329 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 awoke at 7:30 a.m. and got dressed, for I had to play at the innauguration of our new university president. As I was leaving I walked through the lobby of my dorm and on the big screen was footage of what was going on in New York. I was in total awe. I had no idea what was going on, and really didn't have time to watch the news. There was one other man in the lobby and I asked him what had happened. He just said that America was under attack. I kind of shrugged it off because I one, was late and two, was under the impression that no one could "attack" America. As I arrived to the ceremonies of the innauguration, there was alot of commotion over what was happening. All anyone knew was that the World Trade Center Towers had been hit by airplanes,, and that the Pentagon had been hit also. As the orchestra sat in their chairs Dr. Hawthorne, our Dean of Music, got up on the podium and explained to us what everyone already knew. It was sad that our new president's celebration was being overshadowed by this horrible act of cruelty. After the ceremony was over my roommate and I headed back to our room, because classes had already been canceled due to the innauguration. We got back and ordered a pizza and proceeded to watch the news channels. Most of America was in shock just like us. At 10:45 is when I found out that the towers had collapsed, and that four planes had been hijacked by terrorist. Two crashed into the towers, one into the Pentagon, and one crashed landed in Pennsylvania. Everything in this great country was at a complete standstill. All my college buddies and I stayed glued to the tv for the rest of the day. When President Bush came on tv that night at about 7:30 we were all there to watch. His message was short, sweet, and to the point. The people who did this will pay and so will the people who house them. I was in total shock. This could very well have been the beggining of World War III or it could just be one very dark day in American history. My roommate, Keith Dodgen, confessed that he had full faith in God and that his Will shall be done. That conforted me alot. America is a great, strong, and faithful country and these events may scar us but will not beat us. Everywhere I look now there are American flags and symbols of American pride. After sporting events started back up every one of their uniforms bore and American flag on it, and the National Anthem was being sung and everyone was praying. America had turned straight to God to help defend us. This act was meant to destroy us, but it in fact had united America like nothing else since World War II. This day shall never be forgotten and should be a call for America to stand up and defeat terrorist. 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 story348.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. 2002-04-03 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.216.57.67 Annotation Annotations to this item. Patriotism Politics and politicians Religion Terrorism 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: At the time of September 11th, at 8:40, I was in the 7th grade, in my math class. We'd been doing probability. I wasn't really there, I was inside my head, listening to my brain play songs by Green Day. My teacher was called into the hallway for an important message. He came back into the room, and announced that there had been a terrorist attack. I hadn't understood what he was saying, because I wasn't listening much. Soon, I had learned little about what he said, but, the only thing I knew was that a terrible accident happened in the city at the time and my dad took the train under there sometimes. He was actually going to the city that day because he worked 10 blocks away. I was torn inside and was horribly worried. I prayed to God that nothing had happened. Students were being taken out of school, and still, I hadn't really known the entire story. When I got home, I discovered my dad, safe and sound, and ran to hug him and saw the news. Some silent tears ran down my cheeks; Those of relief that my dad was safe, and those of sorrow and disbelief that the twin towers were gone. Forever. I was sad and angry. I thought to myself, "Those terrorists. I'll never know the awe of being at the top of the World Trade Center." I wanted to kill the engineer of the plan. I was later informed that those who were on the plane were the terrorists. Suicide bombers. I asked my mum about it, and she said that when she saw the first plane hit it, she fell upon her knees at her job, which was on Queens Boulevard. She was on the 11th floor. The haunting images I witnessed on tv still creeps into my thoughts every now and then. I feel so fortunate for my father that he was not near there at that time. I am happy to be alive, and I feel complete sorrow for the families of/and the ones who died. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story11389.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. 2005-05-01 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 4.236.171.123 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was doing a safety training for a company and while I was doing the training my cell started to vibrate, I didn't think nothing of it until it went off again and again which was telling me that something was wrong either with family or I had a customer that needed me really bad. So after the training I went to my vehicle and looked at who was calling me and it was my brother, so I called him back and he advised me that the towers where hit by terroists. I said no way and he advised me that we were meeting at my parents home, when I arrived at the house and walked in and saw it on tv I knew at that time he was not joking and I got this really empty and sick filling in my stomach. The first thing I thought was my dear lord please be with all these innocent people and their families and then I said a prayer for my daughter who is serving in the US NAVY on the USS PEARL HARBOR and my nephew who is in the US ARMY. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!! Bob Hessler 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 story6190.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. 204.248.168.152 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 getting everyone ready for school and myself for work. I had the news on and it said a plane hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center and at that point the news said it was an accident. I was passing the T.V and happend to look over at it when the second plane hit- the news casters and myself were shocked and it hit me that this was no accident- I began to wake the rest of the children and was then glued to the T.V. set- when it was announced that the pentagon was hit I immediantly started calling my family members and my husband at work to tell them I loved them and to watch the news. I didn't go to work until noon that day and watched the news unfold for almost two straight weeks. I will never forget the way I felt that morning and how it has changed my life and thoughts. I applied for a job at Morgan Stanley about two months before and was denied the job. I was so upset that I did not get it and was depressed about it. My training was to have taken place in New York-Now I know why I did not get it and I am grateful. God bless America now and always. 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 story4496.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.142.21.148 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: 100 Blocks in Septmeber ?UGH! I hate work!?, I said for the 6th consecutive business day that month. The alarm went off for the third time and for the third time I pressed snooze. The intolerable smell of stale beer escaping from my mouth was matched in severity only by the pounding in my head - just your typical Tuesday morning in the city so nice they named it twice. The night before, a Monday, wasn?t that different from any other ? I had stayed out too late, drank too much and didn?t get to sleep at a responsible time. Oh well, ?priorities, priorities?, I always say. Through the sliding glass door that served as my room?s floor to ceiling window (and that I always left a little bit open) in my upper east side apartment, I could tell it was beautiful out. The sun was shining, a cool breeze was rolling into the room; an Indian summer day. ?Damn?It?s 8:30 already? I blurted out as I stumbled out the door. Thankfully, I was always quick to get washed up and quick to get dressed. A quick brushing of the teeth, a wash of the face, some deodorant and I was halfway out the door. Dressed in a pair of chinos, a green Hilfiger shirt and of course my book for the commute ? Ken Follett?s Pillars of the Earth ? and I was on my way. To a New Yorker, how we get to work is as much a series of options and choices as work itself. Will it be a bus or should I walk? Should I take the subway or a ferry? Ok, I?ll take the train, but which one? Should I take the local then switch for the express, or maybe walk a couple of blocks this way, so I can take the express the whole way down? For me it was an express train, then the PATH one stop into Jersey. My commute wasn?t even that bad. After my ten minute hike to 86th and Lexington I was on the downtown 4 train to Fulton Street that ran express. From there, it was a 3 minute walk to The World Trade Center, where I could pick up the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH, for short), for my 5 minute jaunt across the river to Exchange Place, NJ and finally, the office. Door to Door, one hour max. As always, I paid little attention to the stops or the people getting on and off. Habit told me exactly when I needed to get off the subway. I had my head down and was engrossed in my novel, which was one of the best I had ever read. When I finally did get out of my literary coma, we were at Wall Street! I had apparently missed Fulton street by one stop. ?What the hell?? I thought. ?Was I so lost in this book that I didn?t remember to get off the damn train? Did I drink more than I thought last night,? Oh well? The Wall Street stop put me only three blocks further away from the WTC than Fulton would have and besides, I was already late anyway and it was such a nice day out. Looking back, those few seconds standing there underground on a dirty New York City train, were the last ones during which America would ever be the same for me. The time was about 9:30am when I surfaced and pandemonium was the norm. Even for a Tuesday morning rush hour, something was wrong. A quick scan to the left and right showed me something was not right, but what? I made the right and pulled my cell phone out of my back pocket, I wanted to call work and let them know I was running late but would be there shortly. I dialed once, nothing. Lousy cell phones. I dialed again and again I was met only by a fast busy signal; I was still heading North towards the WTC. People were walking, though with a quicker stride in their step, in every direction. It was on my third attempt that it hit me, literally. ?You?re not gonna get anything with that? the man said as he bumped into me (or did I bump into him). ?What was that?? was my reply. ?The antennas are broken. They hit us today.? Was his quick response. He was a black guy, about 28 years old maybe 5?8? and on an ordinary day, he was a bike messenger. Today however, was no ordinary day. ?What do you mean, ?they? hit us today?? I asked, making no attempt to hide the confusion in my voice. ?They hit us today.? He repeated. ? Terrorists. Terrorists flew two planes into the Trade Center a little while ago, cell phones aren?t working.? ?Are you kidding me?? was all I could say though with an expletive unintentionally thrown in there. I noted to myself even then, that I never swear to strangers and even less in public. I reserve that kind of language for friends, home and when the situation warrants it, at work. ?No man, I ain?t kidding? was the last thing he said to me, with a look on his face that can only be described as disbelief in my asking him if he was serious. Next thing I knew he had disappeared into the growing crowds of people. As I took my next step and turned my head to the left, I saw the World Trade Center for the first time that morning, (I had seen it every single business day for the last year and a half from a distance measured in meters not miles), and I realized why the stranger gave me that look. The top floors of the World Trade Center ? both towers - were on fire. As I would soon realize, this would be a day of many ?firsts? for me as well as a day where I knew, even then, that I would see things that would stay with me for the rest of my life. The police had closed off certain streets and were herding people down others. I could see that several floors near the top of both towers were replaced by gaping holes, black ash and fire. Because of all the papers that had fallen and were falling out of the building, the sky looked more like a ticker tape parade than the beautiful sunny day I had seen when I left my apartment. Slowly, very slowly, I started to get information. In retrospect, this was one of the scariest parts of my day. I have always been one to crave information. My love for knowing my surroundings eventually developed into a need for knowing what was going on around me and around the world. Cut off from news sources and my cell phone, I was completely ignorant to the events of that morning as they had unfolded and were continuing to play out. People were huddled around vans and cars listening to the radio. The scene reminded me of old World War II pictures and stories I had seen and heard of families huddled around the radio yearning for news and was an exact duplicate of scenes across the country following Japan?s invasion of Pearl Harbor. I was not scared. No, I wouldn?t call what I was feeling fear (that would come soon enough). My emotion was, as sick as it made me feel at the time, excitement. I was excited to be seeing first hand what I immediately knew would be, for lack of a better word, history. I had no doubt about that. The second emotion coursing within my veins was anger. I was infuriated. Someone had methodically planned and executed an attack on civilians in my city. In my book, you don?t get to do that. I spent a few minutes standing in the street alongside ten others, all of us trying to learn all we could from the radio coming from a parked white van. From that, as well as people exchanging pieces of news in the street, I heard a lot of unsubstantiated rumors. By some accounts there were many planes still in the sky. By others, the White House and the Pentagon where already hit. And in yet other stories, there were as many as five planes still unaccounted for circling somewhere in the skies over America. Just then, the jets from two planes roared overhead. Everyone I could see, including myself looked up. Ok, maybe now fear was setting in a little. After what could not have been more than 6 or 7 minutes, I continued my journey and followed the crowd away from the World Trade Center. The police were softly telling us to ?remain calm? and were pointing us in a direction that would get us quickly away from where we were. My thoughts wandered places that I can?t remember - anger and disbelief I?m sure where a general theme though and things went from very bad, to unbelievably worse. I have never experienced an earthquake. But I think I know what they feel and sound like now. I was startled in mid stride by a rumbling ? both under my feet and in my ears ? coming from what is best described as, all around me. I stopped what was a slow walk, turned and saw the World Trade Center for the last time. There are hundreds of phrases and sayings that we all use in everyday life that are not intended to be taken literally. One of them is ?I couldn?t believe me eyes.? Now that I know what that really means, I doubt I?ll ever say it in jest again. As I turned around to face the towers, I could not believe what my eyes were seeing. I was no more than 200 feet from the North Tower when it collapsed. Literally paralyzed in disbelief, I watched with nothing at all between me and it, as the top of the tower fell to the earth and then disappeared behind an opaque cloud of smoke, ash, and debris that its own demise had created. It was not until the blast cloud exploded outwards that I started to run. As I turned I remember clear as a bell addressing myself in the third person ?Moe, (a nickname of mine) I don?t know how this one is gonna turn out.? In retrospect, I see that phrase as proof-positive that I never ever panic in any situation. Or it could be the mind simply trying to maintain order in the body. Either way, I (and this is where the next usually exaggerated statement comes into play) ran for my life. Every cell of my being wanted to live. Every muscle in my body ran with that sole purpose in mind. I pushed myself as fast as I could run. I have always prided myself on being blessed with speed rather than strength, and have always known that when I?m being chased, you had better be on something faster than foot to catch me. That day I proved myself right yet again. As I ran, and it turned out to be a distance of no more than 100 feet, I heard and saw two things that I will again, never forget. I remember seeing a cop in uniform, standing his ground, his back to the corner of a building, completely composed shouting ?come on people, move it, move it, move it!? his arms flailing like a 3rd base coach urging the runner home. I am amazed that during the scariest moment of my life I kept my presence of mind as well as I did and how much humor I found in certain things. I remembering actually grinning (while I?m in a full sprint) at the contrast between the 1st cop that was softly telling people to remain calm and telling us where to go and this cop, only a few minutes afterwards, screaming and pumping his arms, to be quite a funny sight. The other thing I remember from my sprint wasn?t so funny, but at worst it saved me a lot of healing and at best, saved my life. My plan was simple. Run as fast as I can, for as long as I can, straight ahead, thinking I would just outrun the blast. I was well on my way to carrying this out, when I heard a woman shout ?oh my god!? At those words, I turned my head ? and undoubtedly lost some speed as a result ? and knew exactly what she meant by what I saw. The cloud - that not 5 seconds before - was 200 feet away, was now maybe 30 feet behind us ? we would never outrun it! I focused all my attention again to the task at hand ? running ? and banked left while maintaining my speed. There was a luncheonette there with a glass door and I decided there and then that this would be my only chance. I ran for it, and as it turned out, through the door. It didn?t break, but did slam open as I dove through it and proceeded to destroy the potato chip rack. I could tell by the sound of the blast wave passing that I had missed the cloud by no more than a second. When I got to my feet, the combination of the adrenaline, the sprint and the quick stop made me feel nauseous. As I stood there, my hands on my knees, and my head down, I remember thinking how sad it would be if I made it through all of that without puking, but now, while I was in relative safety, I threw up. Fortunately, I didn?t. I spent about 30 minutes inside that store and saw some great things, and some terrible things. People would stumble in at first, covered from the top of their heads to the soles of their shoes in gray soot. Every inch of them front and back was covered in the soot; they looked like zombies. The proprietors of the store ? middle eastern men as it turned out ? where quick to dispense napkins as well as open their coolers to all who wanted water, drinks, and food all for free. I did the best I could to get some answers from these people and asked rather loudly, ?does anyone here know from a reliable source and not something they heard in the street, what exactly happened this morning?? Some people engaged me in conversation and I learned a few things, most notably that no one knew that much of anything for sure. While I was talking to some people, two women started getting hysterical (and I mean this in the truest sense of the word) and complaining that they wanted, no they had to, go outside, they couldn?t stay here. Many of us in the store told them to sit and calm down, they couldn?t go outside. Reason being, that ?outside? was nighttime. The visibility was zero, to say nothing of the fact that the air, what little there was, was not breathable. Even with the stores full glass front which made it quite obvious that nothing was safe outside ? it was black out ? they still insisted. After some insistence on our part, they stayed inside. After about 30 minutes, the air was by no means clear, but at least you could see where you were walking. I didn?t know where to go exactly, but I did know that I had to get out of the Financial District, and that meant heading north. I grabbed some napkins to use as a makeshift air filter and headed out. I?ve heard many people who were down there that day refer to the scene as a nuclear winter. I am sad to say that that was no exaggeration. There was an eerie quiet to everything. You could hear the sounds of emergency vehicles in the background, but for the most part there was this stillness and quiet. Tiny pieces of debris were still falling like snow, and what was not covered by soot from the original blast, was now covered as a result of this stuff falling. People were walking, some were bleeding, some crying, all completely hidden beneath a veil of ash. I headed north, block after block the same scene repeated myself. I could not believe how much ground the blast wave had covered. But on and on the devastation went. I saw the Brooklyn bridge and the mass exodus that it supported. It was obvious that I was simply one of thousands that wanted to get off Manhattan island. I saw plainclothes officers and policeman toting submachine guns and assault rifles. I saw fear, I saw panic. When I reached City Hall, I felt it again - the rumbling sensation that I had felt maybe 45 minutes earlier. I stopped for a moment. I knew what it was and didn?t even bother to turn around to see it, once was enough for two lifetimes. The second tower had fallen. After the fear for my life had subdued, I realized that people were most likely looking for me, most importantly my family and girlfriend. They knew how I got to work and my propensity for being late. Those two facts were going to make them nervous. I continued north. I had walked maybe 20 blocks at this point and I was around 3rd street when I see this girl I had not seen since my sophomore year of college, Suzie. As it turned I spent the night I got into my fraternity with her. I laughed as it struck me funny that of all the days to run into someone like that, it would be this one. It was at this point that I stopped to use a pay phone. My cell phone was still dead, and every pay phone I had seen up until now had long lines in front of them. As much as I wanted to let people know I was alright, I had to get as far away from the chaos as possible. I waited ten minutes on line for this pay phone, realizing that it had been quite some time that I had to use a pay phone rather than my cell phone. I called my father, and as soon as he got on the line, I could hear the relief in his voice. The conversation went something like this: ?Dad, it?s me. I?m alright. But a lot of people died today?? I began. ?I don?t give a damn about other people right now!? he replied, sounding almost angry. ?You?re alive and talking to me and that?s all I care about.? I realized that in a way he was angry. Angry about what had happened. Angry that he was made to feel worried, and angry of what could have been. We spoke for a little while longer, getting the basics down. Was I close? Was I safe? What was I going to do now? I hung up to free up the phone and resumed my trek. I tried calling my girlfriend at work, on her cell and at home, leaving messages everywhere but didn?t get in touch with her. A different kind of fear was setting in. I kept heading north and around 30th street I ran into Brett, a good guy that lived on my floor in the dorms my freshman year of college but like Suzie had not seen since. By the time I reached 42nd street, I was tired. The adrenaline, whatever was left, was fading fast. My feet hurt and I was very curious how I was going to get off the island ? I was more interested in getting back to Queens to see my family and my girlfriend than I was in spending the night at my apartment. Continuing the oddity of seeing random people, I bumped into Jody, the girlfriend of a close friend of mine - Adam. She convinced me to go down with her to Adam?s place and let time pass before I kept going. So we walked back down to 23rd street and the peace of his apartment. It was there, at around 12:30pm that I first saw the planes hit the World Trade Center. Up until then, I had only seen the effects of the terrorism, not the cause. Even watching it on the news, it seemed more Hollywood than reality. I was inundated with horrible news. The scene at the Pentagon, the field in Pennsylvania, all of it came to me in clear and color detail. I felt sick, but seeing what was going on in the world that day and what I had already been through that morning, I felt fortunate to be alive. I stayed there for about an hour to recoup and rehydrate then I headed for Queens. I walked to Grand Central Station, about 20 blocks more and hopped on the Queens bound E train. That alone should be seen as a credit to the Metro Transit Authority since the World Trade Center was the end of the line for the E. 20 minutes after that I was in the arms of my very healthy, and vey happy (though crying) girlfriend. My ordeal on September 11th lasted 6 hours and about 100 blocks. That was the worst I had ever seen my city. It was in the days that followed that I saw it at its best. 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 story1090.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-08-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 199.43.48.21 Annotation Annotations to this item. Environmental/Health Impact Police Officers Rescue/clean-up workers/volunteers Rumors Struggle to get home WTC, attack NY:2 Feature Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: United We Stand; Together we Embrace bin Laden the Bastard, fluke-knocking... Bitched-in-the-heart-son of a Saudi millionaire, Though he and his kamikaze-pilots Dealt the dolorimetry dolor of death Upon our virgin shores, shores virgin like Elizabeth I With all the filth of his oil money, Dark, dreadful and ditch-like... like an oil spill That would suck and suffer and slay My beloved off-shoots in the seagull family -My twisting terns and my glorious grebes In my storied myth that I Buddha today for Wisdom's Way For whom I sing of arms and the man Soaring for our armies, navies, marines and airmen 'Cause our social-knit is the weave Of Aristotle's supreme government - The kingdom of a President Birthing the substance of the French root of society -"friends" -As we have become again "rolling" Like the heroes in a Pennsylvania ditch... Americans whose Democracy Re-incarnates the Indo-European root Of friend - "pri" Which bears forth A Mediterranean family... "pri" meaning "love," as now we bury fear - The hobgoblin of all terrorism - In the word-kin of all Kings - freedom C copyright 2001 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story627.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. 2002-05-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 146.96.95.21 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 work for the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, but I am from Columbus Georgia. I had just come back from lunch (Ireland is 5 hours ahead of New York) and someone casually mentioned that a plane had flown into the world trade center. I immediately went and found a TV. RTE, the Irish television station was carrying CNN and I watched as the second plane flew into the WTC. I had just stayed at the WTC 2 years earlier on a surprise birthday trip...I even had a picture of it on my desk. I sent frantic emails back and forth to my Mom in Georgia. When the plane crashed into the Pentagon, I couldn't take it anymore and burst into tears. My husband and I had lived in DC before moving to Ireland and I really feared for the lives of my friends who worked in the Pentagon, National Press Building and State Department among other places. I couldn't go into work the next day...I could barely move. That Friday was declared a National Day of mourning in Ireland and all businesses closed. I stood for 3 hours in line at the US Embassy to sign the book of condolence and went to a beautiful memorial service at the Pro-Cathedral. My story of 9/11 still goes on. There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not reminded of all the lives lost. I'm moving back to the United States in January. It's my home, it's where I belong. 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 story1308.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-08-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 194.125.59.170 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: The phone rings. I'm too tired and too lazy to get it. I had to work 'till midnight the night before. After couple of rings I finally get up and answer the phone. "Honney turn on the TV. Something is wrong" It was my husband. He sounded worried. " I cant talk but I'll try to call you back as soon as possible." My husband served in the U.S. Army at that time. My heart stopped when I saw the World Trade Center. At first I couldnt believe it. I called my mom and she confirmed the terrible news. I tried to call my husband back but his and all the military cell phones were confiscated. No one could contact their love ones. The military post closed out from the rest of the world. I started to worry. President Bush talks about terrorist attack war and military deployment. Will I ever see my husband? Week ago we found out I was preagnant, now I might have to face the preagnancy and the war all by myself. I had to go to work that morning. It was the worst day of my life. All the businesses closed down. People were in panic. No one knew if we would be under attack as well. It seemed like the day would never end. I was stuck at work with my mind in New York. Not knowing where my husband is and whats worse not knowing if hes still in the states. I had to stay calm because of the preagnancy. Finally my shift was over and on my way out stood my husband. "Don't worry babe, everything will be OK, We'll see in due time" My husband was not deployed that day, but his company was next on the list. Luckily he was ordered to stay and protect the base. My prayers were answered. I still get the goose-bumps thinking about that day. And I thank God for saving my husband and his company. 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 story6204.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. 12.45.22.124 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was three months pregnant with my son and had just been coming out of three months of morning sickness. After three mornings of waking up with no signs of morning sickness, I woke up on September 11, 2001, looking forward to the first day of a Mommy and Me class with my two-year old daughter. I was still drowsy, yet cheerfully I realized that for a fourth day in a row, I woke up without feeling sick. The end of morning sickness was near when my phone rang around 7:45 am (Pacific Time) in Glendale, California. I picked up the phone wondering who was calling me so early. My father was on the line and all he could tell me was, Did you hear? Did you hear the news? . . . The towers . . . Theyre gone. They are gone. I responded, What do you mean gone, shaking off my sleepiness . . . What towers? My dad answered in a stunned voice, In New York, the ones in New York . . . They are gone. Trying hard to make sense of the conversation, I responded, You mean those huge buildings in New York? My dad in a beleaguered and saddened voice said the World Trade Center . . . both towers gone, gone, gone. Still doubting what my father was saying, yet feeling fear seting in, I responded, Dad! Thats not possible. Those buildings are huge. What are you talking about!? And he said, Im telling you, honey, they are gone . . . terrorists . . . turn on your TV. Now I was worried and tears started to well up in my eyes from a pang of fear (and pregnancy hormones, too). I called my husband into the living room and we saw the towers crumbling to the ground (repeated footage since in NY time it was now about 10:50 a.m.) New footage followed focusing on the Pentagon. Later I was to hear of the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. I was bewildered and overwhelmed; a weird numbness set in my core, and for the rest of the morning I went about my business in a despondent manner, upset at the tragedy and loss of lives. The rest of the day and week perhaps, I was living life in an enigmatic self-protecting trance; part of me tried to ignore the tragedy but another part of me knew I couldnt. Granted, my morning sickness came back shortly after watching the footage of the towers falling and the nauseous feelings remained yet for another month. And for at least a month afterwards, I was in fear for myself, my family, and the new life I carried. It wasnt until I spoke to my obstetrician about my fears of anthrax that I finally felt better. What did she say? If I were you, I wouldnt worry about anthrax. Youre chances of getting cancer are much, much higher than experiencing an anthrax terrorist attack. You need to worry about protecting yourself from cancer, not anthrax! With that, my scientific mind (I was a chemistry teacher at the time) finally kicked in and enabled me to put everything that happened in the right perspective dont worry about yourself, odds are low now; pray and help others who experienced the tragedy more directly. I was lucky I did not know anyone who died on 9/11. People on the west coast were lucky. We werent targeted. Yet, we also mourn with those on the east (and across the country) who lost friends and family. We pray and hope such loss will never happen again. Its been five years since the tragedy and its amazing how vivid my memory still is of the morning of September 11, 2001, 7:45 am pacific time in Glendale, California. 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 story20791.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. 66.214.135.135 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: Because it was my twin daughters first day of Pre-K, I had taken the day off of work and was planning a fun day with them. We were planning to go to Mc Donald's(their favorite) for lunch and then to school in the afternoon. We had gotten up early to see Daddy off to work and then they were watching a video(Disney) in their room. I had been busy cleaning when one of them came in to tell me the movie was over. As I went into their rooom, I saw the image of the first tower shortly after it had been hit and the headline "Breaking News" at the bottom of the screen. Of course since it was their t.v., I quickly turned the channel to a cartoon and ran into the living room to find out what had happened. As I sat their in disbelief, I called my sisiter at work to tell her a plane had crashed into the WTC. We both thought it was an accident only to find out otherwise a few minutes later as the second tower was hit on live television. During the rest of the unfolding events, I became more afraid to leave my house. My friend whose child would be attending school with my twins called to ask if they were going. We discussed our fears and decided school would have to wait for another day.ANd to my twins unhappiness, McDonald's would have to wait too. As I hugged my girls tightly throughout the day, I prayed that people would survive and ran several times to the bathroom to cry. I tried to explain to my twisn that some bad men had done very bad things and that we needed to stay home from school today. As the hours progressed, I felt my fear and sadness turn to anger as I realized the terrorists had not only killed thousands but they had cheated me out of seeing my twins first day of preschool. Although they finally had their first day of school later in the week, I was unable to take the day off of work to do all the fun things that we had planned. Today, I am thankful and feel very lucky because unlike the thousands of Moms and Dads who were killed that day, I still got to hug my beautiful children! God Bless all those families whose lives were forever changed that awful september day and 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 story6844.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. 63.232.8.34 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: Now I understand how we as humans can vividly remember a tragedy like September 11,2001. I was up before 6:30 a.m. because I had to drop my eldest child off at school. I came home and I was preparing breakfast for my other two children when my younger sister called and asked if I was watching television. I replied, "no, I usually don't watch television in the morning." She started crying and saying how terrible it was what was happening, I thought she was getting a bit carried away, that she was just being emotional, until I turned the television on and saw what had happened. It was absolutely terrifying. I usually try to compose myself so I won't over react for my childrens sake, but all I could do was cry. What a horrible thing that those terrorists did. The innocent people of all races that perished that day, wait let me rephrase that, that were murdered that day! A few weeks prior to this day all I could think about was me and my husbands trip to Hawaii that we had planned to take place on September 15, 2001, now it wasn't even a thought. 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 story4458.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: I was sending my students on a restroom break around that time (I'm a Second Grade Teacher). One of my co-workers approached me in the hallway, and asked if I had my television on. Then she told me there was a bomb that went off in the World Trade Center Towers. I didn't get an opportunity to see any television until after 10:00 p.m. You see, I was beginning my first quarter in school on the same day. On campus, we had a candlelight vigil in honor and memory of the families, friends, and loved ones who lost their lives in the attack. Just a few months ago on Father's Day 2002, my grandmother passed. It took me awhile to let go and let God. I even had a student in my class whose birthday is today. It was acknowledged with a Birthday certificate and 2 American Flags. My students knew what happened on that day, and shared their own experiences with me. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story4826.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.86.96.135 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 sat, tired and unknowning in my zero hour spanish three class. I looked apon September 11 as any normal day at that time, I looked at that day as a day full of school, work, and four days until my birthday. I dazed off as my spanish teacher went on talking in spanish, which most of it I would not have understood anyways, until two words she said cought my attention, avion (plane) and nueva yor (New York). I tuned in knowing something was differnt because usually we talked only of boring things, like homework and worksheets. I next heard the words muy horrible, very horrible. I sat puzzled trying to figure out what she was saying, but she quickly continued on and thinking that her story was something about her daughter who resides in New York, I let the story slide out of my mind. In english, my next class, the bomb was dropped. Choas had taken our country, America the beautiful, America the strong, in to its ugly hands. Two planes have hit the world trade center, noone knows many more details than that. In my school, TV's are equipped in every room, but according to an announcement at around the same time that I was notified, none were aloud to be turned on and no radio was aloud to be played. All communication to the world and its turmoil was cut off, and as a sophmore, I felt totally helpless, scared, and alone. I wanted to know everything about what had happend and what was going on, I wanted to know about the people in the buildings, about the cause, about the people in the plane, I was totally overwhelmed by sorrow and pain. I have family friends that reside in New York, who I have grown up with, they have a daughter who is around fifteen and a boy who is about seventeen, worry filled my body, I had to know if they were alright. I knew that Gina, the girl, went to a school very close to the Trade Center, ontop of the sorrow, pain, sadness, and all of the other mixed emotions that were going through my body, I soon became filled with panic. Rumors of terriorism, and attacks close to home amoungst other things filled the school. Small pieces of information were released through out the days of school, I learned of the other planes and their situations. It was impossible to "carry on the day like usual" like our principal said because September 11, 2001 was not a usual day, it was a day of pain and death and weakness and chaos, it was a day that will effect the lives of everyone in our country. I snuck into a corner and turned on one of my teachers radios, I called my mom to check on Gina, who at the time was missing, alone with her whole school. (Her school was the school which was a few blocks from ground zero and they had to evaquate unbenounced to the parents of the students and relocate for the day.) When school was finially over, my eyes were glued to the tv. I had so many questions and so much anger for why this had occured but none of them could be answered. It was as though a black curtain fell over our country. Unbelievably though, the hearts of devistated Americans became filled with hope and determination to show pride for our country. The American Flag became as popular to see in our streets, cities, and homes as people were. Charity was being raised everywhere. Where I live at every street corner was a firefighter with a bright yellow boot collecting contrabutions. And out of the tragic times came citizens full of nationalism. The events of September 11, 2001 are un able to be described by words. I cannot express my sorrow for the victems and familys that were directly involved with this event, and I cannot find words to express what a tragic event this was in our country's history. As Americans we must stand tall and together we will one day come through this event. Keep all hearts full of love and acceptance, and all minds full of hope. 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 story3083.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 206.77.47.2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was driving my car on the highway towards Amsterdam when a friend called me and told me that the two brothers were hit buy planes. I got gosebumps all over and told him to please tell me this was a sick joke. I drove home and put my television on and i saw people jumping of the buildings. I allmost got sick of the site and when they fell down it changed my life forever. I don't understand that people do shit like this to each other. Peace in the world i what we should think about not war.... 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 story9060.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. 2003-02-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 194.109.160.77 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 seems impossible that five short years ago every sense of feeling secure in the United States was removed....I was already at work when the first plane hit and my assistant came in after I did, turning our radio on. I stood in stunned silence as I listened to the news reporters conveying what happened. I immediately called my husband, Robert, even though we lived about two and a half blocks away from where I worked - at most - to see if he had the news on. He did and told me what they were saying. I remember having him on speaker phone so that my assistant could hear him as well. Neither of us expect to hear him say "Oh my God! A second plane has hit the second tower!!!!" Because we had two lines in the office, I picked up the phone and called my mom on the second line. She was at work as well...and I could tell that she knew and had been crying. All I said was "Mom, I don't know what's going on but I had to call you to tell you that if I don't see you again that I love you and to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being my mom. I hope that I've been the daughter that you've wanted and I pray that I'll see you soon!" With that I was crying. Robert actually heard my conversation with my mom and said that he'd drive to her work for me to make sure that she was okay. My second call was to our other store because the woman who was my manager there (I was the district manager) was from Pakistan and I knew the employee working with her that day was from India. I told them that if they wanted I would come there and the employee could come to my store to work with my assistant. Because we were locked in a secure room with bullet proof glass, they opted to stay where they were because they knew their customers well and felt safe. I told them that at any hint of danger to call 911 and get police backup. I know that we were on the phone with them about every 15 minutes with the understanding that if they did not answer I would be coming with half of the Fort Wayne Police Force with me! My third call was to our corporate office letting them know that I had already checked in with my other store in town to let them know of my conversation and our plans. I then, and only then, allowed myself to turn inward and cry. I hit my knees in prayer - and my assistant who was Catholic but hadn't practiced her faith in years - went to her knees as well. I think that we stayed like that for at least 15 minutes and ended up opening up the store late. I know that when I went home that night I hugged Robert longer and harder than I had in the two years that we had been married. We went to my mom's so that I could see her and I called my two older brothers who were still talking to the family. Sadly, my other brother and my sister didn't answer their phones when I tried to call - wishing that this tragedy would turn their hearts to make they realize how short and precious life is. I think about September 11, 2001 often. My great-nephews and great-niece were only 3, 2 and 1 years old at the time. We were miscarrying our first and only pregnancy. What would the world be like for them now that we had a terriorist attack on our own soil? What would the world be like for any child that we would concieve? I couldn't answer those questions then, and I can't now. I, too, think about the fact that I work across the street from the tallest building in Fort Wayne and sometimes wonder what would happen if something happened here. I always say a prayer that I would be safe and that God would protect us....knowing that I'm also not naive about life or the world anymore. I think about our fellow citizens who lost their lives during and because of this attack...and about their families and friends. May they find comfort in knowing that there are still people who think about them, pray about them actually, daily....not just on anniversaries. The first song I heard this morning on the way to work was "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" by Alan Jackson...and as it did when I first heard it and every time since, I had tears rolling down my face. So on this day may you hold someone that you love closer, call your parent(s), call your sibling(s), call an old friend to reconnect....and live your life to the fullest. Regardless of race, nationality or religion...may God watch over the WORLD and bring us all peace tonight....and every night. 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 story20693.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. 69.246.212.100 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I come from a broken home that started in the Bronx, New York. My name is Luis and I'm Puerto Rican. I have struggled to live with my mother and my sister for as long as I can remember. Our financial status finally got better once I was in 9th grade. I graduated high school in Chesapeake, Virginia back in June of 2001. I signed up to join the United States Navy and go into bootcamp by the end of 2001. I left my family and friends, and everything that I held dear on September 9th, 2001. On the 10th of September I was in Pennsylvania and had just taken off when the first plane was hijacked, but sent crashing to the ground due to heroic efforts of the passengers on board. By the late evening of September 10th, 2001 I was in Great Lakes, Illinois, inside a Navy base, for bootcmap. We did not find out about September 11th, until a week before our graduation date of November 17th, 2001. It was a defining moment in my career in the Navy, and a defining moment in my life period. Our Guest of Honor for our graduating ceremony, was the Honorable Donald Rumsfeld, Defense Secretary for the United States. We received a speech that day from him, that made me feel honored to be in the best Navy in the world. I did not get to go through September 11th like much of the world did. I was at bootcamp, isolated from the world around me. On my Military I.D., it says my date of entry as being 10SEP01... and I get off of active duty by 10SEP05. My aunt perished in the WTC bombing along with hundreds of other innocent people. That specific act of terrorism is the reason WHY I'm in the United States Navy, and giving up a lot of my freedoms to defend the freedoms of people like you in the United States of America. I am United States Sailor, dedicated and highly motivated to put an end to this evil plaging the world. Thanks for listening. You can contact me at my e-mail address at: STANiAM2K@aol.com 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 story9451.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-09-01 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.121.36.65 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: ?New York!? Vova shouted. I was eating a home-cooked dinner in a small house in a suburb of Kiev, Ukraine, when Vova, the man of the house, came into the room. He could speak very little English, and I could not speak Ukrainian. ?Shae? he repeated, waving his arms, ?New York, New York? he said. I turned to face him. He was obviously trying to tell me something important. His face was one of concern and urgency. ?New York? he said again, and used his arms to draw in the air the outlines of tall buildings. ?Skyscrapers?? I said out loud, trying to guess what he was attempting to communicate. ?Da!? he replied, which is Ukrainian for ?Yes!? Then he spread his arms like an airplane, flying through the air. ?Airplane?? I guessed. ?Da!? he replied. He then used his hands to motion like an airplane diving into something, and held up two fingers. What was going on? Did an airplane crash into two buildings? Did two airplanes crash? What happened? Some poor excuse for a pilot probably flew his Piper Cub into something. Oh well, people do stupid things all the time. But Vova?s concern seemed to mean that there was something more to this. I asked him ?how big??, trying to learn the size of the airplane(s). He didn?t understand my question, so I took another approach. ?Boeing?? I said, naming a common aircraft manufacturer. ?Da!? he said. ?Da!?, holding up two fingers again. Again he drew buildings and held up two fingers. His meaning was getting clearer now. Hmm. Two Boeings like aircraft had crashed into two buildings in New York City. What a terrible tragedy. But such things just don?t happen. Professional pilots fly Boeing aircraft, and they certainly do not dive into buildings in New York. There must be some mis-communication here, something definitely lost in the translation. But given the language barrier I wasn?t going to find out any more from Vova. I figured that he probably had heard some pieces of garbled news and had wanted me to know about it. I thanked him and he went back to the other side of the house where the family had a black and white television. I kept eating. My friend Jim, who was visiting this home with me, came out of the nearby bathroom. I said ?Jim, Vova just tried to tell me something about two Boeing airplanes crashing into two buildings in New York City. I don?t think that I?ve got all the facts straight, but I thought you would want to know that something probably has happened back home.? Jim and I were part of a group of 13 American men who volunteered to come to Bucha, Ukraine, for 15 days. During our visit our task was to help a local Baptist church build classrooms. They were located next to a state orphanage. Our evangelical church in Virginia sponsored us. Jim and I were staying in a small but tidy home with a widow and her family. After dinner Jim and I met up at the church with the rest of the team. We were going to a soccer game that evening. Suddenly a van pulled up next to us. Two of our team members jumped out and excitedly said ?Terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Trade Centers have collapsed!? ?No! Are you sure?? I replied. ?We saw it ourselves on the television? they said. ?They collapsed? Those buildings wouldn?t collapse. All the way down?? I responded. ?All the way. The entire country is locked down. No planes are flying.? They answered. I felt like someone had slugged me in the stomach. I felt sick and sat down. 50,000 people worked in those towers. So this is what Vova had tried to tell me! Later that evening, at a gas station, a burly, tough looking Ukrainian recognized me as an American and walked up to me. His face reflected grave sympathy and concern. He began pouring out his heart in a torrent of words, but I could not understand anything he was saying. As I walked away I said to an interpreter ?What was he saying?? ?He was expressing his sympathy and support? was the reply. Here we were, stuck thousands of miles from home. Our families and friends were facing the unknown, and we could do nothing about it. The next day, while visiting the home of a local Christian missionary, I saw news clips on CNN-International. People were jumping from buildings. It took me a moment to realize what I was seeing. I will never forget it. Never. The daughter of a friend of one of my team members was killed in the North Tower on 9-11. One week later, on schedule, we flew home. Security was tight. When we arrived we were amazed at the changes that had taken place. We arrived at Dulles International and drove home. There were flags everywhere. America had clearly changed. As the months went by I realized that many common Americans had been deeply traumatized by the experiences of 9-11. They had watched it unfold before their eyes, live on television. They had endured the suspense of not knowing what was coming next. I was spared this because it was all over before I knew it had started. On each anniversary of 9-11, until justice is fully satisfied on OBL, we should watch the footage of the horror of that day. Let us not forget the death of the innocent ones. Let us not rationalize away this calculated plan to murder unsuspecting people. This is a clear case of Right versus Wrong, Civilization versus Barbarity. I support President Bush in his actions in Afghanistan, Iraq and throughout the world. We must win this conflict by ?draining the swamp? of corruption, totalitarianism and ignorance in which the terrorist mindset flourishes. The Gospel of Jesus is the best answer. The Western values of Tolerance and Freedom are based upon Christian concepts of the equality of man and a loving compassionate God. May God Bless America and keep her strong! 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 story10420.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. 2004-02-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.10.228.162 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 weekend prior to the 11th, I was in NYC visiting my sister with my 7 week old son. We left NYC by train at 10 am on the 10th. The next morning my husband called to see if my sister was working that day. She worked in a store on the Concourse of the WTC, and thankfully she wasn't working that day because I had come to visit. I watched in horror the devastatation taking place in a city that is like a second home to me. I cried all day, glued to the TV. I happen to live less than 20 miles from the Pentagon, so that attack was much closer to home. Thank God my sister didn't have to experience the horrors of that day first hand. I pray for all the people who lost their lives, and for their loved ones. I hope they may someday find peace:) 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 story5318.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.78.178.53 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: Being 3 hours earlier in the morning that day.... I was still fast asleep as the devastating attacks occured. My roommate woke me up when he found out about the attacks and I eagerly sat in my living room to watch the news broadcasts. Replay after replay of the second airplane hitting the trade center, images of a burning Pentagon, and interviews of worried New Yorkers had me sitting there most of the afternoon and evening. I had never been to New York, and hadn't really seen that many pictures of the World Trade center. I could tell, that day was the beginning of a new era in the way we as an American Society live. As the following months proceeded... The US Military deployed several aircraft carriers, and other submarines and ships carrying vast amounts of troops over seas. The USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) stayed out to sea for 159 consecutive days supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. In July of 2002, I enlisted in the United States Navy and volunteered my efforts to help support the strongest military in the world. I was deployed to the Medeterranean Sea in March of 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I enlisted for several personal reasons... but knowing that I, as an American citizen, who will not stand for the loss of freedoms, the loss of undeniable rights to liberty, or terrorizing the lives of innocent people who represent equality and opportunity in the world. I am helping to defend a great nation - home to my friends and family... and I would make the decision to enlist all over again if I had to. The military works very hard to serve its beloved country. Every single citizen of this great land deserves the utmost secure feeling that we're doing our best to provide the protection, the freedoms, and liberties we so gratefully experience. 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 story10584.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. 2004-05-08 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.56.129.99 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It was about 4:00 in the afternoon on September 11 when a portion of our architecture study abroad group was en route by subway to visit an architecture firm in Berlin when the first plane must have hit the World Trade Center. When we arrived at the firm in Berlin's west side, they opened the door and asked "Have you heard yet?". The group of about 6 of us were confused, so they sat us down, got tea, and told us that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. At first we thought it was a small plane, like the one that had hit the Empire State Building years before. They had no television in the office and no one could get images on the internet--it was bogged down with heavy traffic. All we had was British Radio, and we didnt know how serious it was until we heard of second and third planes striking and the emotion of the british announcer that we knew something really serious was happening. As we made way back to our hotel, people on the street cars were asking us if we were Americans, and expressing their sorrow. When we got back, everyone's eyes were glued to tv, and we saw first images--it looked like an action movie, nothing that could possibly be real. No one could contact their parents, internet cafes were packed, and flowers began to innundate U.S Embassies. Later that night RadioHead dedicated their Berlin concert to the victims of 9/11, and a march in support of the United States was held at the last minute. Germans wore american flags across their chests, they had support gatherings in several countries. When we traveled out of Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate was draped in a black cloak that read in german "We are all Americans Today". Although our europe trip lasted its duration through November, our conflict with Afghanistan made things volitale in some places, but overall, the people were very supportive, lining up to sign condolence books. While i am sorry i wasnt able to be with my family in these hard times, it was quite an experience to see how supportive our friends in other countries can be, and what a help it was to have that kind of understanding--it was tough not being home, and the only outlet being CNN. When i came home, the airport was empty, but i had never seen so many american flags in my life, on cars, on houses..such patriotism--and i hope it lasts, because in the toughest of times, each other is what is most valuable. 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 story9362.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. 2003-07-02 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.54.50.54