three days of clothing. When I arrived at the barracks I was told to muster my men at Stewart airport and wait. We got to stewart airport and were sent down to NYC 50 Troopers at a time for a total of about 600. On my way down to the city I saw the sign on the thruway "NYC Closed" unbelievable....the next sight I remember was coming across the George Washington bridge back into NY and seeing the billowing smoke covering Manhattan...it was an incredible sight. I thought there must have been at least 10,000 dead. upon arriving at the Javits center we were deployed throughout manhattan and the next day I was working on the Pile digging. Pictures cant come close to relaying the devastation that was at ground Zero, what I remember most was the dust and the fact that nothing recognizable was in it no chairs, tables, phones...just dust and paper. God Bless America and our President who has some very hard decisions to make. I was glad to help. 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 story8603.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. 2002-10-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.172.128.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was in my p.e class when the planes struck the first Twin tower on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in the 9th grade. My class was of all girls and you know how us girls are, we freak out about everything. So when I heard about it I couldn't believe it. I started to cry... as I started to think about everything I did that morning, I tried to remember if I told my mom I loved her before I went to school. I was so worried... I was scared they would attack us and I would never see my family again. As I watched the news I thought of all the people who were suffering, while I was just sitting there watching t.v. What happened was definately NOT a good thing... as if you didn't know, but it made our country stronger, and made everybody open our eyes and realize how important everything was to us. 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 story5206.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: we were all in math class just going on like any other day when suddenly a teacher walks in and tells us that the world trade center had been hit by two planes. my teacher didnt even turn on the television to see the footage. So we all had to wait until next class to see the videos. when i first saw it i couldnt believe my eyes. After school was out, this is all that people talked about, and all that was on tv.Then later that night while im talking to my friend, he also informs me that the pentagon had been hit by a plane. 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 story20851.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 151.188.16.21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I brought my son to the Metro-North Station in Stamford, CT at 7:00am that morning and noticed the commuters on the southbound track to Grand Central Station. I came home and started my laundry and other chores. I usually fold my clothes with the television on. At 8:45 am, my t.v. flickered. After the t.v. came back, the World Trade towers were televised and then I witnessed the second plane attack the second tower. I did not feel safe that entire day. Little did I know that the commuters on the platform in Stamford, CT will never be seen 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 story7057.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was in class and one of the students had receive a call from someone at there home. We all thought that maybe is was a little airplane that just strayed off course. Becasue it was a computer communications class, we started trying to pull CNN or some news organization. One of us had finally gotten through and then we saw the destruction. Class was silently dismissed and no one know what was going on. Also, cellphones started ringing and one was my husband who wanted me to go start home and I ask him what he was going to do because he worked for New York Life and the building is basically at the end of one of the runway. So, I went to the lower level of the student union becuase at that time I still had a class in the afternoon. When I got there I found the place full. It was so quiet with everyone just starring at the television. At that time, a plane had gone down in Pennsylvaina but the news reporters were not sure at the time. At about Noon, they decided to close school. The highway was unusually busy for that time of day. On my way home, I have to go across a bridge. And the whole time across, everyone drove slower than normal and all the drivers were checking each other out because no one was sure what was going on. I finally made it home and my husband came home a couple hours later. We spent the rest on the night just watching television tying to figure out what was happening 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 story3644.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. 65.35.209.51 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 witnessed the history of September 11 on television. That day I was sitting in Biology class when my teacher Ms. Mostiler annouced we were under attack. After a few minute after the attack Dr. Ryan rushed kids down to the Media Center to watch it. It was very sad because we saw people running and jumping out of the building. They kept showing the plane on the television smashing in to the towers. 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 story2019.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. 206.74.153.150 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was almost 9 months pregnant when the events of 9/11 unfolded. Home waiting for my father to show up with coffee, my sister-n-law called to ask if I was watching tv. I frantically spent the next hour or so trying to get a hold of my husband at work. My father and I sat here for hours just watching everything in disbelief. I couldn't believe I was about to have a baby and here I was thinking this is it. Next month my son will be a year old. I have saved what I could of the events that happened so close to his birth. My hope is some day, while living in peace with everyone, my son will pull the stuff I put away for him and see how far we've come as a people. A people of One. The Feinbergs 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 story6179.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. 64.12.96.8 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: My boyfriend and I were woken up very early in the morning by his mother, who lives in Sacramento, CA and was usually up before the sun came up. I saw Michael get up, turn on the TV, place his left hand on his forehead, speechless, gaping at the burning towers. I looked up at the TV and remember having no idea what it meant. Yes, I saw the fires and the planes, but it didn't click. The shock of it all really threw me off. Michael looked at me, in disbelief, and said we were being attacked, the world trade buildings were being attacked. It wasn't until I heard that planes were headed for downtown L.A. that I realized the gravity. My mother works downtown. I did not stop crying for a week. 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 story11650.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2005-07-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.164.68.199 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My name is Kirklin Bateman and I am in the Army currently attending the School of Advanced Warfighting at the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia as part of the Advanced Military Studies Program. I am also a graduate student in the History Department. I was at home on September 11th studying for the next day's seminar. I had no idea what was happening until about 1000 hours when one of my brothers-in-law called. He asked if my family and I were all right saying he wasn't sure how close we were to the Pentagon. My response was one of confusion as I had no idea what he was talking about. He then asked rather increduously, "Don't you know what is going on?" When I replied that I didn't, he quickly explained that the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon had been hit my planes and that our country was under attack. I assured him my family and I were alright and then hung up the phone. Spending the next several hours glued to the television and Internet, I was like most of America in a state of shock and disbelief. Quantico Marine Corps Base along with the rest of the military was put on Threat Condition Delta, the highest level of security and soon the sounds of fighter jets could be heard overhead. Over the course of the rest of the day, into the evening, and the next day I received over 35 phone calls and emails from family and friends checking to make sure that we were alright and wondering if I was going to be involved in any sort of military response. I was amazed and overwhelmed at the level of concern for my family and I, simply because we were in the military and because we lived so close to Washington D.C. In the months since the attack, I've seen America take great pride in her emergency workers and her military and a fresh wave of patriotism sweep across the land. I hope that we never lose sight of the daily sacrifices that our public servants make and that though the price of freedom is expensive, there is no higher honor than to preserve 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 story202.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. 2002-03-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.49.114.197 Annotation Annotations to this item. Gov't workers (non-military and non-rescue) Military Patriotism DOMESTIC Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was coming back from my 10:30 class that morning and I could tell that something wrong had happened. As I walked onto my floor a girl ran out of her room and started screaming that the U.S. was under attack. I didn't even listen to her at first because she had always been a little strange but out of curiosity I went to my room and turned on the tv. And there it was, on every station. The World Trade Center had been hit and I think by that time the Pentagon had been hit too. I dropped to floor. My cousin lived four or five blocks from the World Trade Center and my uncle's company was the company working on the Pentagon at the time. A lot of my family works for his company and my heart dropped. I got up from the floor and ran to my phone trying to call my mom. Being from Philadelphia, all I could think of is that I wanted to go home. No one could get through though and I can just remember hearing nothing but the news coming from every room on the floor. My roommate came in and asked what happened and all I could do was point to the tv. My whole body was numb. Then we heard about another plane that had crashed in Somerset, Pa. Our school is about an hour or so away from Somerset but a lot of people knew that area very well and more panic seemed to spread because no one knew what to do with themselves. It was impossible to call out on the phones so you had nothing else to do but to sit and watch the terror on tv. Our phone did rang once though which helped take us away for a brief moment and it turned out to be my exchange student from the Ukraine. She heard about what happened on the news and called me as soon as possible because she heard about the plane hitting Pa and thought that was our area. I told her I was fine but then she started to cry even harder than she already was and said to me "How could anyone want to do something so horrible to such a beautiful country?!" I told her that everything would be alright and that we all would be strong. After I got off of the phone with her I began to cry myself for the uncertain feeling I had about my family. I heard from my mom the next day and she said that everyone had been ok. We were very blessed but my heart went out even farther for those families that had lost loved ones. Our school had a candle light vigil the next day and if you looked around, all you could see were people, coming together to be strong together and to be loving together. I know none of us will forget this day because it's not only a day of a terrible loss, but it's the day that we became one as a nation. 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 story3282.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. 24.154.197.241