367 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 had just finished assisting in oral surgery on an AIDS patient. I was taking the IV from her arm when I heard about the first plane hitting. I thought it was just a freak accident. Minutes later I heard of the other plane, then the Pentagon and the other plane in the field. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I said, outloud, "you never know when it is going to be your last day or someone elses that you love", and turned to the AIDS patient and realized what I had said. She turned to me and agreed. I will never forget what that day did to America, but I will also never forget how every American joined together to help and pray. God Bless America and ALL the different people who make her up!!! Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story5393.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I live a few blocks from my office, which is on 57th Street, and had my 85 year old mother visiting me. So, I was planning to leave for work about 9:00 am. I was getting dressed and watching the Today Show. The program was interrupted for a live feed showing the WTC burning and instantly I knew the building had been attacked by terrorists. My cousin worked in the building when it was bombed in 1993 and I knew this was no plane accident. I was horrified and completely in shock as my two family friends worked for Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower. I began screaming and calling my family members who also work in the City...telling them what was going on and insisting they leave their various office buildings immediately. I was panicked that their buildings would also be targets. I called everyone at my office, which is directly next to the General Motors building and told them to evacuate the building. By this time the second tower had been hit. My brother kept calling and calling our friend Joe Sacerdote at Cantor Fitzgerald. But there was no answer on his phone. The unreality of the situation was beyond comprehension. No one I called could believe me when I screamed that the building just came down and disintegrated. (When they later saw the tape on TV, then they understood). About 15 people, friends and family, came to my apartment and spent the day...some on into the night as they could not get home. Everyone had cell phones and they rang continuously. All three of my television sets were on, with groups of people fixed and staring, without speaking, in front of them. About 9:00 pm some of the group wanted to try to get to Penn Station to make their way home. I took my car from my garage and drove down Fifth Avenue to get them as close as I could to 34th Street. I was stopped at 42nd & Fifth by the police. My friends got out to walk, and I made my way back to 63rd St. The silence in the Streets was eerie. It gave me goosebumps; barely any traffic in the streets, hardly any people outside. A police officer stopped my car on 42nd and Third and asked me to take a group of people as far uptown as I could get. They worked at the United Nations. They were so appreciative. I bought bottled water and some staples as everyone was panicked and we thought no food delivery trucks would be allowed into NYC. We also got word that no one probably made it out of the Towers alive as another of our friends, a police office, was down at Ground Zero working on the recovery effort. We went to the Promenade on 63rd St & the East River and saw the smoke and kleig lights down at the site. My windows became covered with soot. I stayed awake all night looking at television and answering the phone, that rang and rang with bad news about our friends at the WTC. My mom said it was worse than Pearl Habour. 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 story985.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. 2002-08-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 199.105.75.242 Annotation Annotations to this item. WTC, attack Struggle to get home Personal connection to someone at site NY:3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11th, 2001, I was at Barker Central School. Barker is out by Lake Ontario. I was in my sekent period study hall when my teacher got a phone call. He was in shock and didn?t say anything at all. He just hung up the phone and turned on the television. The World Trade Center was smoldering with a lot of smoke. Then as we turned up the volume we had heard that a plane had been hijacked and had crashed into the north tower at 8:48 a.m. We had to go to our next class and my next class was Global Studies. When we got there we had heard that a second plane crashed into the south tower eighteen minutes later. Then a third plane was seen over the Pentagon and crashed down into the western part of the Pentagon. A fourth plane was forced down by the passengers in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. In all 266 people perished in the four planes and several others died elsewhere. When I got home my mother had heard something on this radio station and thought that they were just kidding around. Then my aunt called my mother and asked her if she had heard anything about the crashes. There were people jumping from buildings. People were fleeing from the scene like the world was coming to an end. Some Americans feel they are in a war with an enemy they do not even know. Today there is a lot more security in the airports which is a good thing. When Osama Bin Laden does another stunt like this one we will be ready for him. I am glad that we got more safety in airports today. In the country of Afghanistan there are U.S. troops over there trying to kill off all of the terrorism in that country. If Osama Bin Laden is not afraid to die like he said on his video tape that was on national television then he should come out of hiding and fight like a man. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat, but they have failed. I thought I would never see someone or some country use airplanes as a missile to fly into a building and kill themselves and a lot of people. The estimated number of American?s death from the terrorism that struck the World Trade Center, Pentagon and the people on the airplanes was about 3,200. I have thanks to all of the FDNY firemen and the NYPD police who helped out in this tragedy. This is a day I will never forget and no one should. 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 story754.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. 2002-06-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 168.169.8.36 Notes Notes about this item. story Submitted earlier #744 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: The day hadn't started out well for me at all. First, I was wearing a new pair of shoes that had already chafed the skin off of my heels. Painful. I underestimated the time it would take to get to work, and ended up being fifteen minutes late. I was exasperatingly shy, so it took me another five minutes to get up the courage to actually ask for my boss. Luckily for me she wasn't too mad. So I hit the grindstone, feeling the day might actually be of some use. At 9:15, we were called to a staff meeting. Typical, happened every day, I was assured. But it also meant walking the entire length of the mall to get to the other half of the store. (Long story). So we walk past the guy who runs the newspaper stand. He looks up and says almost casually, "Hey, didja hear the news?" We hadn't, so he lowers his voice dramatically. "Planes hit the Twin Towers. They're gone, destroyed." It took me a moment to remember what the Twin Towers were, before my mind treated me to a flash of just about every picture I'd seen of the World Trade Center. Hard to believe anything could put a dent in those things. This was a joke, and a rather nasty one, it had to be. But the entire staff of the store was talking about it when we arrived for the meeting. Low, urgent voices. "Have they found survivors?"..."Who did it?"..."They hit the Pentagon, too?" The staff rooms were always crowded when I took my morning break and my lunch break, with the radios tuned to news channels. As far away as British Columbia, Canada, the shock of Sept. 11 was being felt. I remember working all day in a haze, eager to get home and see what this was about. For the next week, I stared transfixed at any TV screen that featured the Towers - which was all of them - as they burned. It just seemed impossible to knock down those buildings. And to try and think of how many people died...no, that was just too much. Now, September 11, 2004 approaches. The TV is laden with documentaries about the attacks. I've watched the towers fall too many times already, yet it's impossible to look away. This year, hopefully, the people who died on 9/11 will not be forgotten. 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 story10793.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. 2004-09-08 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.144.71.48 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On 9-11-01, I stood in front of about 18 6 and 7 year olds in our first grade classroom. An assistant came to my door and told me that we were not to take the kids out because of something that had happened in New York. That's all that was said. Our T.V.'s were not working, and my radio was not on, so I had no idea of what was happening. I called my husband, who works at a major banking firm here in town, and asked him if he knew what was going on. He couldn't talk, he said, because his building was on lock down. No one could come in, and no one could leave. My heart beat faster and faster by the second. All he told me was that the WTC had been attacked and that the Pentagon was on fire. It was all too much too fast for me. I looked on the internet just in time to see the first tower collapse. From that moment on, I was useless as a teacher. All I could do was think about the thousands of people that were in that building. It was like watching a movie. I was 4 months pregnant at the time, and crazy thoughts started racing through my mind. San Antonio has major bases, and would be prime target for terrorists. I had to take hold of myself for my students. They didn't have a clue as to what had happened, and I wasn't prepared to address it with them. We did eventually talk about it. The hardest question I had to answer was asked by one of my little boys. "If those bad people flew the plane into the buildings, then how did they get out?" All of a sudden I had to address not only death, terrorism, and hatred, but now suicide. Too much. Too much for me thousands of miles away. I could only pray for peace for the people that it affected in a more personal way. I still do. God Bless you all that have to deal with people missing out of your lives, and especially for the babies of 9-11, that now have to grow up without a parent. I hope that they will know one day about their parents, and how they did not die in vain. 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 story4147.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. 165.111.2.53 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I will never forget the day. My son, David, had stayed home from school sick that day and since he was 15 years old, I made sure he was okay and left for work. About 9:00 my phone rang and it was David. "Mom, you will never believe this, but a plane hit the World Trade Center." I didn't believe him at first, but he said he was watching CNN and looking at the pictures. I could tell he was a little shook so we talked on the phone for awhile so I could make sure he was okay. Then, from the other end of the phone I hear David, "Oh my God Mom, another one just flew up and crashed into the other tower." I sat in disbelief, knowing now that this was no accident. David went silent on the other end of the phone as did I. Then I hear "Mom, I'm freaked." My stepson lived across the street from my office and I walked over after calming my son to see the images for myself. As I watched the news that morning tears came and remained for the remainder of the day. So senseless....... 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 story6223.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. 208.191.45.226 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: THERE WAS QUITE A FEW PEOPLE THERE. WE WERE SITTING THERE WATCHING THIS TERRIBLE TRAGEDY UNFOLD ON T.V. NO ONE KNEW WHAT TO SAY TO EACH OTHER. I WAS JUST IN AWE OF WHAT I WAS SEEING. I COULDNT BELIEVE IT. MY DOCTOR EVEN COME OUT AND ASK ME WHAT WAS THE LATEST AND I TOLD HER ANOTHER PLANE HAD CRASHED INTO THE SECOND TOWER AND SHE GOT BIG TEARS IN HER EYES. I GOT COLD CHILLS KNOWING THAT THIS COULD HAPPEN TO US, THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. I PLACED OUR COUNTRY IN GODS HANDS KNOWING HE WOULD HELP US ALL THROUGH THIS AND HE HAS. THIS IS A WONDERFUL COUNTRY AND MY FAMILY SAYS IM THE MOST PATRIOTIC PERSON THEY HAVE EVER SEEN. HAHA I HAVE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE EVERYWHERE. IN MY HOUSE, ON MY CAR. I LOVE THIS COUNTRY AND WE WILL PREVAIL BECAUSE WE HAVE GOD ON OUR SIDES. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LETTING ME WRITE THIS TO YOU. CRYSTAL S. BURNETTE 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 story6713.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My grandmother has glaucoma. She was checking her eyes when I saw this shocking news on T.V. I called my mother immediately, because she works at the 42nd Broadway New Streeet Barbership in Downtown Manhattan. She is located only a few blocks away. Me and my grandmother walked out to safety. My mother walked out to safety with her boss Joe Proverzano. She wore an oxygen mask. She couldn't breathe in all the dust. My aunt picked us up at 48th Street and 2nd Avenue. We took the 7th train and came back home. My uncle found out if the 7th train was working. Well, my frined Jerry said "It's a disaster, that's what that is." We walked the dog and saw a bunch of traffic on the BQE lined up for Manhattan. The towers disappeared in billows of smoke and fire like the Bible codes predicted. The Bible codes are so right. The Pentagon was destroyed. I'm still surprised that the Chicago Sears Tower is left untouched, and the Malasian Singapore Skyscrapers. I don't know what else to add. Sincerely, yours Mikhail Fayn P.S. God bless American I was at the Winter Garden today and I voted on the crystalline towers. I bought a WTC keychain, and drew the original World Trade Center. I viewed the ground zero site. And it's trully heartbreaking. 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 story8953.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-01-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 151.205.183.223 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 witnessed history in science class, and my teacher had to turn on the T.V. to the new channel. I saw one plane hit the top of the World Trade Center and then a second plane hit right into the other Trade Center. All you saw was people jumping out of the buildings to save their lives. when the two planes hit there was a big explosion and there was fire and smoke going every where and they don't want to die. But most people didn't know untill the planes hit and they got cought in the explosion. After we watched the news. my teacher asked if anyone had any serious concerns. A few people asked why we were under attack and he was talking about how it is a terrorist attack. After,when school was over I went home, and turned on my t.v. and found out more than I had before. The news talked about how we are all under attack and about the other bombing in Washington D.C. in the pentagon and they bombed very important documents. I also noticed that people have been more pattiotic and more united. My life has not really change,I do however feel that the U.S. is more united. I never thought in my life time that we would have a war. I thought we were all done fighting wars and that our world was going to be in peace. But we wern't. No one thought we were going to have another war, so everyone was unprepared. I think the innocent people and victoms from the World Trade Centers could be remembered,Also, all the heros we had helping us to save lifes to all the innocent people should be deeply remembered. I feel bad for the people that were on the planes and called their families before they died.I think everyone should be remembered,except for the terrorists because they bombed ur U.S.A. 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 story8467.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-10-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.60.58.139 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My name is John Morgan Hamilton and this is my story, a story concerning something Ive been working on that has change the way I look at life, for myself and others. I created a sculpture in 2004 after spending a year in Iraq, in the United States Army. The Photographs with this e-mail will illustrate the construction, to the finishing outcome. Three months, working long nights and every time I set down, I felt the need to finish but I had know idea it was going to come out like this or the affect it was going to have on me and other who have seen it. So, I contacted the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation through a Welch, Gold & Siegel Legal, connected with Pre-Paid Legal Services. After mailed of a poster board with photos of the sculpture, it was time to visit to New York, to see ground zero and talk to the residence of New York and Manhattan . I drove to there and for three days, walking and talking to anyone, showing my photos and getting a type of responds, that had me in tears every night, in my room. I was encouraged by everyone I talked to with the photos, to continue and except nothing short of completing their dreams. When I set in my vehicle after those three days, for the drive back to Pennsylvania. I was drained from a three day emotional ride and the conclusion that, I didnt choose to make this sculpture - it choose me. To name a few Ive contacted about the sculpture; the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Veteran Outreach Ass, Pittsburgh Art Institution, Jack Gorgon of 99th RRC Public Affairs, Eureka Fire Recuse Emergency Medical (who responded to New York), Mayor Don Kinosz of Lower Burrell PA, Tamara Simpson of the Valley News Dispatch, and the Police Departments of New Kensington, PA. It has been a long and hard year, sometimes a depressing one, I just want it built, its been five years and nothing has happen for the families of 9/11, our nation.. I had the prototype on displayed at my Unit, the hole month of September 2005, sent out countless e-mails so everyone will know about the sculpture, the Double Light Tower (Monument & Memorial Site). I have some times thought how do we really feel about September 11, 2001 - Is it just a day to morn then forget after its passed - Is it about our nation, residence of New York, the families and victims of 9/11 when it only fits the moment. I can only hope you read this and contact me before the 30th on this month, the day I have dismantle the display. The Double Light Towers Sculpture (Monument / Memorial Site) was created in 2004, it displays the names of those lost upon the base, there is a light for every name on the base. On the top of one towers is a light shining to the sky and the other tower the United States flag and the flag dedicated to 9/11. This is my story, my journey on how this work of art has touched me and those who have been it, thank you for reading this e-mail and my God always bless you, our nation and my Military family. POC: Home Phone 412-727-1246 Cell-Phone 216-832-4277 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 story22498.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. 2006-11-25 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.116.197 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: Remembering September 11 Ron Maggiano Social Studies Teacher West Springfield High School Springfield, Virginia It has been one year since the September 11 attacks. Looking back now, I can see how so much has changed and how some things have not changed at all. Our lives go on in much the same way as before, with one dark exception. There are no civilians anymore. We are all on the front lines of this new war. We are all in this together. Tuesday, September 11, 2001, began as any other regular school day. I arrived early, opened my classroom, and prepared to meet my students. It was the second week of school, and my lesson plan focused on the Native American civilizations before 1492. My first period class went as planned. Students began by discussing the question: ?Should the Washington Redskins change their name, since it may be offensive to some individuals or groups?? They then worked on a geography activity using a map showing the location of various North American tribes. During the last twenty-five minutes of the class, students watched a documentary video on Native America civilizations before the Europeans. The class ended with the bell at 9:08 am. I dismissed my class and left my room for break and then my planning period. That was when I heard the news. As I was walking to the social studies workroom, another teacher, Jim, told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I asked if it was an accident, and what kind of plane was it. Jim said he was not sure and had only just heard the news. I thought it must have been a small private plane and decided to turn on the television in my classroom. First, however, I had to go to the copying center to reproduce some handouts for my next class. Several other teachers were in the copy room, watching CNN on a school television. I looked at the TV screen and saw one of the towers of the World Trade Center on fire. Stunned, I stood with my fellow teachers and looked at the surreal image of smoke and fire coming from the world?s tallest building. The announcer informed us that an airliner had hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. A few moments later, we watched in horror as the second plane hit the South Tower and exploded in a ball of fire. ?Oh my God!? someone screamed. I was stunned, and for a moment could not move. Then, I turned around and went back to my classroom. Along the way, I told other teachers in my department what had happened and told everyone to turn on their television. I spent my planning period watching CNN, hardly able to believe what I was seeing. When the Towers collapsed, it felt like the whole world was coming apart at the seams. I doubt that anyone who saw those Twin Towers collapse that morning will ever forget that terrible sight. The rest of the school day was like no other I have ever experienced in more than twenty years of teaching. As word of the World Trade Center attacks spread from class to class, more and more teachers abandoned their lesson plans and turned on their televisions for students to watch the dramatic and horrifying story unfold. I modified my own lesson plan so that students could work on their map activity while continuing to monitor the television coverage. When we learned a short time later that the Pentagon had been hit, many students became openly agitated and concerned. Our school is located in Northern Virginia only a few miles from Washington, D.C., and many students have parents who work in the District or in the Pentagon. Several students asked to leave the room to call their parents. I offered my own cell phone to any student who needed to try to reach a parent, even though students are strictly forbidden to use cell phones during the school day. At the start of fifth period, a student came into my class in a state of near hysteria. Her father, she said, worked at the Pentagon and she had been unable to reach his office. I sent for an administrator and explained the situation. The administrator took the student to her office. After a period of time, she reached the girl?s father at home. He had felt ill that morning and decided to leave work and return home. It was the luckiest day of his life. He later learned that the plane went through his office window. Another one of my students was also very concerned and with every reason. Her father was heading up the renovation of the Pentagon that had been going on for several years. He had taken a rare day off to attend his brother-in-law?s funeral in North Carolina, and was driving through Tennessee when he learned of the attacks. He turned around immediately and headed back to Virginia. We learned the next day that the father of two of our students had died on the plane that hit the Pentagon. One of those students had been in my class the previous year. Other students and teachers had similar stories to share in the days ahead. It seemed that everyone knew someone who knew someone who had been killed or injured at either the Pentagon or World Trade Center. I tried to be as reassuring as possible to my students while having serious concerns of my own. My wife works in the HUD building in Washington. I had tried to reach her as soon as I heard of the attack on the Pentagon without success. I left several messages for her, not knowing that her office had already been evacuated. As it turned out, she had been at a meeting in another building when the Pentagon was hit. The meeting was immediately adjourned, and everyone was told to go home. She was able to drive home safely before the general order to evacuate was given, thus avoiding the worst traffic jam in Washington history. Shortly before lunch, the principal came over the P.A. system to inform us that students who felt the need to check on parents would be excused from school and that parents could pick up students from school if they were concerned for their safety. We have a small minority of Moslem students at our school. Since speculation already focused on Islamic terrorists as perpetrators of the attacks, we were concerned that these students might feel threatened or afraid. To head off any such problems, the principal also announced that all students were to be treated with respect and tolerance regardless of their religious or ethnic background. I reinforced this in my classes, and I know that other teachers did as well. As far as I know, we had no ethnic or racial incidents of any kind at our school as a result of the September 11 attacks. In the days immediately following the attacks, I think we were all a little numb, if not shell shocked. Some students were kept out of school by their parents as a safety precaution. Televisions were kept on throughout the school day so that students and staff could monitor the latest news. Everyone was more on edge, more alert, and more patriotic than before the attacks. The day after, students did not just recite the pledge of allegiance as required by law. They stood and proclaimed it as though for the first time. And there was something else. We were angry. We were angry that someone would do this to us, to our loved ones, to children, and families, and single mothers and old people. A year later, I think that anger is still there. It is not a wish for vengeance so much as a desire for justice. President Bush said in his speech to Congress after the attacks, ?Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.? I hope and pray that it will. 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 story6365.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. 151.188.17.4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was working at my desk in the Adult Education Dean's office when my daughter called from home to say that a plane had flown into one of the WTC buildings. We all thought it was an accident until the second plane hit. I can hardly explain my feelings that morning...profound sorrow, astonishment, fear but, above all...a feeling of being cut off from reality. Could this really be happening? As the events unfolded, I cried for the victims, their families, their friends, and for our country. My co-workers hugged each other and gathered in silence. There was not much to say; we were in shock. I thought about New York City (I was born and raised there) and imagined the devastation created by this violence. I have nothing but admiration for all the people who were in New York helping during that trying time. I admire the passengers on Flight 93 and their resolve to fight back. It makes me so proud to be an american. Above all, I think about the families affected by this event. I can not imagine living with such anguish. 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 story8150.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. 2002-09-26 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 169.139.172.2 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: Our World Came Crashing Down Today we watched in horror As our world came crashing down. At first we thought, "An Accident?" And then we find we're wrong. The towers stood together For such a long, long time. They had been strong thru other attacks, But today came crashing down. An airplane, no two. We cannot believe our eyes. Oh, no! Two more! Hijacked in our skies. The Pentagon was next, In a cloud of smoke and fire. Disintegrated, And then came crashing down. An empty field near Pittsburgh, Soon engulfed in flames. Brave pilots and passengers who defied, And then came crashing down. Millions watched in horror, As thousands more just died. What reason can there be To have our world come crashing down. EMTs and medics, Firemen and police, Gave their lives for us, As our world came crashing down. Can we survive this horror? As we have times before? We can and we will, REFUSE to have our world come crashing down! Author Heather Colley http://members.myecom.net/members/nursecol/ 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 story698.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-05-31 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.68.69.51 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was sitting at my desk when my supervisor came in saying that a plane crashed into the World Trade Center. I, like many others, pictured in my mind a small Cessna-type plane crashed into the exterior of the building. We all went to our computers to see what we could find out. Many of us couldn't even get on-line because the circuits were overloaded. By the time I was able to get anything on my screen, what I saw was so horrific that it hit me like a thunderbolt. I still, to this day, get that feeling every time I see those moments related on my television or computer screen. We don't have access to a television in our office, so one of my co-workers put on her radio so that we could at least listen to a live commentary of what was happening. With each horrible event that followed, everything around me became more and more surreal. I could not believe that this was really happening. After the second tower went down, I had to just sit and try to take in and validate in my mind what had just happened. My supervisor's daughter lives in New York and worked not far from the World Trade Center. She called when she could on her cell phone to keep us abreast of what was going on where she was. As anyone can imagine her mother was quite worried. As for me, I finished my workday and had to go home to an empty house. My husband was on a remote fishing lake in Canada, totally unaware of what was happening here at home. He was not due to come home until the following Saturday. Also, both my daughters live in large cities, one in Chicago and one in Seattle. There was a lot of talk about possible future terrorist attacks on these larger cities which really had me upset. I talked with my daughters every day and they assured me that they would do everything humanly possible to stay safe. So there I sat, night after night, worrying about my immediate family - praying for their safety. If wasn't until my husband got to Customs on his way back from Canada that he found out about the attacks. I can't explain my relief when he called to say he was on his way back home. I guess that my situation made me think about the people who searched for their loved ones day after day, knowing that they were probably gone, yet not wanting to give up hope. I pray for the victims and their survivors, and also for our country. I pray that we will always remember how important our freedom is, and what a great country we live in. I pray that the unity we have found through this tragedy will always remain. I pray that we will win the war on terrorism, and will find peace, not only for our great country but for the world. Thank you for taking the time to read my account of what happened. I think it's good for all of us to let our feelings out in the open. God bless you. 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 story6226.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. 131.156.255.251 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 art class on 9-11. I was just laughing and joking with my friends when one of the secrataries from the office came in. She pulled me into the art office. I thought I was in trouble. The first thing she said was your dads okay. I thought, what is she talking about, what happened to my mom. She said there was an accident and that 2 planes crashed into the twin towers and one in the pentagon. I just started to lose it, I was crying and couldn't think at all. My dad works at the pentagon and I was so afraid. She kept telling my that he was okay and I coudn't tell any one what had happened. So I went back to my seat and starred into space, I was so scared. Then I called my mom and asked how my dad was, she said he was fine and that she had talked to him. Even though he was okay, I was still very scared. I don't know what I would have done if I lost my dad. I'm so thank full that nothing happened to him, I love him so much and I wish that no one had to go through the pain that day. My heart goes out to the victums of 9-11-01. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story9185.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. 2003-04-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.55.220.240 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 first saw what happen it didn't really hit me just yet. So as the day went on and I started watching more on the live broadcasts, I relized that even though it happen in New York it affected each and every American in the world,and it makes me mad to know that so many people lost their lives because of some cowardless act. We didn't asked to be put in a position where would have fear taking planes or just doing oridary things. I would like to say that 9-11-01 changed everyone's life young and old. It's a day that no one would ever forget. So my prayers goes out to everyone who lost a love one 1 year today. God bless America. LATONYA MCCLAIN 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 story2714.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.146.244.197 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It was a bright September morning and all was going well. I had joked with my friend on the bus about how we both hoped that the other had a bad day. It turned out that the day would in fact turn for the worse. I was in my first period Spanish 1 class at Washington Irving Middle School when an announcement came on the P.A. system informing everyone that there had been a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. I?d hate to admit it now but it really didn?t phase me at the time. I remember walking down the halls watching sobbing middle school kids stumbling around looking totally hysterical. I remained calm, which seems very odd to me, and probably to most other people, because if this type of event happened now, I would totally flip out. I strolled around the hallways acting totally nonchalant about everything asking various friends if they had any more information. No one knew any more than I did. I guess the full impact of the historical event that unfolded before our very eyes didn?t hit me until I witnessed actual footage of the planes colliding with the towers. At this point I became a little more?concerned. I really did not know how to react. I spent most of the school day thinking about what had just happened and biting my nails. When I was informed of the attack on the Pentagon, my first thought was of my cousin Heather. I was very close to her. She worked at the Pentagon and was pregnant with her first child. I got a hold of a phone in the guidance office and called my mom. She delivered the extremely relieving news that she was running late and just missed the blast. Her office was in very close proximity to the point of impact. I guess negative things happen so we can appreciate the positive. Now on the third anniversary of the September 11th attacks, I am so grateful that my two-year-old cousin is here, even if I have to help potty train him. 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 story10978.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. 2004-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.250.106.37 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was running late for work and took a later A train from Far Rockaway. We switched from express to local at East New York, which isn't out of the ordinary for a rush hour commute. The first inclination I had that anything was going on was when I overheard a peice of conversation "...a bomb went off..." I didn't know what to make of it but thought something might have happened in the subway tunnel. When we hit the High Street stop the platform was flooded shoulder to shoulder at which point the conductor came over the loud speaker, "Ladies and gentlemen at the present time we are being held in the station." I can't remember why I finally decided to leave the subway car, from an announcemnet or on my own initiative, but I still didn't have any know anything at that point. The platform was extremely crowded and there was a lot of confusion. I actually called my job and left a message saying that I didn't think I was going to be able to make it in, due to a subway problem. I was completely unprepared to ecounter what I found when I came up ground. The sky and area was smokey even being on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. People covered white with debri in suits and office clothes, every conceivable emrgency vehicle was racing towards Manhatten, and thousands of people were frantically trying to find a way out. The crowds at every bus stop numbered in the hundreds. I remeber kind of walking around telling myself to keep calm and not to panic. I finially stopped someone on the street and asked what was going on. "A plane hit the twin towers," at this point actually both planes had hit and one tower fell but there was no radio or television readily available. My first reaction is hard to put into words, my stomach dropped and I remember thinking to myself "please God let it have been an accident." Around that time the second tower fell. The first thing I did was get quarters and head back into the subway station to find a phone since there was long lines at every phone above ground. A police officer let me over the turnstile to a pay phone and I called my girlfriend who, luckily, turned on the news before she left for work herself. It took me over three hours to get back to Queens by Bus. I don't think the full horror hit me until I walked into my house and my girlfriend Shannon and my great aunt, who lived in the apartment below us, were watching the television. I got my first look of the planes impact and the collapse of the towers. At that time they were also showing video of the people from the higher floors waving home made white flags and jumping to their death. Not to mention the intial reports of the body count was around twenty thousand. It's hard to describe the panic that was everywhere There was reports of the other crashes and remours flying around the different networks, a plane crashed in PA, the pentagon was hit, there might be more terrorist in other planes. As I walked home from the bus people had brought radios and TV's outside and where alterantely listening to the reports and staring at the sky's, no one knew what to expect next. I spent the next 48 hours glued to my television and getting in contact with friends, family, and co-workers. I still have the New York Times from Sept. 11th. I pulled it out today and read it over forgetting that names like Osama Bin Laden and Al-Queda that are now synonomous with the event were not known yet. That Friday on my first day back to work, I remember my train passing slowly through the World Trade Center subway stop. The train was erily quiet as it crawled through the tunnel. I remember thinking about all the innocent victims buried under tons of debri who where guilty of nothing more than the wrong place at the wrong time, and trying hard to keep in my emotions. I still get chills every time I pass by the eyes that decorate the walls at the WTC stop. I've had trouble coming to terms with the enormity of the evil that happened but I guess the unity it inspired is a start. 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 story4380.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. 208.168.43.100 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: A letter to my son written in June 2002 Dear James, Someday in the future. Someday when I?m gone. Hopefully some peaceful day, you?ll be sitting with grandchildren at your knee, explaining that yes, you were alive on 9/11/01 and yes, you did visit the towers while their great grandma Laurie worked there. By then, there will be few people that actually lived and visited the Trade Center. The attacks will be but a distant historical event, their cruel impact fully integrated, for better or worse, into our collective memory and experience. While it?s still a recent event, I write this letter to share with you, when you?re ready, how this global, geopolitical catastrophe affected our little family on a deeply personal and spiritual level. Today, I wonder how you?ve assimilated the attacks into your complex little four-year-old psyche. Did you experience a personal loss? Do you remember the thrill of riding up and down the enormous, cattle car, elevators to Mommy?s office on the 103rd floor? How about the family company Christmas parties or sleeping under Mommy?s desk as a baby? Do you have any recollection of riding the trains, the subways, the spectacular escalators? It was always a happy, exciting outing for us. I loved bringing you into my office, I was so proud to show you off to my colleagues. Afterall, my coworkers at the Trade Center supported me through the stress and elation of our adoption process. By the time we returned home with you, my office friends, and even the mere acquaintances, welcomed us with a warm embrace that can only come from someone who genuinely shares in your joy. For a period of time, they were part of our extended family and our network that helped make adopting you a reality. At a very young age, before you were even three, you could pick buildings out in the skyline ? the Empire State, the George Washington Bridge, the World Trade Center. Have you taken notice that we no longer engage in idle chat about the skyline when we?re driving within view? Do you still look for the towers on the horizon, as I do? On that horrible Tuesday, we ? you, your Daddy, and me, were settling into a family vacation in a sunny rental house, on the beach, in Loveladies on LBI. We were within sight of the Barnegate Lighthouse. We awoke to a beautiful morning. Much to your chagrin, I pulled you away from the TV, piled you into the jogging stroller, and off we went, in search of fishing bait and a good workout. We heard the initial reports of a plane hitting the North Tower while at the local bait shop. Assuming it to be nuisance piper plane, I made a mental note to call my colleagues in the building to see how inconvenienced they were. If power had been disrupted, maybe I?d be able to persuade some to visit us at the beach on this great day. By the time we returned to the rental house at 9:30, your Dad ran out to the deck with a panicky look yelling ?Do you know what?s going on??. The TV showed us both towers in flames and shortly after, we, and that includes you my innocent darling, witnessed the towers collapse. It was a sight that haunts me and I?m sure that you?re carrying that image with you somewhere deep inside too. What happens to a four year old who carries such an image? As we watched the towers collapse, my imagination kept running back into the building. In my mind, I was in my tiny little corner atop the world on the 103rd floor of tower two. I could envision the floor, the faces, the stairwells, the windows, all of it crumbling, violently ripping apart, feeding that insatiable inferno of flames. I cannot articulate to you, son, the pall and the fear cast over our country that day, as we watched the devastation in New York and at the Pentagon, not knowing what would happen next or how many terrorists were laying in wait to strike again. On 9/11/01, whatever trauma you experienced, you had to suffer it without your mother. I sobbed all day, as I tried to amass a mental list of names of friends, acquaintances and colleagues. I was awash in guilt that I wasn?t there and yet so grateful that I wasn?t. My mind overflowed with images of faces, snippets of everyday conversations, remembrances of simple kind gestures that were extended to me during my short tenure in the towers. All day, I tried to reach friends, sometimes reaching distraught family members or other colleagues, who had no more news than I. My cell phone rang constantly for the next few days with news of who was alive and who was ?still missing?. The emotions were monumental ? the utter elation of reaching a survivor was always followed by tragic news of senseless death. Survival and death, death and survival - over and over and over again. For weeks after the attacks, we euphemistically called the casualties, ?the missing? ? perhaps out of respect for families who still held on to hope for a cache of survivors tucked away in a subway tunnel. Perhaps it was that the fact the words themselves: ?dead?, ?murdered?, ?casualties? ?victims? ? conjured up images of a country at war. How could we assimilate such violence against so many friends and loved ones? For many of us, half of our friends were suddenly dead ? it gave life a sort of refugee dreamlike quality. Shock settled in. Back on LBI, your father implored me to turn off the phone ? but how could I? Each ring held the possibility that someone else survived. Each ring rang a death toll. I grasped that phone as if it were life itself. The loss was overwhelming and profound. You were a darling; you concentrated on a computer game for just about the entire day. I know you were trying to shut out the sight of your mother in great pain. As I cried and I cried and I cried, I did my best to be honest with you. I explained that Mommy cried because she was sad to see so many of her friends hurt. I tried to assure you that we would do everything to keep you safe; but I?m sure you sensed our fear, as I secretly packed up an emergency bag of essentials to carry in our trunk. Did you find it odd that Mommy could not leave the house without first checking CNN? There was about three months of funerals and memorials. In total I attended about 20 ceremonies. There could have been so many more, but I was getting so tired. In the office, we attended grief-counseling sessions; we cried quietly at our desks, gazing at e-mails from now dead colleagues; we remembered and shared stories and sobbed openly. We doubled up, making room in our offices for the survivors, the walking wounded, displaced from their offices at the Trade Center. We picked up files or assignments, handed on to us from the lost, telling one another that it was an honor to carry in on their memory. But, in reality, most of the time we felt the work insignificant, and the task just too sad to carry out. My entire industry was hit so hard. I don?t think it?s possible for others, outside the risk management and insurance community to fully comprehend how hard we were hit by the loss. On the heels of losing 500 colleagues (between Marsh and Aon), we had to also deal with the financial implications of assessing the damage at the scene, getting claims paid, understand the insurance markets? reaction to and future treatment of terrorist acts, while all the while attempting to help our clients assess the potential exposure presented by unknowable, unfathomable evil. Our minds, personally and professionally, were forced to try to contemplate, just how much worse it could get. Afterall, we?re in the risk management business. While experiencing a tremendous personal loss, our professional lives were quickly becoming unmanageable and our clients were needier than ever, with fewer of us to respond to them. It?s now June of 2002, and not a day goes by where we don?t talk about terrorism, the potential for more terrorism and the death of our colleagues. It?s our business and it will take a long time to heal. On a more personal level, by now you know that your father and I were in the beginning stages of our divorce in 2002. On 9/11/01, I now recognize that we were very distant during that vacation. We found ourselves unable to comfort each other during the pain and agony of the events of 9/11/01. It?s sad that I went 20 funerals on my own. I wanted to find solace in our marriage, but it just wasn?t there. There are a lot of reasons for this, that I won?t address here. What you need to know is that the devastation of the World Trade Center attack and the dissolution of our marriage, are inextricably intertwined in my fiber. The violent collapse of the Towers became a metaphor for me, enabling me to get in touch with the enormous grief left in letting go of a fantasy for our family. My time at the World Trade Center, came to symbolize a most beautiful period in my life. On the day that I first reported into my brand new boss at the WTC (my company had been acquired), I had to tell him that I was leaving town to adopt a baby. Off we went to Missouri, to adopt you James, not knowing if I even had a job to come back to. I didn?t care. It was such an exciting, happy time in my life. I knew that my life was changing forever, I knew that my new life as a mother would be happier and more fulfilling than it had been before you. However, I envisioned us as a close nuclear little family. As the trade center was falling, I was coming to the grips with the reality that this little nuclear family wasn?t what I pretended it to be. The image of the towers falling, became a symbol for the breaking down of my hollow image of our family. My grief, my tears, my loss was about so so many losses on so many levels. On that September day, my life was changing in many ways. It would not have been possible for me to imagine what it would look like going forward. I was contemplating, and coming to terms with, probably for the first time, that which is really important to me. Out of this period of terrible grief, I was feeling both a huge loss, but also gaining a feeling of becoming a more whole person. It?s ironic that loss and wholeness can be so connected. Just as the skyline is still standing, with a new silhouette, I am going forward, feeling wounded, a little frightened, but also more genuine and honest ? a better human being. I pray that others will also seek honesty and wholeness in their pain, which will surely result in a better world for you and your grandchildren. I heard one clergy say during one of the many services I attended post 9/11, that if, in our grief, we could just love each other a tiny bit more, then all those lives would not have been lost in vain. God bless, you my precious son. I love you so much, and today, I will try to love you even a little bit more. Love, Your Mommy Forever Love, Your Mommy Forever 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 story10904.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. 2004-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.80.59.29 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: ?Our 9-11 Baby Born? In the wee hours of the beginning of Sept 11, 2001 my daughter was born. I should have known this would be an eventful day, being the date 9-11. Little Asia Marie was born weighing 9.1 lbs on this, year 1, of the new millennium. 911 seemed to be making its appearance early as my wife screamed ?Bryan!? for the last time, and launched forth the newest member of our family. It wasn?t until after I had gone home to get a few hours sleep that I awoke to the horrendous news of our nation?s 911 emergency situation back east. Our friend, Mary, was frantic on the phone, and I had no idea what she was saying until afterward, when I finally turned on the TV and watched for myself. What an indescribable event! I was filled with such mixed emotions. For me, this was a day of polar opposites: good and evil, life and death, joy and grief. Before returning to the hospital I stopped at the local florist and the man behind the counter enlightened me as to the coincidental connection between the calendar, the crisis, and the emergency code. Thoughts returned to my new little 9-11 ?baby-doll,? ?sweetie-pie,? or ?punkin?-head? (whichever term-of-endearment happens to eventually stick to papa?s perfect princess). What kind of world had she just been born into?! I joked with the man about what kind of girl this would be with such an ominous birth date. Earlier that morning our good friend, Janene, had mused over what other significant event in history I would find to attach to this auspicious family blessing. I?m known for doing that (she recalled such at the dedication of her own baby in my previous church). It was not long after the terrible news broke that Janene, herself, came through and countered with something she had discovered to help offset the profound notoriety of the day: Ethiopian New Year!!! Well, it seemed hardly equal in significance to what could now live in infamy as ?Terrorist Tuesday,? but they did both share space on the same calendar day. It got me thinking though, and I took to searching the net. When my daughter grows up, will the 9-11 date of her birth always be associated with the worst tragedy in US history? There must be something redeeming in the date that can be found which would speak to something more positive, and from which she may draw strength as she grows up. After much time spent clicking www?s, and perusing my many hard volumes, I came to write this piece. I found many movie stars and sports notables that were either born or died on 9-11 in various years. That wouldn?t do, really. Then I found some interesting tidbits that I thought might just be the ticket. While I found it quite chillingly coincidental that our Pentagon was nearly destroyed exactly sixty years (to the day!) after it?s initial ground-breaking ceremony (9-11-1941), I was encouraged that it has not been totaled, and that it would survive to be rebuilt better than before. But 9-11 has more often been a date of victory for us Americans. What has become known as ?The last Battle of the American Revolution? occurred on 9-11-1782, when a handful of patriot militia, with their wives and children, successfully defended Fort Henry against British Rangers and their Indian cohorts. Exactly thirty-two years later we defeated the Brits again in the Battle of Lake Champlain (9-11-1814). A month earlier the British had burned the Capitol and the White House!!! After our victory, it was only another couple of months before the war ended. It was this same ?War of 1812? that Francis Scott Key was inspired to pen our National Anthem. Speaking of which, it was on 9-11-1916 that ?The Star Spangled Banner? was sung for the first time at a baseball game in, of all places, New York. We have to admit that our recent tragedy has quite brought us together as a nation of flag-waving, patriotic Americans. Suddenly people are actually paying attention to our Anthem and are even learning the words! All this patriotism is laudable, and my daughter will eventually be apprised of these historic connections to her big day. I want her to be a proud citizen of this, the greatest country in the world, but I desire even more that she be a true citizen of the heavenly Kingdom of God. While Americans are, at least, learning the first stanza of this country?s official hymn, few are familiar with its last stanza: O, Thus Be It Ever When Freemen Shall Stand, Between Their Lov'd Homes And The War's Desolation; Blest With Vict'ry And Peace, May The Heav'n-Rescued Land Praise The Pow'r That Hath Made And Preserv'd Us As A Nation! Then Conquer We Must, When Our Cause Is Just, And This Be Our Motto: "In God Is Our Trust" And The Star-Spangled Banner In Triumph Shall Wave O'er The Land Of The Free And The Home Of The Brave! Nice song about our nation, fine song about our flag, great song about our God!!! It praises God for blessing us with victory and peace, and with making, rescuing, and preserving us as a nation that trusts in Him. You know, there is a lot of talk about God currently, but I fear our country has lost sight of what God it is to which these lyrics refer. What ?god? are we Americans trusting in, if any at all? Are these just words? The Bible teaches that there is only one true God, and that it is this God who came down and took upon Himself the flesh of man. He revealed Himself personally to us in the man Christ Jesus. It was certainly not the moon-god, Allah, nor the New-Age (anything-you-want-to-imagine) god, nor any of the mythical deities of the ancient Greek, Roman, or Hindu pantheons. It is the Savior-God of Biblical Scripture; the Triune God; the Living God; God! When my daughter matures, and sees the motto ?In God We Trust,? she will read it in light of her own knowledge of Him as we have taught her through Scripture. She will not think it means ?In Any-Old God We Trust,? but in the God of Jesus Christ - the only God that can be trusted in, because there is no other. Back to Janene?s ?Ethiopian New Year.? It occurs to me now that there is significance for us in acknowledging that particular 9-11 holiday, for it is in the book of Acts, chapter eight, that we read of the traveling Ethiopian who accepts Christ and is ?born-again? spiritually. Asia Marie will be ever reminded of that man?s conversion on her own natural birth date, and I trust she will, one day, be drawn to make that same decision for herself. Another thing about this man, he was a Gentile. He was but the beginning of the flood of Gentile converts into the Church that would soon outnumber the Jewish Christians. This issue was taken up at the Jerusalem counsel, chapter fifteen, where Jesus? brother, James, stood up and declared that this coming together of Jew and Gentile into one faith was, in fact, the long awaited ?restoration of ?Israel?? (ie, David?s fallen tent) as prophesied some 700 years earlier in, guess where?, Amos 9:11. There it is again! 9-11 is also the annual date that many Christians worldwide celebrate the feast of John the Baptist. John was the last of the old-time prophets under the Law, and he ushered in the New Testament covenant of grace by preparing the way for Christ. Jesus affirmed that John was the greatest of men, and a prophet?; ?Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet? (Mat 11:9)! Hmm, this is something else I think I?ll add to Asia?s ?positive stuff? list. Finally, We named our son ?Christian? for obvious reasons. We named his sister, Asia, for the continent where Christ was born (although Gina still swears it was simply revealed to her in a dream). It was in the chief city of Asia, Antioch, that believer?s in Christ were first called ?Christians? (Acts, chapter eleven). I remember having read somewhere that the meaning of Asia?s name had some relationship to ?fire,? while her middles name, Marie, according to every reference meant ?bitter.? My wife and I paused in astonishment at this unintentional combination, which seemed to correlate to the day?s news item; here we had ?Bitter Fire? coming to us both nationally and natally on 9-11. A stretch? Perhaps, but we do live in a 911 world, and I believe our daughter?s birth is a symbol of the awful tension between a fallen creation with fallen creatures, and our holy and absolutely perfect Creator. Those spiritually lost men who committed mass-murder/suicide on 9-11 sinned, and greatly so. They sinned against America, against humanity in general, and against God. We are offended and deeply hurt. How dare those foreigners do that to us? Yet, just a couple of nights ago, one of my own countrymen, probably a flag-waving, ?righteous? American, under cover of night, siphoned all the gasoline out of my van. You know how much gas costs nowadays! Certainly this pales in significance to the airline disaster, but it is indicative of the spiritual sinfulness and lost-ness of our own people. All over this land of ours there is daily robbery and rape, adultery and abortion, mayhem and murder; sin abounding by leaps. Even so, our people collect themselves and call upon their ?generic god? to give us comfort, and to defend us against those ?worse? sinners who trespass against us. 9-11 was a disaster for America, but worse yet is the ongoing 911 disastrous emergency of our citizens who continue to refuse the True God of the universe Who has the power to save lost sinners and make them fit for heaven. The Bible teaches that Christ did not come to condemn, but to save; ?Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already? (Joh 3:18). Did you catch that, ?condemned already!? Without God?s intervention we are already in a condemned state. Call 911!!! Actually, the call has been made, and the Great Physician has been sent. Only through Doctor Jesus is the antidote for ?spiritual anthrax? to be received, and it is free to all who ask. Whaddaya say?! Have you ?accepted? your medicine? It?s a fact that more people in the West have Bible-based names than any other, and Asia Marie is no exception. My daughter?s name does have a very positive, and Biblical flip side to that previously mentioned. Despite the literal meaning of ?Bitter? Marie, the name is really only a French-fried version of that belonging to the most famous of New Testament women, namely, ?Blessed? Mary, the human mother of Christ. And as for the ?fire? connection to Asia, it seems that this is only insofar as it relates to the fire-in-the-sky, the great-ball-O?fire (ie, the sun). ?Asia? actually refers to the direction of the rising sun. Coincidentally (or not), Jesus Christ is referred to in Scripture not only as the ?Son (S-O-N) of God,? but also as ?the Rising Sun (S-U-N)? who comes ?to us from heaven to shine on those in darkness.? Prophetically, the ?Sun of Righteousness? would ?rise with healing? (Mal 4:2), and heal he did, for it is ?by his wounds we are healed? spiritually (Isa 53:5, 1Pe 2:24). Yet, Heaven?s 911 must still be called; ?Everyone (fellow Americans?) who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved? (Rom 10:13). Asia Marie?s name, then, contains the Gospel message: the Savior (Sun of Righteousness), born of the Virgin Mary (Marie), crucified, rises from the dead bringing salvation (rise with healing)! Truly, ?Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children (including daughters) a reward from him? (Psa 127:3). As I conclude this article (written piecemeal over the past several weeks), I look up and can?t but help notice the calendar. Today it is exactly one month since the two events here written about had occurred. This day, one month ago, was 9-11. Addendum: this article is now posted exactly one year later. Today?s date: 9-11-02. Happy Birthday, my daughter! ~Pastor Bryan Griem Community Baptist Church Of East Los Angeles 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 story3418.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6