358 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: On that day i happened to turn on the news and thought i was watching a movie till Peter Jennings appeared and realized oh my god this is real life. Being a city girl and only living in Az for less then a year it really hit hard. My daughter still lives in NY and when i couldn't get in touch with her it spread panic in me which i hope never to have again. As the day went on and the news was showing everything going on my heart was breaking as well as my belief there would be surivors. At 5 or 6 NY time i finally received a phone call from my sister saying my daughter was fine. She was at the twin towers for breakfast but left an hour or so before the first plane hit. Talk about my guardian angel she was there with my daughter on that day. Now not a day goes by where i don't think of what happened to all the othere who have lost there loved ones. God bless them 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 story1562.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. 2002-08-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.218.236.86 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: Dear Diana, On September 10, 2001, you were six months old. The next day the world around you changed as it rarely ever does - with violence, stunning in its cruelty; with mind-numbing speed; and with a decisiveness almost unheard of in human history. I bear witness to what happened because we were very close to the epicenter of this world-shattering earthquake. At 8:48 in the morning that day, we were in our apartment in lower Manhattan, one third of a mile north from what was the World Trade Center complex. You and your mother were in the living room, and I was still in bed. I was awakened by a loud screaming outside that sounded like a plane or missile, then I heard a huge explosion coming from the direction of the World Trade Center. Your mom thought it was a sonic boom. I thought it might be what it turned out to be. I put my head out the window and saw the gash, fire, and smoke in the side of the north tower of the Trade Center. I knew it wasn't an accident. Not long after, while I was holding you, the second plane came screaming in followed by the explosion. In my remembering, you could tell that the engines were being revved up to full throttle as the planes came boring in for the kill. Your mom and I decided that I should go down to the scene to see if I could help. There were not very many people coming up the street as I was going down. The people were being evacuated to the east, south, and west. When I got to Vesey (the street bordering the complex on the north), I saw emergency vehicles off to my right, to the west, on West St., toward the Hudson River, and fire trucks to my left on Vesey itself. I went under the overpass that connected the main complex with 7 WTC. There was a lot of activity in the truck bays there, with people coming and going. I had worked for more than ten years for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The captain of the regional office's police detail came by heading into the building. He told me that the Pentagon had been hit. I was considering where to go and what to do when I heard a third screaming that sounded to me like another plane or some kind of missile coming in. I dove to the curb and pressed up against a concrete barrier waiting for some kind of impact - and, it crossed my mind, my death. No shock came. I got up and moved toward the river, to West St., where scores of emergency vehicles and personnel were deployed, and where people from the Trade Center and other offices were escaping to the north. The screaming I'd heard wasn't another jet or a missile. It was the sonic wave from the south tower collapsing, something I had no idea had happened. Suddenly a huge black-gray cloud with the debris and dust from the collapse of the south tower came roaring up the street, people running for their lives before it. I managed to outrun it and got home a few minutes later. My ignorance about the collapse of the south tower was bliss for me but unfortunately your poor mother had been watching this all on television. She had no idea where I was. She was quite terrified when the south tower went in and very happy to see me when I came through the door. We grabbed some things for you, put you in the carriage, and left. As we were heading up our street, your mom could see that the second tower was coming down. I couldn't bear to look. The three of us headed to your Aunt Nina's apartment on 12th St. in the East Village. On the way, there were thousands of people in the street, most of whom were going north, away from the disaster. On Fifth Ave., we saw a man being comforted by strangers. He was saying that his fiancee worked in the towers. Then we went into your mom's church, the First Presbyterian Church (where we were married and you were baptized) and we prayed. I prayed to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for the souls of the innocent dead and the dark souls of the terrorists. Then I took a Bible seeking the 23rd Psalm, tried to read it, and broke down. We went to Aunt Nina's where your grandmother, who'd come into town from New Jersey for a doctor's appointment, and your Uncle Roger, who worked downtown, eventually joined us. We watched the television for news. Later, I walked back downtown to the apartment to close the windows and to fetch a few items back. Then I walked back uptown. At six, we went for services at the church, had dinner at the apartment, then your mother, you and I went to our friends' place, farther west and uptown, where we went over everything. We exchanged solace and support with Uncle Charles and Aunt Stephanie. You gave us all wonderful hope, Diana. Believe it or not, you were completely good throughout all of the worst moments of the nightmare. I woke up at 3:00 a.m. that first night with a raging neckache, found some ibuprofen, then went back to sleep at 5:00, and stayed asleep, thankfully, until 11. The previous day had been more emotionally, psychically, and spiritually taxing than any I'd had in a very long time, and more than I ever want to have again. The same can be said, I am very sure, for scores of thousands of New Yorkers, Washingtonians, and others who were directly involved. That day, I walked back downtown to check on the apartment, to get some more things, and to see about volunteering. I was able to get downtown to the apartment with a photo ID. I took a hard hat from the apartment and managed to navigate police lines to get to where 7 WTC had collapsed onto Greenwich St. It was truly unbelievable, surreal, with fires still burning in the wreckage and being drenched by the Fire Department from an extended tower. There was an eerie quiet and a pall of dust and fine mist from the fire hose while I talked to a City truck driver who, it turned out, was studying structural engineering. We talked about how the planes had come in almost fully loaded with fuel and that the heat from the fires they had ignited was what doomed the towers. He was called to back his truck in to get debris out and I moved over to West St. to see what was happening there. There was lots of heavy equipment lined up. There was dust everywhere and office papers. I surveyed the scene from farther west, then moved back east and went down Church St. to Vesey. The block west of Church, where I'd seen the fire trucks deployed the day before, was a sea of crushed vehicles and debris. The spot where I'd been standing the day before when the south tower collapsed was underneath four stories or more of steaming rubble. I walked south, looking up and questioning the integrity of the tall and thin Millennium Hilton. Where the Trade Center plaza had been was a mountain of rubble continuing to Liberty St. There were lines of workers handing out small pieces of debris, one by one, or in buckets. Firemen, emergency service workers, cops, medical personnel - by the hundreds - were concentrating their efforts near the center of the mountain. Ruined vehicles were being cleared by heavy equipment and tow trucks. I can tell you that what you've seen and read about this is not an illusion and not a lie. It was much more real than you can imagine. There was a violence in the destruction that was without any light at all. After surveying the scene for a while, I simply gave up trying to grasp the scope of it. There was a volunteer hauling food and drink to the workers on the rubble pile from the makeshift canteen in the ruined Burger King at the southeast corner of Church and Liberty streets. There was a small first aid center there too, with medics treating workers for dust in their eyes and blisters on their feet. That people's injuries on Wednesday were no worse than this was both a blessing and a kind of bitter irony. I grabbed a milk crate and filled it with sandwiches and drinks and took them around to the workers outside. There were hundreds of NY firemen and cops, construction workers, and police and firefighters from around the NYC metropolitan area. There were National Guardsmen scattered around, and medical personnel, both hospital workers and EMT's. The work was not really dangerous, it seemed to me, nor requiring a world of skill, but it was tedious, working the bucket brigades. I took some drinks over to ten or so iron workers cutting beams with torches and I noticed a strange sight on the ground: ears of corn and other fruits and vegetables smashed into the plaza - these were the remains of the previous day's Greenmarket; the same one to which you and your mother had gone many times that summer. The other arresting human face of the debris was the scattering, absolutely everywhere, of office papers. Mixed in with the gray dust of the buildings was almost thirty years of paper representing some of the work of tens of thousands of people. Of course - and it was too horrible to really grasp at the time, although I understood it on a visceral level - the dust was also composed of the bodies of - what we thought at the time - was close to six thousand people. (That number, thankfully, turned out to be twice as many as really died.) When we ran out of drinks at the canteen on Liberty, I went around the corner to find more. There was another makeshift canteen a block south and a block west, at Cedar St. and Greenwich. I was loading up, when the firemen inside there saw people running outside, presumably because of another imminent building collapse. One of the firemen said "Let's get the fuck out of here," and everyone bailed. Lesson One at disaster scenes: When a firefighter starts running, just go! We got down Greenwich a few blocks then stopped. The building in question, about ten stories, brick, seemed okay after all. Thinking though that I should check in with your mother, I found, miraculously, a working pay phone. I got Uncle Charles on the line and told him what I had been doing and that I was going to work a few more hours. The point, certainly, was not that I was doing anything particularly important myself but that I was there and I was helping in my small way. I, like thousands of others who came in from all over the country, needed to be there. I went back to where there was another cache of food and drink and started to load up again. It wasn't long, however, before another stampede of emergency workers came tearing down from the east toward Greenwich and then poured south. I asked no questions and lit out. This time they were talking about One Liberty Plaza, an enormous big black office building occupying a whole block just east and up a rise from where the hundreds of workers were concentrated. The firefighters were quite serious about thinking it might go. As it turned out, this building was never at real risk of going, but that wasn't properly determined until the next day. In any event, with you and your mother in mind, I figured it was time for me to leave. I headed toward the Hudson River, came across West St., moved up past the shattered facades of the World Financial Center, where I got stopped and questioned by a National Guardsman, then I made it over to the yacht basin, where there were a number of fireboats and other work boats docked. The work boats were positioned at several spots along the bulkhead. The esplanade area along the river was part of the running route that I used when I went south from our apartment and where you, your mother, and I would go for long walks. At the north end of Rockefeller Park, there was a helipad on the lawn where people would normally be sunbathing on a beautiful day like it was that Wednesday and the kids from Stuyvesant High School would be hanging out. The high school was a major staging area and rest center for the workers. I had learned earlier in the day that a former colleague of mine at DEC who had been working for the Port Authority had gotten out okay. I talked to him on Friday and learned that when the first plane came in, only 20 or so stories above him in the north tower, the building swayed and he and others thought it was going to topple, before it righted itself. His floor was evacuated. A few floors down the stairway, he remembered that he'd left his wallet behind. He didn't think twice about getting it, but a colleague of his did, and my friend thought that the man who went back was probably caught in the explosion and shattered windows from when the second plane went into the south tower. In any event, the colleague didn't make it out. One former coworker of ours at DEC who also worked at the Port Authority died. The only other connection I had to a casualty was the brother of some teammates of mine from the White Plains Rugby Football Club. Your mom and I have heard about many more people who died, though, who were friends, family, and colleagues of our friends and family. My friend at the Port Authority said that in 1993, when the first attack on the World Trade Center took place, there was no emergency lighting in the stairs. I knew from talking to people back then that the evacuation from the towers took many hours. I certainly had this in mind on September 11th when I was thinking of the probable death toll. When told later in the day that many, many thousands had gotten out in the hour before the south tower collapsed and the hour and a half before the north tower went, I thought it nearly a miracle. The lights in the stairs made a big, big difference. I was also told of the firemen who were going up as my friend and the others were going down. One heard this story over and over from the other evacuees. These heroes didn't make it out. The firefighters and emergency medical technicians, and NY City and Port Authority police who went into those buildings were responsible for saving many more hundreds of lives than would have been saved had they not facilitated the evacuation. Almost four hundred of these truly incredible heroes died. A very close friend - and the man who introduced your mom to me - worked on the 32nd floor of the south tower. As soon as he and his co-workers heard the explosion from the first plane, they were told to leave. We all came home on Friday evening, after I'd scouted the neighborhood and after we'd bought a cell phone. The main consideration was air quality, so that you wouldn't be in any danger at all. There was a big storm on Thursday night and that helped, and the wind direction seemed to be only occasionally blowing to the north. The fires in the ruins of 7 WTC went on for weeks, though, and sometimes we did have to close all the windows. Although we had power, we didn't have phone service for weeks afterward. I had and have my opinions and my views about why this all happened and what I think should happen and what I think will happen. As you grow older and get to understand me better and understand history, you and I will share our thoughts. One thing I have to say now: As I heard that first plane going in, I pretty much intuited what was happening and why. The night we came home, I was on the cell phone with your Aunt Hannah. She was describing the coverage of the moments of silence and other ceremonies that happened in Europe that Friday, three days after the attacks. What she told me was all deeply moving, climaxing in the story of the woman in front of Notre Dame de Paris who said that she thought: "We are all a little American today." Aunt Hannah encouraged me to try to get our TV to work by trying to set up some sort of an antenna hookup. (The cable television line was out.) I did, and it worked, and your mom and I were able to see the stories on the news. We were both crying because of the tremendous feeling of relief that we were not alone in this, that the Europeans knew that we Americans needed their support after the horrific attack and they were opening their hearts to us. They also realized what we now knew: that there was a terrible depth of violence and hatred, ignorance and corruption at work in the world that had to be confronted. We would all have to get better at understanding and working to alleviate the conditions that bred the terrible, cancerous political movements that fostered such viciousness. This was one of the lessons from the Second World War which some people learned but which was forgotten in too many other places by far too many others. We may yet learn how to treat ourselves and our children with love and respect. We may yet learn how to live with some peace, prosperity, and harmony. I, for my part, am not going to wait for your generation to grow into adulthood to see if it happens. I will be trying harder than I ever have to help bring the world to a better way of living. I think that on September 11, 2001, many millions of people in the world made the same decision. Love Always, Dad 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 story10016.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. 2003-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.161.201.185 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 9/11 I WAS IN BREMETON, WASH. VISITING WITH MY DAUGHTER. SHE IS IN THE NAVY, AND SHE HAD BEEN OUT ON MATERNITY LEAVE. THIS WAS TO BE HER FIRST DAY BACK TO WORK. AS SHE LEFT TO GO TO WORK I TURNED THE TV ON AND BEGAN TO WATCH THE MORNING NEWS SHOWS. WHEN I SAW THE PICTURE OF THE FIRST TOWER ON THE FIRST CHANNEL I THOUGHT TO MYSELF WHY ARE THEY PLAYING MOVIES EARLY IN THE MORNING. SO I CHANGED THE CHANNEL AND SAW THE SAME PICTURES ON THE NEXT BY THIS TIME I WAS FULLY AWAKE AND HEARD WHAT WAS GOING ON I BECAME VERY ALARM THINKIN OF MY DAUGHER AND THOUGHTS WHEN TO MY SON-IN=LAW. FORE HE TO IS IN THE NAVY AND HIS SHIP HAD JUST LEFT ON A SIX-MONTH TOUR. I BECAME VERY SCARED FOR HIM AND MY DAUGHER WITH BOTH OF THEM BEING SO YOUNG AND NOT KNOWING WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT. I'M GLAD TO SAID MY DAUGHTER CALLED ME AS SOON AS SHE GOT TO WORK SHE WAS FINE. IT TOOK A FEW WEEKS BEFORE WE HEARD FROM MY SON-IN-LAW. HE WAS FINE,BUT DUE IT SECURITY HE COULDN'T TELL US WHERE THEY WHERE. THANK GOD HE IS HOME NOW.WHEN I THINK BACK TO THIS DAY MY HEART GOES OUT TO ALL THE FAMILIES WHO LOST SOMEONE,ANS ESPECIALLY TO THE 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 story3647.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.78.23.145 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Monday through Friday finds me at work located at Pennsylvania Ave. and 14th St., N.W., Washington, DC -- a short distance across the river from the Pentagon. Each morning and afternoon the commuter bus I ride stops at the Pentagon to drop off or pick up Pentagon personnel. On September 11th, however, I did not go to work as I was awaiting the arrival of the termite inspection man to do an inspection on my home in Stafford, VA, about 45 miles south of Washington. My television was on when a news flash interruped regular programing stating a small plane had accidently hit one of the two WTC towers. I wondered what kind of a moron could accidently hit a building as huge as the WTC. I dismissed the report as an error in news reporting as it did not seem possible to have really happened. Minutes later a live shot showed the tower burning and I relayed the event to the termite inspector who was working outside. He looked a little stunned. When the 2nd plane hit the second tower, I instantly knew it was no accident and said outloud, "Bin Laden -- you bastard! Bin Laden did this!" I went outside to inform the termite inspector of the 2nd plane. He stared at me in disbelief. Back inside, I watched in horror and thought of the human tragedy inside those towers -- all those people, all those people. The horror, the terror, the panic, the death. I cried. News of the Pentagon plane awashed me in a new wave of horror and I immediately thought of the several friends I have who work in the Pentagon. One of my closest friends works in the E-Ring and when I heard about the plane going through the E-Ring I was certain my dear friend was among the dead. Hours later I found out she was working from home and was safe. Thank you, God. I didn't believe that everyone I knew at the Pentagon would be safe -- I couldn't be that lucky. I was. One friend put a voice message on her cell phone that she was all right. What a relief it was to hear her voice! Everyone I knew made it out alive. Every day our commuter bus went to the Pentagon and I would cry at the sight (television didn't begin to show the magnitude of the damage): the gaping hole where the plane went in, the blackened walls around that gaping hole, the gigantic piles of rubble, and then there was that huge, beautiful American flag draped from the Pentagon's roof that displayed our strength and just how proud we are to be Americans. God, you could TASTE the patriotism in the air. For a civilian it was surreal to see so many soldiers with rifles and military vehicles carrying assorted weaponry -- not only at the Pentagon but in the streets of Washington. It was both frightening and assuring to see such a strong military presence. I live in a development heavily populated with military personnel that work at the Pentagon. Some from our community died at the Pentagon that day. We have built a memorial to these fallen Americans and will dedicate it September 11. In October, I went to Ground Zero in New York. I wanted to pay my respects to all who had died there. The WTC was still smoldering, businesses were still closed, dust and debris was everywhere and the odor of death hit me as I rounded a corner 2 blocks from the building's remains. I heard many different languages and realized people from other countries had come, like me, to pay their respects. There was a respectful quiet exhibited by the crowds and flowers, pictures and poems framed the streets. So much love for fellow man. Again, television couldn't begin to show the magnitude of the damage. You had to be there. We owe much to the brave souls on that airplane that went down in Pennsylvania. Those people, by their bravery, changed Americans. I have flown several times since Sept. 11 and passengers talk about how they will not be afraid to fight terrorists on board an aircraft. The feeling is, "If we're going to die, we're going to make sure the terrorists do not succeed in their mission." "Let's roll" has become the airline passenger's motto. Let's keep those flags flying and God bless us all! 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 story1486.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. 2002-08-26 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.231.208.128 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 a freshman in High School, we had just gotten done with gym class when our teacher told s that a plane had hit some tower. At first I didn't think much of it, all I though was a small plane flew into a radio tower or something. But as I was walking through the hall to my math class, I saw people (mainly girls) crying in the halls. When I got to class I watched the T.V. montitor on the walls and witnessed evil is its purest form. I went numb, I was angry, depressed, sad, and down right pissed. I remember asking myself who would do this? Who would hate us so much to attempt this type of dieaster? And throughout the day we all watch the news in every class, we talked about it and we sharedour feelings. It was diffently a day I will never forget. 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 story20790.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. 70.36.250.200 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: This may not be the most dramatic story, it includes no dramatic rescue or extreme show of valor. However, it tells of my impressions as the events unfolded during that fateful day and the day after. I'm a Venezuelan that resides in Venezuela but was in Santa Rosa, California for our company's annual sales meeting. At around 6am I receive a call from a co-worker telling me to switch the TV on and, well, I saw what most everyone else saw. After calling other executives from the company to warn them of what was going on, I continued to stay in shock as I watched the images that kept pouring in. It was the next day, when things had relatively calmed down, that other impressions started to sink in. I was amazed at the reaction of all Americans, my coworkers, my friends, the President, the people in the street. When in other countries I would surely have seen mass demonstrations, flag burning, hate banners, etc., what I saw was the opposite. There were isolated exceptions of course, that is uncontrollable. What did the Americans do? They went to their places of worship to pray or meditate, they consoled each other, they helped each other. I saw one man on a street corner just waving the US flag, not asking for money, just waving Old Glory. Passers-by would just honk or give a thumbs up, and I had tears in my eyes. It was that experience, that of seeing how the people reacted to such a horrific event, emphasizes to me the greatness of a nation which so many people admire, envy and hate. Alfredo Dominguez Valencia, Venezuela 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 story2056.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. 200.35.112.44 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I will never forget that morning! I was on my way to work when my husband who had just logged onto our computer saw the news headlines on his homepage.He said put the tv on in the living room, something terrible has happened. I couldn't believe what I saw! There on the screen was the remaining tower of the WTC. Here was a building I had seen most every day of my years living in NYC in flames and already half destroyed. A few minutes after turning the TV on I witnessed the destruction of the second tower. I nearly fainted in disbelief. How could this happen in the city that I was born and raised. I wanted to think it was a bad dream. I had friends that worked in that area. And family members who shopped and visited the area on a regular basis. It breaks my heart that such a tragic thing could have happened any where in the world. My 9 year old son was speechless for days, because of what he witnessed he will not board a plane to this day. For the rest of the day my family and I sat riveted to the television watching the scenes of horror unfold before us. Being a native New Yorker now living in South Carolina I felt like there was a strong force of some kind trieing to pull me back to the city of my birth. For weeks i felt this deep connection to the people and events that were happening in New York. Words can not describe how when we finally went back to New York to visit family and friends. We were driving through New Jersey when that glorious skyline appeared, and at the southern tip of Manhatten the sky showed through where once two towers stood. Seeing firsthand their absence against the bright New York sky was like a blow to the stomache, it took my breath away. On this the one year anniversary of 9/11 I pray for the lives lost and remember the sight of Two Towers pointing the way to heaven. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story5223.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. 24.88.83.9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was at school like I would have been any ordinary day. We had bus evacuation that morning, and the bus driver informed us of the attacks. He tried to explain that two buildings in New York, and one building has collapsed. No one actually believed him, and everyone was confused. When we went back to class the teachers had a meting with the principal. When my math teacher came back into the class she was so upset. She put the TV that was in the classroom on he news station. We saw the buildings and all the people running around. She started crying and had to turn off the TV. At the end of the day the principal came on the loud speaker and told us all to go right home because something awful had happened. I did what he said and had my mom pick me up. When I got in the car, she explained everything that had happened. She told me that four planes had been involved in the attacks and they were considering it a terrorist attacks. My life has changed a lot since the attacks on September 11th. I could not sleep a full night for an entire month. I had fear of a war. All I could think about was getting killed just like so many people did that day. Every plane that went by gave me a pit in my stomach, and I got scared. It had made me appreciate life more, and has made me live everyday like it?s your last because so many died for no reason at all. I think most importantly the innocent people that died should be remembered. I think we should remember all the children born with out fathers, and all the children who lost their mothers. I think we should remember to always be united as one, not just when something awful happens. We should remember to always be patriotic no matter what time of the year. I also think we should remember to be kind to call people no matter who they are. 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 story8451.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-10-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.60.58.139 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I had just droped my daughter off at school that day on Miami Beach We usually listen to a kids radio station called Radio Disney but that morning I didnt put it on yet. I have a favorite staion I listen to which is the Y-100 Morning Show with Kenny & Footy. They Usually joke around in the morning playing practical jokes saying stupid things people do etc; Well they began to say that a sesna crashed into one of the twin towers so I didnt think anyting of it so I took it lightly until they said another plane crashed into the buildng then at the same time my husband called me on the cell to see if I had heard the news. He told told me it was a terrorist attact. I was in shock I immediately made a uturn to race back to get my daughter out of school. To my shock I was not the only parent half of the school parents went to pick u[p their kids that morning. Werushed home to see the news! I was in complete denial even though I was seeing it with my own eyes the terror that went thru me to see people running in the streets the buildings coming down the people asking if anyone have seen their loved ones still sticks to me as if it was yesterday! I am a very emotional person I just sobed when reality sunk in. I was devastated even thuogh I did not have anyone that was in the devastation.My heart goes out to all of you whom I know no one will forget God Bless You We Will Never Forget ! 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 story5589.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. 152.163.189.136 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: I was at school in Bellevue, Ohio I was in my English class and our principle came in and said turn on the telivision. So my teacher turned it on and we saw the N.Tower was hit by a plane and about five min. later we saw the S.Tower get hit by another plane. Are jaws dropped and we were like "What happened". We said a prayer for the people that were in the towers and the planes, and some of my teachers started to cry. School was not the same after that horible day and my people are still feeling pain. But that day after they hit we did nothing just watch the telivision and that is what I remember from 9/11/01. 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 story6490.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. 156.63.116.141 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 got in to work, and upon looking out the window, saw lots of what looked like tin foil floating in the air. I joked to myself (mostly), "What's going on? Is (Mayor Rudy) Giuliani celebrating not having to have the headaches of New York City on his head any more?". Then someone said a plane had hit the WTC. The reaction was almost universal: "Yeah, RIGHT!", and then someone turned on a small TV, and we found out it was true. I thought it might have been an accident - maybe a pilot suffering a heart attack or something like that -- and I went outside. I was standing on the corner of Elk and Chambers Streets, watching the North Tower burning, with two holes in its east and northeast corners, black smoke POURING out of it,when all of a sudden there was a TREMENDOUS EXPLOSION, and a HUGE FIREBALL erupted from the east side of the South Tower. I will never forget them! I was surprised I didn't FEEL the heat of the fireball! Of course, at that time everyone knew this was no accident! I returned to my office, grabbed all my things, and went to the Brooklyn Bridge subway station on Reade and Lafayette Streets, not knowing whether the subways were still running. I was lucky to get on what very well may have been the very last No. 4 (or 5) train running northbound before the subway system was shut down. On the ride home, I remember the shock of all my fellow riders. Everyone was kind of numb. I kept telling people "Welcome to Israel," to tell them this was the daily fare of the people of Israel. When I got home, I watched the collapse of the towers on my neighbor's TV. I couldn't believe it! I don't think anyone other than the buildings' architect and engineers ever DREAMED the towers would collapse!!!!! Jay W. (Yaakov) Kayman 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 story2037.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. 209.246.106.65 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: 9/11 Patchwork of Love Late Monday evening, my husband drives me to the hospital. We think our baby, who is already one week past his due date, will finally be arriving soon. We are filled with all the anxiousness, exhilaration and anticipation that is customary with a firstborn child. I spend all night in labor, walking the halls, talking to Curt and the nurses, talking about life and what it will be like. How nothing will ever be the same for us again. The world as I know it will change forever. I will see things differently and approach life in a new way. Early Tuesday morning, I am taking a rest in bed between contractions when there is a commotion outside in the hallway at the nurse?s station. My husband turns on the TV in my room and we stare aghast at the screen. The day is September 11, 2001. Amidst shock and tragedy, my sweet miracle of a son enters the world. Through pain and amidst difficulty, he is born. And he is perfect. Absolutely beautiful. My husband makes phone call after phone call to our loved ones. ?I have good news,? he says. ?Heidi had a baby boy today!? The sight of his sweet face and tiny toes bring tears to our eyes. What unimaginable joy we feel at this beautiful new life. He is our sunshine, on a very dark day. And his light shines brightly to many others as well--the nurses, our friends and family. ?He gives us such hope for tomorrow, ? people say to me, ?Today when we need it the most!? We name him James Curtis. James, his grandfather?s name, means supplier or giver. And Curtis, his father?s name means kindness. He is a giver of kindness. A supplier of hope and encouragement to people. My prayer is that he will continue to give encouragement each day of his life the same as he had since his first day. Before James was born, my mom had a great idea. ?We are making the baby a quilt,? she said. ?I have sent out squares to all the people who are special to you.? Close college buddies, lifelong friends and family members received red and white squares on which to send their wishes for the coming baby. The squares are decorated in a variety of ways. I love to finger them and remember all those who love me and have special wishes for my son. The original idea was for a red and white quilt. But considering his birthday, we add blue and white stars. The completed quilt is a memory for James and a legacy as well. It represents all our family and friends who support us, encourage us and love us through all things. It represents the pride we have in our country that has endured hardships, and yet is an example of how we must gain strength through adversity. And it represents our faith. Right in the middle of the quilt there is a picture of James and a quote from a song I love. It is a reminder of the fact that God gives, ?Beauty for Ashes, Strength for Fear, Gladness for Mourning and Peace for Despair.? And that is exactly what He did, through the life of my precious baby James. We are preparing for James? first birthday party. The cake is a star spangled flag and the streamers are red, white and blue. People have asked if I am disappointed that James was born on 9-11-01. On the contrary, I am so glad he was. He is an everyday reminder that life goes on, even when it is difficult. I think that often times, great peace and encouragement come through times of deep pain and heartbreak. I am thankful for the living reminder of how very precious life 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 story5044.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. 68.3.65.217 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 first when I turned on the TV that morning, I thought I had stumbled across some sort of creepy movie - I mean, smoke was coming from the World Trade Center, how could that be? But as I watched the TV, frozen where I stood, I came to understand that what I was watching was not a movie - it was real. A plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. On the way to school my mother and I listened intently to the radio, but we didn't learn anything of importance. Then I got to my first period class, and Mrs. Gilbert solemnly told us that one of towers had just collapsed. I sat there, unable to move, speak, breathe, or even blink. People worked in those towers. Cars drove by those towers. And now one of them was gone, while another one was going up in smoke. Second period, some kids were talking about it lightly, rolling their eyes and laughing. It's ok, they weren't bad - they just didn't know. And that's when my favorite teacher, Mr. Gonzalez, stood in front of us, with his eyes misting and voice slightly quavering, that the second Twin Tower had just fallen - burying nearly an entire city block with it. I don't remember anything else specific about that day. How could I? It's just a blur of images that run through my mind. I remember being there for a friend of mine who had six friends and relatives - SIX - who worked in the Towers, including his mother's best friend. Thank God, they all got out alive, although not all uninjured. I remember hearin the name Osama Bin Laden for the first time that day. But what I remember the clearest is waking up the morning of September 12. I lay in bed for a few minutes staring at my ceiling. Was it a dream? I thought. Please God, just let it all have been a sick and twisted dream. I made my way to the kitchen and, holding my breath, I reached for the paper. I saw the headline: DAY OF EVIL was spread across the entire top half of the front page. My heart sank in fear and espair. What are we going to do? I thought to myself. What are we going to do? A week later, I had my answer. One of my best friends is a Spaniard and lives in Madrid. I had sent her a long email the day of the attacks. In it, I professed my pain for those who died and those who lived, my fear for my country and how I was almost without hope. A week later, I got a reply - in the mail. She had gone around to her family, her friends, her neighbors, and nearly 200 people at her school and gotten messages from all of them. They were all combined in a book, with translations into English at the back. But I didn't need any translations to know what the messages meant - they were messages of sympathy, of encouragement, of shock. But mostly, of hope. Our hearts are with you, America, they all said. Stand proud. We feel for you, and we are beside you. You are not alone. And the best part is, we aren't. 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 story8297.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-10-02 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.79.81.241 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 11, 2001 started like any normal morning for me. I had woken up for school, ate breakfast, showered, and left. Things all changed when I went to check my voice messages on my cell phone. My mom had left me a message at 8 am which to me seemed a bit strange. In the message she had said that New York was under attack by terrorist and that the Empire State building had been hit by airplanes. My initial reaction was of total shock, not sure of what to think. I immediately turned on the radio thinking for sure everyone would be talking about it. That's when I figured out it wasn't the Empire State Building but rather both World Trade Centers. I remember just driving to school staring out my car window thinking about how this is the first time our country has ever been attacked on the mainland. I couldn't believe the way it happened either. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought they would hijack planes and use them as missles. Fortunately for me, I have to family that lives in New York but I do have friends with family there and was concerned for them. I called my friend who informed me all his family members were safe and not to worry. I started to think how we were going to retaliate and who would it be if we did. I think nobody should be able to get away with such a mass murder. This event was a tragic loss for the United States, something like this will forever be remembered in our society. In the end, we will put to justice the criminals that took away so many innocent lives. 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 story532.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. 2002-05-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.207.198 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: [This is a slightly edited version of a journal entry I wrote in the early evening of September 11.] My plan for today was to walk to the Rayburn House Office Building for a haircut, then take Metro to George Washington University, where I would scan some of my 35mm slides of Washington and print them out as color overhead transparencies for use in class. After that, I would stay in the GW Library & finish up my lecture for tomorrow. My first hint that something was up was the sight of police vehicles & camera crews blocking off East Capitol Street at 2d. Filming a shot for "The West Wing" perhaps? I detoured down to Independence. More police. A motorcade? At 1st and Independence, they weren't even letting pedestrians pass. After a few minutes, it became clear that something bad had happened--maybe a bomb threat--and that I wasn't going to get my haircut or my Metro ride. I headed home, planning to fetch my bicycle and ride it to GW. On returning home, I turned on the TV, in hopes of finding out something about Metro. Only then did I see footage of a burning Pentagon. It took me a very long time to figure out what was going on--ABC News preferred to interview eyewitnesses and talking heads, rather than recapping the who, what, where, and when, that three hijacked airplanes had crashed into great buildings. And even as I started to piece together the story, I remained in denial. OK, so a plane flew _toward_ the Pentagon, but surely that burning building on TV isn't the Pentagon itself. That footage labeled "New York," with smoke rising from Lower Manhattan, that's stock footage from 1993, right? No, it's live. But when they say the Twin Towers collapsed, they mean just the top stories, yes? No. I sat on the couch and watched the television, and after dozens of viewings of the Trade Center's being hit by the 2d airplane and then collapsing--shot from many angles, each astounding--could I believe what I was seeing. Even now, I can't imagine riding the train into New York without seeing those towers. Or that the nice young woman from the Defense Department whom I met at the party three weeks ago might now be dead. There was actually very little for me to do today. Both the Library of Congress & GW's library were closed, separating me from my lecture preparation. There were a flurry of calls to and from family and friends. R [my wife] called at 12:30. She had been at a firm retreat in Westchester, and I knew she wasn't due into New York City until the afternoon, so I had little fear that she was in danger. But it was good of her to check in. (I missed the call, but got the voice mail.) Steve sent e-mail from Minnesota, asking if we were OK. So did my cousin Joanna, writing from Hungary. Eventually, I settled down and did a little bit of work, plus some laundry. Miss Kitty had a fine day, curling up on my lap as I watched TV. I don't know what happens next. Tomorrow I face my students--my first overhead will be a picture of the White House, gutted after being set aflame by the British in 1814. I wonder about the future of Washington & New York. Will NYC have the sense _not_ to rebuild the World Trade Center, generally disparaged by planners as too much of a single use? Will National Airport ever reopen, or will it be closed so that all of Washington can be turned into a no-fly zone? And how can I ever again put Rebecca on an airplane? Before I knew what was happening, I thougth a bike ride to GW might actually be quite nice. After all, the weather today was perfect. 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 story55.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. 2002-02-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 141.156.150.98 Annotation Annotations to this item. Rebuilding Students/Teachers Telephones and Cell Phones Television Coverage DC:2 Sep 11- Sep 21, 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 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: They were my favorite structures to photograph. that very day, after school i had planned to go to the towers and finish all the photowork i had started...that never happened. the last photo i took of them was on august 18th, 2001. i had an urge to go back to them that day but since it was a hot saturday afternoon, the tourists and lines kept me away. Till this day I regret not going. I woke up on 09.11.01 to "get down here and see this!" that minute i thought I was watching a movie...then the 2nd plane hit. My heart broke. As an artist and a photographer, a part of me wanted to be there, to photograph it, and to feel what others felt. The closest i got was a TV set. My dad was supposed to be there that day...Thank God the meeting was cancelled. When i went to what is now "Ground Zero" all i smelt was death,I was on sacred ground. Fires were still burning and the ash was still under my feet. I will never forget that. I made it a point to be there (ground zero) on 09.11.02 (today). I was greeted with a disturbing silence, bagpipes playing in some distant landd...ghosts without graves. I stood thinking, broken hearted. As the sun rose, the clouds above seemed like fire. I will miss them greatly. They are still there in my memories. God was also there that day...He was with so many in the stairwell of their final moments. 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 story3592.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. 148.84.23.84 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11,2001 I was at school. I was in 4th period in French class with Mrs.Kinsel at Bellevue Jr.High School.As soon as I walked into her room she told me to be quiet. It happened at 8:46,but I didn't find out till 10:25.As soon as the first airplane hit the world trade center I was lost. I didn't know what to think.It changed my life.I was scared that they were going to bomb Bellevue.I almost started crying.It's made me a better person now that I seen all this.It's been a year since the tradgey,and it still is sad to see all the people that have lost their loved ones. 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 story6434.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. 156.63.116.26 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: Alan Jackson says in a song that he dedicated to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on America, ?where were you when the world stopped turnin' on that September day?? I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in Greensboro, North Carolina in study hall with my baseball coach at the time, when the world stopped turning on that tragic day. I got into his office around 8:30 to begin my homework for English class. He had a small television set in his office where he was watching his morning news on CNN. Around 8:45 a.m., an American Airlines Flight 11 was hijacked and crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. I remember the news showing repeatedly the massive airline plane crashing into the north tower. While they were showing that clip of the plane crashing into the north tower, around 9:03 a.m. another plane was hijacked and crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center. The news station shows the plane exploding, and fire erupting on the top floors of the Trade Center. I remember thinking, are we going to get out of school or baseball practice because of this tragic moment. When this happened, there was no way that I could do my homework for English. The outcome to this tragedy was innocent people lost their lives for being at the wrong place and the wrong time. I told my coach that I needed to go home because I could not think about doing my homework when something that tragic is happening to our society. One the way back to my dorm room I saw people in the halls crying because they knew someone that worked near the twin towers or they were related to an airline pilot. This really made my emotions flare up, making me really upset. I just wanted to drop out of college and join the military to get my revenge on those ?bastards? that where trying to bring our society down. They crumbled our spirits of a happy world. I got to my room around 9:28 a.m., just in time to hear President Bush speak about the apparent terrorist attack. I was glued to the television set waiting to hear more about the terrorist attack, and how many innocent people that had lost their lives. At 9:43 a.m., the news said that American Airlines Flight 77 had just crashed into the Pentagon, in Washington D.C. I was worried that the next place that would be hit was the gas tanks in Greensboro. The gas tanks that are located in Greensboro are the biggest on the east coast, holding the most oil. It could cause a huge explosion of the city if a plane had crashed into them. I was thinking to myself, if an airplane hit those huge gas tanks it would take out the whole city of Greensboro. At 10:05 a.m., the south tower of the World Trade Center finally collapsed, causing a cloud of dust and debris forms and drifts away from where the building used to stand. CNN news announced at 10:10 a.m. that United Airlines Flight 93 also was hijacked and ended up crashing in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. I did not think the attacks on America were ever going to end. I had in my mind that the world was coming to an end for the United States. It made me wonder how this could happen since we have top secret services and technology that are capable of detecting this before it happens. Around 10:28 the north tower of the World Trade Center collapsed letting off a cloud of debris and smoke. I did not know what to think when all this happened in such a short period of time. Our school ended up closing for the day, but our evil baseball coach made us practice. I lost a lot of respect for him making us come and workout when something so tragic had just happened to our Nation. I was scared of what was going to happen later on that day to our society. When baseball practice was over at 6:00 pm, I went straight to my dorm room to see if anything else had happened. The news showed people that witnessed the tragic moment by video tape. I saw the plane hit from another point of view. Then when the towers started to come down it covered the city with smoke. I could see the man that was video taping it running away as fast as he could and the smoke making the daytime look like night. When the smoke cleared, all you could see was white dust on everything in New York City. I was really hurt that I could not do anything about it, in helping or preventing this tragic moment. I did not end up joining the military, but I did transfer school to get closer to Washington D.C. a year later. 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 story10574.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. 2004-04-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.253.34 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: This is more about how I feel 5 years after 9/11. It's still very strange to think that so many people lost thier lives on that day. We weren't at war so in that respect, it's a little like Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. An unprovoked attack on the American way of life. I visited NYC over the labor day weekend. I got to see Ground Zero. I heard horror stories from many residents of NYC and the surrounding area. The one thing that struck me is the strength of those folks. Some had lost friends or relatives that day. Either they worked in or around the WTC or they were part of the city services (FDNY, NYPD etc). I felt as if they were putting on a brave face, but all you have to do is look into thier eyes and you can see the pain they felt that day. I also got to visit Liberty Island and Ellis Island that very same day and after seeing Ground Zero. It occurred to me that so many people from all over the world came here searching for a better life. My own grandparents among them. So many of the freedoms that we came to know are gone now. We can no longer carry so much as a bottle of shampoo on an airplane. We are forced to sit in long lines at airports to catch a plane. Even at the place (Battery Park) where you catch the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands, you have to go through the same screening as an airport. I now believe that it wasn't so much the events of 9/11 that they terrorists were looking to committ, but the changes in the way we live. It was a heart wrenching trip to be sure. One I will never ever forget. 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 story20558.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: September 11th has special meaning for me as I grew up in New York City and have spent many hours in the WTC. My dad and my brother both worked in the buildings, but before they fell. My younger brother is a firefighter in the Bronx and he was there that night. I only wish I could have been there to help in the rescue and recovery. My heart goes out to all those lost in the events of September 11th. 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 story10172.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. 2003-10-24 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.180.71.120