468 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: How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. My brother-in-law called me and told me to turn on the T.V, and that was right after the first plane hit the World Trade Center. I was shocked and frightened, and saddened. Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. I don't think that my life has really changed, except that I feel that America is more vulnerable, I guess more vulnerable than I ever thought possible. And I am more conscious of the fragility and cry more easily. What do you think should be remember about September 11th? We should remember all thoes who lost their lives, and their families and friends. We should remember to always pull together as Americans, no matter what our backgrounds, as we did on that day. And we should remember to acknowledge God in our everyday lives, not just in times of tragedy. Did you fly an American flag after the events of Semtember 11th? Have your feeling about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? Yes, I fly the flag on my home, and put flag stickers on my car. I still fly the flag. I've always been proud of our flag, and proud to be an American but now I feel more respect for the flag and for all it represents. I get a lump in my throut when I see it, or when I hear the National Anthem because I appreciate this country and the freedoms we enjoy here. It saddens me that there are people in the world who hate us because of who we are and what we stand for. I believe they don't have any idea of what America is all about. 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 story8827.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. 2002-12-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.54.14.84 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I couldn't wait to get home to my family, of course. I have family members who were at the Pentagon and near the World Trade Center that day, and I was thankful to learn that they were unharmed. I also have relatives in Gander and Nova Scotia who helped to take care of my fellow citizens when our planes had to land in Canada that day, and I was very proud of their opening up their hearts and homes to these people. My mother, who was born and raised in Canada, would have been proud also. I have so many memories of that day--which changed my life. I am proud of President Bush's heart and strength and courage and faith and hope--and leadership--following the attacks on his--our--country. Mayor Guiliani did an admirable job leading the people of NYC through the tragedy. The firemen and the policemen and the citizens of NYC and the Pentagon and elsewhere who gave their lives to ensure life and liberty for family members, friends, and strangers are--forevermore--my heroes. This includes Todd Beamer and Mark Bingham and Tom Burnett and Jeremy Glick and Lou Nacke and the others on flight 93 who fought evil that day and died--but won. After the September 11 tragedy, I worked in Atlantic City, NJ, with other FAA and other employees and volunteers to hire large numbers of Federal air marshals to help protect our skies--the defining and proudest moment of my career; but it was not enough. I--we--owe so much more to our brothers and sisters who perished and to those who carry on--who live to help us and protect us. "Let's roll"? You bet. We still have a lot to do. God bless us one and all as we move onward. 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 story10272.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. 2003-12-22 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 204.108.8.5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On the morning of September 11, 2001 i was getting ready for school like any other normal day. my first and second classes were going good as usual, until i got in my third hour class (lierature) and the teacher (Mrs. Lindemann) put on the television, and there it was, a tragedy, the first trade center was falling down. We (me and my classmates) were in shock! who could have done such a thing!?!? For the rest of that day i could'nt concentrate on any of my work. I was thinking... "i am so lucky to be alive." but everyday after 9/11/01 i got better and better... but still thinking i am lucky that there wasn't anything that happened to MY school. But for the rest of my life i will still remember what i saw on t.v., heard on the radio, and heard from other people, and especially the victims families. To this day(9/23/02) i am still scared that an airplane could still be hijacked and hit the sears tower or something of that sort and it could be me and my family mourning for me.. so to everyone who reads this...BE SAFE!!and remember 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 story8072.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. 2002-09-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.175.105.14 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 kissed my husband good-bye at 6:30am as he left for work. I was in the habit of listening to the morning news on the television as I began the daily chores. I had just stepped out of the shower a little after 9:00am that morning. The news was still playing in the background, however I wasn?t paying much attention to it. I was nervous that day. Tuesday, September 11th, 2001 was my first day attending a new college. I had just moved to Chicago a few months before, and the big-city-living in a small apartment was still new to me. I remember passing by the TV at some point and seeing Katie Couric reporting about the World Trade Center being hit by a plane. It didn?t even cross my mind that it was an act of terror. I thought a horrible accident had happened, that someone had flown too close to the tower, or something went wrong with the plane. I continued to get dressed, only listening to the television. When I heard that a second plane hit the towers, a distinct wave of realization, mixed with fear, mixed with desperation pulsed through me (no adjectives can really put it into words). I knew our nation was under attack. I also knew we were in a vulnerable position and not prepared to fight back. One of my largest fears had always been seeing a war take place in our country during my lifetime. I felt a tremendous urge to speak to my husband (who was working in a Chicago sky-rise). I tried calling his office. Busy signal. I tried the building?s 800 number, also busy. The phone lines were tied up (I was hoping). I got on-line and tried to e-mail him. No response. I finally got through to him on his alpha pager. He did not know about the attack yet. His department was not allowed to watch the television or leave the building, in fact he was about step into a meeting! I kept him updated via the pager. The Pentagon was hit. We both agreed that I should not leave the apartment. I phoned my school, which is less than 10 blocks from the Sears Tower. They warned me that my attendance would not be excused and they were not going to close the school until there was some kind of military intervention. Well, I thought that my life was a little more important than missing one day of school, so I notified them that I would not be in class that afternoon. Needless to say, they called me at 11:30am to notify me that Mayor Daly had closed the school and that I would not have to come to class. Darn bureaucrats. My Mother called me in a frenzy. She couldn?t get through to me when I was on-line (this was before I got the cable modem). She was planning an escape route out of the city for me?northbound out of Chicago, through Wisconsin, and to my parent?s house in Northern Michigan. The only problem was trying to explain to her that public transportation wouldn?t be able to get me that far. Poor woman. Bless her heart, she still lights candles and prays daily. I stood in my apartment, holding my cat, looking into the sky. The silence was a static eerieness. I have never heard the city so quiet. There was not a plane in the zenith where so many fly over hourly to land at O?hare. I was amazed at how quickly air traffic had stopped. And the el. Did they stop that too? It was so quiet. I looked out the back window and down the alley. I could hear the voices of men working on the electricity lines. Did they know what was happening? I looked out the front window. People were jogging leisurely with headphones on. Did they know yet? I wanted to run out and tell all of these people, but I was afraid. I kept thinking that Chicago was going to be next. I didn?t know what to expect. I envisioned men running down the street with guns, bombs, grenades. I didn?t want to die without my husband. It killed me to be separated. I went to the television again. There were already so many people separated and dead. I broke down and cried ? for them, for me, for our country. 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 story897.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. 2002-07-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.135 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was a contractor assigned to Abacus Techn./Department of State. I was currently working on identifying certain "FMS Cases" and collecting pertient information and entering the information that I found into a Unix database, that could be used at a later date by the attorneys in the building to build a case against Iran/Iraq. Plus I was listening to what was happening to the "Twin Towers" in New York City. Then through an in-house e-mail system, one of the attorney's that had an office on the outside facing the "Pentagon," sent an e-mail notifying everyone in the building that the "Pentagon" was just hit by something. So I looked out a window to see what he was talking about. All I saw was a lot of Grey, Black, and White smoke coming out of the far right side of the "Pentagon." I was supposes to go over there (Pentagon) to meet some friends for an early lunch, but a little voice inside me told me not to go over there, cause something is not right. So I decided to call my friends, but I never have the chance to make that call. Then we were told by one of the main Attorneys in charge to leave the building and wait for further instructions from your bosses on whether or not to return to work the next day. Then I called (cell phone)my wife on the way to metro Station, to tell her to turn the TV on and see what's happening in New York and Washington, DC, then all of sudden my phone went DEAD, all she told me was all she heard was sirens blaring in the backgound and could bearly hear what I was trying to tell her. What is usually a 30 minute ride on the metro (Foggy Bottom - Van Dorn Metro)took over 1 1/2 hrs. that day. Because the Metro was "shut down" from Rosslyn to Crystal City, and the only way it (Metro) was going was to Faifax and away from Washington, DC. So I was buses from the Rosslyn Metro to Braddock Rd. Station. All of the metro cars were cramped pack with people trying to get home and check on if any of thier family memebers were alive or hurt in New York or the Pentagon. Plus some of the passengers were very upset, frustrated, cause some of thier friends worked at the "Pentagon or the Twin Towers." By the time I got home it was 1330 hrs and I had several messages on my answering machine. So I had to listen to all of the messages and then I had to answer all of them and that took me 2-3 hours to answer them all. Cause the phone line were so jammed up with everyone else trying to call each other. Later that night my wife wanted to see how bad the "Pentagon" was hit, so we drove up I-395, so she could see how bad it was hit. By the time we with the 14th Street Bridge exit, the traffic suddenly came to a skreaching halt, all we could see was a caravan of black SUVs and Police cars driving towards the "Pentagon." So we decided to turn around and go back home. As we were passing the "Pentagon" my wife and others drivers on I-395 had the opportunity to see the Firefighters and other rescuers lower the "American Flag" over the side of the "Pentagon" (was found in the rubble in one of the offices). From that day (9/11/01) on I will take it "1" day at a time (living), if you know what I mean. Because you can walk out the door of your place and suddenly die. And the only One can tell you how long you're going to live is Jesus Christ. 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 story20625.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. 169.253.4.21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was on my way to work when I heard the first tower was hit on the radio. I could not believe it! I got into work and I say everyone around out command center, where all the televisions were located. I was training a class and I just remember turning on the television in the training room in enough time to see the second tower fall to the ground. My whole class was in shock. I remember trying to call my best friend that lives in NYC and all the lines were busy. I went home that night and picked my kids up. We went to Walgreens to get medical supplies and dropped them off at the local radio station to go to anyone in NYC. We went home afterwards and prayed that all would not be lost. 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 story3671.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. 206.126.170.20 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 when 911 happened. I was teaching a group of innocent children (sound familiar) when our principal came in and told me to turn the TV on that the World Trade had just been hit by a plane. In disbelief I turned the TV on only to discover that it was all true. The school that I was teaching in on that day is for Dyslexic, ADD & ADHD children and our children come from all over the United States. At the time we had 1 student who was from New York and his father worked as a boat Captain (unsure where). What I witnessed on TV was sooooo unreal and disbelieving (even today its still hard to believe) that someone could be so cruel and full of hate that they would kill thousands of people just to "get even". That day we did not teach any more classes, we sat glued to the TV's and prayed for everyone in New York and for their families. The horror, the stories, the pain, all of this was way to much for our country, but over the past 5 years America is growing stronger. We will never forget the past and the actions that others have taken on our Country, but we have proved that we will not back down and that we will fight for our 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 story20739.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. 70.157.124.3 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: My friends and I were laughing and joking around on the school bus when suddenly the music stopped and then everyone became silent. Then an announcer siad thata two commercial jetliners have hi the world trade center from there they they were saying that people were jumping out the 110th story of the building. From then on I have been quiet. 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 story9076.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-02-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.100.215.5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I just picked up my best friend, we were to go shopping. She told me the world trade center was bombed. I didn't believe her, so I turned on the car radio and was stunned with the news that a plane had crashed into one of the towers. In the time it took us to get to the mall, another plane had crashed into the second tower. I really belived the first was an accident, but the second really shocked me. I can't remember what store we were in, but everyone was staring at the televisons. I don't think we even shopped, we just left for home. I hadn't felt that sick since my daughter was murdered in 1994. So helpless and speachless. My friend is always more nervous and frightened by things than I am, so I just kept calm, so she wouldn't get upset. It seems very strange, we still wanted to shop, but lost the "desire", and without saying anything we just knew we needed to go home. The days following for me, where sad, but I didn't have any fears. My faith in God and this country, and our government I guess helped me. No matter how much we do to secure our families and our nation, if someone REALLY want's to hurt us, they will find a way. So continue to have faith that our leaders will do all that can be done to protect us. I did as President Bush urged us to do - keep living my life to the best of my ability. Do the things I normally do. I've since moved to Kansa, and feel safer than I did in Florida. My husband and I are pursuing our dream - starting a vinyard/winery. I 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 story6473.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. 64.66.93.183 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 On September 11 I was just waking up. I went down stairs to eat and my grandma was watching the news. I didn?t pay much attention to it. Once I got to school every one was talking about it. We watched it on the news when we were at school. I was talking to my friend about it. We all felt sad for the people on the plain and there families. Then we herd that another plain had hit. That was when they found out that it was a tourist attack. It was so sad to have to watch that and think of what the people who had there loved ones on that plain. I don?t think that any one will forget that day. We will be telling our kids about it and they will be hirers about it in school too. Now that a year has passed it is still sad to have to think about it and it is even worse to watch the shows on it. Those innocent people on the plain that didn?t do anything. That is what I think of September 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 story2923.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. 163.150.15.187 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: (I am an International student from Great Britain and I am studying English and Psychology at a small college in Toledo, Ohio. I have been here 4 years and think of the States as my second home. My parents and my sister live here, and now I am married to an American(May 4th 2002) so I have all the people I love dearly in this country). After my frist class of the day,I got into my car to drive to the other side of campus for my second class. I had left the radio on and the first thing I heard was, "The tower is in a ball of flames and there are bodies falling through the sky." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I thought someone was playing a sick joke over the radio station, so I clicked to a different station but I listened to the same hell all again; bodies flying out of the tower and flames everywhere. I felt sick and I thought at the time that a bomb had gone off. I didn't know about the plane crashing into the tower and the second one hadn't hit yet. I parked and didn't know whether I should keep listening to the news and be late for class, or not disappoint the professor by showing up late. I decided to go to class to see if any of the students were any wiser on the situation than I was. College was abnormally quiet. What I didn't know was that most of the students and teachers were huddled around television sets in offices and the cafeteria. I went into class and everyone just looked stunned. I asked a few of the people I sat near what was going on and they told me an aeroplane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers in New York. I thought I was going to vomit, my stomach just turned circles. The reason being was that my Dad often flew to various cities around the U.S for business. I got up from my seat, grabbed my car keys and ran to my cellphone in my car, thinking over and over in my head, "Please God let him be in the office, let him be in the office." I frantically dialed his number and spoke to his secretary, who informed me he was safe in the building in Toledo and that my sister had also called. I called home, but my Mum was still out with the horses and I don't think she even knew that world was turning upside down. I went back to my classroom and the teacher was already there telling everyone ehat she knew. It was then that one of the other late students came running in yelling, "There's a second plane, it went right through the other tower!!' The teacher told us that we could all leave and go home to watch the television. I don't remember driving home and when I watched television it was like watching a horribly realistic movie. I will never forget where I was when I heard the news. It will be another infamous day that everyone will be able to recall exactly what they doing when they heard, just like when JFK was assasinated. 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 story5200.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.42.73.96 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 news of September 11, 2001, came to a shock to me. I was sitting in my last period math class when our teacher told us that something terrible had happened to our country. With what little our teacher had told us, my classmates and I suspected something was terribly wrong. As I walked home from school, I tried to think of what could have happened to our country. I coulndn't even find words for my racing mind. When I got home, my mom and stepdad were both home. It was usual for my mom to be home. She was pregnant with my baby sister. My mom and stepdad told me that we were going to the hospital, we tried to make sense of this tragedy but coouldn't find words. At the hospital, I watched the television, just watching with sadness and disbelief. I remember watching the planes going into the towers over and over again. Just watching the former New York Mayor and waiting for updates on who had died and what was going to happen later. I also watched the Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvania just waiting for something else to happen. As time ticked away, I hoped with everything that my sister wouldn't be born on September 11. As the time got later and the day grew darker, I went home with my grandparents, and my mom told me she would call me when my sister was born. Luckily she was born September 12, 2001. Although my life has not changed dramitcally since September 11th, I have become more aware now, and my level of safeness has decreased. I was affected because my cousin works in Pennsylvania and we didn't know if he was o.k. I was affected by the Anthrax that was going around because my uncle works in the post office so, in that sense, I was affected with what was going on around me after September 11. Anthrax is a white powdery substance that is biologically made and when it is inhaled, it could kill the person. Since Anthrax was being sent through the mail, my uncle was in danger of being infected with Anthrax. Things that happened around me after September 11 affected my life. We should remember that the U.S. was carless. Therefore, we got hurt. I also think so many people died because we didn't have enough security. With the mistakes that happened, it shouldn't happen again. I think the men and woman , firefighters, police officers and EMT's that helped will be remembered forever. The victims who risked their lives to lose their own and save other people will also be remembered. This just goes to show that after death comes life, the life of my baby sister. 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 story8553.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. 2002-10-22 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 wife and I were attending the first Philippine Studies conference ever held in Spain sponsored by the University of Alcala in its magnficently restored 1500s buildings. We did not go with a group of delegates touring a nearby medieval village but after lunch were resting in our room at Hotel El Bedel. The phone rang. "Turn on your TV!" a fe;low delegate exclaimed. It was tuned to CNN. We watched in horror as the second plane flew into a tower. One of the tourists had a cell phone. A friend called from Manila to alert her. In the plaza outside the hotel a female carabinero (national police) woman in combat gear was climbing into her vehicle to go to the center of Madrid on guard duty. Spanish media were filled with 9/11 materials. Spaniards extended condolences and support. We waited at Madrid's Barajas airportfor two days beyond our scheduled departure home to Philadelphia. On our airport hotel TV we saw the opening of the Spanish Supreme Court session, attended by King Juan Carlos. All were in formal dress. We heard the Chief Justice express his sorrow and support and emphasize the of importance of upholding the rule of law. When we did take off all the passengers cheered. We cheered again when the pilot told us we were in U.S. territorial waters. 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 story416.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. 2002-04-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.74.91.55 Annotation Annotations to this item. Americans overseas 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: Well on 9/11 lastyear I was at Donelson Middle school on Stewarts ferrry Pk in 7th grade hall when all of a sudden 1st period Mrs Tuschl told my homeroom teacher to turn own the television and so she did and on every channel there was news about this bomming and all of this stuff well i noticed that the rest of the day everybody was being so serious and had the whole class watchin t.v and so I did not know what was going on so I was still talkin to my Best friend and then the teacher told us to stop and then I said why he said cause at this time this vey moment our country is going through a crisis he explained to me that afgannastain had a plan crash in to the twin towers and one at the pentagon well knowing me i didn't know those were famous buildins and I didnt know that thosands of millons of innocent people had died and so I told him what dose that have to do with me and Mistee not talking at this time he said because it is a patriotic time for our contry just ask Your momwell mymom didnt really know to much either so still to this day i dont know what it means and it has been ayear today but my eigth grade tesachers are making me do research to find out So I hope the families of the people who died remain strong cause United we stand Divided we fall 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 story2405.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. 208.182.75.4 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: Subsequent Reflection Every year, I dread the September 11 anniversary. I didn't lose any family or friends that horrific day, but I lost all security. When I read the news, even before 9/11, I remembered that saying, by a philosopher a hundred years ago, "Do you not realize my son, with what little wisdom this world is run?" I pray the enemy has even less wisdom than we have. I pray our arrogance does not lend to too much stupidity and complacency. I pray our generations are up to this challenge, in spite of all evidence to the contrary. We had demonstrated, before this event, a generation of incredible self-centeredness. We worry over pop culture, our own financial bottom lines, and anything within our own households, or country. Anything, as long as it is salacious and "sexy" or just impacts our own little world. We are divisive, and mind numbingly repetitive, over the minutest details of the minutiae. We tend to over emphasize the idea of "might makes right" and we feel mighty indeed. Even the events of 9/11, while shaking our foundation, literally, has not lessened this quality. You would think the opposite would happen. 19 sub-humans, with a fanatic belief in hate and death, changed our world. They did it with box-cutter's and makeshift bombs. Simple, effective, deadly. We responded with bombs, missiles, and high-fives. We remain in danger, from the simpler weapons. But, remember, smaller weapon responses by us, does not net the enormous financial rewards demanded by the Defense Department. Smaller target defense, does not gain the incredible press coverage. And lets not forget the bipartisanism. While conventional wisdom tells us the enemy is out there, we find it easier, and less bloody, to fight each other. The True Enemy exploits this, and always has. We fight a costly, and futile war, which devastates lives, and diverts resources, and will continue as long as it remains important to one administrations "credibility". On the other hand, with all those soldier's lives in the balance, this messy country replay's again, the divisions of the 60's. "Those that forget the past, are condemned to repeat it?" In the immediate aftermath, we held hands, sang and cried together. The enemy was straightforward then. As straightforward as anytime since WW 2. Then we started "thinking". The apologists began apologizing. The pacifists began rationalizing, The Democrats began sniping. The Republicans began spending. And the Jihadists, those fanatical killers, have kept to the plan. We don't even know what that plan entails. Sure, we haven't had an attack like this since 9/11. Should we be proud? Relieved? Consider ourselves lucky? I'm afraid this country, will not unite, will not focus, and will not quit dividing, until we lose a city. That's right, a city. Then and only then will this country cohece. This is not new behavior, but damaging nonetheless. I see 9/11 a wake-up call we have only partly comprehended. And this is why I feel very little change in security. We simply don't have the infrastructure at this time to understand. And our leaders remain committed to their party's pet slogans. The Republicans state the Democrats unpatriotic. The Democrats state any Republican is unintelligent. The American citizen is in danger. These are my thoughts on the fifth anniversary of September 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 story20591.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. 204.107.47.109 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 following is a journal entry written on the exact day of September 11, 2001: .Explosions. SEPTEMBER 11 2001. I guess this is our "Kennedy". Where were YOU on the morning of September eleventh, two thousand one? I was in history class, third hour when I found out. I walked in and the TV was on. Considering it was a history class I didn't think this was too terribly out of the ordinary (I mean, compared to somethin? like math or Spanish or whatever), and I didn't really pay that much attention at first (I'm not a large TV person, much less news). Everyone else seemed to be pretty attentive to it though, so after not too long I went over to check it out. They were showing footage of a building with a lot of smoke and fire coming out of it. For a while actually I thought it was old video footage (?cause the Trade Center had been bombed before this), but when they started saying things about late breaking news I started to get the picture. It actually took me a bit of time before I really started to pick up on all of the implications (I'd been sorta preoccupied with a math test of earlier in the morning). My first thought was just, "what is this going to do to international relations?" (Admittedly a valid one, but still not one that I'm all together proud of). Then they started talking about one of the towers collapsing (it was just speculation at this point), and also somewhere around this time they told us about the Pentagon as well. They hadn't told us any numbers yet, but my math brain started working, and that sorta set off a chain reaction. I knew how big the Pentagon was (a mile in circumference) and the Trade Center was obviously a very big building (actually I had thought it was only something like 80 or 90 stories, but I guess it's 110). I looked at my watch, and at first thought that things were more or less ok, but then I realized that the East Cost is on the same time zone as us, that this right now was during the work day, that all of those buildings would have been filled with people. So yeah, I had the unfortunate luck not only to have a brain that at least reasonably quickly rang up some very disturbing estimates (which were actually on the low side, I estimated that there would only be something like 20,000 in the trade center [one hundred floors {I rounded up from my estimation} with a couple hundred people on each floor], but now I hear it's 50 plus), but also that annoying little empathy thing. So yeah, I pretty much lost it at that point and started sobbing (it got even worse when reports came in of another attack [it appears though that this one didn't actually happen]). Eventually the teacher noticed and sent me off to the bathroom. Yeah, high school bathrooms aren't the very nicest place in the world to cry in (and it wasn't my first time either). The worst part about it is how when you're the only person in there it echos about, so the sound of your own sobs comes back to you; wrapping around you like the promise of a comforting arm only to turn out to be your own misery come back to punish you. At some point one of the hall monitor people came and took me off to the guidance office. Scott was busy, but really, even though I see him at least somewhat frequently, it's always just for business stuff, so it's not like I had any emotional attachment to him or anything. So yeah, I ended up with Maggie Miller. She seemed pretty nice and such, I don't know, I mean, she's a school councilor, you've pretty much got to be a good person to be that sort of a profession. So yeah, I sorta calmed down there and talked for a bit with her (my heart really goes out to her, ?cause her daughter in law works in the building right next to the trade center), then some other girl named Audrey (looked vaguely familiar) came in, equally distraught and the three of us talked for a while. Then Maggie had to go off to a meeting so the two of us headed back to class. I got back with maybe five minutes or somethin' left in history class. By that time it was confirmed that the one tower had indeed collapsed, and the other had just followed suit. I took my estimations (which had been something around 1,500 people dead) and doubled them. I just about broke down again, but I realized that would be pretty pointless so I refrained from doing so. I went to band next hour, but as soon as I got in the room and realized that Barry was having us march (a lot of people don't realize this, but at heart he really is a good person. However, I have been on more than one occasion extremely disappointed in him and his lack of sensitivity [he makes people cry on at least a semi-regular basis], and this was one such time). So yeah, I looked around to see if Kim was there (she's probably the most similar person in the school I know of in terms of the whole empathy issue [most people didn't really get it how I could be so incredibly upset if I didn't know anyone directly in the attack]), but she wasn't (I later learned that she had gone home for a while). So yeah, I went straight from band back to the guidance office. There were three or four people watching a TV in there, so I just sorta sat down with them for a while. Oh god, watching that footage of the tower collapsing, no one else quite seemed to realize the implications of that, that we were watching video tape of people being murdered. Every millimeter that this big black tower went down on our TV was some scared person being crushed to death as the floor fell out from beneath them and the sealing crashed down on them (just think about that for a bit, think about what the feeling is like when you unexpectedly fall, our nervous systems are wired to tell us that is a VERY BAD thing, and they produce an according reaction of shock and terror. Now think about being stuck inside a building, explosions have gone off, you don't know what's happening, you've felt the building shake like it's in an earthquake. You're scared out of your mind, trying to find a way out. The building shakes again, you start to feel the floor move underneath you, pieces of ceiling are falling down all around you so you crawl under a nearby desk for cover. All of a sudden you get that falling sensation, your nervous system goes into full panic alert just in time for it to all sink in before a piece of concrete the size of your torso comes crashing down onto you. Your head is hit first, killing you instantly so that your head now looks like one of the deflated basketballs. As your body falls it gets twisted and mutilated beyond recognition. Twelve days later, due to lack of complete evidence dental records are inconclusive, but they tell your wife that they believe that they've at least found pieces of your body amongst the rubble. They say empathy is feeling other's pain, and that's exactly what it is. Stories like that only far more vivid than I can convey at this point went through my head at a dozen a second every time I saw footage of one of the towers going down, or of the planes crashing into them. You live and work in Boston along with your two little kids. Your husband has been away on a trip on the West coast, and now you're going out to join him for a family vacation. Even though they try to hide it, your kids are somewhat nervous because this is their first time flying. You manage to calm them down, and they actually start to get a little excited about the prospects of being up in the air as well as getting to see Daddy and go on a vacation. You've only just gotten over the drama of your kids dealing with the pressure change and their ears hurting when you see several men walking quickly up the aisles towards the front of the plane. About a minute later a man comes on over the intercom, speaking in broken English, saying that the plane has been hijacked and that everyone on it must do exactly what they say or else they will be killed. The plane then makes a sharp turn and starts rapidly descending. After not too long you are able to see out of your window that you are approaching downtown New York. Someone behind you says something about heading straight towards a building. You look out and can see two large towers rapidly approaching. You slowly start to realize what is happening, and realization starts to sink in. The people around you are scared and confused and although your youngest daughter can't completely understand everything that's going on, she most definitely does not like it. She starts screaming loudly and one of the men demands that she be shut up. You try your best but have only limited success. The next thing you know she's been grabbed from your arms and the man has sent a knife up through her chin into her brain, killing her. You scream as the now limp body of your daughter falls upon your lap and you hardly notice the voice on the intercom talking about a great victory as the plane crashes into the building and you are instantly killed. You own your own business and work out of your apartment, only ten minutes from downtown. Just as you are starting your work day you get a call that the volunteer fire department that you are a part of is calling on all of it's members. Something very bad has happened at the Trade Center and they want you there immediately. Your boyfriend pleads with you not to go, but you feel a sense of duty calling you nonetheless, you know that people may be in danger and that you might be able to help them. You arrive on the scene and your coordinating officer tells you that there's been a very large explosion but that they're looking for survivors in the rubble. You head in, the debris in the air is so thick that you can barely see in front of you, but you can hear someone's cries to your right. You start heading towards them, shouting that you're coming. As you get closer the cries get louder, you're almost there. You trip on an unseen obstacle and fall down, painfully cutting your hand and arm on yet another unseen peril. You struggle to get up, but realize that you're getting steadily weaker as your body is unable to get enough oxygen through all of the dust, and smoke which is now filling the air. Yet still you push on, knowing if only you can get to the person you're trying to rescue, maybe just maybe you'll be able to do something. You give it everything you've got and then some, but your vision is closing in and you suddenly find yourself on the ground again. As you draw you final breath you realize not only that you will die, but that so will the person now so close to you, and that you have failed. Dozens, literally dozens of these went through my head, in perfect detail just as if I had been there living them myself. I have a powerful mind which usually is a good thing, but right here the immense capacity to be processing these things at a blinding pace was in no way a friend of mine. I could go on for days writing these down, stories from every side of the event, every perspective. I could publish a book of them. But what would be the point? These aren't just stories, that although they were made up solely in my head, I can guarantee that every one of them is not too far off from an actual story. Like the holocaust thing where you give them all sorts of personal information about yourself and you get a card, telling all about someone exactly like you who was murdered. Really, I have a lot of things I could write about right now. I've only barely scratched the surface on describing my emotional condition, I haven't finished talking about my day. I could talk about all of the bad things that are going to come of this, how this was only the start, how so many more innocent people will now be persecuted. I could talk about all the good things, how even in the face of this unexplainable act human goodness will still shine through. I could talk about all of the implications of this, what it will mean for my life and the lives of everyone around me. I could talk about half a dozen things at least, each one of them as extensive as this whole journal entry has been so far. And yet, my life goes on, and whether I like it or not I have responsibilities if I want to keep things on their general course. My life goes on, even if it doesn't for thousands of people, even if for tens of thousands things would be better if their's didn't, easier, less painful. In the face of all of that, my life goes on, and the only scars I will take away from this will be those in my mind. My life goes on, and I know that if I ever hope to find peace with all of this, the only way to do so will be to take every part of hate that's been thrown into this world, and throw back two parts of love in return. Because really, that's the only thing I can do. I'll write more when I'm able to. ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- This was written a few hours after the first entry on September 11, 2001: .Fighting Back. September 11. 2001. I've decided that I do indeed want to take efforts to fight back. I'm not precisely sure as to what I'll do. A lot of people are giving blood and there's a very great need for that. I wonder if I'd be able to get away with lying about my age and sexuality to do that (perhaps they'd be less tight at a time like this). Not sure though, that seems uncertain. Some people on the listserve were talking about actually going over to New York, but that really just isn't possible for me at this point in my life. It seems though that there should be some sort of aid organization around here that I'd be able to do something through. And if not, well, I suppose there's always the option of making one. That's a lot of work though, a lot of resources, not positive whether it would really be a viable option to do that or not. Whatever the way though, I am determined to do something to fight back, to show the world what really happens when you try to use hate and violence. Show the world that the human capacity for love is greater than any other force on the planet, and like Mahatma Gandhi said, "nonviolence is more powerful than the most potent weapon of destruction devised by mankind." ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- This is a reflection which I wrote on September 10, 2002: .Reverberations. September 10, 2002 It didn't really hit me until today, the real significance of the impending (good word for this situation) approach of the anniversary of the terrorist attacks last year. It's 'cause I've been preoccupied with thinking about Iraq, I believe. I've been thinking about the 130% increase in the mortality rate of children under the age of five there since the US imposed sanctions (I refute the notion that they were imposed by the UN). I've been thinking about how with around 100,000 child deaths per year, it's quite probably that we've been killing somewhere in the range of 50,000 of those children every year, for ten years straight (kinda puts the 3,000 people killed in the world trade center attacks in a little bit more perspective). I've been wondering how, as my brother says "dropping bombs for peace again" is going to help the Iraqi people if we aren't even willing to treat them like human beings in the first place. I've been wondering how many more Afghanistans, Iraqs, El Salvadors, Columbias, Vietnams, Berlins, Hiroshimas we're going to destroy in the name of "bringing stability to the world" (rough translation being, knock everyone else to the ground 'cause when you're lying on your back you've got a low center of gravity and are therefore stable- yeah! Great logic George W.!) Today in AP gov we watched a documentary about the attacks (what's it with social sciences classes and terrorist attacks?). It was one made by some French film makers, apparently it was pretty famous (though I of course hadn't heard of it before). I guess for a lot of people, it might not have been as shocking 'cause they'd already seen footage of the towers many, many times on television, but for me, since I haven't watched TV in the past two years, this was the first time since September 11th last year that I saw that footage (and consequently I was not in the least bit num to it). I found it to be an extremely difficult (and painful) experience to watch all of that again and have all of my emotions from this time last year come back to me. My mind still sees everything in a very personal perspective. When I watched video footage of the planes crashing into the buildings, I didn't think in terms of a massive projectile hitting a stationary object, I thought in terms of several hundred airline passengers spending their last minutes in terror, I thought in terms of people watching their coworkers being incinerated alive. What's more, I didn't think just in terms of the people, I thought in terms of the individuals, what it was like for them. I believe that is how my mind works. I really believe that there are statistics which are far beyond the realm of human comprehension. Speaking from the perspective of a person who has spent the past two and a half years trying (with the inevitably incomplete success) to comprehend the death of one person (albeit my best friend), I just don't see how it's even remotely possible for the human mind to fathom 3,000 deaths in the trade center attacks, or 500,000 Iraqi children dying of disease and starvation, or 8,000,000 Jewish people dying in the holocaust, or 1,000,000 massacred in the conflict between Hutus and Tutsis. I don't think it's really possible to say things like the holocaust was 8 times worse than what happened in Rwanda because the human mind simply cannot comprehend numbers of that stature. What my mind does instead is to personalize it all. I might not be able to understand a nation, a community, a building being destroyed, but I can at least come close to understand a person or a family being destroyed. And so that's what my mind does, it puts names and faces onto the nameless and faceless masses. It's not the sort of thing which is bad, or good, or anything like that, it's just how I happen to work. I wasn't able to make it through the whole video (if I would have stayed I just would have started crying and would have needed to leave anyway, so I didn't see much point). The part that put it over the top for me was when they had the footage from the first floor of the towers (before they fell down) and then in the background you just started seeing all of these things falling down, and they weren't rubble, but people, and every time you heard a thunk (they were quite loud) it was another person dying, right there, on video tape. I don't understand how the other people could have stayed though. Watching a video tape of human beings getting murdered....how can people watch things like that? It doesn't seem possible to me that they could, it blows my mind. The only explanation that I can offer is that they must not be fully comprehending what they're watching, that they're seeing people just like them die, because I don't believe that any person who really comprehended the significance of watching another person die could stand to witness it. I left the room though. After seeing something like that in real life, the appeal of watching it on video footage drops directly to zero. And so yeah, I guess I am finding out that I'm perhaps still a little more raw about the whole incident than I thought I was. It still does seem just about as real now as it did last year, just as real and just as disturbing. As with last year I'm also very disturbed about what we're about to do to another country (last year was Afghanistan, this year is Iraq, oh god, what will be next?), but as with last year, the concern and anguish I feel over what we're doing to other people in no way lessen the way I feel about what was done to us. Both are horrendous acts of evil and both go beyond my scope of comprehension. Therefore I'm left with much the same mix of emotions I had around this time last year, horror both for what has happened and what will happen. They're calling for everyone to wear patriotic colors tomorrow. I don't feel I can do that though. Therefore I'm going to wear all black with a tee-shirt bearing the quote from the Qur'an "He who saves one life, Has saved the whole world. He who has killed a human being Has killed all mankind" Black is for mourning because that is the emotion I feel most attuned with. I certainly don't feel swept up in a patriotic fervor. Such a show of solidarity and community seem at best meaningless to me (because what they are solidarity for is not specifically defined) and at worst alarming (because of what some people might define them as). Although I do feel things like horror and outrage that I was describing above, they really aren't my prevailing emotion. My prevailing emotion is sorrow; sorrow and mourning. I mourn for all of the innocent people of this world who have died unjustly and I feel sorrow for dark depths that the human condition and heart can sink to (though I do still staunchly maintain my faith in overall human goodness)I feel the quote is appropriate because it's not specific or one sided, I'm not condemning any one side, I'm saying that all killing is equally wrong. And yet at the same time, it offers the glimmer of hope which I feel is essential in times like this. When faced with the question of how we're supposed to respond to the deaths of more people than we can comprehend, it gives a very simple, clear, relevant and most importantly applicable answer. I cannot understand all of the evil in this world anymore than I have power to stop it all. What I can do though is just to do all of the good that I can in my world, and somehow, I have faith, that will be enough. 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 story2232.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. 198.109.168.234 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: How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I came back from the bus stop and my husband called. He told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I turned on the T.V. and watched the events happen before my eyes. Has your life changed because of September 11,2001? If so,tell us how. You stop and think about your safety and security sometimes. You realize that life is short. What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? I think people should remember what a terrible tragedy it was and remember all the people who died. Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th?Have you feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? I have always flown the American flag. I feel more patriotic than ever. 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 story8751.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. 2002-12-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.54.14.84 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at home watching t.v. when the show went off and it was announced that the World Trade Center had been hit. I went into shock and started to cry it was to hard to believe. As a child I visited the World Trade Center, I stood at the top and looked out at what seemed to be the rest off the world. It was horrible to know that my son could not do the same. I thought of all the people in those building and airplanes and prayed to God that those people would survive. The next few days the whole world had changed. I lived 10 miles from McGuire AFB and 30 from Philadelphia they did not know where that last plane was going it was very scary. New Jersey shut down that day many people from here worked in the city and many died. My brother who is in the NAvy was outside of Washington DC that day protecting us as my father and so many others had in the past. Until that day "A day that will live in infamy" was learned in history books or talked about by our grandparents who would have believed that there would be one for the new millenium and a whole new generation. The poeple who died were not millitary it was not there job to die for this country, but they are heroes. September 11th was our nation's darkest yet brightest day. Our country was pulled together and united in ways I had never seen. We were brought together instead of pulled apart. GOD BLESS AMERICA Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story3642.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. 205.188.209.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It was second hour during school. I was a teachers aid so I was on my way to the office to make copies for her class. I heard gasps from out Gen-Net room. (It had Tv's in it that show the rooms of other schools and teacher is at 1 site while the rest of the students learn via television) The 60's Vietnam class was in awe so I stopped in out of curiousity. I watched the 2nd plane hit the trade center. I dropped all my copies over the floor and stared at it. I ran to the office and got the secretaries and principal to come see what was going on. Many of us began to cry, even our history teacher. I'd never seen a grown man cry before. For the rest of the day our eyes were glued to the TV's in every class room. We discussed it and shared our feelings. A girl in my french class aunt died in the trade center. They never found her body. It bothered me that it took this to make me realize who real heros and stars are. Sure celebrities have their fancy houses and get to be on TV. Fireman and Policeman risk their lives every day. THose are true heros. They should be on the covers of vouge and Seventeen, not celebrities with the perfect bodies. THat day changed my life, the way a percieve things. It changed my whole attitude on life. I'll never be the same. But in a sense, I changed for the better 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 story5600.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. 64.12.96.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I work for a bank and we were just doing our everyday work when customer's came in. They told us that a plane had flew into the one tower. At first we thought it was just an accident. We than looked for a radio and turned it on to find out what was going on. Once we knew what was really happening we found a tv and hooked it up. We were really shaken up! It was very hard to concentrate on work, because you just didn't know if anything else was going to happen. I immediately called my sister who worked for a trading firm. She said she knew about it, because they worked with one of the firms at the towers. She knew some of the people who perished, she had just met some of the them a couple weeks before. My son's company did business with one of the companies that was at the tower's. He was upset and worried that something else may happen. Then I had concern because my husband works security for a power plant. My mind instantly started wondering if they would try to do something there. Everyday I worry when he goes to work that something may happen. One year later I still cry when I hear the stories about the people who have died. Everyday I pray more than ever to keep my family safe. 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 story4646.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.81.73.226