323 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 worked on Wall Street and I was there that morning with my mother. She and I survived the entire thing. We were both stuck on the train platform on Wall Street and Broadway. We were trapped there for four hours while both buildings fell on top of us. We went to work dressed in black and we both walked the bridge back home dressed in white becuase of all the dust and debris. God must have been with us that day because we made it out safely. 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 story9054.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. 2003-02-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 162.83.141.91 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: How did you witness history on September 11th? share your experience. I was sitting at home on Tuesday morning, September 11th, and ready to go out. And a friend of mine called me with the horrific news and told me to turn on the TV. I did, as it recently unfolded, I saw the film of the towers going down. I called my mom in New Jersey and told her and then I turned on my car radio to the talk shows which were talking about it. I listened as much as I could. Following the news reports, I watched it that night and everyday afterward. I felt sad for the families of the deceased. Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. I'd say my life has changed since then, even though I didn't know anyone personally who had died or was affected by it. Other than what I learned from news reports and reading, I noticed that in general, myself and others just reasessed what is important in life and that how we treat families and friends. Our families are precious and its a reminder how precarious our lives are. People go to work and are annihilated. It's truly and unexpected tragic event. We really need to appriciate the love that we have in our life. I think it also affected me, people are kinder, whether its traffic, or something else. Also, dealing with people in general. I really noticed people are kinder in the past year. Traveling is much more difficult in the past year. What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? I feel that mostly the families of the deceased need to be remembered. Our nation needs to support them financially and emotionally in some form. We never can fully support them. I think we need to remember the heroic efforts from those who helped stop the terrorists in Pennsylvania. The efforts of the firefighters and policman when they rushed in as the towers were burning. Then the hard work of all the workers in New York City who helped rehabilitate those who were wounded . Politicans who helped uplift spirts as well as our leadership in the United States. Our government steadied the nation's course. Anothter thing that should be remembered is those who fight for America. Did you fly an American flag afer the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? We flew one by our mailbox and my husband purchased a decal which I fixed to my car. I've always had strong feelings about the symbolism of the flag. But my feelings have changed. I feel more passionate toward our flag. It symbolizes that we will not be defeated. 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 story8816.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-12-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.54.14.84 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I submitted a story yesterday and am not pleased with the way I wrote it. Please accetp this one instead. Thank you This was submitted to the Library of Congress? September 11th history on 1/12/04 I was a United Airline Pilot getting ready to go to the airport and go to work. It was about 5:30 am and as my usual habit, I had just taken a shower and was flipping through news channels and the weather channel in preparation to go fly. I was scheduled to do one leg from Portland Oregon to Chicago O?Hare and be finished with a 2-day trip. I live on the East Coast so I was going to fly home after arriving at Chicago. Being on the road as an airline pilot can be quite lonely at times. We spend much of our time in hotels rooms at airport locations where there?s not much to do. I was feeling particularly lonely that morning. I had just turned on CNN when I saw the picture of the first tower burning. The whole image just didn?t register at first. I couldn?t believe an airplane would have actually hit the building unless something mechanical had happened and the pilot couldn?t control it. Pilots JUST DON?T deliberately crash their airplanes. Or so I thought. The news commentator was talking about a commercial airplane that had somehow lost its navigation ability and hit the tower. I knew this was not true since those things don't "just happen". I also could see the extremely clear conditions that existed so I knew that an experienced airline pilot would not just happen to fly into a building. I assumed that a private pilot had been joy riding and had somehow been blown into the tower from winds close to the structure. Even then, my mind was not allowing for an event like this. I saw the extensive damage and it didn't register that the hole would be from something bigger than a private airplane. As I stood there watching brushing my teeth, the second airliner hit. My mouth dropped open and toothpaste began to slowly drip out onto my chest. My mind still wouldn?t allow for an event like this to happen in my country. Even though I knew was watching an incredible event, I continued to get ready to go to work. I just knew it couldn?t affect me all the way out on the west coast. We left for the airport and I thought that it was just an east coast occurrence and had no bearing on me. Little did I know how much it would then and later. Several passengers asked if the flight was still scheduled and I told them as far as I knew it still was. So we (the Captain and I) began to prepare the airplane to go flying. While I was on loading our navigation route into the computer, news of the Pentagon came to us and the reality of the situation finally hit in a very big way. The only thing I could do in my fury was to beat my fists against the walls of the airplane. My watch came flying off and a flight Attendant was standing there sobbing silently. I tried to hug her but she froze in place with a look of panic on her face. That?s when I realized my life was never going to be the same again. I walked down the jet way stairs, out to the tarmac and it was probably one of the most beautiful days I can imagine. The sunshine and fresh air were abundant and the mountain views were spectacular. However, overcome by emotion, I sank to my knees, buried my head in my hands and prayed. When I looked up, a passenger was staring at me through the terminal's windows. I gave her a smile and a wave and got one in return. I knew I had to keep it together for many reasons one of which is because I was in uniform. I joined my fellow flight crews in Flight Operations and we all watched in stunned silence. There were no answers to this one. Noone knew what to say. There were the usual false bravados at first. ?Let?s go bomb them right now with our 757?s?. But those eventually died away. I was fortunate enough to be able to get through to my family by cell phone. I contacted everyone I knew to see if they were all right. I contacted my father (my mother is dead) and before our conversation was through we were cut off. I didn't hear from him again for the rest of the time I was trapped in Portland We got back in the van and started the ride back to the hotel. It was silent except for me repeating over and over, ?those motherfuckers?. We were all starting to try and absorb what was happening to us. Stunned disbelief, shock, fury and extreme sadness all took turns. Since we were stuck at the airport location hotel, I coordinated the flight crews and got them to our downtown location where I knew the rest of the flight crews were. I felt like I and therefore the others needed to not be isolated at that point. The hotel staff was great and set us up with our on suites, fed us three meals daily and gave us anything we asked for. My colleagues and I spent much of the time over the next few days watching the news, discussing the impact of this event and what we could do about it. The extreme sadness and fury took turns. We all felt guilty even trying to enjoy ourselves knowing so many had lost so much. I usually try to do something physical when I?m on the road to stay in shape but I even felt guilty doing that. It was pointed out to me that I flew a 767 out of Boston the night of September 10th to the west coast. 15 hours earlier, it could have been me. I still don?t have much feeling about that since death has come close to me so often in my aviation career. I was a Naval Aviator and several of my friends and acquaintances have died in aviation accidents. The Captain of the 757 that crashed in PA was a co-worker of mine when I worked at the Unite Training Center in Denver. He asked the regular Captain of that flight if he could take it to maintain his flying currency. We speculated and we waited and waited. Finally the call came at 4 am on the Friday following to man up the first UAL flight out of Portland. I was eager to get back to work. I didn't know how emotional this event would become. We got dressed, went to the airport and got our jet ready to go to work. I went outside to do the pre-flight and there were 6 mechanics standing shoulder-to-shoulder with American Flags in their hands. They stood silently just looking at me. I went up to each one of them and just shook their hands. With tears streaming down our faces, we began the process of getting the airplane ready. When the passengers came onboard, I greeted every one of them with the same message. ?You'll be safe today?. I obtained a small American Flag and stuck it out the cockpit window where all the passengers in the terminal could see it. I got quite a few waves. We started up, taxied out and took off into the same kind of day as September 11th. As I keyed the mike to report our airborne status to the Departure Controller, I was so overcome by emotion, I could barely speak. Through tears I reported us airborne and got to work. One of the most striking memories of that day was the way I perceived the voices of the Air Traffic Controllers. Their voices had just utter dejection in them. Totally defeated. I suppose they took responsibility to a certain extent for what happened also. Or maybe they were just feeling like me. The frequencies were totally quiet. Hardly any of the usual chatter and certainly none of the banter that you usually hear. We knew that the nation wide moment of silence was going to occur on while were airborne so I made an announcement over the PA so that passengers would be able to do what they wanted. When the time came, I simply said, ?it?s time?. Almost immediately, the Captain of the airplane began to sob. Up until this point, he had remained rather stoic to the point of being unfeeling about the situation. But I guess his emotional limit had been reached. We entered the O?Hare airspace and began our final vectors into the airport. Normally, the Air Traffic Controllers practically drive your airplane for you. Speed, headings and altitudes are given in rapid succession and are expected to be followed immediately with no questions. When we were within 30 miles of the airport (the Federal Air Regulation minimums for this type of maneuver), the Air Traffic Controller cleared us for the ?visual? approach meaning we could determine how to get to the airport anyway we wanted for a safe landing. The Captain and I just looked at each other in disbelief. Once we got on the ground, the controllers once again surprised us. Usually they are as directive as the Airborne Controllers. This time the only thing the ground controller told us was not to cross any runways. As we taxied to the gate, I stuck my flag out the window and just let the air stream it back. Practically everyone who saw it stopped and waved or pumped their arms into the air or some other gesture to let me know they had seen it. As we pulled into the gate, I was once again faced with many mixed emotions. Part of me was never so glad to be done with a flight. Part of me felt like I was ending one phase and beginning another. The terminal was a ghost town and as I boarded my flight, the rage came rushing back once again. My seatmate was a record company executive and thankfully he was very easy going. He and talked and he told me later he could sense the rage I was feeling. Ground Zero was still smoking as we flew over it on our approach into LaGuardia and I was still wondering how all of these events would affect me. A funny feeling hit me after I had been home for a couple of days. I wondered if I could ever fly an airplane again after September 11th. I was actually feeling for the first time since I was 9 years old that I didn?t want to fly anymore. I wondered where those feelings came from until a friend of mine told me that as a pilot, everything about what I do is under tight control. And September 11th changed all those rules. That immediately changed my mind about being able to fly again. Still, it was spooky the first time I flew an airplane from the east coast to the west coast from Newark. It was spooky the first time I walked down the jet way that the highjackers used to board the airplane that morning. It was spooky the first time I did a preflight of a 767 at night and in the eerie night-light I looked the length of the airplane?s belly and imagined seeing it coming at my office window. There were some things I changed about my life after that. I stopped speaking to my Father. His absence during the week I was stuck in the hotel room was on a smaller scale, a reflection of our entire life long relationship. And I didn?t want to put forth the effort any longer. It became clear what was important in my life and what was not. I ended some other relationships and renewed ones that I had abandoned. Working at the airlines eventually became too onerous and I left to find work in the Test Pilot world. It?s much better now. I still get emotional thinking and speaking of those events on that crystal clear blue day. I still feel the rage, the loss, and the disappointment. I still speak with all the friends I left behind and get regular updates. We all move on. 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 story10321.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. 2004-01-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 208.20.220.69 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 the field with my Footballteam. We were practicing for the next game at the weekend. Soma time later one of our Cheerleaders came on the field and told us of the first plane hitting the WTC. So everyone ran to the front office and watched the news. Somewhen I went home an went on watching the news. I was completely shocked. I still ask myself why things like that happen! I will never forget that day. I pray for the victims and thair famalies! Tobi Goorissen 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 story8950.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. 2003-01-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 80.143.219.51 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: Below is an excerpt from an article I wrote for my company News Letter... Angels: A Personal Perspective By: Stephen Walls I don?t recall ever working for a place as culturally diverse as here in the DC Metro area. I hope that when I ask someone questions about their culture and where they?re from that they understand that I?m asking only out of sheer awe that this planet is as big (?or as small, depending on how you look at it) as it is. I also enjoy embracing other peoples? viewpoints, which is largely why I even bother asking questions in the first place. It?s a firm belief within me that whether I take stock in someone?s opinions or not, there?s always something to learn from them if I just open my heart and my mind. I read something one time that suggested that angels are merely all people- each intertwining and interacting with in ways that are already pre-destined. If there?s any truth to this, some of us will, as a result of the ties and the bonds that we make here at DC Metro, become long-lasting friends. Others will be just someone we used to know as either we pass on through this place, or they pass through before we do. Each interaction, however, could be argued as something that was meant to happen- with the idea that change, personal progression and a learning experience eventually occur. I sometimes have trouble with change just as the next person, to be honest. I know what I just said about the necessity of people coming in and out of our lives to assist us in varying degrees, but it gets rough sometimes when that?s all we seem to do is change, especially if there?s no understanding of it?s importance. People come and go- some before I even get to know them, and some without me giving them a chance to know me. Sometimes, when I?m leaning more toward the thought of this being a ?bigger? planet rather than a ?smaller? one, I draw analogies to life within DC Metro from life in the world- each of us doing the best we can, and within our set belief systems, whether morally, spiritually, or otherwise. When I think that a man clear on the other side of the earth loves his family just as deeply and with as much conviction as I love mine, the aforementioned- though important, seems a bit overshadowed. After all, we all want and need the same basic things in life. I think maybe we should try to remember that ?my? pursuits might not be met with as much enthusiasm as yours, and vice-versa. They may even meet with resistance, but you know what? That?s perfectly ok. Just as we strive to get along here within our extended family at work, should we be able to do the same within the world. OK, now I have to be totally honest. I didn?t always think this way. There were so many lessons learned from the events from 9/11 and on so many levels, that I?m still trying to neatly categorize it all, and these thoughts largely stem from that single-day. Funny how that?s working out, huh? We innately feel the desire to have a grip on everything we face in life and when it doesn?t we freak. At least I did, ?at least at first, ?and at least until I broadened my mind and began trying a bit of understanding with my heaping-helping of fear and empathy. At first, when all that had taken place on 9/11 occurred, I was extremely upset and for far more than the obvious reasons. See, I woke up on the morning of 9/11 fully prepared to celebrate my birthday. So for totally selfish reasons, I had a much tougher time grasping those events that took place...just ask my best friend. One year after, my heart still aches for the friends and families and sons and daughters lost, but I?m working on a new angle now? I have personally chosen to celebrate this day once again, but not as my ?birthday?, as that day has taken on a new level of insignificance in an odd way. Instead, I will set aside this day for the memories of the ?angels? who have touched my life- ?all? of our lives- within that single day through their stories of heroism and the human spirit. As a matter of fact, maybe I should just use that day try to appreciate ?all? of the angels who?ve touched my life in the past, and who will touch my life from now on, whether personally or professionally. Yeah- I think my pursuit for personal and professional growth has just had the bar raised to a new level, and I?m going to do my best to reach it. Well, ?at least I?m going to try. Stephen Walls 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 story1753.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. 2002-09-04 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.48.0.34 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: Title: I Can Never Forget I am writing this so I never forget what happened and what I felt on September 11, 2001 and have felt since that day. I was no where close to New York City, The Pentagon or the field in Pennsylvania, but I was very frightened as most Americans about the tragedies we faced and experienced. Being a member of the ?MTV Generation? and ?Generation X,? I cannot remember any event that touched me before 9/11/01 other than the Challenger space shuttle disaster. I was in 6th grade at the time and we used to watch the lift-off of each shuttle. I remember sitting there and staring at the television in awe. My parents and I visited Cape Canaveral some time after the disaster and I was taken back by the memorial there. That was one of my first memories of really being touched at a memorial. Later I would visit the memorials in D.C. and feel the same pain. Prior generations have dealt with many tragedies that touched their lives and brought our nation together. Before 9/11/01, I never dreamed I would see the day that I would share the same pain they did during WWI, WWII, Vietnam, assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, etc. That day I was sitting far from NYC, The Pentagon, and the field in PA. I was just starting out my day in little Youngstown, Ohio. My coworker had received a call from a client about 10 minutes before everything began. Then we heard her say ?What, Oh My God!!!? The client had been watching the news and was relaying the information about the first plane crash into the World Trade Center. We thought it was an accident. She continued to talk to the client a little about business and a little about the news. Next thing I know she is saying ?You?re kidding, Oh My God!!!? They had finished their business and the client wanted to get off the line, as did my coworker. She was telling us what was going on and we quickly went to our lunchroom to turn on the news. We could hardly believe our eyes. My first thought was just utter confusion and how could this be happening. My next immediate thought was ?I have to get to my children, I cannot be here.? My oldest was in Kindergarten until 2:20 and my youngest was at my parents? house. We did not know if our office was going to close, but I just had to get out of there. I knew Youngstown was not going to be a target of any kind of terrorism, but I needed them by my side. I don?t think I have ever been so afraid of them being away from me. I knew I could not go rushing into school and take out my child. I hoped he would learn the news from me. He is very sensitive to the news and we have to limit what we watch because he has a very vivid imagination. Thank goodness the teachers did not tell the children what had happened. They wanted the parents to discuss it with them. I called my husband at his office. He knew what was going on but could not leave. We were both in shock I think. I then called my father to check on him and my youngest son. He said he just could not believe it. I told him I thought and hoped our office was closing and that I would be there soon. It was probably 10:00. We were still running back and forth to the TV in the lunchroom. Then the word came we could go home. It was about 11:30. I couldn?t wait to go. I was looking toward the sky to see if any planes were flying. I could not believe the fear I felt. I picked up Zachary at my parents? house and just held him. We watched the news some more and then it was finally time to pick up Brian from school. I couldn?t wait to get there. Everyone there was talking about what was happening as we waited for our little ones. When Brian came out, we got in to the car and he immediately asked me what was going on. He was told by some kids in the bathroom that 2 cars crashed in front of the school and the people died. I did not know what to say. We fly at least once a year and he cannot be afraid to fly. I had to think of the right thing to say. I had to tell him the truth and I knew we could not watch the news with him because it was just too frightening and I never want him to be scared of living here. I finally told him this; ?Some very bad people took over some planes and crashed them far from our house into some buildings and a field. They were very bad people from another country who don?t like America.? I was on the verge of tears as I told him this. He asked, ?Mommy, why do people have to be so mean to each other?? I said, ?I don?t know honey, they just don?t have love in their hearts and don?t believe in God.? He was just completely puzzled and then asked if the soldiers and police were going to get them. I told him that yes our soldiers and police would do everything they could to find the bad men who did this. He asked me if people died and I said yes that many people died. At this point, I think we were both in tears. We said a prayer that day (and most days since) for everyone who died and who lost friends and relatives in NYC, PA and Washington. In the following days, he would ask every now and then if they caught the bad guys. I would tell him they were going to get the bad guys, then when the troops started to deploy to Afghanistan, I told him the soldiers were going to get the bad men. He was very happy about that. When the FAA finally allowed planes back into our skies, I remember the first time I saw one flying overhead. I was driving to work and saw the line in the sky from the fuel. Goosebumps formed on my arms and legs and I felt a little fear from the few days before. I just stared at it, watching the direction it took to get it?s passengers to their destinations and wondering what was going on inside; hoping it was just a routine flight. We found out that the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania flew directly over Youngstown, so that added to our already intense nightmare. It took a while for me not to notice the planes above other than to point them out to my children, like I used to do. They just love watching them and flying. My parents flew to Florida one month to the day of 9/11. My mother was very determined not to let some insane ?yahoo? terrorist ruin her traveling. I really respect her for this. She is a very strong lady and believes that when it is your ?time? you go. I was of course hesitant about them flying, but wanted them to go just to prove in some way no one could tell us how to live our lives! After all, we live in and believe in the ?Land of the Free? not the land of the oppressed! During the weeks and months that went by, I could not keep my eyes off the news. I never really watched the news before and now I found that I was consumed with it as much of America was. Even now, almost exactly a year later, I have to see the news each day. I was still in shock and a little stressed for a while after 9/11. I questioned why I had brought children into a world like this. Would there be more attacks, how would I explain that to Brian? I would always hear of fighting and bombing in war torn countries far away and knew I lived in a great country. Now I was afraid my country would become like the others. It was more not knowing what would be next that frightened me. I was almost scared to turn on the news for fear of what I would see or hear. My husband was in the Army Reserves and was honorably discharged in November 2000. This was due to my urging. When Brian was only 4 months old, my husband was sent to Germany for 4 months. This was a very difficult time in my life and now with 2 children, I never wanted to experience that feeling again. I just did not want to lose him, so I asked him to take the option to leave rather then reenlist. After 9/11, I was so thankful to not have a husband in the services. The soldier in him wanted to go though. He felt it was his duty. I would ask him if he wanted to go and he would tell me no, but I knew somewhere inside a part of him did. I could not be more thankful of our decision in 2000. I would be very proud of him if he did go to Afghanistan, but would never want him to see the sights of war. I know many change after seeing those things and would hate for him to experience it. He is technically a Veteran, but he tells me he does not feel he should be considered one since he did not fight for his country. I tell him that just signing his name on a paper with the willingness and understanding that he could die for his country and fellow man, to preserve our freedom, is very honorable and enough to call yourself a Veteran. With the first anniversary, I feel this urge to visit New York and pay my respects to all those who lost their lives. I salute all of the heroes of that horrible day and the soldiers in Afghanistan and pray for the loss too many had to experience. May God Bless all of us and May 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 story6138.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.76.185.244 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 WORKING WHEN THE NEWS CAME, MY BOSS TURNED ON THE TV IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM, WE WATCHED THE NEWS IN DISBELEIF IT WAS HARD TO RETURN TO WORK TO THINK. WE KEPT RETURNING TO THE TV, GOT OFF OF WORK, TURNED THE TV ON TO KEEP UP WITH THE NEWS. ATE SUPPER SAID A PRAYER FOR ALL THE PEOPLE AROUND AND IN THESE DISASTERS,THEN OUR PASTOR CALLED A PRAYER MEETING FOR OUR NATION, THE FAMILIES OF THE PEOPLE IN THE BUILDINGS, ON THE PLANES AND IN WASHINGTON.I THINK WE ALL OUT TO KEEP THE FAMILIES IN OUR PRAYERS, ALWAYS! AND TO REMEMBER TO KEEP PRAYERIN OUR LIVES , AND THAT GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL. MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA 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 story7006.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. 205.188.209.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: For me, the morning of September 11, 2001 started rather normally. I woke up earlier then normal because I had needed to get some things done for school. After I finished getting ready I went downstairs for breakfast, where my mom was listening to the radio. At about ten until six a.m. the music cut out and the D.J. said a plane had hit the World Trade Center. To be honost, I didn't even know what the World Trade Center was. At first I thought it was an accident. Shortly after the radio said a second plane hit. This is when I first thought of war. The school was buzzing with gossip about the attack. Everyone wanted to know who was responsible? Who would do this to us? Teachers did their best to explain the attacks without worrying us to much. It seemed everyone reacted differently to the images coming on the telivision screen; some were so angry, while others cried. The following week was amazing to me. The amount of patriotism our country showed stunned me. It was impossible to buy an American flag. On National Rembrence day I went to a street corner with candles. There was a saxophone, trumpet, and trombone there playing songs like the National Anthem. We even got on T.V.. I was really happy and proud about how our nation reacted to such a tragedy. We stood strong and bonded together. 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 story8302.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. 209.79.81.227 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 scheduled to meet a new Dr. I needed a hysterectomy. My appointment was 10:30 AM. I tried for 1 hour to get through to the office - located 20 minutes from New York City. My visit was postponed only a day...meanwhile, my cousin, Cindy was watching the smoke and mist emanating from Manhatten, at a mountain top in Paterson New Jersey - Garrett Mountain. She was so filled with sadness that her life too ended in that tragic week. I feel pain, as do all others. This time in our history is defining and it has made its mark on our lives in more ways than anyone could have known. 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 story2688.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. 66.97.6.184 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: The day the attacks happend, I was staying in Boys and Girls Town. I was having a great day. My first class that I had to go to was, JROTC. I walked into the classroom to find all of the students surrounding the T.V. I took a closer look and right then I saw the first plane hit. I was so shocked, that I fell to floor and cried. I couldn't breathe. All of the kids were either crying or staring in disbelief. That really hurt me bad. I am a very patriotic person. I love my country. I adopted my new motto. Don't mess with the best. We will always hunt you down until we find you. God Bless America. With Love, Christine Denise Pinkerton 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 story4367.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. 204.234.17.5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11th, I was unaware of the situation until after both planes had hit the Towers. I was i 7th grade at the time, and it was during our last period of the day when our principal, Mr. Downey, came on the loud speaker and informed the 6th and 7th graders about the events. The 4th graders were in our school then, and were not told. I think it's because they didn't want them to be scared. I remember I was in the Student Council Advisor's, Mr. Belauskus, room working on a project for an upcoming dance when we were told. I didn't understand. I knew that planes hit two buildings in New York City, but I didn't know how serious it was. In fact, I didn't evenh know what the World Trade Center or Twin Towers were. I don'y know why we weren't allowed to watch the TV. We just weren't. Mr. Belauskus explained to the people in the class what happened by talking and drawing pictures on the white-board. It still didn't mean much to me though. A few people were crying, but most people were shocked or didn't know what to think. It all only started to make sense, when I got home. My mom talked to about it me while I did my homework. My dad had the TV on, and I watched and learned about it all day. I had so many unamswerd questions. I had learnes so much, yet so little. Why would something like this happen? So many innocent people died that day. I still don't understand how someone could ahte us so much. For the next few days, it was all anyone could talk about. I had so many discussions about it in my E.L.A. class. Patriotism was everywhere. But after a few months, it just faded away. It was just something from the past and it didn't hurt as much. My life hasn't really changed sinse September 11th, because it didn't hit close to me. It's not hard to get by. What happened that day was awful and it hurt, but it hasn't permanently scarred me. I think everything should be remembered about September 11th, 2001, because it all happened. Every detail is important. The events shouldn't be glossed over. We need to know the sad, graphic, yet true facts. It has to be told that people were literally jumping out of the buildings, so that they would have a quick death, instead of burning slowly. Not just the brave and heroic acts should be learned by future generations, but all the pain and terror aswell. Everything that happened should be remembered so that we know the true horror or the events, and get a clear understanding or it all. It's the awful truth, but we must accept and remember it. It's in the past and will always be there in our minds. 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 story8559.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. 2002-10-22 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 waking up that day to a phone call from a friend, telling us what was happening. My husband and I turned on the TV just in time to see the South Tower fall. I'm still speechless when I watch the replays. I visited New York City for the first time that October - had to see it for myself. I never got to see the twin towers in person, but I will never forget the sights, sounds and smells of Ground Zero. New York is a great city, and America is a great country! It's heartening to see us all come together, and I hope we continue to strive for peace and unity. 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 story4244.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. 63.225.119.41 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 think that it was sad watching it over and over on T.V.. When it happened I was in second period at school. I didn't really know what to make of it. It was akward watching it over and over. Every day that went by the death toll kept rising.My dad would sit and watch CNN and other news stations for hours about it. I don't like to watch it a lot cause it is pretty brutal cause they keep showing it over and over. I think that people are wrong when they say that it should be a holiday. They think that we shoudn't go to work and school to celebrate thousands of people dying. What i think we should do is go to school and work and work harder to honor them. 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 story3107.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 156.63.41.73 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was in math class and I just walked in and my math teacher had the t.v. on and we asked what was going on. He said a plane hit the WTC. I asked what that was because I had never heard of the World Trade Center. We watched the news for about 5 minutes until the second plane hit. Until that time we all thought this was really cool because we didn't have to do any work. When the second tower got hit we all realized what was going on. I had just remembered that just a day or two ago my grandparents had just been to New York and they could have been there if they stayed just a day or two more. When the first tower fell we all were glued to the t.v. and the room was silent. We had to switch classes eventually and so we went to our home rooms and watched the rest there. We saw the second tower go down and we still watched t.v. until lunch time. Evreyone was afraid that something else might happen. We wondered if maybe the terrorists would crash into Disney World and some of our parents worked there (but not mine). After lunch we wanted to watch the news some more but our teacher said we had work to do and we needed to move on. When school was over my mom picked me and my brother up and we talked about what had happened that day. Me and me brother had to tell my mom what happened because she didn't have a t.v. at the informtion desk at the hospital. So we told her. When my dad got home we all talked about it again. He saw what happened on t.v. so he knew what was going on. That night we were all watching the news waiting for something to happen but nothing did so we went to bed and couldn't sleep. 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 story3441.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. 65.33.161.253 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: September 11 was not just another day for me. My Uncle - my Mother's brother - had died of cancer a few days earlier, in Seattle. I was very fond of Uncle Jerry, a big, athletic skier and former ski patroller. I had joined the ski patrol at his suggestion - he thought it was a great way to learn to ski, because, he said, "you had to ski everything" to be a patroller. He was sixty when he died and I was devastated. I had been looking forward to ski-ing with Jerry in his retirement. Talking to Jerry about engineering was fun - he was an engineer at Boeing, having earned his PhD from the University of Washington. Initially I wanted to live in Seattle when I came to the United States from New Zealand, but I wound up in Boulder, Colorado. So on September 11 I was not initially inclined to go into work. At about 9:30 AM I turned on the TV and saw a report that an aircraft had flown into the World Trade center in New York. I thought it was an accident, and unlike most other people I did not change that opinion when a report came in to the effect that a second aircraft had flown into the second tower. I was still preoccupied with Jerry's death and not inclined to pay too much attention to those around me. Eventually the news reports begain to explicitly suggest that these were not accidents, but the work of a malign intelligance. I got dressed and went in to work so I could email my parents in New Zealand and tell them I was OK, although increasingly I was not sure that I was OK. This is how my mother learned of the attacks - she got an email from my sister, Ann Marie, stating that Ann Marie was OK and that if Mom didn't know what Ann Marie was talking about she should turn on the TV. Most of my office was out at a work retreat which I had elected not to go to due to Jerry's death. We were getting emails from the military bases to whom we provide weather information, asking if they were secure from internet attack, wondering if a sensor outage meant that they were under attack. I sent some emails and then wandered idly down to the front foyer, where there was a radio station reading the news. There was no music on the radio stations that day, and little in the days that followed, just news reports being read. By now it was clear that something was wrong, but it was not clear what. There were all kinds of reports. There might be another aircraft in the air under their control, whoever they were. One of the World Trade Center towers had fallen, but the other remained intact. The number of missing was projected in the tens of thousands. The Pentagon may have been attacked. Various buildings in Washington, DC, might be targets. It was suggested that it was a good idea to fill up your gas tank. There were unconfirmed reports that all air traffic in the United States had been grounded. It was suggested that it was a good idea to leave all available fuel for emergency service vehicles, who might need it. There were all kinds of reports, many of them conflicting, and all of them seemed to me to obfuscate rather than clarify the situation. While I was standing in the foyer, one of our directors came up to me and asked if I was on the medical emergency response team. Because I was on ski patrol, I had some medical skills, and I told him that. He said that we had a visitor from Washington, DC who needed some help. He took me out into the courtyard where a group of people were looking tense. One woman was smoking a cigarette - she seemed to be trying to suck the very life out of it. She told me that she was not feeling well. She had a few medical conditions. I took her to the first aid room where another medical responder and I gave her some oxygen and some water to sip until she recovered enough to go back to her meeting. Normally I would have called her an ambulance, but I did not because I did not want to drain the resources in Boulder. Later I found out that this was a good decision, that the ambulance services had been busy with people doing all sorts of nutty things, like driving their cars into ditches because they got so upset by the news on their car radio. Eventually I wandered aimlessly back home. The local gas station had a long line of cars filling up their gas tanks. Eventually the station ran out of gas. I had decided not to buy any gas since I thought the emergency vehicles needed it more. At this point most people thought that more attacks were possible, even probable. You find out that a day of terror is limited to one day only after the fact. The TV was as disrupted as the radio was. It was clear that the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had been attacked, but it not clear why, or by whom. In the days and months that followed, there was every kind of rumor. It slowly became clear that an ill-defined organization based in Afghanistan was to blame. A web site devoted to debunking Urban Legends was brought to a near standstill by the numbers of people checking to see if their rumor had any factual basis. One rumor was that someone had a good friend who was dating a guy from Afghanistan, and the guy had suddenly vanished leaving only a note saying "Stay away from shopping malls on December 11". Shopping malls were held to be unsafe, as were ski lifts. There were concerns about upcoming New Year's Eve celebrations. There were all kinds of rumors about people being trapped in the remains of the World Trade Center buildings. As it happens a lot of the cabs in New York were driven by people of arabic descent, and there was a rumor that there had been no taxi cabs near the World Trade Center on September 11. It was thought possible that several large airline companies would go bankrupt. For the next few months, the eleventh day of the month passed very slowly. Newspapers and internet browsers were opened only after taking a moment to prepare for news of "another one". People did odd things. The members of the United States Congress gathered on the steps of the Congress to sing "God Bless America", and it seemed entirely fitting. Travelling to New York was seen as a nearly heroic act. People were unusually irritable. There was a waiting list to buy an American flag from McGuckins, the local hardware store. I got a phone call saying that my flag had come in but I did not respond fast enough and someone else got it, and I had a temper tantrum since I wanted a flag. Everyone wanted a flag that fall. Relatively mundane events were reported in a very jingoistic way. When civilian air traffic returned over the United States, it was reported that "America's iron eagles are soaring again". The French government did not seem too supportive of some of the United State's military aims, prompting some people to attempt to rename french fries "freedom fries". People seemed to alternate between being very, very irritable and extremely kind. At the time I was in a class learning to become an Emergency Medical Technician, and after the attack the instructor asked the class if anyone wanted out since there were a lot of EMT's killed in the World Trade Center. Nobody wanted out. There was tremendous respect for the firemen who had run back in to the World Trade Center buildings. There was a charity that made profits by selling New York Fire Department T-shirts. My sister Ann Marie and I flew to Seattle for Jerry's funeral, at which I spoke. I am a nervous flier at the best of times and this was not the best of times. There was a large American flag hanging in Denver airport. Security at the airports was extreme but nobody complained. When we returned to Boulder, they called out passenger names on the public address system. It seemed to me that they were calling all a lot of arabic names, and I struggled not to think about that. I also struggled not to think about Uncle Jerry's beloved airplanes being used as missiles. It was very difficult to accept that the people who had died in these attacks were people not unlike myself. The desire to take revenge was very strong, although there seemed to be nobody take revenge against. In this atmosphere calling french fries "freedom fries", or singing "God Bless America", were seen as dynamic actions rather than being auxiliary to the matter at hand, simply because it was unclear as to what, exactly, the matter at hand was. The United States went on to attack Iraq, and have a divisive election, and that's another story. What peace I found came when my Ski Patrol reformed for the 2001/2002 ski season. There was a guy there who had been a firefighter in New York, and he had been with rescue three in Spanish Harlem and he'd lost some people. He seemed to understand about Jerry's death and pointed out that I had had a chance to say goodbye. My flag flew from the flagpole at our little ski area if I was on duty, as I was the day the space shuttle broke up when it was coming back in for a landing. I heard the news from the patrol station at the top of the hill. We wondered if it was a defective heat tile on the shuttle or the result of some terrorist action, and then I skied down and lowered the flag to half mast. I put in so much time on the patrol that year that I won volunteer patroller of the year. Although it took me two tries I was selected as a volunteer with my local fire department. I had to leave the department when my daughter was born, but in between my time helping people on the ski slopes and helping out out at the fire station the sadness that was somehow bundled up in Jerry's death and the terrorist attacks lessened. Now it is something I only feel occasionally, like a medal I won long ago that I take out of a box, turn it over a few times, and then put back in its proper position, whatever that is. 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 story11163.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. 2004-11-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 128.117.192.19 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 was getting my brakes done at muffler man and all of a sudden this came on the news that there were planes crashing i wasnt sure what was happening the first plane had crashed and there were the others they were waiting for and i was in total shock at what was happening i was in shock that whole day and couldnt believe this was happening and was praying for all those people on the planes and in the trade center 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 story5649.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.79.60.24 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: The morning started with my husband going to work and me getting my son ready for school and myself ready for work. We were sitting at our desks when we recieved the news. Radios were turned on all over the building and tears were shed. It was like a dream. I never thought that something like this could actually have happened. Immediately I asked to leave to go get my son. I called my husbands cell phone and begged him to come home. He was working at the Pittsburgh International Airport that day. I went to my sons school and my husband met us at our home. As we watched all I could do was cry and pray for all of those who were in the towers. Then more reports of planes crashing into the Pentagon then in a field in Pennsylvania. What started as a normal day turned into the blackest day. As the days passed I kept praying for the families and for more survivors. We will always remeber 9/11/01. God Bless all families and friends. God Bless Our World. Keep believing in our freedom. 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 story4383.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Since writing "Tonight I Cried", it went on to live a life of its own. I shared it with the members of the National Middle School Association in November of 2001. It was even read on radio as far away as Wisconsin. I have seen print copies of it several times. Why someone chose my view over 280 million other stories in America I will never know. Personally, I have struggled to come to terms with that day. It is now five years later and I am able, for the first time, to see the video of the tower collision. This is a big step for me. Life is for the living, but never forgetting where we have been. Grad school is finished and the girlfriend is now my wife of almost 4 1/2 years. I tell her of the Washington that used to be; the one that celebrated the scaffolding around the Washington Monument at the millenium. I tell of traffic that was not crippling to the commuter (I know she will never believe that). I tell my middle school students how technology failed us that day. This is the first class of students that was too young to be impacted directly. The first grade classes did not stream the media coverage the same way the rest of us did. Tonight I Celebrate life. Tonight I Toast to those who had no choice but to become immortal that day. Those lost will never be forgotten. However afraid, shaken, weak or strong, only the memory of fellow Americans lost remains. We have not done all we can to make peace in this world. In our hearts we know this is not where we want to be. May the ones who live on find comfort in our love, hope and dreams for their well being. May those lost never be forsaken. Cassidy Nolen September 11, 2006 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 story20718.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. 141.156.35.207 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It's so hard to believe that we as a nation could have been so careless. I recently saw a TV program dealing with the events that led to that horrible attack on the American people in N.Y.C. back in 9-11-01, and can't believe we let Bin Laden slip through our sights without any attemp to take him out. So many signs, so many warnings, so much we could have done. How sad it still is. If one half of what we saw in that ABC program is true then many higher ups were sleeping so to speak during their watch. God save us, and forgive those that knew of the warnings of the impending storm and slumbered while the rest of us went through our daily lives without as much as a bell or siren to wake us up. 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 story21304.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. 2006-09-24 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.225.47.158 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 the moment of the attack I was driving my 3 year old to preschool. I had just put my 7 year old on the bus, and was calculating my grocery list in my mind. I heard over the radio about the first plane crash, then they informed us of the second plane. This was a joke! Wasn't it? The DJ's are real pranksters, wasn't sure if this was one of their sick jokes. I then heard them say that this was no joke, it was actually happening, America was under attack. I was shocked! I placed my hand on my belly and cried. You see, I was 9+ months pregnant and was to be induced the next morning. I was frightened to bring this child into this scary world. How will I be able to protect this small innocent child. 11 hours after the first plane hit the World Trade Center, my 8lb. 10 oz. angel was born, Eric William. To this day, he has proven time & again he is our angel. I am truely blessed! God Bless America!!!! My heart goes out to all those who have lost a loved one in NY, PA, or Washington, D.C. 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 story6625.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.65.242.117