362 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 was in my freshman geometry class and school had just begun. I was tired and didn't want to be bothered by math. As the class was going by, a teacher rushed into our classroom and told us to turn the television on. My teacher did and we heard reports of the World Trade Centers being hit by planes. I had been at ground zero a few years before and thought as a place that would always be there. The base of a the tallest buildings in NYC was something that I took for granted to be like an eternal thing. With this in mind, I could not believe what I was seeing and what I was being told. Other people around me were freaking out and getting scared, but I just remained in my seat wondering how this could have happened. America, with the best military in the world, the most freedom, the most accepting of other cultures; how could this happen to us. I still considered it to be somewhat far away in New York, but then I heard that the Pentagon was hit. That was when I realized that this was a real thing happening because that is where I live. My father worked in the pentagon just a couple of years earlier and I just wanted to know that my parents were okay. It was a scary time and I became alert immediately. People all over the school were reacting in different ways: crying, silent, wondering what would happen next. My life has changed. I am much more concerned about world issues now and what is going on with homeland security. I just hope for a safer America in the future, and pray that nothing like this will ever happen 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 story10876.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. 2004-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 151.188.16.21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: September 11th was a strange day for everyone, even those of us who have never even visited the U.S.A. I was 5 days from my 23rd birthday and the announcement of my engagement to Jason. I'm a nursery nurse and all was quiet at work. We have no T.V or radio in the nursery so we were all blissfully unaware of the tragity unfolding across the ocean. The first we hear of the terror attacks was when Sue our receptionist comes in looking upset, I asked what the problem was and she says, 'my mum just called, someones flown a plane into the twin towers!' We were all totally shocked and none of us could visualise what this could possably mean. To begin with we were unsure that it was a terrorist attack. Sue's mum kept us updated as to what the news was telling the country. The three of us that were working in our room that day were dicussing the implecations to our lives after something like this. Gemma, who's just 18 was terrified that her fiance would reinlist and go to war, Sophie and I tried to tell her that that would never happen, but deep down I think we all feared that happening, after all we all had partners to worry about. As my working day came to an end I rode home on my motorbike to see what the news channels were broadcasting. I was not prepared for what I found when I got home. My boyfriend was sat infront of Sky news watching broadcasters from CNN. I have never seen Jason so touched by a world event. I just hugged him and as sat by his feet to watch all that unfolded I couldn't help but cry. The visions we saw of the planes crashing into the buildings was beyond description, and watching people jump from one hundred floors up was inconprehensable, until you saw what followed. The collapse of the towers was the most horrifying sight I ever saw and ever hope to see. I have no idea how long we sat there and watched the news for, three, four hours at least. For the next few days that was all the world thought and talked about, I watched hours worth of news every day, we went to Gemma's house in our lunch breaks to see what else had been discovered that day, and we all shed tears for what we saw and read. The events of September 11th touched us all deeply, my birthday and engagement no longer seemed important, the important thing was we were alive to get engaged. I know I told all those dear to me how much I love them that week, after all who knew if England would be similarly targetted. We all knew someone, who knew someone who was in New York on that day, and we had to wait to hear from them aal, sometimes hours, sometimes days, and some not at all. The long lasting effects on us? Who knows. As for my family, my sister had a near breakdown from fear of it happening hear. She couldn't go out or speak without crying, she was so scared that someone near to her was going to die. She had nightmares that her husband and Jason were called to fight the war on terrorism and would not return. The fact that her husband couldn't join the army if he wanted to through ill health made no difference to her. As for me, I live my life much as I always have, day by day, but I'm always sure to say I love you to those I hold dearest, I never know when it may be the last time I get to say it. I never want to be the answer phone message that says I may not be home again. The biggest test for me will be this September, I fly for the first time since the attack and as someone who fears flying anyway, I guess this will be the biggest test for me. I hope the world never has to see the likes of September 11th 2001 again. 'May we never forget.' Petra. 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 story222.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 195.93.49.188 Annotation Annotations to this item. Military Television Coverage INTERNATIONAL Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: September 11, 2001 began as another work day for me. I arrived at the office at 8:00 a.m. At approximately 9:00 a.m., I received a phone call from my husband telling me that an airplane had struck one of the twin towers in New York. As we discussed it, we thought it must have been an accident; however, just a few minutes later while my husband and I are still on the phone, he tells me that another airplane has hit the second tower. It was then I knew it was no accident. Then an attack on the Pentagon and a plane crash in Pennsylvania. At that moment, even though surrounded by co-workers, I never felt so alone. Everyone went into a world of their own. I worried about my family, my friends and for my country. As the days have passed and America has struggled back, we still must never let our guard down. September 11th will always stay in my mind. It was truly a sad day in history, but it brought our Nation closer together and we must never forget the ones who gave their lives for us that day. Myrtle McKinney 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 story2911.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. 216.54.26.250 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 day of 911 we were at are local county fair when the news broadcast came across airways.Everyone watched and listened to the news reporters given reports of the events and the stories of death tolls.When I heard all the supplies that was needed I knew I needed to be involved in this to help out the families,firemen,and everyone else involved in this terrible act against American People. That afternoon at our County Fair I got permission from are local Fairboard to park a large U-Haul truck at the front entrance of the fairgrounds and ask folks for donations and once the truck was filled my family and I would delivery the stuff to New York.Well,I made one phone call to our local U-Haul dealer to see if they would donate a truck for this project that I had set my goals to accomplish.No problem,got the truck parked it at 5:00p.m. then I needed to let the community know what I was doing. Our local radio station was set up at the fair and they allowed me air time,our local paper came and took pictures of the truck,which I was able to make signs to cover the sides and they said New York Bound From Logan,Ohio.Once somone made a donations I allowed the folks to write a message to the folks in New York.It was amazing to see everything coming in,but I was missing something.I wanted to have the right stuff on the truck not things that could not be used.I called our Local Red Cross,where I was told that I had to go through them to do this.Well.that was the wrong answer for me because once I set my mind to do something I get it done.That night when the fair closed at midnight I came home and started making calls to New York wanted to find out what was deeply needed the most.I had talked with the Red Cross in New York and they gave me the name of officer on site to contact and he would be able to help me.It was 3:00 a.m. the next morning and I had my worked cut out for me but nothing to what the people in New York was going thur.Well,boots,air masks,gloves,welding gloves,cleaning supplies,doggie shoes,and more was needed.At 7:00 a.m.I returned back to the truck with my family and friends there to help me with what ever I planned for this day.I went back on our local radio station and pleaded for these items that were greatly needed.Our local paper printed a large front page article letting folks know what I was trying to do.Merchandise was coming on and the truck was half full,folks who did not attend the fair would come to the front gates,yell out my name and hand me boxes,sacks,and anything that they had purchased.At Noon that day a gentlman pulled up to the gates and yelled my husband name and that he needed help aloading his truck,I didn't know what he had till I got over there,I was so surprised this gentlman had went and purchased 150 pair of steel toe boots in all sizes.I cried with more vechicles stopping and dropping things of people coming thur the gates handed stuff to the loaders which were teen age kids who wanted to show there help.This Community was great,but that truck was still not full and I wanted it full before leaving our small town.It was the last day of our fair and my goals where almost met,except I had alittle bit of space left and so I contacted our local Krogers store and ask to use there parking lot to finish filling this truck New York Bound.There was no problem and they put me right up by the door.Folks were coming out and handing sacks,bottled water,care items,even those doggie boots. Wow,the truck was full and I was ready to go.I came home that Sunday evening and called the officer back that I had been talking to,I told him everything I had on the truck and he was excited has much as myself.Everything I had they could use the boots,gloves,etc.was needed more than everything else on the truck but they could use it.That was the most important thing.The officer gave me directions on were to go was once entering New Jersey. We left that evening thinking driving thur the night would be best and we had my daughter and her husband following behind so everyone could take turns driving. Once arriving in New Jersey at a local Food Bank a gentleman there came out and greeted us then informed us that Jefferson Bridge had a bomb threat and that we could not go across,But,I was OK with this because I had made out to set this goal and it was achieved,Thanks to my family,friens,businesses,radio station,newspaper,and fair board the little town Logan,Ohio was helping fellow Americans in there time of diaster.We got a tour of the food bank and was amazing all stuff folks was bringing in and more trucks were pulling up to the docks.The man on the inside really liked our signs on the side from Logan Ohio that he asked me if he could have them to hang there in the dock area so folks could see where we had came from.They called over to the other side and a truck was sent to pick up the boots,gloves,and anything else that we had brought that they could use at that time. After spending about 5 hours there and meeting new people and offering our help for anything that might be needed, we decided to head for home. Once home I thanked everyone in our commuinty and gave reports to our local paper,radio,and a few civic clubs about this great thing we all had accomplished.But,I knew I wasn't done with this and never would be.Thinking about all those lives they were lost just stayed with me.In 2002 I decided to build a Memorial Wall to set-up at our local fair year after year so people would always remember this terrible day of 9-11-01.I was able to go into the internet and get information,photo's,stories,and anything else I might need.After getting the wood donated,glass,everything to seal it with my project began.There is photo's of individuals that were killed and were they were located prior to the death.Stories from children about there loved ones.This wall is not only a part of me but my family,and my wonderful commuinty.Every year this is set-up at local fair for the whole week,Memorial Day it was used in our local park for the services for that day and then Verterns Day we loaded it on a flat bed trailer and drove it in our local parade,I noticed has we drove by the folks standing on the street they were bowing there heads,hats off and salutes from our local Police,Sheriff,and Fire Department. I just felt that we had done something that would never be forgotten in this local community and New York,and everywhere else the terriost had attacked would be with us forever.The wall is 12x8 and you can differntly see it far away and up close.Someday,I would like to come to a memorail service for 911 but,for now we have a memorial service here in Hocking County,Logan Ohio for everyone that was killed that day with the wall,silence,and prayer Thank-You For Your Time: Debbie Stevens p.s.When I had the wall on the float for Veterens Day I had local Fireman standing beside the wall with there gear. 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 story10265.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. 2003-12-18 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.158.86.55 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, i was marching on the football field of my high school. i hated marching and i was counting down the days till the end of the semester when i could drop band. so out on the field we were, totally engrossed by what the directors called "life". it wasn't until i walked into 1st period, ipc, and there was this strange buzz around the room. as i was setting down my backpack on the lab table, i heard stephanie martinez say, "two planes crashed into the world trade towers like an hour ago." it didn't really register... and then i heard more people talking about it...and what had happened...and i think someone turned on a tv. it slowly started becoming more and more real. the next period was band *gag me* and my conductor for that day was late into class, so everyone crowded around the tube and frantically watched the streams of live footage coming from NYC. it was....astonishing. i mean....how...what....why..... so many things going on at once. instant replay after instant replay, as if no one knew what had happened and we could bare to watch it "just one last time". but then it really hit hard. instead of showing a plane crash into the towers (which were both down by this time), they showed footage that affected people more. faces covered in blood, dirt, and building materials were panned across the screen, some in the arms of others, and others not so lucky and were in black body bags. it was like everywhere you looked, you saw a huge mass of people and if they were alive, it looked like they were dead or wanted to be. and then the absolute worse: a man would be running around, screaming to ANYONE, and then he found what he was looking for.... he found his wife dead at ground zero--her body mangled, drenched in her own blood, lifeless. and it was like all the life was sunk right out of him, too. life no longer had a meaning. and he picked up her carcess and held it into his breast, crying like he had the whole nile inside him. and that really makes people wanna reach out and help. more and more the events of NYC, pittsburgh, and the pentagon were becoming more and more of something that's NOT a dream, it's NOT an illusion, it's not America's imagination--it was our worst nightmare...and it came true. That night, I was watching the news (more than i've ever watched it in my entire life) and i just started to cry. i didn't know anyone personally who had died or been injured (the closest was my dad's best friend's daughter worked in the towers, but was running late to work....barely missed it). and the only thing i could think of to do was call up my friend dustin. he was my best friend and i knew he could cheer me up. i was crying into the phone, thinking about everything that could go wrong from this point on. i dialed his number and waited for a response. i heard him say "hello?" on the other end, and i said, "hi" in a voice that was dripping tears. he knew it and i heard him say to someone else, "hey, can i call you back later? ok, bye." we started talking and i finally just exploded. i told him all about my day, what i had seen, how i felt about it. i was SO sure we were gonna go to war. and that really scares me because i have lots of guy friends, and they are all older than me (old enough so that if we needed a draft, they'd be sent somewhere). and losing my friends scares me more than anything. it's my worst fear. and i especially didn't want to lose someone like him. he listened to everything, so so patiently, without interrupting once, and when i was done, he said, "it's gonna be ok, elise. we're not gonna go to war. you're gonna be fine. i'm not going overseas or anywhere like that, ok? it'll be alright." and that's all i needed to hear right then. i needed to hear his reassurance and his promise that he wasn't going anywhere. it really calmed me down, and i'll never forget how he made me feel that night. just last night, i was sitting on my bed the same way i was when i had called him, and i just thought about it for a minute or so. for me, september 11th is kinda like a thanksgiving. it's where we should all sit around and say everything that we're too scared to say, everything that's been bottled up inside, everything that should have been out in the open years ago, everything that we're holding back... and i wanna make my list right here with my "i love you"'s. First and foremost, I love my family so so so much. you guys are the reason i'm here (mom, dad) and you've cared for me for so long, i'm surprised your not sick of me yet. and even my aunts, uncles, cousins, and everyone else who has been there for me and congradulated me and helped me keep going. i thank you guys very very much. i couldn't have done it without y'all. As for my friends, especially my best friends (megan, jenna, and matt), i love you guys more than i can type in a lifetime. you guys are the greatest people every to walk this earth and you guys are the best of the best. you've never let me down and i am forever indebted to you. "we're gonna be homies forever" and that's a fact guys. you are the reason i get up every morning and WANT to go to school, the reason i keep a positive attitude, and the reason i'm here in general. megan, jenna, matt--i owe everything to you. thank you so very much. and for one last person, someone i've known for about a year and a half. Dustin, i just wanna say one thing to you, and that is this: I love you. More than you know. And I'll always be here for you, no matter what. As for my story, that's all. hoped you enjoyed. ~Elise, 16 yrs old. 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 story3132.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 206.77.47.2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I woke up, just like any other day, at 7 o'clock and stumbled to the bathroom to take a shower. A half hour later, when I was almost awake, I dragged my feet down the stairs to eat breakfast. My dad was in Seattle on a business trip, he would be back late that day, so it was just my mom sitting at the dining room table sipping her morning tea. I shoved a bagel into the toaster and went to pour myself some orange juice when the phone rang. My mom answered it, smiling as she always is. "Hello? Oh hey, how's it- wait, slow down, I can't understand you...what?!? Oh my god, let me turn it on right now. I'll call you back." The expression on her face transformed so quickly from content to panicked, I thought a family member must have died. But no, it was much worse. I set my glass on the counter and followed her into the living room, where she was turning on the television with shaking hands. The image of a building on fire, with smoke billowing everywhere, loomed up in front of my eyes, and the words of the newscaster puzzled me: "A plane has just crashed into the World Trade Center." Wait, I thought confusedly, as though she had spoken in Portuguese. The World Trade Center? Isn't that in New York? That really tall building? What do they mean a plane crashed into it? I stared at the T.V., not comprehending. I turned my head slowly, as if in a dream, to look at my mom. So unlike her usual self, she was totally uncomposed, white as a sheet, crying and rocking back and forth. I turned back to the T.V., then left to the kitchen to see if my breakfast was ready. I did everything slowly, and wide-eyed as if in a trance. Suddenly my mom shot into the dining room and grabbed the phone. She tried repeatedly to dial, but her hands were shaking so much that she couldn't do it. I walked calmly to her, took the phone, and dialed the number she recited to me. She made a sound of frustration and slammed the phone back down. I ate my bagel slowly, turning the pictures of the burning buildings over and over in my mind. My mom drove me to school, talking on her cell phone to my aunt who lives in Anaheim. Once I got to school, the only thing I could think about was how panicked my mom was over what we saw on T.V. Why? The full force of the whole situation hit my at about 9:30, during Spanish. The number that I had helped my mom dial. It was my dad's cell phone. I felt panic and fear flow through my whole body. I shuddered violently and leaped from my seat, startling the teacher. I went to the front of the class and asked him for permission to leave class. He nodded half-conciously and pointed to the pass hanging on the door. I grabbed it and sprinted to the payphones. I called my mom, but the line was busy. I slammed the receiver down and took a deep, shaky breath. I had to find out if my dad was ok. I tried calling his cell phone, but it was useless. I reached into my pocket for more change, but all I came up with was a dime and three pennies. I was almost hysterical, but got a hold of myself and walked back to Spanish. I ended up having to wait the whole day to find out what was going on with my dad. I begged all my teachers to turn on the T.V. to make sure nothing happened in Seattle, but none of them would. My mom came to pick me up and the first thing she said was, "Your dad's ok! Nothing happened in Seattle!" I breathed a sigh of relief and sunk into the front seat. I also used to live in New Jersey, about 15 minutes away from New York, so I visited it all the time. I can see the skyline perfectly in my mind, but I guess I'll have to alter that picture now that the Twin Towers are no longer a part of it. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story8313.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. 209.79.81.10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: That day I was talking to a friend in Canada on the phone and suddenly he said: "I hate to be the one to tell you, but turn on your TV, and see what's happening right now!" I did, and I saw the first tower of the World Trade Center after it was hit, then footage of its being hit. Soon the second tower was hit by another plane, and it, too, began its devastating mushrooming, with its fireball, and then its collapse. At first you can't believe something like that. It's like some horror movie that we've all become too acustomed to. We even talked about another tragedy in our lives, and for a while we stared in disbelief as we talked. When we hung up in finally hit me, as I know it did him. The horror, the loss, the devastation. And that looming question: Who would want to do this? Now that we know more about who did do it, we are left with the continuing question of what to do in response. I cannot always agree with the President's approach to what we should do. However, I want to stress in the strongest terms that there are two seperate issues here: [1] How we feel about the horrible devastation of September 11, and the other [2] What should be done in response to it. I would like whoever reads this to know that I consider myself just as hurt and outraged by what was done to Americans on September 11, and that I am just as patriotic in my response to it, rallying around our flag and the country which it symbolizes. However, on the issue of what our response should be, I beg all of us to consider at every juncture whether our rage or vindictiveness, our desire for revenge, may lead us to take action which will further alienate our brothers in other lands, such as our Arab neighbors in the Middle East, and whether the inevitable loss of further human life justifies further war in Iraq or elsewhere. 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 story1526.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. 2002-08-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.23.26.19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: September 11, 2001 began as any other day in sunny Southern California. My husband was getting ready for work and I was in the process of getting 2 of our children ready for school. I went downstairs to turn the radio on for some "get up and go" music when I heard Peter Jennings voice. That immediately made my blood run hot and I strained to hear what he was saying with the 4 kids jumping around me. All I heard was "planes hit" and I yelled upstairs to my husband Gary, that something terrible had happened. As I made my way to the television, my initial thought was that something had happened to the President. Jennings voice made it perfectly clear that something grave had taken place. The images that I saw when I turned on the set are burned into my memory. Two huges buildings on fire. I had never seen the Twin Towers besides on movie or television screens, and within two minutes of watching them burn, one of them came down. I began to cry and told my husband that I wanted the kids to stay home with me. Reports of a plane hitting the Pentagon were coming in, it was perfectly clear that America was under attack, and I believe that I was never so frightened in all my life as I was then. Gary thought it was best that the kids go to school as usual. He didn't want them to see anymore than they had. It was probably a good thing, because soon the next tower fell, and the images of people bloodied and covered with soot were coming in. I remember going outside and looking up into the sky and feeling a chill knowing that there were no airplanes in the sky. And one plane was unaccounted for. It was strange and eery. The whole entire day was surreal. The people searching for their loved ones asking for help, showing fliers, giving descriptions...nothing as heartbreaking as that. Picking the kids up at school with all the other moms and dads, we were unusually quiet, a couple of moms hugging and crying. Just days filled with sadness. I have had some losses in my life, events that were tragic and sad, but never has something happened where I truly wished and prayed that it could be taken back. Even now, I tell God how I really wish that this had never happened. It's changed so much, it's changed the world that my children live in. It's made me so extremely proud to be an American. It has made me appreciate my freedom and understand how much of the world despises our freedoms. It's made me want to instill a great sense of patriotism into my children. I will never forget what I saw and felt that day. I became more American, more proud, more a daughter of this great land. More proud of the stars and stripes than ever before. 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 story6506.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. 32.100.6.174 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 recently returned to my hometown, Washington DC, to attend graduate school at the George Washington University. I was on the Foggy Bottom campus, working in an administrative office, on September 11th. I started my day, much as those in the two towers must have, by responding to some e-mails and getting some coffee. I happened to open the New York Times.com to quickly check the days' headlines and watched, in utter disbelief, the now famous video of the two planes hitting the World Trade Center towers. When the first plane hit the building, I comprehended it as a terrible accident. When the second plane hit, it became clear that there were intentions involved. It was like watching a movie and I remember my horrible realization that there were people in those planes and in the towers. Quiet nervousness set into our office when we realized what was going on. One person's husband was flying on business that morning and she was upset that she couldn't locate him, though she kept trying to reason with herself that he was probably fine. Then, we received news that the Pentagon had been struck and we started to become more fearful. GW's campus is right downtown, blocks away from government and commerce buildings. What if the terrorists had wanted to attack a college campus, as well? At that point, no one knew the identity of the attackers or their motivations. What were later discovered to have been rumors started to spread about bombs exploding in the Capitol building, and a car bomb detonating in front of the State Department. The phone lines were dead and we couldn't communicate with anyone outside our office. I hoped my family was okay. Finally, most people in our office decided to try and go home. The streets were jammed with pedestrians, ambulances, and cars. Everyone had a grave, worried look upon their faces. I reached home, relieved because all members of my family were accounted for. I thought we were safe. Then we received a phone call from my mother's sister. One of our aunts (the wife of my mother's younger brother), Anna Williams Allison, was on the American Airlines flight out of Logan Airport. She had been flying to California on business. I cried. I had thought we were all safe. When I had watched the video of those two planes hitting the World Trade Center, I had unknowingly witnessed my wonderful aunt's final moment of life. I went back to work the next day, taking the Metro downtown. I will never forget the tone of the train operator's voice, as he announced each stop. It held so much sadness and despair. The other passengers in the car all had glazed, blank looks upon their faces. And there was an unusual stillness as people somberly walked about the stations on their way to work. 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 story217.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 128.164.170.4 Annotation Annotations to this item. Internet Personal connection to someone at site Rumors Struggle to get home DC:2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: when I woke up on 9/11 and started my daily routine. I turned on the channel 11 news and started to hear of the terrible tragedy from the first plan crashing into to the world trade center. I called my 5 children in my room, as we all watched in disbelief that this is actually taking place before our very eyes in America. Isn't this the home of the free and the brave where we are suppose to be safe? I couldn't help but to cry and my children cried with me. As we were watching we actually seen the second plan hit the other building. That made my heart drop right in the middle of my stomach. I then had to explain my burst of tears to all my children. That day I did not want my children to go to school because I wanted them to be safe. It was then that I realized no matter where they are they are not safe. This could happen to any one any where. I sent them off to school that day but before saying good bye I looked them in the eye one by one and told them no matter what happened that I loved them and I would get to them no matter what happened. This made me realize what a blessing they are to me and that we are still a family today. God bless all those who have died may you rest in peace and God be with those who suffer from the loss of a loved one. The Segura Family 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 story3245.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. 199.174.66.214 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I think, not only american people where shocked on this day, by this terrible action in New York, Washingtion and Shanksville. Also for me first it was a very normal day, on September, 11. 2001. In the morning I did my work at a policestation near by, at a policeman like every day in the last years. In the afternoon, I was sitting at meal in the kitchen, my son came in at 8.55 a.m.(New York time,14.55 MEZ) and said, that the radiospaeker says, that a plane crashed in a building in New York. I said, that is unbelievable, that could not be. However, ..., at once I watched TV. And I saw the desaster in New York and then, a few minutes later, the second plane came in ...! We were shocked, sitting at the TV and not able to speak... all the people, firemen, policemen and so on... Next day, at policestation, nobody makes a joke or something like this, all men were calm and concentrated. Everybody knew what this desaster meaned, the world changed! We are with you in this days... Ansgar Berning, Nordhorn, Germany 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 story7143.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. 217.84.212.99 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: (This is my story that I included in my Christmas card to family and friends - a friend suggested I submit it to this archive.) THREE BLOCKS FROM GROUND ZERO by Dawn Knipe Working only three blocks from Ground Zero, I am often asked if I was there on 9/11 and what happened. I have written my story for those who are interested. For those who have had their fill of 9/11 stories, I understand! Feel free to discard this insert and enjoy your holiday. For those who are curious, read on. To all, peace. My nephew, Dan, said it best. There are exactly eleven beautiful days in the Northeastern United States. And that's it. Otherwise it is either too hot or too cold. On those cold, windy days, Ernie often says the "Hawk" in the air. However, September 11th was one of the eleven. It was crisp, clear and made you feel good just being outside. If you've read any of the news reports, then you know Tuesday, September 11th began as an ordinary workday. I work at Pace University, and we had just finished our new student orientation and were prepped for the Fall semester events. I started the day as I usually do. I caught the 7:37 A.M. train to Hoboken, and then I took the commuter ferry across the Hudson River. I remember being in a very good mood when I arrived at my usual time, 8:35 A.M., at the World Trade Center. I walked the route I usually do on nice days -- toward the Winter Garden, crossed north to Vesey Street, and continued east to Broadway. As I approached 5 World Trade Center, a young woman asked me how to get to 1 World Trade Center. I stopped and showed her two different paths. I continued across Church Street and passed St. Paul's Chapel (the now famous little church that was miraculously kept out of harm's way. Not only did George Washington worship there, but also Ernie and I on several early Sunday mornings when we lived downtown.) I passed the chapel, crossed Broadway and had just started up Ann Street when I heard the unmistakable sound of a low flying jet followed by a horrible explosion. People on the street thought it was a bomb, but I was certain it was a plane. I knew that sound instinctively. I grew up living in military housing at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware where the sounds of low flying planes were commonplace. There was no mistake. That sound was a plane flying much too low for New York City and it had just crashed. Some passerby's claimed it was at the World Trade Center, but we didn't have a view of it from Ann Street. We walked around Nassau Street to Fulton and saw the Tower in flames. The sky was filled with papers and black smoke. I remember looking at the Tower, and trying to figure out how many of the floors were on fire and thinking many people must have died in the impact. I kept staring at the damaged floors and wondered how they would repair the fa?ade. It seemed too high up to put scaffolding. The immensity of the tragedy had not yet hit me. A woman next to me was crying and another was panicked because her apartment was only a few blocks south of the Towers and her daughter and husband were still at home. "Do you think the building could topple over?" she asked us. "No, I don't think so," I said, "No way." I was around when the building was bombed in 1993. If it didn't topple over then when there was a bomb at its base, surely it couldn't from a simple accident at the top. Back in '93, many of the people who were evacuated walked over to Pace University to use our phones and bathrooms. I thought I should head over to the university's Security office to let them know what had happened so they could prepare for the crowds to come over. As I walked toward Pace, the panicky woman followed talking to me and wanting more reassurances that everything would be okay. From our conversation, I learned that she was an art professor at the university and was on her way to teach class. She didn't know if she should teach class or go home. I suggested that she call her family and see how they are. If she was still worried, I told her the school would understand if she wanted to cancel her class. By the time I got to the Security office, Rich, the director, was not there but already in the President's office briefing him. I gave the security officer on duty my telephone number and said I was available to help if they needed it. I headed for my office on Park Row but first stopped to get a cup of coffee. I thought I'd take another look at the Tower, so I walked over to City Hall Park to get the best view. Now, to my amazement, both Towers were engulfed in flames. I was shocked to see that the flames had spread to the second Tower! At that point, I realized just how scary the fire had become. I turned back to my office building and met the Dean for Students in the lobby. She told me that her staff and the Counselors were going to relocate to the front of the main building and that I could join them. I told her I was going to see how my staff was first, but that we would be over if they closed the Park Row building. On my way up the elevator, I met the art professor again. She was near hysterics. I told her to come with me and she could use the phone in my office. When I got to my office, the staff told me about the second plane hitting the tower and that it was some kind of attack. We put the radio on and listened to the news reports. There were seven of us in the office, and we decided to stay put rather than go to the main building where most of the university was congregating. We concluded that we had water, bathrooms, telephones, a radio and each other - we didn't want to leave unless we had to. Our offices are located on the eighth floor and face north, away from the towers. We could see the crowds gathering on the street and the masses of people evacuating north, but our only source of information of what was happening was the radio. I called my mother to tell her that if she was watching the news, not to worry about me - I was safe in my office. One of our student leaders, Susan, came on the floor with a woman who was crying uncontrollably. "She was on the street upset because her family is in there," Susan said, "I told her she could use our phones." The woman could not contain herself enough to dial. I asked her where her family worked. She said her aunt and her cousin worked on the 101st floor. I tried to comfort her by saying the plane probably didn't hit that high and that she shouldn't jump to any conclusions. Susan had to dial the phone for her because the woman was shaking so much. We could not get a call through. We did our best to calm the woman and keep her from assuming the worst. As we listened to the news, we learned about the Pentagon attack. Two students were visibly upset because they were on the street when they saw people jumping out of the Towers. Telephone communication was sporadic, and the radio reported that all public transportation had stopped. I was in the office next to mine, when my colleague, Hope, started screaming, "Oh, my God, oh, my God." I looked out her window and saw the people outside on the street running in a panic. Then we heard "rat-a-tat-tat" on the building, and we assumed that the people on the street were being shot at. I screamed, "Get on the floor, everybody get away from the windows! They're shooting outside!" Everyone hit the floor. Hope was the first to see the smoke rising outside the windows and warned that they may be bombing the buildings. We all agreed that being on the 8th floor was probably not the safest place to be if, in fact, they were attacking our building, and that we should probably walk down to a lower level so we could get out quickly. Everyone started down the stairs. I walked door to door telling everyone on the floor to vacate while Hope started evacuating the other floors. By the time I got to the fourth floor, a student from the education department, Navjot, told me that one of the Towers had collapsed. He also told me that if you looked out the window you couldn't see anything. I walked with him to one of the windows and saw that he was right. The windows were opaque white. When I got back into the stairwell, I could see the air was getting smoky, and I realized we had left the doors and windows open on our floor. Navjot and I ran up the stairs to the 8th floor. Our offices were filling with smoke. We closed all the office doors, shut the Activities Center gate, and ran back down the stairs. When we got to the first floor, the air was thick with dust, and I was genuinely fearful that we might suffocate. Someone in the crowd suggested that we get wet paper towels out of the bathroom to use as an air filter. We waited about ten minutes for the air outside to clear, and we all evacuated to the main building. The crowds were being directed to the gymnasium in the basement. I looked again for Rich from Security, but there were too many people. Our staff had gotten separated and no one seemed to know what we should do. I walked to the Student Union and was surprised to see the Book Exchange still in progress. The Book Exchange is a student-run program where students buy and sell used books. Remember that this was the first week of classes. There were about twenty students still in line to buy books. I told the students selling the books that they needed to close down. Qin and Annie, two of the leaders, asked me what they should do with the money? I asked all the "customers" to please leave and collected all the cash from the student workers. We put the money in a cash box, I took it and promised I would keep it safe for them. We then asked a security guard to lock the room, and I sent the students to the gym. When I got back to the gym, I found two of my co-workers. We decided we should try to regroup the staff and make a plan. Danny stayed put while Sumeira and I went looking for the others. Shortly thereafter, the second Tower fell, and the air in the basement was getting worse. We knew we wouldn't be able to leave the university until the air cleared outside, but we were getting claustrophobic in the gym. After gathering the staff, we decided to walk up to higher ground! We took the stairs to the third floor and camped out in one of the classrooms. The air was much clearer, very few people were on the floor, and we could look out the windows. It was strangely quiet as we watched people outside, covered in white soot, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. We took turns trying to call home on our two cell phones, but with limited success. We sat in the classroom thinking what to do. We had left the office in such a panic, that no one except me and Hope had thought to take so much as a pocketbook. We didn't know how long we could stay at the university nor how any of us would get home. Like most New Yorkers, we commute long distances to work by either subway or commuter rail - none of which was running. Hope suggested that we all walk to Houston Street (about two miles away) and go to her brother's apartment until public transportation was running again. We counted the money in the cash box that I had been schlepping and had a whopping $5,000 in cash. We decided to record how much was there and divide it among ourselves, both to protect us against looters and to make sure that if we got separated, we each had emergency cash for hotel, food, or whatever we might need. We wished we had a radio for information. About the time our plan was in place, a security officer came into the classroom and told us we had to go back to the gymnasium. As we were walking passed the first floor, I began hearing the rumors. Brooklyn's Borough Hall was supposedly bombed. Enemy planes were circling Manhattan. None were true but scary enough to paralyze many of the students. Oh, yes. One was true: a plane had crashed near Pittsburgh. There were police officers on the floor and they suggested that anyone who could leave the building, should, and walk uptown. I counted out each person's share of the cash and recorded his or her debt in my notebook. Hope was able to get her hands on a surgical mask and she handed it to me. "Here, you're the oldest! You need this more than we do!" We all laughed, and I stuck it in my purse. Being outside was surrealistic. Everything was coated in a layer of white dust, and we felt like we were walking through a sandstorm. The students held fresh paper towels to their faces, and I slipped on the surgical mask. When we walked north beyond Police Plaza, the air got much clearer. We stopped to look back at where the Towers once stood. Now there were just billows of smoke. I couldn't help but be reminded of the movie, Gone With the Wind when Rhett and Scarlett stop to watch Atlanta burning. Prophetically, Rhett tells Scarlett to take a good look because it marked the moment the world would change. We were among thousands walking uptown. People were standing on corners suggesting everyone stop at a local hospital and give blood. Others were handing out water to the walkers. Restaurants had hand written signs hung - "Rest Room Available." I had never before witnessed such an outpouring of people wanting to do something - anything -- to help. We finally reached Hope's brother's apartment. It was good to be someplace that felt safe. Her brother, another Dan, had bought lunchmeat and bread and all the fixings for sandwiches. As we nourished ourselves, we sat in the living room watching the news, and for the first time, we saw the devastation of the collapsing Towers - knowing we had been right there, a mere three blocks away. All the sudden my cell phone rang and it was Mrs. Resnick, the Vice-Principal from Ernie's school. She was practically in tears knowing that she could tell Ernie I was okay. By five o'clock, the news reported that ferries were running to New Jersey again, but at a temporary pier near Wall Street. I figured that was my best bet to get home. Ironically, it meant I had to walk south, back toward Ground Zero. Alone, I started the trek downtown. Nothing could prepare me for this eerie, disconcerting walk. New York had instantaneously turned into a war zone. Police were everywhere and National Guardsman began appearing. The streets were closed to all traffic except for emergency vehicles. A convoy of trucks miles long was bustling across Houston Street. I walked along an empty, quiet FDR drive interrupted occasionally by sirens. As I made my way past the Seaport, the road became littered with burned office paper. I picked up one sheet with singed edges filled with financial information. From what file did this come? From whose office? I got to the ferry about 5:45 and asked a worker which one went to Hoboken. "That one is going to Jersey City." "Is there one going to Hoboken?" "If you want to go to New Jersey, you'd better take it. It's the only one crossing the river." I hopped on the ferry figuring there must be a way to Hoboken once I get to Jersey City. Three students with bandanas protecting their faces yelled, "Dawn, Dawn." It was Rachel and Anna who work for me at the Information Desk along with one of their friends. When 7 World Trade Center fell, the university lost all power, so the students in the Residence Hall were sent home. These three were trying to get to Weehawken. As the ferry passed the site where the World Trade Center once stood, no one spoke. There were hundreds of us making our way across the Hudson River and not one sound. We all just watched the enormous bulbous of smoke. There was no real comprehension of the tragedy - just disbelief that those immense Towers were gone. At Jersey City, no one knew how to get to Hoboken or Weehawken, but there were dozens of volunteers helping travelers with water and food. A medical triage center was already set up and emergency workers were asking if anyone needed attention. Someone pointed the four of us to a bus stop and said volunteer vans were going by now and again. Maybe they would take us where we needed to go. We waited and a van did arrive and the driver said he'd take us as far as Journal Square. We crowded in the van and were pleased to see that the PATH trains were running when we got to the station. From there we took a train to Hoboken, and the three students decided they would take a commuter rail to Rachel's mother's house in Nutley. I was able to catch a train headed for Little Falls and got home by 8:30 that night. The scope of the event didn't hit me until two days later. I was obsessed with the news reports on TV and watched the collapsing Towers over and over again in stunned disbelief. Ernie had gone back to school, but I was stuck home for at least a week. I was watching a TV reporter interviewing a high school student from the Midwest who had written a memorial poem about the tragedy. As he read the poem, I broke down and cried and cried and cried. I am still obsessed with the news, but I try to limit how much I watch. Although I did not know anyone personally who died in the tragedy, our university lost four students and about 20 alumni. Also lost were the wife of a colleague, the brother of another, and the college roommate of a good friend. In the office, our talk often goes back to that chilling day. I was surprised to learn from my staff that when we were crawling on the floor, I was reciting the "Our Father." We weren't permitted back into our office building to collect our personal belongings until ten days later. Unfortunately, we had left our windows open, so we found everything coated in dust and debris, but I am happy to say that all $5,000 was accounted for upon our return and deposited to the Book Exchange. Now, as I get off the ferry and walk by Ground Zero during my daily commute, I often reflect on the magnitude of our country's loss. I wonder about the woman who I gave directions to that day. Could she have been on the elevator when the plane hit? Which floor did she go to? Did she get out okay? I think how foolish I was to proclaim to the art professor that there was "no way" the building would topple. And I think of how we tried to comfort the stranger in our office to not assume the worst. In retrospect, the chances are her family members were trapped and did not survive, but we never saw the stranger again to find out. But mostly I think of how important it is to live in the present with those you love. It may be a clich?, but the past is over and the future is uncertain. We just have today. May God Bless You, Dawn 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 story158.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-06 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.232.102.18 Annotation Annotations to this item. Environmental/Health Impact Ground zero- at or about Personal connection to someone at site Religion Rumors Television Coverage WTC, attack NY:2 December, 2001 Feature Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: During the year of September 11. I attended Elementary School in the 3rd grade. I was then in Physical Education class. We were then watching a movie. and they suddenly turned the movie off and they turned the news off, every channel was fulfilled with news of the 9-11. The 9-11 really affected my country, it put my country in danger, and I believe it alerted some people in the country. I will never forget the 9-11. 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 story20577.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 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 and my boss's wife called to tell her husband "a plane crashed into the World Trade Center." He responded that it was probably a small private plane and went into a meeting for the morning. By the time he came out of his meeting at noon, the Towers were down and the world was in chaos. My husband came to meet me for lunch and we sat huddled together in each other's arms in the car, listening to the radio. Food was forgotten and we felt like children clinging to one another for comfort. But there was no comfort; only loss. A good friend who drove for the Port Authority had been lucky enough to have the day off on 9/11, and we still weep when we see the photos of us together at the Statue of Liberty, with the WTC in the background. There's a sense of blissful ignorance to those photos, not knowing that in a couple of years, everyone's lives would be totally different. I was lucky in that no one I knew was lost that day. But my heart still aches for those who did. 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 story10422.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-02-06 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.109.25.101 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On the morning of September 11, I was a junior in college. My roommate and I both had class at nine, so we were up getting dressed and watching t.v. well before that. We normally watched A Different World in the mornings, but that Tuesday morning we decided to turn on the Today show instead. At about 8 am (central time), as we were watching, they cut to a scene of the World Trade Center on fire. The news anchors still didn't know what was going on. It was just a rumor that a plane had crashed into it. My roommate and I were discussing how they would put a fire out that was that high up. As we were watching, the second plane smashed into the towers. We were completely silent. I remember crouching down to keep myself stable. We were so shocked and scared. I ran to my friend's dorm room down the hall and made her get up to watch. She refused and went back to sleep. Classes continued as normal that day, although I don't think that very many people went. I went to my first class in shock. My professor hadn't heard yet, and couln't understand the severity of what had happened. During that class, I found out that the pentagon had been attacked, that a plane crashed in Pennsylvania, and, eventually, that the towers collapsed. I didn't attend any more classes that day. A friend and I went to a park to talk and pray. It was all so unbelievable. The school granted amnesty for any student who missed work or tests that semester. So many people were impacted by this tragedy. Even those of us hundreds or thousands of miles away. It was such a scary time, but I never want to forget it. It became such a time of togetherness and unity. It brought out the best in people...somehow. 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 story11335.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2005-03-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.52.214.24 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: 9/11/01 Retold Back at C-j, I had gym third period. One of my friends came in and said ?Those damn Afghans are taking over the world.? Naturally thinking that he was joking the lockeroom filled with laughter. He kept going on and on about how they were trying to kill us. When we finally made it up to the gym, they gave an announcement that the World Trade Center had been attacked by kamikaze crazy guys and I was very very appaulled. I was scared for my life and wanted my mommy. I thought that they were coming to the base next. That made me realize that every problem, disagreement, any kind of conflict was not worth worrying about. When I saw the special edition newspaper that evening, the severity of the attack was brought to reality and I knew then, at that instant, that the lives of all would never be the same again........ever..........for anyone......ever......again. Brought to life by:Galen U?krany 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 story6415.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. 156.63.21.14 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 went to work at the fire station that morning as usual. Upon entering the station, I found that day was anything but usual. The off-going shift was watching the events on television. Several minutes after I arrived, we watched as the second airliner hit the WTC. The news of the plane hitting the Pentagon and Flight 93 crashing in Pa. was announced. The plane crashing in Pa caught my attention because I am a Pa. native. They kept narrowing down the location - in Pa. - in Somerset County, Pa. - near the Somerset County airport. I was raised within a mile and half of the airport. My brother is the Chief of the small volunteer Department in Friedens. I have family and friends there. Close to the airport. I knew they would be there. After about two hours of trying to phone family and friends, I finally found out where the crash was and knew it was sparsley populated in that area. I went home recently and visited the site. Memories of 9-11 came back to me all over again. God Bless all those who gave their lives in the name of freedom!!! Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story472.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. 2002-04-27 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.66.143.233 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was in the kitchen when my 17 year old son yelled to me about an airplane crashing into the tower. I thought he was talking about a movie, or just joking around so I just ignored him. A few seconds later he screamed for me to come into the living room. When I saw the images on the television, I froze. I couldn't move. My son and I just sat there in disbelief. Then as if the horror we were watching wasn't bad enough, the announcement and live account of the second plane hitting came on. I think it was the first time in my life that fear really took hold of me. My thoughts were racing. I couldn't take my eyes off the television. I was shaking and crying and holding my son. I had moved to Holland just that past April from New York. I was born and raised in upstate N.Y., and now I was watching the most horrifying thing I had ever seen. I wanted to go home, but was afraid. I wanted to help, but didn't know the first thing to do, so I just sat in front of the television. Day and night, I watched as one life after another was taken so violently. I tried to phone my family, but the lines were all busy. I just needed to hear their voices. I knew they were O.K., but I still needed to talk with them for reassurance. I couldn't stop thinking about all those people, I still think about it almost everyday. My daughter was hit by a car on July twentieth, 2001, in the States. I flew there immediately. She was badly hurt, but time would heal, along with surgery and physical therapy. I made arrangements to fly back to Holland the last week of August. Two weeks later, I am watching thousands of people dying. My little girl is alive and doing well. I am so very sorry for all who have lost their loved ones. I cannot express how sad this has made me. I am not even sure that my letter is making much sense right now. There is so much to say, but I can't find the words. This has changed me. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story8446.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. 2002-10-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 213.218.76.160 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: To tell you the truth I can't remember what day it was on 9-11 but I know it was either a Tuesday or Thursday, I presume it was a Tuesday. I only know this because these were the only two days that I woke up before 11 AM. My roommate and I both had the same class at 9:30 and woke up together at 8:50. Neither of us turn on the TV in the morning so we didn't hear anything till we got into Math 116. No one had heard about what had happend yet at this point because the class was so early, except for my friend Mahmoud who came in late... he had only heard about the first plane, and told us that he was pretty sure that the World Trade Center still stood. This was only whispered to me during class, it was hard to believe and without anyone else in the class talking about it I thought it might not be as bad as I had imagined a plane crashing into the World Trade Center would be. After class was when my roommate and I really saw what had just happend... we went into the JC here at GMU and the news corner was filled with people trying to watch what was happening. WE grabed something to eat and decided we'd go back to the dorm to see what happended rather than try to figure out with all these people about. It was the only day that we'd watched CNN here for more than 5 minutes... it stayed on all day. I knew my uncle worked in the Pentagon so I called home to see what was up and word had gotten through that he was okay, but since traffic was impossible he was walking back to my Grandparents house who live in Alexandria. My Aunt who also works in DC had to walk home. No one I know personaly was injured... I'm very lucky. But through friends I knew about 5 people who died, one who was in the first plane to hit. Another thing I remember was everyone of my friends online was talking about it. Some couldn't get word back home to see if everything was alright... so I had to make a few calls to friend's parents for them. I was never scared... for my family or myself... just shocked that anyone was stupid enough to do that to 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 story132.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-04 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 129.174.185.39 Annotation Annotations to this item. Internet Struggle to get home Television Coverage DC:2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Chris Daningburg 911 5/31/02 September, 11,2001 Someday soon someone will ask you where you what you were and what you experienced on September 11, 2001. What will you tell them? I will tell them it was the most awful day in America's history. I will tell them it was the most devastating thing I had ever seen. I saw the first plane crash into the first building over and over again on replays on the television. Soon afterwards I saw the second airplane crash through the second building. On the television we were watching the CNN. Then network reports came of another plane suddenly hitting the Pentagon. On CNN, I witnessed both 110-story buildings crash to the ground. I saw people jumping to their death so they would not burn alive. We watched all of this unfold during school After school, when I got home my mom and dad called to make sure my brother and I were okay. Soon my parents were home. My mom gave us both a hug. When my dad got home we told him all about what happened. He only had a radio at work. All of it was on television We watched it over and over again. My dad saw it for the first time and was very surprised. President Bush came on the television telling us he would take action and find the people who did this. In my study hall we watched the news for a week. We saw many of the President's speeches. Our military soon prepared to fight for their country.They had one thing in mind and that was to find Osama bin Laden. The New Year came and we still have not found him but we haven't given up yet. We still do not know if he is dead or alive. The President had our military send in ground troops and bomb over all Afghanistan. They used a bomb called a bunker bomb that blew into the ground up to 100 feet. This bomb could kill any one living in the ground. We also did a series of bombing on the mountaintops to kill any one living up there. September 11th has greatly affected us in many ways. We still are not over the horrible thing that happened. It gets better every day though. The bombing still is going on in the Afghanistan but we still have not found bin Laden. Our country has suffered greatly because of this horrible tragedy. America is now aware of what terrorists are a capable of. This has impacted all Americans and not a single American will ever forget what happened. 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 story711.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. 2002-06-04 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 168.169.8.135