473 20 70359 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was driving to the middle school where I taught. As I drove up the 215, I was listening to the local Christian radio station that just plays music, no commercials, no news, just good music. As I was getting lost in my thoughts of another day, the D.J. came on between songs and informed us listeners that a plane had struck the WTC. In my mind I was saddened; however, I thought it must be a navigational error. As I entered the parking area I heard the D.J. say another plan had hit the towers. I called my wife before I got out of my car and told her ?We, America is under attack!? Being she taught at a later school than I, she had not heard any news of the event. She turned on the television to get the news. When I left my car I saw a few other teachers in the parking lot scurrying to their classrooms to get any news they could. I did the same. I turned on the television to see gray smoke pour out of the towers. I was to go on yard duty that morning, but I skipped it to stay in my room and see what was happening. Being in a school, we had to make some decisions pretty fast about how we were going to handle this day. Were we going to shield the students and not talk about it, or were we going to face it. Our principal made the decision to face it. Our televisions were on all day. When my students entered my classroom they were silent as they watched the television. They were greeted with the first tower falling. As the day waned and we watched more and more of the events un-fold, I was looking for the right words to dismiss my students. I ended the day with this: ?Students- welcome to history. Every generation has its photographic memory. My parents can tell you what they were doing when President Kennedy was shot. I remember sitting in front of the television in fifth grade, in Mrs. Paulsen?s room, as we watched the Challenger burst into flames. You, your generation just experienced your moment. You will never forget.? When I got home, the conversation was short and heavy. It was so strange to be in a country that was under attack. The week and weekend that followed we became media junkies. Our friends came over and we watched CNN and Fox News Channel. We had our computers connected to the internet looking for any type of information. We prayed and hoped for survivors to be found, and we were secretly crushed when no-one was found. The day, the weekend, the memory, will never 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 story1304.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. 2002-08-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.224.68.78 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Hello, My name is Robbie Rodriguez of 93.3 WFLS Radio. I'm a graduate of George Mason University. I remember September 11th like it was yesterday. I was at home in the early morning hours- I prepared my books and completed the final touches to a report I needed to hand in for a class. At the time I did not have my television on, nor did I turn on my radio. I just jumped in my vehicle to make my way to the Manassas Campus. I turned on my car radio and tuned into the station I work for. I was shocked to hear what I heard. At first, I felt it was a sick joke. I thought my co-worker was playing a weird story or a bit. I couldn't believe it. I started running up and down the dial. It was the same story on all the radio stations. I hit the gas, I needed to get to Mason's student lounge. I needed to get to a tv set to confirm these news reports. I pulled into the parking lot and ran into the building; everyone was crowded around the tv. I was so amazed at what I saw. I was very angry, very sad and confused. I am a native New Yorker, this attack really hit home. I wanted to do something, but felt helpless. Being a former United States Marine, I felt a sense of anger and a sense of responsibility to assist my country. I could not believe how this could have happened. How could a group of attackers have taken four planes. Someone was not doing their job. This can not happen again, we can not let these types of criminal events to occur. We all have to be proactive to combat these types of threats.I now feel a greater passion for what this country stands for. I have a great education. I hold a B.S. in Administration of Justice from GMU, I hope to utilize this education to defend and protect my country. God bless us all! Robbie Rodriguez GMU Alumni 2002 On Air Personality 93.3 WFlS 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 story8194.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. 2002-09-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.47.113.36 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: When the september 11th attacks happened I couldnt believe it! I was sitting in my fifth period class at school and I looked up at the tv and I saw planes crashing into buildings I really didnt think nothing of it! I just thought that it was somewhere else not so close to martinsburg! I NEVER thought that something like that would happen at least not here anyways! Everyone that died in the 9/11 attacks I send my regards to their loved ones that they left behind! Thank you for your time! With love always amanda 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 story8570.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. 2002-10-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 129.71.94.28 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: September 11, 2001 still stands out in my memory like it was just yesterday. All of the emotions that myself and everyone around me encountered were terrifying. I woke up to the phone ringing with my mother screaming for me to turn on the television. She kept saying, "This isn't good. This can NOT be good!" I didn't even believe what was happening. All I could think was that there was some mistake with all of this. I literally had to pry myself off of the couch and away from the television to go to work. The atmosphere at the Jacksonville Landing was very somber. We gave free food and beverages away all day long. Several bomb threats were reported in the vacinity and eventually we shut down for the day. Every single person's attitude was consoling and loving. I have never seen so many strong, grown adults cry in my life, but it was like we were all feeling the same pain and shock. And the only good thing that had come out of that day was the "togetherness" that the whole world showed. I have recently visited the World Trade Center Site and was one of the first people to take the Path Train when it reopened. It was exciting, but all I could think of was the lives lost there. It was a very eerie feeling. But at least I can say that whatever is decided to fill that void in the city will more beautiful, more precious and more meaningful than anything that ever stood there to begin with. My heart goes out to every single person that this tradgedy affected. I pray everyday to never encounter something like this again. Also to the Military fighting in Iraq. You are so brave. Jesse Gene and the 1484th, I love you! 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 story10306.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. 2004-01-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.140.5.231 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: September 11th. I was vacationing with my family, and at the current moment we were in the middle of the Thames river taking a tour cruise, viewing all of London's famed waterfront buildings, bridges, and the occasional ship. The time was around 3:00 pm, when people on the tour boat began telling me how sorry they were about what had happened in New York. Now to give you a better idea, I was wearing my usual garb of wrangler jeans, cowboy boots, jean jacket and stetson hat. Also a small Canadian flag imbedded in the middle of the hat, as I am Canadian. After several questions bantered about back and forth, we were able to learn that a plane had crashed into the world trade centre, but that was about all that was known from the people on board the tour boat. Upon returning to our hotel rooms and watching the footage on the t.v. we were just stunned and shocked. To say we were nervous about continuing our vacation on to France was an understatement. But in the end we did, and the people we stayed with made sure we saw all the war cemeteries, the D-Day landing beaches, Dieppe, and most importantly, people who were actually there at the the time, and their own stories. Getting back home was I disappointed in how Canada reacted to the events as they unfolded from then on? Yes. Still am, and feel slightly ashamed for every boneheaded remark that comes from the "superior" uppity people in the more dense population areas. That being said, my country, right.....or wrong. Just my thoughts. 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 story10778.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. 2004-09-03 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 172.129.153.19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at work and sitting at my desk when a friend of mine came to my office door and said a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. I was shocked, of course, but at that time I assumed it was another airplane with mechanical problems and it was just a terrible accident. A few minutes later, the same friend told me that another plane had crashed into another World Trade Center tower. That was when the entire world realized this was no accident. I remember feeling such a deeply pervading sense of sadness and shock and I also felt a strong need to talk to my children. My son, Justin, was living and working near Denver, CO and my daughter, Megan, was a sophomore in college at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, SD. I talked via telephone with both of these children several times that day. It was a great comfort to me and also to them. I also have a son, Owen, who was a sophomore in high school. I wanted him close to me, too, on that terrible day, but I knew he was O.K. in school. When he came home, he called me and told me how very disappointed and upset he was due to the fact that their study hall monitor would not allow the high school students to watch any of the events on television that morning. He was disappointed because he felt he had missed out on seeing a very important part of our country's history-in-the-making because a stubborn teacher wouldn't deviate from the regular school curriculum - not even for this. It was an extremely unfortunate decision for that teacher to make. To this day, barely a day goes by when I don't think about the victims of terror on that horrible day. My family's prayers go out to each and every one of the victims and their surviving families. I have to say, though, that I have a special place in my heart for the passengers on the flight that went down in Pennsylvania. Those men and women are our country's greatest heroes! God Bless them all and God Bless YOU all! Mary Jo Mohr 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 story3053.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. 66.231.24.247 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 my last week on the job as a Detective in the Lewes Police Department. I was accepting a new job as the head of the Criminal Investigations Unit in another police department and was completing tasks in preparation for the move. I was on my way to the office when I heard of the attack on the World Trade Center over my car radio. I contacted two of the patrol officers via police radio to ascertain if they had heard about the attack. The three of us met in the office and turned on the television...mere moments before the second plane hit the towers. As I watched the towers burning and the people jumping from the towers, a feeling began to grow inside of me and something told me that the towers were going to fall. As a police officer and a volunteer firefighter, I feared for the safety of my colleagues as they rushed into the towers to help those trapped inside. A short time later, the news station reported the attack on the Pentagon, followed shortly thereafter by the report of a fourth plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. The officers and I stood in disbelief of what was happening. Then, suddenly the first tower gave way and came crashing to the ground. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and I openly wept for my colleagues and the people whose lives were undoubtedly lost. I stood motionless and glued to the television for the next two hours, watching over and over the replay of the second planes hitting the towers and their ultimate collapse. I forced myself to walk away from the television and went to my office. I turned the radio on so that I could continue to hear the news and tried to focus on my work. I couldn't focus on anything and sat looking out the window. I called my fianc? several times throughout the morning to talk to her and we shared the news as we heard updates. Then, shortly after noon, I heard the Governor of the State of Delaware announcing that a contingent of firefighters, EMS personnel and paramedics from Delaware were being sent to New York City to assist in the search for those who were missing. With out a second thought, I called the firehouse to see who was going from our company. I spoke to the Chief, told him to have the guys grab my bunker gear, and I would meet the firefighters at the scheduled rendezvous point for deployment to New York. I contacted my boss and the City Manager and told them I was going to New York. I had to ask permission to leave my unmarked cruiser in a neighboring jurisdiction where the firefighters were meeting and without hesitation they granted approval and bid me a safe journey. Prior to leaving the office, I called my fianc? and told her I was going to New York and asked her to pack me a bag with enough clothes to last me four or five days. She started crying and asked me if I was sure I wanted to go. She knew I wanted to be there and, despite her concern, she never asked me not to go. Finally, I called my new boss and told him that I was heading to New York. I told him that I might not be able to report for my first day on the new job as had been planned. He was extremely supportive and told me it would be waiting for me when I got back. I met my fianc? thirty minutes later on the way to the rendezvous point. I gave her my service weapons and told her to lock them up at home. She gave me my gear bag, we hugged each other and said a short prayer. She kissed me goodbye and then I was gone. Looking back on it now, I don't know how she managed the drive back home, let alone the wait for my return. I drove as fast as I safely could to get to the rendezvous point. When I arrived, there were over seventy firefighters, EMS personnel, and paramedics, along with twenty-three ambulances ready to go. Of those making the trip, over 95% of us were volunteers who dropped what we were doing, left our families, and raced to New York to render aid. We drove the entire distance with our emergency lights on, led and followed by Troopers from the Delaware State Police. Along the route, people were waving to us, honking their car horns, and flashing their headlights. Along the way, my mother and my brothers called me on my cell phone; all of them crying. They wished me well, told me how proud of me they were, and told me to be safe. I thanked them for their thoughts, but told them it had nothing to do with pride. Like so many, I wanted to do something to help and when the opportunity arose, I jumped at the chance without a second thought. Looking back, I suppose I was somewhat selfish to make those decisions without asking my fianc?, but I just had to go! The trip took a little more than four hours; during the ride, I used the time to reflect on what I had witnessed earlier that day and tried to mentally prepare myself for the physical and emotional challenges that would lie ahead. When we arrived in New York, we were directed to a staging area to await the arrival of an FBI agent who would take us into Meadowlands Stadium. The stadium was set up as a staging area for responding emergency personnel. We parked along the New Jersey Turnpike awaiting our escort. We climbed out of our ambulances and looked across the Hudson River. The skyline was lit up with a strange glow and we could see smoke billowing from ground zero, drifting across Manhattan and the river as far as we could see. We stood there in awe and disbelief. When the FBI agent arrived, he spoke to the Delaware State Troopers and then escorted our caravan to the entrance of Meadowlands Stadium. When we arrived, there was another waiting period. Then without any word, we were told to regroup, climb back into our vehicles, and turn back South on the turnpike. We thought we were being taken to another location. However, fifteen minutes into the ride, the organizer of our contingent advised everyone via radio that we were not going to be needed and directed us to head back to Delaware. Needless to say, we were dumfounded and there were a lot of unanswered questions. Later, the caravan met at a rest stop on the turnpike where the organizer told us that we had been sent home because the mission had been changed from a rescue to a recovery effort. We were told that they had so many volunteers firefighter and emergency personnel from neighboring jurisdictions and States that they had to start turning people away. I understood, but I was extremely angry. I wanted to do something, ANYTHING, to feel that we were helping. I would have stayed there for days, even weeks just to help in some way. We offered to help with food preparation and shuttling supplies to the rescuers. But there were so many people that came out to volunteer, they had to turn people away. I guess in some ways it was good that they had the volunteers, but I was upset that I wouldn't be one of them. I guess in many ways I was being selfish, but it was the only way that I felt I could cope with the devastation. It was a very long ride home that night. On the way to New York, there was a lot of talk among us and several of us talked to others over the EMS radio. On the way home however, NOBODY said a word. We rode in silence, listening to the radio for any news updates. I arrived home around 3am, woke my fianc? to tell her I was home, and sat watching the news replay the day's events. I finally fell off to sleep around 7am and slept only for a few hours before being awoken by nightmares. In my mind, I kept seeing the plane hit the tower, people jumping from the building knowing they would not survive, and the towers crumbling. I thought of the people who died on the airplane in Pennsylvania trying to protect others from being harmed or killed. And, I thought of my colleagues, none of whom I knew personally, who died trying to save others. In the days and months that followed, I gave blood and organized a fund drive to raise monetary donations for the trust fund, but I still felt an emptiness inside. I talked with my friends who are police officers and firefighters and together we all got through it and we became a whole lot closer. On the one year anniversary of 9-11, I drove two hours to a blood bank where the Delaware Fraternal Order of Police had organized a blood drive to benefit the blood bank in New York. Eighty-five police officers came out that day to give blood. Later in the day, I had a tattoo scribed into my arm to remember and honor the fallen heroes of that day. I wanted the tattoo so that every day, when I woke up and got into the shower and every night as I prepared for bed, I'd see it and remember what happened. I'd think of the heroes who gave their lives trying to save others and the loved ones they left behind. I'd commit myself to making a positive influence in the lives of the people I serve, both as a police officer and a firefighter. The tattoo depicts the twin towers as the number eleven in "9-11-2001". The "9-11-2001" is surrounded by smoke that billows upward. Rising up out of the smoke is a Phoenix and on it's chest are the emblems of the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial and the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial. Above the emblems the words, "Honoring Our Nations Heroes" is inscribed. It is a design that I came up with and worked on for several months following 9-11. In addition, I wrote a poem detailing my thoughts and feelings that followed the tragic events of that day. Little did I know how my life and that of my fianc??s would change. Our son, who is also a volunteer firefighter, is a soldier in the Army and was stationed in Louisiana. Six months after 9-11, he was deployed to Kuwait where he spent nine months in the desert. His unit came home in December and we saw him for five days during this past Christmas. When he returned to base following Christmas, he was unexpectedly re-deployed to Kuwait and is now sitting in the desert somewhere outside Iraq. We had not spoken to him in three months, but he called and spoke to us for fifteen minutes on the telephone earlier this week. While we were elated to hear from him, we still fear for his safety and his safe return. He told me during the telephone conversation that he was given a choice to be on the front line or to take a support role further behind the front. He chose to take the front line so his buddies would be safer in the support role. Once again, I find myself wanting to do something, ANYTHING! I'd gladly take his place if they'd let me. On behalf of my fianc?, the mother of a United States Soldier, our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the families who lost loved ones on 9-11. And, to those serving in our military, we continue to pray for your safe and expeditious return. God Bless America and it's Heroes! 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 story9137.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. 2003-03-08 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.195 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 in my second hour spanish class just like any other day. It was early in the morning. After the second hour bell rang, I walked out into the hall as I did every other day. I remember someone who i did not know walking down the hall yelling "We are going to war." This sentance confused me as i had no idea what he was talking about. During the ten minute break period, rumor started to go around that a bomb had been detonated in Washington. I knew then tha something big had happened. From there, I wandered to my third hour class early. My teacher had the TV on, and I sat there alongside some of my fellow classmates. I remember the visuals, watching there in disbelief. The smoke of the towers was unbelievable. The newscasters who were talking at the time knew just as much as we did. Nothing. Third hour began, and the rest of my classmates became filing in. Little by little, more information came in about the events. We were astonished to know that a plane had hit the building. No none of use knew why. Then the second plane came crashing into the second tower. I thought that it was just a replay of the first crash. When I saw that both of the buildings were now burning, i knew that it was for real. The sight was horrific. For the rest of the day, in all of my classes, we watched the news. ALl of us had questions. All of us had mixed emotions. After school, i went home. I remember driving by a gas station, and seeing a twenty car line for gas. People were panicing. When I arrived home, I immediatly went to the tv. By now, they were showing the same footage, and had no new information. I remember that my father called me, and asked me how I was. He said he was leaving work early, adn that he would be home soon. On 9/11, i had a day full of emotions. Fear, anger, sadness. This is my story. 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 story2206.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: When I think of that morning, I see myself as if I was another person, drinking coffee and waiting for my co-worker Ophelia to arrive, sitting outside of the glass doors of the store that we worked in. Now I know that that's when the first plane hit. The second plane hit right around the time that we must have been taking the daily deposit to the bank. I imagine that most people in the building, and out on Boylston Street, must not have known what was happening in New York, because every indication was that it was an ordinary, if especially blue-skied day. At 10:00, I opened the doors, letting in a technician who had arrived to fix our air conditioner. I followed him back to the office, leaving my co-worker out on the floor. I sat down to complete the morning?s paperwork when the phone rang. This wasn?t unusual, since the management office had a service that dialed our number a few minutes after opening each day, prompting us to enter the previous day?s sales figures. I started my usual phone greeting, expecting to be cut off by the familiar female voice asking for the store?s pin number. I was indeed interrupted by a familiar female voice, but she wasn?t automated. She was real, and the tone in her voice was incredulous. ?You?re still open?,? Alisa said. She was one of our co-workers, who had the day off. ?Of course, why wouldn?t we be?? ?Oh God, you haven?t heard.? She explained what had happened. Her anger turned to sadness when she told me that she?d seen the south tower collapse in front of her eyes on every television channel. In the few months that we had worked together, Alisa and I had become friendly, not in small part due to our mutual love of New York, the city we had grown up around and both thought of as the center of our universe, even if we did live in Boston. An unspoken understanding passed through those first few exchanges of our conversation. I immediately felt a grieving love for our city, but also a more specific pain. My father had rather suddenly retired only a week or so before from an office high up in the tower that now no longer existed. I don?t think she had remembered that he had worked there, but if she did, it was awfully brave of her to call when the possibility existed that she would be the one to deliver such potentially devastating news to me. My mind raced. I thought about my father, and then his only recently former co-workers, some of whom were good friends of his. When I remembered that Ophelia?s daughter lived in Manhattan, I let Alisa go and rushed back out onto the floor to tell my co-worker to call her daughter immediately. She told me later that she sincerely thought that I had gone crazy in that back office, because she just knew that what I was saying to her couldn?t possibly be true. Amazingly, she reached her daughter right away, who had been sleeping far uptown, only vaguely aware of the sirens. On the other line, I tried to reach my family on Long Island, but got only a fast busy signal. As soon as I hung up, the phone rang again. This time, it was Allan, who worked at one of our sister stores in the same building, calling from home to see if we had heard the news. The voice of a female newscaster on his television in the background announced that two of the flights had originated from Logan Airport. I immediately felt a brief thankfulness wash over me as I remembered that my fiance, whom I?d earlier left sleeping at home, wasn?t flying that week. Allan said that there were planes still in the sky, and that there were rumors that other attacks on tall buildings were imminent. This snapped me back into a professional mode as the person responsible for a workplace in one of the landmark structures of Boston. I quickly hung up and tried to reach those from whom I?d have to get permission to close early. I felt the adrenaline rush of the fear of a personally unprecedented kind of unknown. The receiver shook in my hand as I met either phones that rang unanswered or the same fast busy signal I?d gotten when I?d dialed my family?s number. In the chaos, it appeared that no one was able or functional enough to give us any direction. Ophelia and I agreed that we needed to get out of the building as soon as possible. We ushered our one customer, to whom we had just broken the news, out of the store and locked the doors behind her. The two of us went to gather our things from the back office, where we nearly knocked the air conditioning technician off of his ladder. I had forgotten all about him. When we explained that we were closing the store, he looked at us nonchalantly and said, ?Oh, yeah, I heard about what happened on my way in. I guess if the building?s closing I can go home then.? Ophelia answered the phone, which was ringing on both lines again with the concerns of other co-workers at home. I let the technician out and watched him saunter through the corridor as I once again locked the doors. Everything felt surreal. I made a last ditch effort to leave notice with someone higher up that we were on our way out. I was leaving a message on my manager's answering machine when he groggily picked up asking me to explain again why we were going home. I sped through the now all-too familiar story, now just wanting desperately to get out and on the train home. I imagine that he was the second person that day to think that I was insane. As quickly and calmly as we could, we turned out the lights and set the alarm, leaving the store behind us. (When I came to work the next day, I would amazingly be reprimanded by technical support for not closing down the registers, too.) We explained to the owner of the store next to us that he should get out, too. Lights were going out all across the mall as we walked quickly to the front door. Ophelia and I headed off in opposite directions, sharing a sad hug first, and then hurrying towards our homes. As I walked towards the T fighting back tears, it felt like people on the street were living in two obviously different worlds. There were those of us who knew what was going on, and those who obviously hadn?t heard. I envied them desperately, if only for the brief moments that they would enjoy before they felt the same specific pain in their stomachs that I did. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story2177.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.41.122.78 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 tragic day of September 11, I was sitting in my computer class and the principle came over the intercom with the news of a plane hitting the 1st tower. Our principle decided that our entire school could sit in the multi-purpose room to watch the news. Even though we weren't there it sure felt like it. Most of the students started to cry just because of how aweful it looked and just the thought of what the people on the plane and in the towers what they were thinking. After that day about less then a month our school, Tri-unity Christian High School decided that it would be a great idea to take a group of students there around October 2-9 and help out with anything we could and I got to be one of those students. I talked to families and ministered to young children through drama and puppets. We helped with a church called Crossway and installed things that they needed, such as air-conditioning. We even talked with people on the subway and it was so amazing how they would right away open up to you and talk about their feelings and their emotions on this whole situation. I feel that this is only made americas HEARTS stronger. I pray everyday that this will live in our hearts forever, bond our nation as ONE,and may we never forget all who were lost. MAY GOD BLESS OUR NATION AND OUR LEADERS!!!!! Sincerely, Melodee Lourdes Joy Meyer 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 story5550.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. 67.217.80.179 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 flight attendant for Vanguard Airlines, I say "was" because the company has now gone bankrupt due to lowered passenger loads immediately following the terrorist attacks and to the increase in costs to operate due to increased security measures (which I feel are ABSOLUTELY necessary). Anyway, we had left DFW early that morning (0710) and were heading to MCI - the first of a four-leg day for my crew. The "back end crew" aka flight attendants - didn't have a clue anything was even going on but when we landed at 0825, I opened the cockpit door and our captain and our first officer were listening VERY INTENTLY to their headsets and had a puzzled look on their face. I remember Jay, our captain, said, "pull the cockpit door closed". I stepped into the cockpit and closed the door. "What's up?" Jay said, "There's been a nationwide ground stop and they can't say why?" I didn't have a clue what that meant. "What's going on?" Our first officer said, "They're making it sound like war has broke out!" I went and told the other two girls and we made an announcement that our thru passengers needed to deplane but we didn't give any further info. First of all because we didn't really have any and secondly because the very limited info we did have didn't sound good and we didn't want to unduly alarm anyone. The CSA that was working our flight went down to OPS to see when we might be taking off again and by this time total pandemonium had broken out all over. The airport was like a bomb shelter with wall to wall people and everyone with tears in their eyes. Cell phones were down and none of us could call family to tell them we were ok. My best friend, who's also a flight attendant, had gotten diverted the night before to LGA when she should have been in PIT and ended up spending 6 days in New York. My world had fallen apart! 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 story7841.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. 2002-09-18 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: On September 11, 2001 I was sitting at my desk where I work for PEPCO doing the Overhead Lines budget, when my husband, Roy called me from home to tell me that a plane hit the World Trade Center in New York. I told him I would call him back I wanted to tell my boss so he could turn the TV on. We turned on the TV and watched in disbelief that a plane had just hit the building. I called my husband back and we discussed that it must have been an accident, maybe the pilot had a heart attack, something like that and I told him I would call him back. I continued to watch the TV when the second plane hit the next tower and I called my husband again, crying that someone had to be crazy to do this kind of thing. We sat and talked for a few minutes, while he tried to calm me down and I told him I would get back with him in a little bit. I went back to the TV when my boss's wife called from the Pentagon and said that her building had just been hit by a plane. I ran to my office and called Roy to tell him, and he replied, Oh God Babe, Romeo. Romeo Bishundat was a childhood friend of my son, Roy Jr. and had practically grew up at our house for the last 10 years along with about 20 other kids. See we had closed in our garage and put a TV, refrigerator, computer games, pool table and stereo in there for the kids to have a place to hang out instead of on the streets getting in trouble, and it worked well. These kids are now 25, 26 years old, doing good and starting families, etc. Anyway, I assured my husband that Romeo was ok and that I would call his Mom now and get back with him. I called his home and got his sister, Danita who was very upset telling me her Mom was at work and couldn't get hold of Romeo and was going crazy. The rest of the day, I was talking to my husband, paging our son, Roy Jr. to make sure he was okay, and my daughter Lisa calling me from Daytona, Florida scared because I worked just minutes from Andrews Air Force Base and she was thinking they would be next. So now I was trying to get hold of another one of the kids who worked at the Pentagon, Zack Zimmerman. I got hold of Zack and he told me that he had a couple of voice mail messages from Romeo asking him to go on a smoke break, but Zack couldn't get back with him yet and then the plane hit. Zack was trying to find out something and promised to get back with me. Several more calls to Romeo's home and my husband, just kept me on edge wondering why Romeo had not called someone yet. But then I knew, either he was helping other people get out or get help or he was hurt and in the hospital, and because I knew Romeo did not wear his ID badge then they didn't know who he was yet. That was all. He was ok, he had to be ok. Then around 5:00 PM, I called his house again and his Mom was crying and telling me that the Navy had just called her and asked him she had heard from Romeo yet. I told her that I was leaving work and would be there shortly. I went by my house to get my husband and son and to go over to Romeo's. As I got there my house had several of the friends gathering, wondering what had happened. We all ended up at Romeo's and stayed there until after 1:00am. The Navy confirmed that Romeo had just being moved to the new section just three weeks earlier. He had only been relocated to the Pentagon, three months earlier. We called every hospital, we called everybody we knew. Then the Navy personnel arrived to tell us that Romeo was confirmed missing. I knew that Romeo wasn't dead, he had gotten to one of those tunnels in the Pentagon and was holding up waiting for the flames to stop so he could get out. I had to believe that with my family until September 21 when it was confirmed that Romeo was dead. They had located his remains and made a positive ID. It's funny, all this happened on September 11 and Romeo would have been 24 on Friday, September 14. That Friday night my family, and his friends gathered at his parents house with his Mom, Dad and two sisters and we celebrated his birthday, just knowing he was coming home. We lit candles, we prayed, we cried, then we sang Happy Birthday, and God Bless America. The next month was a total nightmare dealing with the waiting for his remains to come home for a burial. Then on October 17th there was a 5 hour visitation at the Jay Cee Hall for Romeo where over 700 people attended. My huband and son had put a video together of Romeo and his family and friends from the time he was born until just a week before his death. The video played continously throughout the visitation. The next day there was a funeral procession from Huntt Funeral Home in Waldorf, Maryland to Arlington National Cemetery, where over a 5 mile procession took place closing down Route 228, Route 210, and several more highways to accomodate the funeral procession without disturbance. He was buried with full military honors after serving 6 years in the Navy. A career he decided to start 2 days before his 18th birthday. He was on the Sheveport of Norfolk, Virginia and traveled to California, Spain, Turkey and several other countries, where he would call our house, wanting to catch up with the guys "The Crew" or getting the latest gossip from either me or my husband. He was declared Sailor of the Year in 2001, and after his death the named the Learning Computer Center after him for all his hard work while on ship. There was even times when Romeo would call telling us when to expect him so that I could have a pot of Chili ready for him when he would get in. Whenever he walked into our house, he would stand and look at himself in the mirror for several minutes, flexing his muscles and smiling at himself, so I put a 5X7 photo of him there. It seemed to be a fitting place to see his smiling face. Since September 11, my family, and his family and his friends are always going to some function in his honor and the others lost that day. I don't believe my husband and I will ever get over it, we still get with his parents weekly to help them get through it. And most of all we are doing what Romeo insisted on doing all the time and that was watch the guys keeping in touch, being there for each other and showing them that they are and will be a very special group of friends after being out of school 7/8 years. They are still "The Crew", but now they have a Angel watching over them. I still look up at the sky whenever I see a plane and never in a million years can I believe that a plane hit a building in the United States and killed Romeo. There is never a day he doesn't cross our minds and make our heart ache and make us shed tears thinking about him. This September 11, we will all be together at his parents house to give support to each other and on what would have been his 25th birthday, we will all be in a 5K race/walk in his honor, donating all to Children's Hospital. 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 story785.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. 2002-06-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.207.209 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: That it happened on such a luminous morning will always seem an extra measure of cruelty. After the previous day?s thunderstorms, the sky was a sparkling Easter-egg blue, the air warm and clean and full of promise. What pilots call ?severe clear.? Watching the staggering horror unfold against such astonishing clarity would make everything that was about to happen seem even more surreal. At 5:30 a.m. on September 11th, in a fluky change in my routine, I happened to be waiting for a cab in front of the Marriott, next to the Twin Towers. The morning sun had just illuminated our magnificent skyline and the towers shone proudly, glittering and winking in the sunrise, as they had for the past thirty years. And like anything that?s right in front of you your whole life, I took them for granted at that moment. I didn?t take special notice of the clean, strong lines on the outside of those two monoliths, didn?t appreciate the dedication and brainpower and good humor among the people who spent so much of their lives inside of them. The Twin Towers and I grew up together, in a way?both conceived in the mid 60?s and getting taller year by year. In 1973 the World Trade Center was complete and suddenly, the world my brothers and I inhabited was measured on a whole new scale. The dinosaurs we spent so much time thinking about were no longer ?taller than the Empire State Building!? according to our hyperbolic claims, but were now simply ?as tall as the Twin Towers!? It was like that with those skyscrapers. The Twin Towers were IT. The pinnacle. The zenith. Nothing need surpass them. They seemed to just appear in the New York skyline one day, the tallest buildings in the world to us, dominating the view as if they?d always belonged there. Aesthetes may have scoffed at their unimaginative design, but they were like the ungainly new kid in Junior High who figures out how to be popular anyway. Until some bitter and demented class cipher can?t take it anymore. The year 2001 is behind us now. For many, healing has finally begun. Yet I still can?t figure out how to convince my heart and my mind that what happened in September was not just some heinous dream. I can?t accept the idea that we can never go back to the way it was before, that we have in fact been robbed of a fundamental American notion (whether or not such a belief was fair and appropriate compared to the rest of the world): the idea that this beautiful country is a haven from the often misfortunate world beyond our shores. Scores of emails have circulated the globe about how lucky Americans are to have been spared for this long, about how we have been oppressors elsewhere, suggesting that it is somehow our Karmic due to accept terrorism onto our turf, too. This explanation doesn?t work for me. I will never understand why anyone would want to inflict such a pointless and destructive wound on humanity. But I wasn?t thinking about any of that at sunrise as my cab sped away from the spot that hours later would be dubbed Ground Zero, where a piece of the heart of the American Dream would shatter. I simply lay back in the cab and mindlessly watched the towers recede from view as I had a million times before. I had been up all night playing alcohol-fueled board games with friends?all of us freelancers who keep quirky hours--in an apartment directly across from the World Trade Center. It was impossible not to raise our glasses to our privileged view. We even briefly discussed the intent behind the 1993 bombing and, like everyone has since then, immediately dismissed the idea that such malicious audacity would ever succeed. How could we know that the often imagined ?unthinkable? would come true within hours. Uptown, I took a sleeping pill and hit the sack, expecting to sleep at least till noon. But, strangely, I awoke at exactly 8:45 a.m., just as the first plane (which I later learned contained my cousin?s wife and her mother) dive-bombed into tower two. An hour later, unable to sleep and still unaware of the chaos downtown, I turned on the TV. Ten minutes later I am half-running down Lexington Avenue as most of southern Manhattan is trudging up it, toward the Queensboro Bridge. People are six-deep in line at every payphone. Men in power suits are crying and holding each other. The only store still open is a Foot Locker, which is offering sneakers to the mass exodus like manna to the Israelites. In front of Bloomingdales, I see a man covered in blood and soot. He is carrying his attach? case, dazed, walking like he can?t remember his own name. It starts to sink in. This is not just some tasteless TV movie of the week. I keep stumbling downtown, searching my adrenaline-addled brain to remember which of my friends work in the towers. I?m riddled with guilt for abandoning my Scrabble mates downtown earlier that morning. (I eventually learn that they were yanked out of sleep to the precipice of Hell, shattered glass and soot blasting through their apartment. A few days later, while a national guardsman escorts them up to the penthouse and the roof? ?airplane parts? and ?body parts? grafitti?d in spray-painted neon--I wait for them in the middle of ground zero. A layer of thick white ash blankets everything and everyone. My eyes and throat burn. The ground is hot under my feet. Singed and sodden financial documents and streamers of audiotape are wrapped around defoliated trees. I peer inside an abandoned bagel truck. The bagels, covered in a thick layer of soot, look like iced donuts. A knife sticks straight up out of a tub of butter. A soot-filled cup with a teabag waits under a spigot. The owner?s jacket hangs on a hook. It?s impossible not think of Hiroshima.) As I continue downtown, watching the frightened, lost expressions on people?s faces, my heart begins to swell and tremble with an unfamiliar feeling?a deep sense of protectiveness for my city and its inhabitants. At 1:00 p.m. I find myself on 12th street on a friend?s roof looking at the radically altered view. I feel like I?ve lost a limb--as though I?ve emerged from anesthesia and discovered that my arm, or a breast, was unexpectedly amputated. Thanks to CNN, the sinister image of those dark planes ramming into the buildings is burned into everyone?s brain. I feel violated, repulsed by so much anger directed at my hometown. It makes me wonder how rape victims all over the city are taking all of this in. My friends and I go from hospital to hospital to give blood. There is a seven-hour wait everywhere, but we are weeded out of line for health reasons: I?ve been treated for cancer and my friends have been to Africa recently. They don?t want our blood. We go to North Moore and Greenwich streets, where we hear they are looking for volunteers to help the rescue workers. This line, too, is around the block. Still unable to comprehend what has happened, we helplessly watch Seven World Trade burning nearby. Moments later it begins crumbling?the third building to fall that hellish day--and the police scream at hundreds of us to run; apparently it?s falling somewhat unpredictably, toward us. No one is hurt. I race a few blocks north and am greeted by a group of ironworkers. They offer me some bottled water and a puff of oxygen if I want it. I decline and tell them number Seven is down. They begin assembling the torches they will use to cut the steel in the remains of the building, then start scribbling their phone numbers on little scraps of paper. Would I please call their wives and tell them they?re okay? It seems like peculiar timing to reassure their wives before they venture into the unstable, smoldering remains of what had minutes earlier been a 40-story building, but it?s the least I can do for these brave men. So I spend the next half hour at a payphone telling reassuring white lies to housewives all over Queens. Around 5:00 p.m. I trek out onto the Manhattan Bridge, where I am dismayed to find myself under a billboard for a cheesy TV movie that states portentously, ?This Fall, Prepare Yourself For One Unforgettable Day.? In the distance, acrid plumes of smoke permeate the canyons of a stunned and heartbroken city. I?m still so shattered about the buildings themselves, I haven?t yet begun to really think about the husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and lovers who were trapped inside them. That soon changed. I spent the next three weeks at the Family Assistance Center, at the Armory and Pier 94. My fellow volunteers and I greeted the victims? families, many of whom approached bearing Ziplock baggies containing their loved ones? toothbrushes for DNA sampling. The futility of it all was overwhelming. One man had flown in from Argentina to deliver his roommate?s hairbrush. Another woman had tracked down the biological parents of her missing adopted son in order to obtain their cheek swabs. The space was teeming with bleary-eyed but determined representatives from NYPD, NYFD, FBI, FEMA, the Medical Examiner, the US Attorney?s Office, The Red Cross, social workers, translators, chaplains, priests, rabbis, and imams. There was a toy-strewn child-care area, makeshift prayer space for every religion under the sun (for Muslims, a carpet below a handwritten sign that said simply ?East?), even a masseur (the much appreciated first stop for rescue workers coming back from a shift pulling bodies out of ?the pile?). Surprisingly, the atmosphere was reminiscent of a well-funded political campaign. Except that every so often heartrending sobs punctuated the din. It soon became apparent that relatives were extremely lucky if they received even a small fragment of a body part to bury. Yet the need to continue believing in the impossible was astounding. One young woman was certain that her missing brother was still alive?after ten days?convinced that he was surviving on dripping rainwater. A man whose boyfriend disappeared after running toward the collapsing towers in order to help was hoping that his partner had just been so caught up in the volunteer effort that he hadn?t had a chance to call?for almost a week. A Westchester housewife faithfully met her missing husband?s commuter train every evening for days afterward, hoping that he?d just become disoriented and would eventually find his way home. Understanding the grief that awaited these people when they were ready to face it was nearly unbearable. It?s been several months since a piece of our soul was taken from us. Given how fragile things seemed at first (watching millions of tons of steel and concrete crumble changes one?s perspective about what is solid in this world), it seems amazing that life has gone on. Even those of us who were a little behind the healing curve are now on the mend. I no longer flinch when a jetliner flies over the city or jump out of my skin when dishes invariably crash at the corner diner. I?m thinking about getting on an airplane again. My single girlfriends and I have forayed back into the dating trenches and have resumed our complaints about men. We think about the future, a concept that seemed almost pointless not so long ago. Life does go on. Soon it will snow and in the spring, crocuses will emerge. Summer will follow and on September 11th and every anniversary to follow, we will relive the sadness and the media will no doubt reanalyze every minute detail of that surreal day all over again. But people will fall in love, some will make babies, some will split up, maybe fall in love again. We?ll continue to be born, eat, sleep, dance, laugh, cry, dream, work and die. Perhaps we?ll come back, in another form, with a new understanding of everything. Perhaps not. Something will be built where the towers briefly stood and someday that building, and all of New York, will disappear and be replaced by something else. In the meantime, all we can do is love our city, our planet, and each other. That shouldn?t be too tall an order. After all, nothing worth creating is too high to strive for in this town. Just look at our skyline. (It?s still pretty magnificent.) 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 story6621.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. 64.12.96.206 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: Andy Sajdak On September 11, 2001 I was attending 9th grade at Barker High School. I was in third period Introduction to Occupations class learning how to fill out checks. The phone rang and the teacher talked for a minute. she gasped with astonishment from what she heard and quickly walked over to her desk and retrieved the television remote control from a drawer and flipped it to a news station. All we saw was a large high-rise with smoke bellowing out all the way across the superstructure toward the top of it. We were still not sure exactly what happened, as history was changed right before our eyes. We watched for a good five minutes then our teacher began explaining that we were looking at one of the twin towers and that a 747 jet was hijacked and crashed into the building. The class was over the second the television was turned on. We were watching in awe thinking that this was the end and next class we would go on as scheduled. Then another plane was seen in the distance flying toward every one was holding there breath praying that the plane would not hit the building. The plane was moving at full speed and slammed into the second of the twin towers. A fireball shot out the opposite side that was hit. People that were caught above the fire knew they were doomed and not wanting to die of being burned to death they decided that they would rather jump. The buildings burned for a good 10 minutes and more and more people were jumping. Then the reporter came on and said that another airplane had crashed into the Pentagon slicing it apart. Then we didn't know what to expect next. We all sat paralyzed with our eyes fixed on the screen when the unthinkable happened. The first of the 2 monstrous buildings collapsed. We were amazed watching the enormous building crumble before our eyes. It was like watching the demolition of old factories except when old factories are demolished they are uninhabited. This building was filled with thousands of people. We weren't aware of the massive life loss during the collapse of the building. Then minutes later the second structure collapsed papers were flying everywhere and an enormous dust cloud engulfed a large portion of the city. People couldn't escape the cloud and were also engulfed and covered with dust and paper. The city remained a large dust cloud for quite some time but when the dust cleared it was pure chaos. Wounded people were everywhere. The remains of the building were smoldering from the 2 white hot fires at the top fueled by the enormous fuel tanks of the 747's that pierced the buildings. 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 story599.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. 2002-05-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 168.169.8.35 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My husband and I were getting our children ready for school. We turned on the television and could not believe our eyes. We may be in Canada, but it was unbelievable. We watched from two minutes after the first plane struck, saw the second plane and then had to take our kids to school. My husband was off work that week, and we watched continuously. The t.v. did not even go off at night. I have collected as much paraphenalia as I could, pictures, songs, emails, everything possible. We drove past the airport and all we could see were all the military planes lined up, which sent chills up my spine. Many songs, a year from now will stop me in my tracks and bring tears to my eyes. Today, one year later, the t.v. has not changed off CNN as of 6am this morning, even my children have watched. I have had tears in my eyes most of the day. One thing that I will never forget, was this was called "The day the world stopped", and it really did. We have a great view of the moon out our back door, and we went outside a few times that night, 9/11/01, and something that was very eerie, was the moon, in 6 hours, never moved, it stayed in the same spot, pinpointed between two trees. I will never forget that or anything else that has happened, it has been burned into our memory for the rest of our lives. If I could send my heart for anyone or everyone in New York, I would. 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 story4574.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.66.94.142 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 the last week of my maternity leave. My mom, sister, and two-month-old daughter were enjoying a quiet, post-Labor Day vacation at Virginia Beach. We had just come in from breakfast, and my mom and sister went out to walk the beach. I sat down to feed my baby when the phone rang. My brother called to tell me to turn on the TV. The first plane had just hit. I watched for a few minutes until the second plane hit, and realized it wasn't an accident. I ran out to the boardwalk, with my sleeping baby wrapped up in a blanket, frantically looking for my mom. I told three or four people on the boardwalk... and interestingly enough, none of them seemed particularly concerned or even upset. My sister, who had ducked into the hotel room looking for me, came running out crying "What is that? What is that?" I told her quickly what had happened, and she ran out onto the beach to get my mom. We watched the towers burning, until the TV coverage switched to a burning picture of the Pentagon. We all started screaming. My mom, dad, stepmom, and father-in-law all work in Washington, DC - my father-in-law even working in the Pentagon. We spent most of the morning calling everyone frantically, getting my mom's co-workers out of DC, making sure my father-in-law was home safe. I must have called my husband ten times to just know he was okay (even though we live in a small town four hours from DC.) I used to live in New York City, so I called everyone I knew to make sure they were safe. We watched the rest of the days events, sitting on the floor in a fog. Thankfully, the baby slept for most of the day. Later in that afternoon, we watched ships leaving Norfolk/Hampton Roads Naval Base, heading out to sea to New York harbor. Due to the proximity of Oceana Air Base, the entire shoreside area was locked down, and the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel was shut down to traffic. We ended up staying another day at the beach. I've said now that I'm glad I was away from work and home on that day. Although being away from my husband was terrifying, I'm now glad I can separate the place and time from my "everyday" life. However, it made the day even more surreal. When I lived in NYC, the World Trade Center buildings could be easily seen from my Brooklyn apartment kitchen window. I saw them everyday. I love the city, but it will take me a while to want to go back. 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 story95.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-02-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 128.173.201.97 Annotation Annotations to this item. Military Personal connection to someone at site DOMESTIC 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 seemed like any other morning. We were at work at 5:00 am getting ready to serve our patients breakfast. The stories started to roll in and none of us believed what we were hearing. We were a very happy bunch of gals. It seemed we could always find something to laugh about but not that morning, everyones faces were drawn, tears were filling everyones eyes and no one said a word. We worked in completer silence as the radio brodcasted the horror. We all took a few minutes to go to an empty room to collect our thoughts(actually to cry our hearts out) with out any patients seeing us. I counted the minutes until my husband would be home, I needed to hear his voice. I knew he was safe but I still needed to hear from him. about 8:45 cst he called but I hardly recoginized his voice. I knew he heard everything on the radio on his way home from work. There was a sound in his voice that I'll never forget. He was scared, unsure and mad a HELL as we all were. He continued to call us every 15 minutes or so to keep us up with what was going on. Then the really hard part came..... Calling my 19 year old son and telling him to get up and turn on the TV. I tried to keep my voice calm but it was near imposssible. I just wanted to be with my family, I needed to put my arms around them, I needed to feel safe again, silly me..... I'll never feel safe again. Even after 1 year 9-11-01 will forever be burned in my heart. The pain that a simple Iowan was feeling made me relize that I was a part of a bigger picture. As the day went on I found my self mourning for the families of the victims as well as our nation. When I got home from work I seen my Flag flying in the wind and I knew nothing or no one will take away my Hopes and Dreams for our fucture as a family or a nation, But I am still angry, lost and still in mourning. This has been the longest year I can ever remember and unfortunatlly I"LL NEVER FORGET. Tara Cunningham, Lohrville Iowa 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 story3291.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.248.122.137 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 heard that the 1st plane had hit the WTC, I started feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness and dread. I remember the Cuban missile crisis from when I was a child, and how scary that was, and it all came rushing back to me tenfold. When the 2nd plane hit, and I knew that it was an act of war, a sense of being surrounded by evil came over me that I can't shake to this day. It is almost inconcievable that such evil exists, and yet we had proof of it that day. I hope my family and I, and no one anywhere, never have to go through anything like that day again. Only our faith in Jesus can sustain us, and help us to go on. To all those who lost someone on that day, I can only say that those innocent's are with Jesus, and those responsible will pay dearly, with their lives and their souls. 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 story4731.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: Well I had just gotten out of the hospital after having my daughter on August 3rd so I was on Maternity leave. It is weird because I almost died after having my daughter I was on a respirator or seven days not being able to talk or even hold my child for the first three weeks of her life. But anyway I was at hoem when my sister called mee from Bristol, PA telling me that a plane had crashed in to the WTC I didn't know what to think so then i turned on the t.v. and there it was the second plane had just hit the second building. I watched the news the whole day even when the buildings callapsed. It is funny because it took somethig like this to help me realize how lucky I was that god kept me alive to see my daughter watching all the people that jumped to there death i was thank ful GOD kept me alive and I stoped feeling sorry for my self knowing that it could have been worse. 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 story2682.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. 198.51.78.79 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, like most American's, will never forget where I was. Although, I am sure it is nothing like being in New York, Washington or Pennsylvania. I had just dropped my son off at the Eli Lilly Daycare center and was sitting at the stop light at Madison and McCarty when Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer from ABC's Good Morning America started talking about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. I was listening to the news feed on my radio in my van. It was obvious from what I was hearing that they weren't quit sure what was going on. I listened to the news on my radio for the next 10 minutes on my way to my office. But in my heart I knew something terrible was taking place. By the time I got to my office I was feeling pure panic - like I had never felt before. I literally ran from my van into my office and starting yelling at our Property Manager (who sat in the cubical right beside me) to turn on the tv, that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I think I was babbling something about terriorists. One of the gals I work with said I was saying that, but no one really knew at that point what was happening. We ran upstairs to the breakroom to turn on the television and watch what was happening. I knew for the next couple of hours we were watching every t.v. in the place. I sat down in the Board Room to watch the big screen television and then the second plane hit. I don't remember the details, but I watched the Towers fall on the biggest t.v. in the building. It was like actually being in New York. I was sobbing at this point. I am sure I felt like most American's...stunned! I just couldn't believe it was happening. But there it was in color and as big as life. I knew thousands of lives had been lost. I felt very dazed and confused as our Management tried to figure out what to do. Later in the day, I was scheduled at a conference downtown. Most of the people downtown had been told to go home, so it was very quiet. I was surprised that the conference had not been cancelled. But Former Indianapolis Mayor William Hudnut was scheduled to speak. He was actually on a plane headed to Indiana when the planes were hitting the Towers. I can't imagine how scared you would be if you were on a plane and learned what was happening on the ground, to one of America's greatest land marks. A mode of transportation had suddenly been converted into a missle. Well, Mayor Hudnut gave one of the most moving, direct-from-the-heart speeches I have ever heard. I think he totally scaped what he had intented to present. I was so glad to hear from him that day. It was calming and reasurring at the same time. Needless to say, I went to sleep (what sleep I got) that night wondering if my family was safe and what was going to happen to our counry. But I knew that no evil would shake the American spirit. That we would fight for our freedom and that what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger. I see that so much more clearly now. It is a lesson I will teach my son. I was so glad George W. Bush was our President at the time and that he took such swift, sure action. One year later, where are we headed? There has been a lot of military action in Afganistan and now it looks like we will be going to war with Iraq. I will be interesting to see where we end up and if our Nation will stay as great as it is today. 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 story6222.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. 65.174.52.3