340 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 remember standing in the commons area outside the cafeteria at school, when one of my friends came up and said a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. It didn't really hit me at first until I called my mom during 7th period to ask if I could go to a friends house after school. I asked her what went on that morning not expecting what she would tell me. She had been listening to her usual morning radio station on the way to her office in downtown Austin when they came on and said a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade center buildings. When she got to work, she turned on CNN and watched the second plane crash into the other building, and she kept watching until they collapsed. After she told me what happened, I walked back to class not sure what I was feeling. I felt a little sad, a whole lot of anger and wondering what was going to happen next. After school, I went to my friend Jacob's house. We played basketball for a little bit then talked to his mom about what happened. That's when I found out that another plane had crashed into the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. That was I was sure that this was a terrorist attack. Jacob's mom said that she thought it was the handywork of Osama BinLaden. It made sense because he had planted a car bomb in the basement of the World Trade Center a few years earlier. I can't explain how angry I was. I wanted President Bush to send a plane over to Afghanistan and drop an a-bomb on BinLaden's head. My anger went on until I talked to my parent's about what had happened. That cooled me off alot. I remember turning on a Green Bay Packers game a few weeks after the attack and getting goosebumps watching the national anthem being sung. That's my story of September 11th 2001.GOD BLESS AMERICA MY HOME SWEET HOME Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story3535.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. 207.193.126.63 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: September11th September 11th. What I saw, what I heard, how I reacted. My feelings on this day were crucial. I hope that you felt the same way. The day of September 11th 2001 felt like all the rest not wanting to get up and go to school. I had no clue what was in store for me. First period; Spanish. It began regular excitement due to all the kids being awake. The class went by smooth as tile. Second Period; art kids were also excited. This class went by well too but what would happen next no one was ready for. Study hall with good old Mr. DerSarkissisan. I was in the room with shocked kids who looked like they all seen ghosts. I remember that two students and friends of mine John Sweeney and Michael Pyra were in the room also. At first it didn't affect me but then a second plane that I seen live from the monitors hit the World Trade Center and I grew furious. The reason was I thought of all those people on those floors while the plane went crashing through the windows. The World Trade Center was full with smoke and had to smell like jet fuel form those planes. Ring, Ring, the period was over. Fourth period was where all the intensity of our school really hit with every one watching television. Across the bottom of the screen a report of the Pentagon being hit by a plane, appeared. My teacher at this time was Mr. Ray Jr. He was furious also and we went through the day the day with all this to cope with. I can Remember walking in after lunch to earth science and watching reports all day. The feelings of September 11th is in all of us. There is no good conclusion to something like that. I'm sorry for all of the fatalities suffered through this terrifying time. I believe that there is though one good conclusion that everyone came together with the spirit of 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 story615.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. 2002-05-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 168.169.8.39 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: [PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A SLIGHTLY REVISED VERSION OF A TEXT I SUBMITTED EARLIER. PLEASE REPLACE THE FIRST PIECE WITH THIS ONE; I'VE CORRECTED A FEW FACTUAL AND SYNTACTICAL ERRORS. THANK YOU.] We found ourselves in Normandy on September 11 rather by accident. The four of us had expected to stay for two weeks in Brittany, but a problem with the accommodations prompted us to leave early. So we headed for Normandy, where we had expected to spend a few days seeing Bayeux and Rouen before our friends' flight home on September 13 and our flight home from Paris on September 18. Given the time of year, we took less than satisfactory lodging in a small gite in the village of Reviers- no television, no radio, no telephone. I'm an American historian - a New Yorker born and bred, now living in Washington, D.C. - and I had no particular interest in battle sites and we had no intention of visiting the landing beaches. But with more than a week (we'd arrived on Sunday, September 9), we decided we would see what there was to see. The town larger than a crossroads we were closest to, Courseulles-sur-Mer, we found out was the only port not closed by the Germans during WW II because it was so tiny. The wartime code name at Courseulles was Juno Beach, where the Canadians had landed on D-Day. Our first stop on September 11, at around 2 p.m. (8 a.m. EDT) was Arromanches, where the British installed Mulberry Harbor, the astonishing engineering feat that allowed the Normandy invasion to succeed without access to a sizable French port. Mulberry Harbor had been built in Britain, towed in pieces a hundred miles across the Channel and installed in 12 days about midway along the Normandy coast. The prefabricated harbor permitted the Allies to supplement and provision their troops throughout the liberation of France. Pieces of the breakwater remain within today with sight of the beach. We were awed by the sheer audacity of the conception - Churchill's - and the fabulous success of the Royal Engineering Corps. We then continued driving west along the coast, to Omaha Beach where the Americans had landed, taking tremendous losses because the air support had not succeeded in eliminating the German bunkers. We arrived at the American cemetery around 5:00 (11:00 EDT). The rows of crosses, with the occasional Star of David, recall Arlington National Cemetery, while the Channel beach of Colleville-sur-Mer runs along side below the cliff. Around 6:00, we headed back to Courseulles for dinner. We arrived at La Trottoria, an Italian restaurant on the Rue de la Mer in Courseulles, around 7. We'd eaten there before and so the staff knew we were Americans. After we were seated, the one waitress who could speak a little English asked if we had seen a television. We said we hadn't. Looking drawn, she said that the World Trade Center had been bombed and collapsed. The other waitress made a motion with her hands: holding them before her, horizontally, the bottom hand facing up and her top hand facing down, she clapped them together. No, we said. Not possible. Yes, they insisted. The World Trade Center had been attacked and collapsed. I thought that they had watched a movie and mistaken a contrived scene for reality. The waitress who spoke English asked if I would like to go upstairs to her apartment above the restaurant to see the television, an invitation I accepted. Her apartment, in which her mother also resided, was tiny - a living room and dining room combination with a sofa and table that could not have measured more than 8 feet by 5 feet. But a large t.v. sat in the bookcase in the wall, playing images over and over again of the Towers in flames, combusting as if a volcano. I understood only a little of the French commentary but after watching long enough to convince myself that this was not "War of the Worlds," I went back downstairs to my companions to tell them that it was true - the World Trade Center had been attacked and collapsed. As we grappled with this news, I felt as if I had to hear an English-language report. We left the restaurant and raced down the tiny street in the tiny town to a small hotel that also had a restaurant. We walked up to the desk and I asked the hostess in French (she didn't speak English) if she had a television with an English-language station on it. She frowned, as if the request were absurd. But then she realized that we were American and her expression changed instantly to one of compassion. She took out her reservation book, located an empty room, took us up the narrow stair, opened the door to a room, turned on the light, placed two chairs in front of the television, which she tuned to the BBC, and said in French that we should stay as long as we liked. We stayed about half an hour, watching again in disbelief as the BBC anchors repeated over and over again the little they or anyone knew. We were stricken, but there seemed no point to staying, so we turned off the t.v., went downstairs to thank our hostess and returned to the restaurant, where our friends were waiting. We told them the little we had found out and, with not much else to do, finished dinner. I don't remember what we talked about. At about 10:00, we realized that if we went back to the gite, we would have no information; the only radio we had was in the car. We knew from driving along the coastline that it was possible to hear the BBC from certain points. (We hadn't yet discovered Radio 4, the long-wave station, that we could hear all over Normandy.) So at 10 p.m. (4 p.m., EDT), we drove to Juno Beach, tuned the radio to the BBC and listened in the dark at the edge of the water to their correspondents in New York describe the devastation. Interspersed with the commentary were the reactions of European leaders, most particularly Tony Blair, who was all one could hope for in a leader - thoughtful, intelligent, humane, and loyal. We spent that hour on Juno Beach listening to European expressions of sympathy and alliance. Then we went home to bed. For the next few days, we tried to get up early to get the few English language papers available, French papers when the English ones were gone. After a day or two, we discovered that we could access the web from official tourist offices in Bayeux and Caen and we spent hours reading the news, chiefly from the Washington Post website - CNN was too busy. It took us two days to get a telephone line out of France. We didn't think to go to a church service, and so we had no ceremonies to console us; we just wanted to feel connected to home. Our friends left for Paris on September 12, sure that their flight would leave as scheduled on September 13. They actually returned on September 18, after we did. (They both worked for the U.S. government, so their extra week in Paris was not charged against their annual leave, a little irony under the circumstances.) Because we could not possibly get home, we spent our time visiting churches and war memorials, which seemed at least in keeping with our feelings. We visited the Canadian, British and even the German cemeteries, all done appropriately, including the last. If we could not be home, we were grateful to be in Normandy; virtually everyone (with the exception of our horrible landlords) treated us with the greatest tenderness and sympathy, none of the pervasive anti-American feeling typical of Paris. Though more than fifty years have passed, Americans are still "liberators" to the Norman French. We had plenty to see. Almost every village along the Normandy coast has a small museum and a memorial marking an event associated with the Allied landing, and each memorial has the Allied flags flying side by side in a row. After September 11, all the flags - not just the American flag - flew at half-staff. We began heading toward Paris on September 16, staying at bed and breakfasts, still without television, although I had acquired a pocket radio on which we could hear the BBC almost constantly. Our last night, however, we did have a t.v., and American companions to dine with, all of us grateful for the company. On September 18, Rosh Hashanah, we arrived as directed three hours early for our flight on American Airlines from Charles De Gaulle Airport. Three flights were leaving one after the other: to Houston, to Miami, and to Washington. Virtually all the passengers were American, the French delaying their trips under the circumstances. So about 600 of us stood shoulder to shoulder for several hours, just inside the terminal door, with no security - the most harrowing part of the trip. Once on the plane, an inexperienced and reduced cabin crew added little to our sense of well-being. The crossing was, thankfully, uneventful, but it was a big ocean that day and when we flew into Kennedy Airport, we could see the Empire State Building holding up the sky alone. We knew when we left Paris that we were not going to connect from New York to fly into National Airport, which was closed indefinitely. Not eager to get on a plane again in any case, we rented a car and drove to Great Neck, New York, to see my elderly father. I had originally expected to visit the following Saturday via the USAir Shuttle from National to LaGuardia, but that plan was clearly impossible. We drove home the following day and went back to New York to see him again on October 6. We also made the trip downtown Manhattan to pay our respects to the site as we had paid our respects at the American cemetery in Normandy. We couldn't see very much from the pathways laid out for visitors, but the acrid smell will not soon fade from memory. Given my father's failing health and the closure of National Airport, in the next two months I made five car trips between New York and Washington and moved my father to a nursing home here. I had been flying the round-trip between New York and Washington twice a month for about three years; after September 11, the next time I flew was March 25. But on March 18, we traveled by train to see the memorial lights. Alas, the day was wet and foggy. I had concluded - based upon a New Yorker's ostensible savvy - that the best place to see the lights would be from the Staten Island ferry (now free, not the nickel it used to cost). We took the 5:30 ferry to the barren Staten Island terminal. Waiting for the 7:00 ferry back from Staten Island, we had coffee and wine in a place called "Rudy and Dean's" near the ferry terminal. They had a big plate glass window but you couldn't even see Manhattan, it was so foggy. The waitress there talked about the friend she had lost in the Tower, a fire fighter. On the return ferry trip, about 5 miles across New York harbor, I despaired, standing outside in the fog and rain. But as we got nearer, the fog actually lifted a little. The haze made the lights seem even more spectral -- they appeared and disappeared as the boat moved toward lower Manhattan. So, in a way, the view was perfect. I have a photograph of the Towers on my wall. I'm one of the few New Yorkers that loved them from the beginning. A fan of the Bauhaus school, I always thought them perfect in their spare and clean surfaces. The celebrations at Windows on the World over the years - the last in February 2001, a first anniversary party for a 62-year-old friend who found the love of her life later than some of us - seemed magical. I could trace the streets in my home borough of Brooklyn almost perfectly - Flatbush Avenue from the Manhattan Bridge across the whole of Brooklyn and over the Marine Parkway Bridge to Rockaway. The photograph of the Towers is next to the photograph of Mont-Saint-Michel, off the Normandy coast, which we visited before September 11 while we were still staying in Brittany. We stayed overnight on the island and came away smitten by the magnificent gesture of the statue at the peak: "The Archangel loved heights." But the human spirit of the two monuments seems to me the same: Anchored on the ground, we reach into the sky and the genius of human creativity permits us to succeed at it. Even the Nazis left Mont-Saint-Michel untouched. The attackers of the World Trade Center, murderers taking thousands of lives, also insulted the divinity residing in human creativity. 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 story476.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. 2002-04-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.172.11.147 Notes Notes about this item. resubmitted as #514 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 the last day of the 6 days in a row that our crew was required to work. We were all feeling quite good because the 6 days were almost up, and we had 4 days off ahead to look forward to. I, myself was in such a good mood that morning, about 7 am that I was singing a song to myself while working: "America" by Neil Diamond. Upon hearing the news, (by the time all 3 of the attacks had occured) my first reaction was shock and disbelief. Later, at some point, I took out of my wallet a picture of my 4 yr. old niece and my 1 yr. old nephew. I thought of an old song by Queen titled "Is this the World we Created" and thinking, of the children in the photo, "My God, they don't realize what an awful world this 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 story1626.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. 2002-08-31 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.237.203.6 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: Hello fist of all my name is Reyna Rodriguez And even though I didn't lose anyone at the World Trade Center or any other of the sites I was very affected to have heard what had just happened at the WTC. At first I didn't know what was going on I was verely on the first class of the day and my teacher told us a little of what had happened but me and my friends didn't pay much attention because at first it didn't sound like a very big deal then at the end of that class they started to call out students to the office so they could go home early, thats when everything started to feel different because why would so many people make such a big commotion about towers but of course I did not know the whole story. In the next class I asked one of my friends to let me borrow his walkman and I put it to a news station And thats when I started paying attention about what had just happened. I told some of my friends what had just happened and what I had heard on the radio station and then we would hear people say that the might also attack Houston that's when I really got scared because I kept thinking about my family and what if something really did happen here in Houston while I was still in school what about my family all of a sudden my life changed completely I no longer cared about money,clothes, or anything else all I cared About was to get home safely to my family and see them be with them while all of this was going on. So they called my name so I could go home and I did I went home and started watching television, I saw television all day seing the Twin Towers collapsing and all of those people dying because of others hatred. I spent the rest of the day crying I didn't Know why but there was so much sadness in me I couldn't stop thinking what if one of those people that died would of been one of my family members, I had so many emotions going thrue my head. That night I could not sleep because I would think what if something happens while we sleep and I woul hear the jet planes all over the place. For me that was the saddest and scariest day of my life and until now I still have nightmares about that they I just hope we don't ever have to go trough that 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 story8648.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. 2002-11-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.192.134.239 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 did not know what was going on until about 10:30am. I was checking my email from the school board. Then I read the email- that said because of the events that are going on in New York- parents can check out their children if they want. I was puzzled from the email. Then our class went to lunch. There were many teachers upset(Many of our teachers are from New York, Boston, and Pennsylvania). The teachers from my team told me what was happening.I went back to my classroom to watch the news. What I saw on television was undescribable. I saw the recap of planes crashing into the twin towers. I wondered how am I going to explain this to seven year olds. The rest of the day went by in a blur. When I made it home I tried calling my family in Michigan,Maryland, and New York. I was able to get through to all except for a cousin in New York. After watching the news for the remainder of the evening, I decided the next day I would discuss with my class the events of September 11, 2001. Late that evening I received word from my mother, that my cousin from New York was okay. I said a prayer of thanks to God. For he had giving me the strength to go on. Then I went to bed. 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 story7566.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. 2002-09-15 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: I work at the Marriott Library at the University of Utah, right across from the stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympics were held. It was already a busy morning with students bustling around getting ready for classes. Just before 8 AM, I got a message from Yahoo News Alert: a plane flew into the World Trade Center. I was numb and confused. Just then my supervisors and another co-worker came in. They had heard it on the radio as they came into work. A TV was brought out from the Multi-Media Center into the main entrance area of the library and turned on to CNN. We took turns leaning over our service counter to see the picture; there were about 30-40 students, staff and faculty gathered around the box....stunned and confused. I finally walked out to get a better look...just in time to see the second plane crash into Tower 2. What sort of chaos was this? At first we thought it was some sort of horrible accident, but it couldn't happen twice, and certainly not on the same day. Tears stung the back of my eyes. It was terrifying...and confusing. Many students sat or stood glued to the television, skipping classes. Some of my part time co-workers told me that their classes were pretty empty and noone learned much; professors were too stunned to talk about things that somehow didn't seem important anymore. Then there was the plane hitting the Pentagon and the one those brave men and women managed to crash into the field in PA. The day seemed black and the darkness seemed to be permanent. Five months to the day I had lost my wonderful friend and lover to lung cancer. When I saw the tower crash down, I wanted to run and tell him, feel his arms around me comforting me...and feeling a horrible, profound grief for the men, women, and children who were losing their lovers, friends, parents, loved ones. I was too numb to cry until I got home and then I broke down completely. Nothing made sense...I, like so many Americans, had never experienced anything of this magnitude. Walking to the bus stop I could see the stadium, the stadium that, in another five months was supposed to welcome the world. Would it? Could we hold an event about peace and friendship after this awful day? I didn't think we could. New York was the world's example. The unity and the brave face they put on despite their own terror, loss, grief was awe-inspiring. It set the tone for the rest of us. We did have the Olympics and they were a huge success. The world smiled again, if only for a moment. The news coverage in the past couple weeks leading up to this first anniversary has given me a tremendous respect for those brave souls who are not only moving on but creating memorials of their lost loved ones through the lives they're creating for themselves and their children. 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 story2141.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.225.137.159 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I am a journalist in upstate New York. On Sept. 11, 2001, I was taking time off with my infant daughter and watched in horror what was unfolding on TV. As a journalist, all I wanted to do was report on the story. As a new mother, all I wanted to do was hold my daughter tight. I was never so torn. My mother came to watch my daughter and I went to work, putting together a print version of what was occurring. I was given the task to put together the photo page, and I looked at hundreds of photos from that day -- many that never could or should be printed. Many of those photos are still burned in my memory. I was always satisfied with my decision to not put those horrible images in print. I did the best I could to respectfully report on what was occurring. We knew that many people from our area travel to and work in NYC on a daily basis, my brother-in-law being one of them. There were those from our area who were lost. Thankfully, my brother-in-law was not one of them. He did, however, as part of his job, had to work at Ground Zero. This tragedy has definitely touched everyone's life. We did find out later that Flight 11 that hit the WTC flew directly over us when it turned toward NYC. I still always look up when I hear a plane fly over. 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 story20831.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. 205.188.117.5 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: Like so many others I watched on a small tv at work and sat not beleiving that something like this could happen in our country. So many times you take for granted that you will awake and do the same thing every day and see the same people. I try not to do that any more. When I find myslef doing that I stop and remember all of the people on 9/11/01 and how they must have thought they had plenty of tomorrows to do what they wanted to. The greatest thing I can try to tell people is "truely live for today". I thank God every day for for my husband Ken, my parents, his parents and all of our friends,all of our animals and for every minute He gives us on this earth. 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 story6146.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. 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: Rejected But Not Forgotten! Like so many of us, my life forever changed on September 11th, 2001. That day, the shock, the sadness, the interminable grief left me wanting to do something, anything for those poor victims and their families. After days of anguishing and searching for an answer, it suddenly came to me. That is, to erect a free monument to the thousands of lives lost. The design came me to one night, and I just knew it was what I'd been looking for. Aptly, it was two tall slim towers of polished stainless steel, surrounded by a 'pentagonal' low wall of limestone. But I also knew that a project of this magnitude would be extremely costly. So the next day, I went around to area companies for their support and help. And to my jubilant surprise, they too were anxious to get involved. An area steel company offered to construct, erect, and even maintain forever the towers. Their workers even volunteered to come in on their days off to hand build the structures. "After all," they said, "we are steel workers and it was steel workers who built these buildings, and it was steel workers who came out voluntarily to clear the rubble and look for survivors. It's the least we can do." A local stone company readily donated all the limestone materials and other companies offered their assistance. I was totally overcome by these enthusiastic, patriotic, and charitable contributors. I really thought our message to the fallen would finally succeed. I was so wrong. I had no idea that this simple and quiet symbol and act of remembrance would solicit so many objections from civic, community, religious, government, and institutional groups. This freely donated and fully funded memorial was rejected without public hearing as "inappropriate", "offensive to Moslems", and even, "out-of-character" by one community. "Offensive?" I asked, "To whom?" "Out-of-character? Inappropriate?" I wondered, "How's it possible?" To counter these and other religious differences and objections, I further sought and received the absolute endorsement of MAT, Moslems Against Terrorism, an international group of prominent Moslems. They strongly felt that this would be a way to convey their opposition to these terrible attacks. Have we become so sullen in our being "politically correct" to find such a memorial offensive? After all, I had made a silent promise to all of those fallen three thousand that I would see that they would not be forgotten and die in vain. When in the act of a purely patriotic and charitable undertaking, I've been met with such cold and unreasonable dismissive objections, I just don't know where or to whom to turn. I guess now it's time to take it to you, the people. So I humbly ask you, "Do you find it offensive, inappropriate, or out-of-character?" Isn't there someone out there who cares? Who'll help me in this Memorial to 911? Contact me: Remember September Committee, Mr. Marc Stephens at marcsusa@msn.com, 616 ½ Wilson Place, Frederick, Md. 21702, phone:240-344-2960. 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 story20682.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. 205.188.116.136 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 only 5:43 in Arizona when the first plane hit. We used a black and white tv for a night light for our kids. I can not say excactly what time I found out but the first time I saw it I thought I was dreaming. When I realized what had happened all I could think was to call all of my family members and let them know how much I loved them. Also to just keep a hold of my kids and not to let them go. 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 story7705.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. 2002-09-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.214.44.204 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 working onboard the USS Peterson (DD 969) when we heard the news traveling from our tv's on the mess decks. At first none of us could believe it, but then we realized we could be next. A chill swept the ship as we watched the towers fall over and over again thinking that Norfolk was next in line. Slowly all the ships in our battle group began the transit to New York to support the military we have there. Peterson was under construction and one of the few ships left in the world's largest naval station. A week later we were fit for full duty, and went on a 6 month cruise to the Persian Gulf. It was a scary relief to be leaving the States at that time. Over the next 6 months we would here the stories of what was happening back in America and receive letters from hundreds of fellow Americans thanking us for sacrificing out lives to keep anything like this from happening again. I'll never lose the feeling of knowing that I belong to such a great nation full of people who support me as I protect them. As a missile tech in the US Navy I have a great amount of pride in my counrty, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. God bless America. FC3 (SW) Shelton, Torey 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 story7140.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. 68.10.194.37 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My husband and I work for the federal government in Wshington. My sister called me, hysterical, to ask if we were okay, because she'd heard that the Old Executive Office Building had been hit by one of the planes. This was the first I'd heard of any of this. From this point on, we were glued to radios and the couple portable TVs that were in the office. We couldn't believe what was happening. Then, the rumors began flying, on radio and on TV. The White House had been hit; no, it hadn't. The Capitol had been hit; no, it hadn't. There were more planes on the way -- maybe yes, maybe no. Each time, the fear in our office (located between the White House and the Capitol) ratcheted up another notch. We were released around noon. I told my husband to walk over to my office, and we'd start trying to make our way home together. On the lower floors of my building are offices of the Secret Service. Suddenly, these guys I had joked with in the elevator were outside parolling the sidewalks, with flak jackets on. The guards in the lobby were a comforting presence. Hubby arrived, and we started trying to get home. We catch the VRE commuter train in and out, so we had to make it to the trains, which were not being allowed into the city over the bridge. We got word that the trains could make it as far as Alexandria, and if we could get there, we could get home. We managed to make it onto the Metro. Never in my life have I been on a train that was so silent. There were armed guards on it, and everyone had only one question -- "Any news?" When we rode through the Pentagon Metro station, it felt as though the entire train was holding its breath. We made it to Alexandria, and caught a train home. That night, we went out to a local restaurant, and solemnly raised a glass of wine. We were alive, and we were grateful. 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 story1781.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. 2002-09-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 149.101.1.127 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 of September 11th felt like any other day. My husband rolled out of bed earlier than I. Being pregnant with our first child, I snuggled back under the blankets and asked my husband to wake me in an hour. The next thing I knew my husband was yelling for me to come into the living room. And then I saw what so many others were seeing-the recorded image of the airplane hitting the first tower...and then the second plane. We finally saw the images of the Pentagon and the scenes from Pennslyvania. Our reactions were shock and immediate sadness. At first it felt like a bad dream or a horrible accident. So many people... We spent the day thanking God that our loved ones were okay and yet asking him how this could happen to so many innocent people. Later on in the day we decided that we needed a break from the news coverage and took a drive around town. We saw a man on the street corner waving a huge flag around the sky. That sight brought tears to our eyes and the picture is still imbeded in my mind. The stars and stripes have never looked so beautiful to me before. That night my husband had to go to work on base, I was so afraid for him to to be there, but I knew he had to go. I felt a glimmer of hope that night while trying to fall asleep, my son kicked me for the very first time. It was amazing and my first glimmer of hope that things would be alright. I am not sure that we have completely healed and honestly don't know if we ever will. I want to thank everyone who has given their life for our freedoms. 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 story2157.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. anonymously Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.35.130.131 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: When the plane crashed into the twins, i was at school. when i arrived at home with my best friend claudia my dad called me and told me to put on the tv. first i didn't, but then i did and i was SHOCKED! my best friend, too, of course! we stayed the whole day at home with my whole family and we cried and were afraid of having Third World War! we were terrified! and, of cause, now we are thinking of all those who died. even some relatives of mine live in the USA, but in North Carolina and that's far from NY, and i'm so happy that nothing has happened to them. i know that my english ain't great, but i'm german... i'm thinkin of you almost all time! shari (16) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story7085.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. 80.128.178.237 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: While on my way to work, I heard the news on the radio. As soon as the first plane hit, I felt the possibility of a terrorist attack. My mind went back to the earlier attack in the WTC a few years ago. I had been teaching a Home Health Aide class one block away from the WTC on the corner of Broadway and John St. when I heard what sounded like the loudest thunder I had ever heard and the building shook. At that time, I kept on teaching never suspecting a terrorist attack. I soon dismissed the class for lunch and went outside. I stopped in a local coffee shop where the owner had a radio. He thought a transformer had blown, Reality began to set in since I was suspicious when I saw ambulances and helicopters flying overhead. But I still did not know what happened. I went back to my office. My older son had left a message on the answering machine and I could hear the panic in his voice asking if I was ok. I called him back to let him know I was ok. He knew what happened before I did since he heard the news on Long Island TV. I kept teaching my aides that day since the subways were closed till later in the day so nobody could go home anyway. When I did get to the subway to go back to Penn Station, I saw and heard people who had walked down the many flights at the WTC. They looked stunned and discheveled. I had to return to work and I did. However, our office was supposed to move to Liberty Street (which was even closed to the WTC) that weekend. We couldn't since the street was blocked off. The move was delayed for a month. I suggested to my supervisor that we should cancel our lease. She said that we couldn't and told me how great it would be since I could now walkdirectly into the WTC to get the train back to Penn Station. Our office was right near a firehouse as well. I never felt comfortable going into the WTC after that, and would walk outside if the weather was ok. I alwasys felt that something would happen again. And I used to love the exitement of all the things going on there... When the 1st plane hit on 9/11, I felt as though it had ripped throught my heart and that I was right there at the WTC again. I thought of the men in the firehouse and how they used to kid around with us outside. However, never it my wildest imagination could I have pictured what actually occured that day. Each day since 9/11, I go on because I am determined to not let terrorists get the best of me or my family. They make it hard, but I know that G-d is on my side. I am a nurse, and I know that I have to heal and help heal others. Therefore, I hope my reflections will touch someone's heart. Lastly, I pray that no one else will have to feel the pain that all of those families who lost loved ones that day had to suffer. My thoughts are forever with 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 story8186.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. 2002-09-29 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Today is Thursday, September 13, 2001 and it is ten o?clock in the evening. I have just returned home to East Sacramento from a cross country automobile journey across America?s Heartland. I am exhausted, I feel grimey, and I would dearly love to climb into my safe, warm bed and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep. But, I am compelled to tell my story, the story of how one man or one group of men can cause such a deep, unrelenting pain in the hearts of so many beautiful and innocent souls throughout this country and worldwide. I am attempting to understand how an action of one can so painfully hurt those close to me, a woman who lives in East Sacramento. My story begins on the morning of September 11, 2001 in my hotel room in Columbus, Ohio. I had finished packing for my return trip home that early afternoon and left my room to meet a colleage downstairs for a breakfast meeting. During our meal we both, coincidentally, commented on the nervousness associated with airline travel, even though both of us travel weekly by air. We were in Columbus for a conference we were invited to by a large banking client of ours, whose home offices are in the financial district of Manhattan. Jane was departing for Tampa and I for Sacramento. As we were leaving to join the conference we overheard an employee mention that a plane had hit the WTC. We both gaped at eachother and begged the woman to get us to a television. She anxiously opened the fitness center and we immediately saw the gaping hole in the Tower #1. The three of us stood, shell-shocked as we listened to the reaction of the cameraman. Then, suddenly another plane appeared on the screen and it looked as if it were a helicopter circling the tower, that is until it went crashing through Tower #2. Live, on television, I couldn?t believe it as I covered my face in horror. The first thought that went through my mind was: my little sister, Maggie was boarding a plane in New York that morning ? although I didn?t know what time; and that she was there visiting my brother who lives in lower Manhattan. I looked at my watch and not caring that it was 6:30 a.m. in California, made a cell phone call to my parents. I awoke my father, who was none to happy, and simply said, ?Dad, turn on the TV, there?s been a plane crash in New York. Please call me back.? And then I hung up. I then called my sister, Janette and repeated the same line. I returned to the fitness room as others from the conference gathered there in disbelief. My friend Bill said, ?I was in that tower last Friday for a meeting.? All of us, friends and strangers alike, stood together touching shoulders, shedding tears of wonder and finally offering comfort to eachother. As I look back now it was odd inasmuch as we were business partners, not close friends. We became friends that morning. My cell phone started ringing one moment later and didn?t stop for two days. Maggie?s flight had departed New York at 7:00 a.m. and my family had no information beyond that. My family knew I was somewhere in the east, but not precisely where, as my travel schedule is varied. My brother could not be reached by telephone. After assuring my parents that I was safe in Ohio we then attempted to locate my sister?s flight and my brother?s whereabouts. Make no mistake, we are family of endless resources. I am one of twelve children and my parents are well versed in the art of locating any of us at any given time. But this time, we were all truly frightened to our very bones. Truth be told, we were horrified for our siblings. Maggie has never flown well and does so reluctantly only when it is absolutely necessary. The same can be said for my brother Michael, although he choses to make his career in the theater and in film and is therefore forced to travel between coasts. They were together in New York to promote their new theater production, Bad Blood. None of us knew the details of the doomed airplanes at the WTC, and by this time we had heard of the crash at the Pentagon as well but did not have details of that flight either. Being away from ones? family during a crisis, particularly when ones family is as close as mine, is excrutiatingly difficult. I knew what my parents were going through, being a parent myself. It must have been a thousand times worse for my mother, who refuses to fly and does not condone the practice of it for her children. I phoned my teenaged daughter and her father and I spoke to her together as we all watched the television. We agreed she would stay home from school that day, until we had more information about the attacks, as we were now referring to them. We were all leaving messages for Michael and Maggie, begging them to call us back. I had such a hard time believing that even Michael (a hard sleeper) could not be awakened by the commotion at the WTC, such a short distance from his apartment. I thought I had managed to calm my mother somewhat by offering the excuse that perhaps he had taken Maggie to JFK that morning and had not returned to his apartment and now could not get there for all the confusion in the city. I?m sure she didn?t buy it; we both knew he would have sent Maggie to the airport in a hired car, as is his custom. I felt completely and utterly helpless, and admittedly I do not handle this well, in the best of circumstances. Although I am number nine in my family, I have always and forever felt an overwhelming obligation to assure the health and safety of my seven sisters and four brothers, if I can at all control it. My parents know that they can always count on me to jump on a plane, pick someone up, take charge. This isn?t to say that my other siblings wouldn?t do the same, without the slightest hesitation, it is only to say that I have the means and the knowledge to make arrangements for any variety of situation involving the many characters of my family. I am also a single, independent woman who travels widely for my career and for pleasure and am less fazed by the day to day hassles involved in those endeavors. This is also not to say that my parents worry any less about me, in fact, they most likely worry more as I am alone. At this time, the entire conference was breaking up and three hundred people were wondering aloud how they would return to their families, all of which were somewhere other than Columbus, Ohio. We had all flown in for this conference and it appeared none of us were going to be flying out anytime soon. Realizing the potential gravity of my personal situation, I immediately returned to my room and called three car rental agencies (as I arrived by taxi from the airport) and confirmed pick-ups at the airport, just in case. I then received a call from my sister Katie whose husband had logged onto the internet and looked up Maggie?s flight and was informed that her flight was in route to Omaha, Nebraska on emergency landing. My father then called and we discussed the our options. I told him I had reserved three cars in Columbus and asked that his secretary continue to reserve more under my name because we were certain all cars would be taken in short order. Another sister, Katie, then arranged for hotel accomodations for Maggie in Omaha, even though we hadn?t heard from her yet but were anticipating the hotel situation in any case. We still had not received any return calls from Michael. One of the calls I received was from my close friend, Susan, who was worried sick about me. We both sobbed a bit on the phone and reassured eachother before signing off. Susan is originally from New York and some of her family still resides there, although she lives in Sacramento now with her children. She had spoken to them and all was well. We were so grateful for our blessings and said a prayer together for Michael and Maggie. It had just been reported that the affected flights had not been a Delta flight to Salt Lake City (Maggie?s connection) so although we were all still very worried, we felt somewhat more assured. There were, however, other unaccounted for flights in the air. Sandy called, Debbie called, Marjan called, Louis called, Katie called, Ruth called, Cindy called. So many loved ones worried about me. Jerry called, Calvin called, Mitch called, Kim called, Jeff called. Mom kept calling, Ron called, Barbara called. Finally, Maggie called.. She was a mess, as expected, and refusing to reboard any flight, going anywhere. The pilot had diverted her flight suddenly and without warning to Omaha, citing only a ?National Emergency?. I can only imagine what thoughts would have gone through my mind during that landing. Upon her arrival in Omaha, she was given no information and there were no televisions in the terminal. She retrieved her messages and called my mother immediately. She later told me that mom?s message only said, ?Honey, we are watching the news, please call home if you can.? How scared she must have been, my mother, this eternally strong force in our family, this rock. A woman who defied physicians by having twleve cesarian births even at the risk of her own death, who had overcome an appaling childhood and moved on to passionately love our father and make a beautiful life and future for herself, her 12 children and 27 grandchildren. This woman of abundant and profound, unshakeable faith. Then Michael called. He was shaken to his very core and very much in shock. His first and foremost concern was for his siblings, as he knew Maggie was traveling that morning (he had, in fact, put her in a hired car), and he knew I was always traveling. After being assured of our safety, he assured us of his. We all begged him to leave the city immediately and go to friends upstate. He would not hear of it. Michael is also a man of profound faith and goodness and would not leave if there existed even the smallest opportunity that he could be of assistance to his fellow man. We, of course, loved him all the more and were not in the least bit surprised. He sent us his love and went off to Ground Zero to offer himself up. Not until I went back down to the hotel lobby did I grasp the enormity of the problem in getting back to California. I heard from at least twenty people that all the rental agencies had run out of cars and I was desparate to get to the airport to secure one of my reservations. There were no taxis available at the hotel and every single person was packing their rental cars and leaving for their homes, hugging one another, and crying for their associates in New York. Those who already had cars were just taking them and driving home and dealing with the agencies later. I was not so lucky. It figures that the one time I don?t rent a car, I need it the most. I knew, at this point, that it was fruitless to go to the airport, they had no cars left for me. To exacerbate the situation further, the hotel would not allow me to extend my stay as they were booked solid the following evening. I simply told them that I was not checking out, went back to my room and put some clothes around the room and returned back to the lobby. Having heard that I had family in NYC and in the air, a colleague of mine offered his rental car to me as he was going to join a carpool back to Texas. I was so grateful I jumped up and hugged him with all my might. I assured him that I would call the agency and let them know I was the driver on the car and would be dropping it in Sacramento. I ran back to my room and called my father to let him know I had secured a car and asked him let Maggie know I was on my way to Omaha to pick her up and bring her home. Well, you don?t know my father, but this was like handing him a brand new shiney gift. A Project! ?Hang on, hang on, Tish, let?s plot this out correctly. What kind of car do you have, exactly, what year? Let me get my Thomas Brothers? and we?ll map out the route.? Janette had already arrived at my parents and together they were plotting our journey back home. I have no doubt they had a United States map pinned up in the dining room with multi-colored thumbtacks stuck throughout. I smiled on the other end of the phone and said, ?Dad, I have a car and it?s now almost noon and if I don?t get on the road I?m not going to make it there, so I?ll call you from the car. I have to go buy a car charger for my cell phone and some maps. Tell Mags to sit tight and I?ll see her soon.? I disconnected, repacked my bags and was out the door in under five minutes. On my way out to the car I saw a good friend and associate, Caren, getting into a car. I asked her if she was driving to her home in Denver and she told me she was going to get a ride to Cincinnatti to her sister?s house and await for the airports to open. I practically begged her to come with me and promised I would drop her in Denver. But, she declined and went on to her sisters. She was confident that flights would resume the following day, at the latest. The rage didn?t hit me until I was on Route 70, heading east toward Indiana. The near uncontrollable urge to strike out at those that would attempt to cause harm to those I love struck me like a tidal wave before I made it to Springfield. I tried to remember and meditate on Michael?s words to me before I left the hotel, ?Claire honey, please be careful, please drive slowly and pull over if you get angry or emotional, please take care of yourself for all of us.? I pulled over and sat in the car in a McDonald?s trying to eliminate my rage. I didn?t know until later that such a rage cannot be eliminated, it can only be carefully controlled. I decided to call Susan back and let her know I was on the road to Omaha. When she answered the phone my heart dropped to my knees, she was sobbing and weeping and all she could say was, ?How are you? Where are you? I?m so glad you called, I?ve been trying to reach you.? ?What happened?? I pleaded. She would only answer with, ?Please tell me you are OK, I cannot bear to lose you now.? ?I am fine, Honey, what is it, what happened?? I begged. ?Victor was the Captain on the United Flight.? ?Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ? This is all I could think, this is all I could say. How could this happen, how could this attack touch my loved ones so closely? Susan then explained to me that her brother-in-law had been the captain of United Flight 175 from Logan to LAX and that it had crashed into Tower #2. Though she had spoken to her sister, Ellen, that morning and had been assured by her that everyone was safe, even Ellen didn?t know that her husband of twenty years had been taken hostage, held at knife point and was forced to die in order to surrender his precious cargo. It never occurred to Ellen that her husband was in danger, not for a moment. Susan and her talked about the possibility of knowing some of the crew involved, as Victor was a veteran Captain for United, but she was certain Victor was safe, even though she hadn?t spoken to him. Ellen is also a licensed pilot who previously flew for Delta, although she no longer flies. She stays home and cares for their two daughters. By some grace of God, Susan?s other sister was visiting Ellen and had decided to stay for the day, instead of going home first thing in the morning. When Ellen answered the door some two hours later she was surprised and pleased to see their friend, Greg, on the stoop. Greg is also a pilot for United. She was not pleased to see his companions, FAA personnel. Her good friend then told her about Victor?s death. My reaction was one of shock and premonition. I knew in my heart, as I watch the horrifying scenes on television that morning, that we would all be personally touched by this series of events. I knew that whoever perpetrated this attack did so in order for all American?s to feel the hatred in his soul. Whoever did this would not be done until every last one of us suffered a loss. I had no words for Sue that would help her understand her loss. Her phone was beeping through so I signed off, took a deep breath, started the car and moved on toward Indianapolis. My rage was not abated, it was further fueled, but controlled. My mission was to get to Maggie and get us home to my mother, to ease her worry, to assure her that her brood was safe. Katie, Janette and Dad made arrangements for me that first night in Danville, Illinois so that was my goal. Dad called every hour to inquire on my progress, each time expressing disbelief that I was as far along as I was. There was no traffic, as I had expected, only a stream of rental cars with varying license plates, carrying car loads of people heading west. I had to turn off the radio because I could not see through the tears in my eyes. Maggie called at last from her hotel room in Omaha. I assured her that I was on my way and would not be there until the next day. As we were speaking, she suddenly gasped and cried out in horror, ?Oh my God, there are fighter planes in the sky, Claire!? She was watching the planes from her window. ?What is it? What?s happening?? I yelled. ?Oh my God, it?s Air Force One!!? she screamed. Of course, I had heard that President Bush was on his way to the SAC in Omaha, and I tried to make Maggie understand that this was a good thing. She replied with, ?I don?t want to be here when he is here, what if they bomb here?? She was, clearly, hysterical. This was a very real fear for Maggie and for all of us. She was either in the safest place on earth or at the the center of the most likely target. Pulling off the highway for gas in Crawfordsville, I was shocked at the lines at the pumps. I was number 14 in line and it was stretching out onto the highway. I had no idea what these people were doing buying gas and was certain it wasn?t travelers as the roads were not congested, but I had no choice but to wait in line. After an hour wait, I went in to pay for the gas and asked where all these people were going and was told that the prices of gas were going up at 6:00 p.m. to $5.50 per gallon. It was 5:45 p.m. ?Why? What?s happened?? I demanded. ?The gas price in Terre Haute is $6.00 and we are raising ours at 6:00.? The woman behind the counter responded, haughtely. ?But why? Are we out of gas, did OPEC raise their prices?? I was agast. ?Everyone needs gas now, and we?re raising our prices.? I was completely and utterly disgusted. I expressed as much to the proprietor as I left the station. 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 story1835.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. 2002-09-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.189.136 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 9/11 a shock of horror struck around the world when airplanes were hijacked and used as bombs. Members of the Taliban took planes and flew one each into each of the Twin Towers in New York. In the same day another plane was flown into the pentagon. Also on this day another plane was headed for a destination unknown but was taken down by some vary brave passengers in Summer Set County. Ever since then America and the rest of the world has been on an elevated alert. This tragedy has affected me and my family a lot. Everyday you can?t stop wondering if something else is going to happen, we know the security has improved and the skies are being watched but paranoia of another attack isn?t leaving, specially since we live so close to a nuclear power plant. We worry everyday and it irritates my family. It?s kind of hard to vacation and relax since we can?t really forget. We all want to just act like it has never happen but the news isn?t helping? Wasn?t America?s whole idea to Forget and move on??? You would think we could if the media wasn?t constantly reminding us of what happened and that new threats are coming in by the hour. This horrible incident has also affected my generation and friends in different ways. We are all very sad about what happened but know we can?t do much, just the thought of being killed in one of these attacks scares us. And being so young we can?t exactly feel the full affect of this tragedy and don?t understand why it hasn?t ended yet. We all want it to end so we can get back to our normal ways of life and not having this dark and evil shadow cast over us. Even though I am still young, I can tell that America can be affected and changed by this forever. I don?t think that after this we will ever be back down on a very low alert since the terrorist will attack whenever we go back down since there?ll be informed. Even if we do go back down all Americans are going to be forever scared since this was the only attack on America in America. And with all of these problems Americans are going to have a hard time having fun, we can?t get on a plane without thinking of horrible ideas that could happen, you can?t go places and see people who resemble Taliban members and not think bad things about them even if we don?t want to, bad thoughts always come into our head. So with all of these thought I am almost positive America will be changed forever until all terrorism is dead. 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 story6549.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. 207.103.166.40 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at work when my mother called, telling me that a plane had hit one of the twin towers. I told everyone at work and just then we started to hear it on the radio. My mom called again and said the other one was hit, I started to cry right there. Luckily my boss had a 3" black & white TV that we hooked up and we were able to keep up with the events. I couldn't drag myself away...we all practicully stopped working and watched. Our customers would come in with another story of what they heard. I remember calling my husband at work and asking him to get in touch with his mom to see if his cousin was OK. She had been involved in the first bombing years ago. Luckily she was OK, she had transfered. But her sister was not heard from who worked in the towers. I got home and my 11 year old son asked if I knew what happened, he had watched it on TV in his class. His teacher thought it was very important for them to see. He was very angry. Later we found out that Jean was safe, she was walking up the steps when people were yelling and running toward her to get out. It's changed her life. I cried for about a week straight I think. As many people did. I felt helpless, angry, sad. How could this happen to us!? Why?! I was always proud to be an American, but it means so much now. This is the greatest country in the world. They united us even more..strength in numbers!! 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 story5523.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.58.194.199 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: During the september 11 issue I was in my third or fourth grade class I really didnt understand the fact about the attack but I remember my mom telling me about the september 11 issue but now I am older and I understand the fact that many lives were taken and many close relatives I feel really sad. When I heard about it I started crying as I was watching it on tv people were just going crazy people running everywhere trying to get away everybody thought the world was going to end and that really freaked me out !!!! 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 story20445.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.186.239.238