478 20 70359 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I was walking in the hallway at school and I overheard a couple of teachers talking about what happened. Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. Little things are not important to me anymore. My friends and family are now more important to me than my job. What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? The courage that everyone had and how well everyone came together as a country. Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? Yes, I have flew the flag. For me, the flag now represents more unity within our country. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story8830.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-12-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.54.14.84 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was sitting in volleyball study hall and we were watching the news, at 9:03a.m. I witnessed the second plane hit the South Tower. I heard that one had already hit the North Tower. I did not know what to think. As for everyone in the United States I could not believe my eyes. During school time I could not seem to get my mind to concentrate, the only thing i could think about was the people in New York and the passengers on the planes. Later on that day when i got home all i did was watch the news. I remeber my mom saying " girls it's okay to be scard and upset but we have to hold our heads high and pray for these hurting families. September 11, really has opened my eyes, i didn't know how much we took for granted. I love this counrty and i'm sorry to see this happen. 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 story7528.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. 2002-09-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.165 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 walking to class and a friend ran up to me saying "did you hear what happened??? some planes crashed into the world trade center!!!". I seriously believed it to be some twisted joke, until I walked into class and saw that the TV was tuned into the news. The news broadcaster repeated what was just spoken to me (in more detailed terms). I sank down into my seat and began thinking of all the people who were dying at that moment. The lives that will be lost thereafter. The effect that such an event will have on our nation. The news channel kept repeating the scene over and over on the television. Then announced the crash which had taken place in PA. I felt my stomach drop and could no longer bear to watch it. The loss of life caused by such a violent act brought tears to my eyes and a deep saddness to my soul. I couldn't understand the reasonings behind such a vicious act. I think many people felt the same way that I did at that moment. Confusion, fear, sadness, helplessness and an odd sense of unity. Every one in the country felt similar emotions and every person (in their own way) prayed for the families of those effected by such a tragedy. It was a horrible time, but the country united and showed that through chaos- we can become one. 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 story9604.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.48.242.149 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 story actually begins in a little burg outside of Jacksonville called Richlands. I was a home health aide at that time and was at a client's home. I had been sent out to the convenient store down the road that morning, a little after 9am. As I was coming back down the road towards her home, the announcement came over the radio that "two jets have crashed into the World Trade Center". I remember thinking frantically to myself that I had heard of that building before, but could not recall where it was. After a few more minutes of the news story, I realized that I knew exactly where the World Trade Center was and all the memories from the earlier attack came rushing back to me. I got back to my client's home and immediately asked if I could turn on the TV. I watched in horror the reality of what was happening in our beloved country and it still would not completely soak in. I tried to call my husband, then an active-duty Marine at Camp Lejeune. I could not get through. I then called our neighbor on base and asked her if she'd seen. She had and was taping everything on TV. Realizing that this was an act of terrorism, we were both very concerned about the future of our husbands. I then contacted my Mom in Ohio who had not heard or seen anything. She just hadn't bothered turning on the TV that day, preferring to read a book. We cried together and talked about the loss of all those people. It was a very terrifying moment, even for those of us who were states away from the actual attack. Shortly after I hung up with her, my client's neighbor walked over to inform us that the Pentagon had been hit as well and that there was another plane out there that had been hijacked. The world seemed to be coming to an end. I had debated going home early from work, but decided that there was nothing that I could do at the house and that my client needed my care more importantly. I stayed the remaining two hours, but rushed home when the time came. It didn't dawn on me that for the first time since we'd been living on base, I was going to be checked out at the gate by one guard while another walked around looking into my car armed with an M16. That was a pure reality check on my part. I nearly bawled just getting myself the four blocks down the road to our house. It was very scary and it was just starting. To my great relief, my husband was actually at the house. I ran in and gave him the biggest hug that I'd ever given. We didn't say much at first and just watched the images over and over again as well as the current rescue operation. We then received the call that the base was increasing its security level to the highest which is Delta and my husband had to go back to the shop. We weren't sure if he'd be back that night or not. Thankfully, he was. The following three months before his retirement was very difficult. We were watching friends of ours being shipped out left and right. The gate never really did get much easier to get through (though I was thankful for that) and the proud feeling I would get when the helicopters and jets flew over the house increased, but in an eerie, realistic manner. I realize that my story isn't earth-shattering or even remotely interesting...but it's mine. It shook my confidence in the safety of this country just as much as everyone else. My husband is no longer in active duty and we now have a beautiful little girl just blessed to us two weeks ago. Her health and well-being are the most important things to us now and my concern for our country's safety is connected to both of those. I sincerely hope that everyone is recovering from this horrible blow as well as they can. God bless us all. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story6683.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. 24.166.237.76 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: Bueno para mi fue como estar viendo una pelicula ,no podia creer lo que estaba pasando ver toda esa gente correr por sus vidas gritos y llorando por el panico .Yo me encontraba en casa a cababa de levantarme y como siempre ensiendo el televisor para ver lo que ay lo primero que vi fue la primer torre gemela con mucho humo me que asorada momentos despues vi como el siguiente avion se estrellava contra la siguiente torre , fue muy duro ,yo trataba de imaginar el pavor de las personas inocentes que se encontraban en los aviones y trambien en los edificios no pude mas y empeze a llorar por que son seres humanos como yo y pensar que eso le uviese ocurrido a cualquiera. Fue momentos muy duros aunque no tenia familiares en new york senti horrible por ellos ver que el orgullo mas grande de los u.s.a se venia a bajo con todas esas personas mi corazon latia muy fuerte de desesperacion de no poder hacer nada y ver como la gente cayendo al vacio fue espantoso.Yo quisiera que todas las personas que perdieron un familiar en los atentados se pan que sus seres queridos se encuentran bien , claro se que duele mucho ,pero tambien piensen en esto que ellos ya se encuentran descansando y felizes al lado del se?or por que eso si estan con el.Bueno creo que eso es todo pero eso si nunca lo vamos a olvidar por que fue como una pesadilla de la cual fue duro despertar. 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 story6389.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. 67.98.161.56 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's hard to believe the little details are still with me. I remember traveling in the morning rush hour on this clear and beautiful day about 8:30a. I rounded the bend of a highway just past the Phoenixville Exit of highway 422 east with all the other travelers at that time and saw the most breathtaking view of a valley tucked below tree filled hillsides hovering over and surrounding it. It was a little misty, and I was a little captivated with the view. In that distant view I saw smoke rising from an area and two small airplanes flying over the smoke and I remember thinking how odd. Traffic began to move a little quicker now and I soon reached my exit for Norristown. I did not have talk or new on my radio that morning, so I was very surprised at what awaited me upon reaching work at 9:10a that morning. I am the Jury Manager for Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and by all accounts when I received a very strange message about an airplane accident, I really did not believe it. Like most people, I am sure I thought it must have been some misreporting of the news. I had about 150 jurors that day sitting for jury service. As soon as the news broke about the first tower being hit by an airplane, cell phones began to ring. (We do not take cell phones until jurors are assigned to courtrooms). Instantly, upon report of the second airplane striking the next tower, my gut was tight and the 150 captive jurors were beginning to panic. A father came to me instantly and said he needed to leave, as his son worked in one of those towers. He was going to NY and nothing was going to stop him. I believe he made it into the city before it was closed off. To assist the people in their need to know as much about the situation as possible in there yet captive state, I turned on our large TV monitors and tuned them into the National new channels. I don't know what we actually expected of these jurors after this news broke, but surely being a "juror" in the true sense of the word was not a possibility. Our judges did not get the new and it was business as usual until about 11:00a. The longer the horrified and yet sedated group of people stayed captive and compelled to perform the function of "Jury Duty" in light of the very events happening all around them, the greater their concerns raised up in them. Schools were closing, parents needed to secure coverage for their children. Their society was changing as they were sitting within the walls of the courthouse waiting to cast some fated judgment on a defendant whose time has come for justice. As it became clear that the United States was under attack and that there were planted terrorist anywhere in the US. It became increasingly clear that safety was an issue. I informed and petitioned the judges to release the jurors for that day. The judges did comply. I longed to see my children 14 and 24 to let them know that while the world may change around us, we are still family and loved. We have protection in that love. Yet, when death comes and separates us for what may seem an eternity, that we remember, "greater love cast out all fear", and "love changes not". I saw pain, emptiness and more inner turmoil in people than I have ever seen or ever hope to see again. The pain, and anguish on the faces of the people of NY, DC and PA caught up in the drama were encrusted with a new reality. A reality that ?life? is gift. Life is very fragile and tender gift; a gift that can be taken away by careless acts of hatred. I would like to think that when we awoke 9/12/01 after the horrific acts of 9/11/01 that we awoke with hope. Hope that the bleak darkness that enshrouded us the day before would give way to peace. Yes, "Peace" a defiant-peace that would marshal the courage to go on to yet another day, because we are the survivors. Survivors must pick up and go on. The dead cannot go on, they have fallen where they are and must be remember for their contributions to our world our lives. What of the "survivors"? Who are they? They are you and me; they are peoples of every race, religion, culture and ethnic hue. They are the people whose freedoms are greater than their sacrifices. Who believe that at all cost we must survive. As a previous military personnel, I can remember thinking that the powers of government had let the people down and that the military strength is so much less that it was say, ten - twenty years ago. My thoughts of military might mismanagement were probably one of a knee-jerk reaction. I guess it is easier to think of retribution when so much suffering is going on. After all, the great US was always deployed to places in the world to alleviate suffering and to protect the weak. It just didn't add up. Where was our protectors on 9/11/01? By now, this is all rhetorical, and needs no further questioning. I am just remembering my thoughts of the day. My story does not end here, but for the sake of closure; I will borrow the words of Maya Angelo "I know why the caged bird sings", and Marcus Garvey "Lose not courage; lose not faith, go on" -END- 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 story6464.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. 12.40.122.100 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I originally posted this on Askme.com's Atheism board, where I am a frequent contributor under the name "Andiri". ---------- Just wanted to say that I witnessed the attack on the WTC, and I'm okay. I take a subway that stops at the WTC every day. The first plane hit while I was in the station; the second when I was a few blocks away. When the first tower collapsed I joined the flood of refugees walking up along the East River toward Midtown. And yes, there remain atheists in foxholes. ----------- The first plane actually hit just as the train was pulling into the station. I recall a slight thump. My first impression was that there had been another transformer fire; there had been one a few months earlier, and the filling of the station with smoke seemed similar. The police were hustling us out of the station, and I recall being puzzled by people who were loitering, perhaps waiting to meet up with others. I headed out as quickly as possible, worried that there was a spreading fire. It wasn't until I was out of the building and saw the "snow" of debris that I realized that there had been an explosion far up on the building. I thought it might have been a bomb but could have been an accident. The police were asking people to get away from the base of the tower to make room for rescue workers and besides I was having trouble breathing, so I headed off towards my office near the South Street Seaport. When I was only a few blocks away, I heard the whine of the second plane and caught a glimpse of the explosion as it hit the other tower. That was when I realized what was going on, but there was nothing to do except continue on to the office. Telephone and cell phone service were interrupted, but I was able to contact my wife by AOL IM and reassure her, and of course everyone sat around speculating about what was going on and surfing the web for information. My wife, who worked in 2 Penn Plaza, told me she was leaving early because Penn Station was a possible target. Then we heard people screaming in the street. We went out to see what was going on, and saw a wall of debris from the collapsing towers sweeping through downtown. I was actually more afraid then than I had been earlier. A coworker and I ran to the river, then walked north, looking for a functioning PATH station or even a working phone, but eventually ending up in midtown, where his wife worked. Her office was closed, but she knew a friend farther uptown who was able to let us into her office. Phone service was still poor but I was able to get in touch with friends and family via email, and got in touch with my brother, who lives in Manhattan. We met up and I stayed at his apartment listening to CNN until Mayor Guilliani announced that "diplomatic relations with New Jersey had been restored", as I joked, and I was able to get home. 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 story1117.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. 2002-08-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 208.255.113.3 Annotation Annotations to this item. Police Officers Rescue/clean-up workers/volunteers Struggle to get home WTC, attack NY:2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: September 11th: What a Day September 11th?What can I say? What a beautiful day for such a horrible tragedy. On this particular day, I was sitting in school in my study hall daydreaming about my band's last practice. I was thinking about how we had such a great practice and hoping that day's practice would be good too. Then, there was a disturbance to my daydreaming. I don't remember who the teacher was but all I heard was "a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center." My study hall teacher, Mr. Mufford, turned on the television and sure enough CNN was reporting that at 8:46 a.m. a plane had struck the first building, which was the North Tower. Thick clouds of grayish smoke filled the New York City sky. All I could think of was that it was nothing big and the building would be slightly damaged. After I saw the damage of the first building I was pretty shocked and worried for the people in the building. Then, I saw the second plane hit at about 9:03 a.m. into the South Tower and I was completely in awe. I had no idea that this was an act of terror. I figured it was a plane that got lost or something but when the second plane hit I was really scared. Bridges and tunnels leading into New York City closed at 9:21 a.m. Even though we are so far away from New York City, Barker has a power plant that gives power to places all over New York. American Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon at around 9:45 a.m. The unthinkable happened. The South Tower at the World Trade Center collapsed which caused a bigger reaction from everyone. As the buildings started to collapse, I really started to get worried. The North Tower at the World Trade Center then collapsed at around 10:28 a.m. All through my school the only talk was of this tragedy. Fourth period came around and the television was glued on CNN. We sat and watched the struggle and listened to the news in horror. Nobody could believe that such a bad thing could have happened to our great nation. Pretty much all through the school day, all we did was sit and watch the World Trades Center slowly decay and crumble. After I got home that day, I sat down and watched all of this tragedy there. All day long I had people calling me, and I was calling people trying to see if they have heard anything new. Our practice had long been cancelled because we decided it might be dangerous to go out and about while all of this was happening. I was so upset to see the buildings collapse and see all of the people struggle to get away. The next day, on the news, there was major coverage of all that happened. Everything happened at the blink of an eye and still no one could believe that the Twin Towers were gone. If I only had one wish I would have wished not to see the aftermath. Seeing everyone in such a state of craziness kind of disappointed me. The hurt, the pain, the agony. Families left without knowing where their mother s, fathers, brothers, and sisters are. Since September 11th , I have gained a new pride for my country. I saw how my country pulled together to help one another. Monuments have been built in loving memory of all of the victims. Before, I just took American citizenship for granted and I really didn't care if I lived here or not. Today and forever more, I am glad to say that I am truly proud to be an AMERICAN. 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 story740.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-06-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 168.169.8.34 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: That morning I was off work and had not turned on the TV until 10:30am! As I began watching I thought 'mercy how awful, I wonder where in the world that is'; as the, then re-run of the first plane hit.......then the second!!.... I knew it was here and that we were having something really terrible happening in America. I sank into a chair and thought "this is a message to America"! A wake up Call to stop sleeping and thinking we are untouchable!! It was on OUR shores!!!! The Pentegon, the field in PA and the Towers and who knows what else was targeted that day! My first reaction was a sickening feeling, shock and a real feeling of Gods' presence with for our nation. It was so sad and humbling and could have been SO much worse than indeed it was. Then I was mad and the 'Air Force Brat' in me wanted to send in the troops and get the buggers!!! I know without fail that we MUST stand up and fight this evil, that not only wants to kill us, but wants to take over the world with their evil! This is real, this is now and this is nothing to take lightly. We have been more than for-worned and the fight is now and is to be fought to the end, whatever that is!!! This where the true blue get separated from the wishy washy! Where the courageous take the stand and lead!!!! This is not the first, nor will it be the last...do we want to see these type of attacks here? If not, then we had better get that border shut and controled! Wake up to the real reality that we are not in an 'ice cream and cake' life, but that we MUST fight for our freedom, right to believe in God, freedoms of speech and life, the way that American forefathers begain this nation to be! We must UNIT and be for America together, as countrymen and stop all of this bipartisen, politically correct liberlism! Be the true patriots that, deep down, I believe us to be!!! We were blessed by God in this great nation for a reason and for JUST such a time as this!!!!! We have got to be wlling to fight for what we beleive in and stand for!! Not someday, not when there is rain, when there is more money, less money, when it freezes in the tropics or an other rediculous time....IT IS NOW!!!!!!! The border is a sive for terrorists that are flowing in as we eat and breath everyday and are waiting to do us harm....grave harm and we just sleep some more! Our leaders on ALL sides of the fence need to stop the yaking, spending foolishly, thinking stupidly and selfishly, being politically correct, being personally greedy and get off their duffs and get busy taking care of America and its' people! The people that put them in office and can remove them......personally neither party works anymore!! The House, Senate and Congress are full of many greedy, narrow minded, foolish, weak, liberal, or political big heads that just are squandering our well being, our nation, our livlihood, future and freedoms for their selfish power and self fame!!!! Our founding fathers would be so ASHAMED of what has happened to this countries government: the moral, political, and personal slipping of what we stand for and what they forged for us in the beginning!!!!! They would kick the lot out and start fresh....just ask Americans what we really feel and think about what is happening to America! Just ask the families of the soldiers who are fighting for us and our freedoms! Just ask the people who lost loved ones in the Towers, Pentegon, and the field in PA!!!!! Why do think we are becoming MORE than angry that the illegals are here throughing their weight around, when they have NO right to!They do not respect the fact that this is OUR nation and NOT theirs! Their government should be held accountable for them and certainly NOT us here in America! Just who do they think they are anyway? Same with the terrorists that are laying in wait? They do not know who we really are: We are strong, tough, patiriotic AMERICANS who forged a nation for FREEDOM, LIBERTY AND THE HERITAGE THAT WE WERE FOUNDED ON! That, if given the provocation, WILL fight and fight feroceously for freedom, our people, right to worship God, and the United States of America to the death and then some! DO NOT PUSH US TOO FAR because we WILL push back! It is way past time for us all to rally together for our country, our America, the strength we have stood for and show the buggers we mwan business......no matter who doesn't like it or how we do it......LET'S ROLL....LET'S GET HER DONE...NOW!!!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA; UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL!!!! Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story20800.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 172.190.67.54 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 11th, I went to the airport to say goodbye to my boyfriend who was going to San Diego for more Marine training. He had already been through basic training. We said our goodbyes at 6:00am and I went home and took a nap and was awaken by my boyfriends sister asking me where her brother was. I was telling her his flight plan and she told me to get up and turn on the T.V. I did and I couldn't believe what I saw and they were reporting that all flights had been grounded. We had no idea where he was for 4 hours. Being the military, we knew he would have to check in so he was accounted for, but the wait for the phone call was nerve racking. I called all my friends and family and asked them to start praying. Not just for my boyfriend, but for everyone. Jana Bartling Oklahoma City, OK 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 story3434.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. 67.203.112.53 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was headed to Portland, OR for work, leaving from Washington DC's National Airport and changing planes in Chicago. My flight was scheduled for 10:00 a.m., but I was able to get on an earlier flight that left at 9:00. I called my husband, so excited about my good fortune because I'd have an hour and a half to switch in Chicago, rather than 30 minutes. We took off on time, and I had two cups of coffee before my row-mate, a retired fire chief, turned to me and said, "The FAA just lost two planes." Very matter-of-fact. He had headphones on, and I couldn't imagine what he was listening to. When he said, "The World Trade Center just collapsed," I thought he was joking. Being from Boston, I pictured a few glass windows falling out of the sides of the building like the John Hancock building. I asked him what he was listening to, and he said the cockpit. I listened in, and I heard the pilots talking to ground control, discussing where to land the plane. Then the pilot got on the intercom and told us that there had been some terrorist activity and the FAA was ordering all planes out of the air. We would be landing in Indianapolis, most likely. He also told us to stay seated and not to open the overhead bins. We were in the air for quite some time before we landed in Cincinnati. We were ushered off the plane and I remember thinking, "There's no one in this airport except a few people on their cell phones. The place was deserted. Someone from United said that they would be bringing us to a hotel and there would be no flights out that day, perhaps the next day as well. Two women from Asia who didn't speak English were on my flight, and they were so confused -- I felt so sorry for them. Many of the passengers were headed to Chicago to take the over-the-pole flight to Asia, and they were stuck. In baggage claim, I tried to get a rental car, but nothing would be available until Thursday. While waiting for the shuttle bus to the hotel, a bunch of us were discussing how to get back to DC. We agreed that if one of us could find a way, we would not leave the others behind. Although the airwaves were jammed with phone calls, I was able to get four calls out. I left a message at my husband's office, at our home, on my boss's machine, and finally got through to my father at work, while we were on-route to the hotel. He assumed that I hadn't left DC. Another passenger asked if my dad would call his wife, and gave him the number. Once we got to the hotel and checked in, I turned on the television. I vaguely saw a plane flying close to the World Trade Center towers, but I was focused on the Yellow Pages. I called the first limosine company that accepted charge cards and was told they had one vehicle left. "I'll take it." One way fare to DC would be $800. Split between five people, that sounded like a bargain. I had 20 minutes to round up the others, get something out of the vending machine, and be in the lobby. I still have the package of trail mix I got from the machine, and I've saved the page I tore out of the Yellow Pages with the number -- Sorry Howard Johnson's! The "limosine" was a burgundy mini-van with a driver named Butch who stated right away that he was not a long-distance driver. At 12:05 p.m., we filled up the gas tank and were off. First stop -- Butch's house to pick up his medicine. Apparently, he wasn't sure how far he was driving, and he thought perhaps he should get his medicine if he was going to be gone overnight. He came out of his house with his medicine in a bag -- and nothing else! No toothbrush, no change of clothes, nothing! After about two hours of riding and listening to the news, Butch started to fall asleep at the wheel. "Butch, I need to use the bathroom. Can we stop at the next rest area?" I asked. From then on, I drove. Three of us had cell phones, and they were passed around for everyone to use. I finally got through to my husband. When his office was sent home, someone gave him misinformation that a United flight out of National (rather than Dulles) had crashed into the Pentagon. For the two hours it took him to get home, he thought my plane had gone down. Once he got to the station closest to our house, a Marine looked at him and said, "You don't look so good. Can I give you a lift?" Once at home, he got my message. It took us 10 1/2 hours to get home. After greeting my husband, I crawled into bed with my sleeping children for a little while. I've never been so determined to get home, and so focused on finding a way to get there. It wasn't until 11:00 at night that I first watched the World Trade Center crumble to the ground. 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 story871.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-07-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 134.67.6.46 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I had taken an early walk on the morning of September 11th, 2001. I remember it being such a beautifulday, full of sun, crisp cool air. My son was due to be born any time and I was walking to encourage the birth process along. I had been having contractions off and on for days. I must have come back in to the house sometime after 8:30 and was just resting on a comfortable chair timing my contractions. Suddenly, a relative who lives just across from us walked through the door with a look of panic on his face and said, "I don't guess you've heard..." A feeling of dread overwhelmed me as I scanned over possiblities in my mind of what he could be talking about. Had someone died? "We've been attacked. Two planes have just crashed into the towers in New York." As those words pierced the quietness of the house I don't think either of us could really believe them. We quickly ran back over to his home where the television was still showing footage of what nobody could believe had just happened. We kept asking one another questions. "Don't you think those buildings could fall?" "Is anyone helping those people out?" "What's going to happen next?" Neither of us could comprehend that this could actually be happening. I just watched those towers burning and thought about how there were actually people in there that were facing a horrible death while I sat in my neighbor's home watching. Did they know that the world could see them? The world could see them but no one could do anything. That is unbelievable. And as the day wore on the story grew more and more unbelievable. Another plane crashed into the Pentagon? Another in a field in Pennsylvania? What was happening? I finally drug myself back home almost in a daze. In fact, the rest of that day seems almost like a blur. All I kept seeing were the airplanes crashing. All I could think about was how those people trapped in the buildings must have been so afraid. I asked the Lord to hold them. On September the 12th, my son was born. My mother-in-law wrote this haiku. Manhattan burns, Ira is born, A flower in a field of ashes. 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 story5725.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 165.247.189.241 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: September 11, 2001 Tuesday, September 11, 2001 started off as a typical day for me. As I have done for the past four months, I took the 7:39 AM Metro North express train to Grand Central, arriving at about 8:20 AM. I walked to the Lexington Avenue subway and waited for the Number 4 or 5 to take me to Wall Street. My biggest worry up to that point was how I was going to be able to leave the office by 6 PM to get me home by 7:30 PM for dinner with my parents. For some reason the subway, which usually got me to Wall Street before 8:45 AM was a little slow and I arrived there at about 8:48 AM. I walked the stairs to the street above, and was greeted by heavy smoke, soot and papers flying in every direction. My first thought was that the building over the subway was on fire and I hurried across the street to the corner to get as far away as possible. I asked someone what was going on. A woman pointed to the west and told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Tower minutes before. I looked up and saw Tower One, fire streaming from its windows and a thick black billowing smoke. I realized that the papers I saw whirling around me were memos and graphs from the offices of the Tower. I thought to myself, ?Where are the people that wrote these memos?? I looked down and saw a plane ticket. I was going to pick it up but decided I couldn?t. I could only see faces of people I did not know. At that point I tried my parents on my cell phone. I wanted to let them know I was all right, in case they saw the news on television. Somehow I got through to my father and told him that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. He didn?t believe what I had told him so I told him to turn on the news. While on the phone my eyes strayed to a woman who looked like she was in a daze. I asked her if she was all right and she told me that she had just walked the few blocks from Tower One to where we were standing. She was in the deli across the street from the Trade Center buying her usual cup of coffee before proceeding to her office at Deutch Bank, located across the street from Tower One when she heard a loud boom and felt a tremor. In the panic and confusion of people trying to get out of the deli she fell and was trampled over by people trying to get out. She had hurt her neck but her first concern was getting through to her husband to tell him she was still alive. She asked if she could use my cell phone. We tried it but were unable to get through. I then asked if she wanted to come to my office, a block away, to use my phone and get some water. She agreed and we walked to One Chase Plaza. I am a lawyer and work for a law firm that has its offices in the Chase Building downtown. We arrived at the building and took the elevator up to my office on the 58th floor. I learned that the woman?s name was Francis and that she commuted to New York with her husband from Pennsylvania. She kept repeating her thanks for my being so kind to her. I got her into my office. My office window directly faces the World Trade Center Towers and I commented that we could see first hand what was going on there. Up until that point we all thought that a plane had accidentally gone off course hitting the building. It never dawned on us that we were witnessing the end of two hijackings. I no sooner got the words out of my mouth when I saw a large plane streak down the Hudson River, make a sharp banking turn to the right and head straight toward Tower Two. I heard the plane throttle up moments before it impacted with the Tower. The plane went straight through Tower Two, like a knife through butter, and the nose looked like it came out the other side. A big ball of flames erupted after impact. My first thought was that it was a fighter plane, that?s how fast it came in, but I quickly realized that the plane was too big. I then thought it was a B52 bomber. I learned later that it was the United Flight ---- and the plane was a Boeing 767. My next thought was that we were under attack and that the plane was going to be followed by additional fighter planes or bombers and our building was going to be next. One Chase Plaza is only 60 stories high, but it houses Chase, a financial institution, a natural target for terrorists, if it was terrorists. When I witnessed the impact of the plane there was no doubt in my mind that terrorists were involved. I couldn?t believe the Towers were still standing. I couldn?t believe that the top of Tower Two wasn?t sheered off by the impact. But I also knew that no one could hit that building with the precision that was required at the speed involved but a terrorist. The aim of that plane was dead on and no U.S. pilot would have done that act. I kept thinking that a U.S. pilot would have ditched the plane in the Hudson River before hitting that building. The act was deliberate and caused by a fanatic, no doubt in my mind then. I heard Carol, a secretary at the firm, say ?That?s it. We?ve got to get out of here.? I know I kept repeating ?What was that? What just happened here? Did that really just happen?? I simply couldn?t believe what I had just seen. I still can?t believe what I saw. We quickly got to the stairs and walked the 58 stories down to the plaza level. When we got to the 5th floor the Safety Officer for the building got on the intercom and told people to go back to their offices, the building was secure and safe. I remember thinking, ?They?ve got to be kidding, didn?t they see what just happened?? I saw some people head back upstairs. After what I had just witnessed I just hurried down the last 5 stories -I think it was the longest walk I have taken in my entire life. On the street everyone was looking up toward the Towers, now in flames. I saw what I now know were people dropping from the windows, but to me looked like large pieces of debris or black paper. I cannot shake the image from my mind. Francis and I decided that we were not going to remain on the plaza next to such a tall building (we were afraid the World Trade buildings would collapse and the thought of additional planes attacking Wall Street was another fear) so we proceeded to walk towards the East River and away from the madness. We somehow made it to Fulton Street where I tried my cell phone again, all the while looking up at the Towers, watching them burn. I mostly got a no service message on my phone but after about 10 tries I managed to get my father again. I learned from him that the news reported eight planes were hijacked and four were accounted for ? the two that hit the World Trade Center, one that had just hit the Pentagon and another that went down in Pittsburgh (later it was determined the plane went down outside of Pittsburgh). I also found out that my brother-in-law, a Delta pilot, was not flying that day. My sister, on an American flight bound for Florida, was safely diverted to Atlanta. My sister-in-law, on a subway under Tower One when the first plane hit, made it safely to Brooklyn. I have to admit, my only thought at that moment was that there were more planes out there that were going to strike and that the safest thing was to get as far away as possible. So we started to walk North. We walked through the South Street Seaport, which was eerily deserted. We walked through the courtyard of an apartment complex and up toward the Brooklyn Bridge. People were streaming across the Brooklyn Bridge by foot. Francis saw someone from her building and learned that everyone was evacuated safely. I kept looking over my shoulder the entire time and watched the two towers continue to burn. At some point, and I don?t remember precisely where I was, I saw a thick billowing cloud and thought, ?My God, the Towers just collapsed.? I didn?t know at the time whether that thought was correct or not but we managed to be right ahead of the plume of dust and debris that descended on the area. Had I stayed by the Chase Building I would have been enveloped in the plume that the collapse had generated. Three of my co-workers weren?t as lucky and I later found out that they couldn?t breathe and thought they were going to suffocate to death. Fortunately they did not and have lived to tell the tale. We thought momentarily of staying but decided to continue walking and our trek took us past Centre Street and the Court houses. I thought, ?We need to get away from these buildings. These are another symbol of the United States that could be attacked now.? I just kept walking. Thousands of people joined us along the way. I met a man who had gotten out of the twelfth floor of Tower One. A met a young man who was worried about his father who worked in the area around the Towers. Mostly, though, we walked quietly. When we talked it was to wonder what kind of person could do this act. The silence was eerie when you think about it. Thousands of people walking and not a sound. Ambulances and police cars raced past us to area hospitals. At one point there was an unmarked car with about two feet of soot covering it racing past us. At 40th Street Francis left me to go to the West Side where her husband was. We hugged and I told her when this was all over to remember where my office was so we could meet again in better circumstances. Crazy what you think of it. We never would have met except for what happened that day. I hope she made it home okay. I didn?t even get her phone number. I feel badly that what I had hoped was an act of kindness on my part made her witness the second plane?s impact. I hope she forgives me for that. I continued walking alone to Grand Central only to be told that the terminal was closed. Thousands of people were outside. Because I was still convinced that there was going to be another wave of attacks I decided that I needed to be as far away from any landmarks as soon as possible. I walked a bit down Fifth Avenue, turning off to Madison before I reached Rockefeller Center and Saint Patrick?s Cathedral. I looked to see if I could get an Express Bus to Westchester (Yonkers or White Plains) but all I saw were buses going to Queens, Throgs Neck or Coop City ? and the lines were blocks long. At 82nd Street I took a chance. An Express Bus was at a red light and I knocked on the door. I asked the driver where he was headed and he told me Coop City in the Bronx. I asked if I could get on and he told me yes. I still don?t remember walking most of what I walked. All I could think of was to get out of the City before the next plane hit. I started my life in the Bronx and had lived in the Pelham Bay area until I was a teenager when my family moved to Greenwich. I was never happier to see those familiar surroundings in my life. Miraculously I was able to get through on my cell phone once again to my parents and to a friend. Both were willing to come to pick me up, although my parents finally did. Twenty minutes later I was back in Greenwich. The time was 2:30 PM. I guess I walked half of Manhattan that day. I would have walked all the way home to Greenwich if I had to. I have thought a lot about what happened on Tuesday. How at one moment, the most important thing in your life is getting to work and the next was wondering if you were going to live or die. The vision of the plane impacting with Tower Two keeps repeating before my eyes like a continuous movie. I have described it as a Die Hard movie and Armageddon, only it was real life. I don?t think my brain has come to that realization yet. I am curiously numb and without any feeling. I keep hoping that what I have experienced is a bad nightmare and that I will wake up and it will all be normal again. I have slept maybe three hours each night but I feel strangely relaxed and not tired. I realize now that I witnessed the immediate death of people like me on the airplane. I also realize that I saw the carnage that has contributed to the deaths of thousands more. I know what it is like to be in war. I know you will think it is an understatement when I say that it is not like the movies. I have witnessed evil firsthand. Innocent people died, as they usually do when evil prevails. I don?t understand the type of mind that can do this to another human being. I can?t understand what they hope to accomplish by such senseless acts. I guess that?s why they are called fanatics. I cannot yet picture going back to my office, if we are ever allowed back there, looking out the window and not seeing the two towers of the World Trade Center there. I also lived which I find a miracle in itself. I guess I still have something left to contribute to this world. It wasn?t my time yet to go. I became a lawyer so that I could make a difference in the world and help people. I need to start acting on that. I also will not allow the terrorists to win. I ask that everyone else not to let them do so either. Although I have been watching videos these past two days (I simply cannot bring myself to watch something on television that I experienced firsthand) I went into New York City Thursday night to see The Lion King. I was supposed to be part of a group of 100 people. Only five of us made the trip in. I made the trip by myself when the rest of the group I was going to go with decided not to go. I understand why they didn?t but I am glad I made it there. I feel, as I believe those who were in the theater that night also felt, that I did my little part in defeating what terrorism stands for. We were not cowering at home, afraid to be out. Neither did we forget all those who have perished. At the curtain call there was a moment of silence and the cast asked us to sing God Bless America. There were more than a few tears shed in the theater that night. I don?t know if you can ever understand what I have written on these pages. I am not, after all, a hero. The heroes died in the planes, the Pentagon, the Towers and are seen every day in the faces of the rescue workers. I know that there are still people that are unaccounted for and my thoughts and prayers are with them and their families. But I wanted to share this to let people know that each day is a precious gift. Before you leave the house or your apartment tell someone you know or love that you care about them. Call a friend that you haven?t seen or heard from. Give someone a hug or a kiss. Because you can find yourself one day leaving for work, saying good bye to your family, getting a cup of coffee at the corner deli, going to your office and never seeing them again. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story9004.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-01-27 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.89.106.254 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 walked in the door and my partners said, "Hurry and see what just happened in New York!" I was transfixed and could think of little else for days. I cried, I grieved, and then, in meditating on the events of that day over and over again, I was impressed to write a poem and then the lyrics to a song, which helped encapsulate my feelings on the matter. I've included both for your repository: Hear ? the Tolling Bell by George R. Larsgard 9-15-01 While reflecting on the suicidal attacks of radical Muslims on America vis-?-vis, the World Trade Center and Pentagon disasters of Tuesday, 9-11-01 and the portent of the Memorial Service at the National Cathedral on Friday, 9-14-01. There was a poignant moment when, as the service dismissed, a solitary bell tolled slowly, hauntingly, resolutely, resolvedly . . . determinedly. Airplanes smashing Fires flashing Buildings crashing Here ? the icons fell Inconceivable Unbelievable Irretrievable Hear ? the tolling bell So much trying So much dying So much crying Hear the mourning tell Of tragic cost Of loved ones lost Of lifetimes ? tossed Hear ? the tolling bell Even in our wildest dreams Our nightmares weren?t this mad Questing the unquestable? Forcing the unforceable? Robbing the unrobbable? Freedom ? they?ve never had The yearning of the ages, What man has striven for Liberty, unveiled Liberty, prevailed Liberty, unassailed We demand it! Ever more! Remorseless aggression? Regardless suppression? Repentless oppression? Here? You listen well We were born in revolution We have built life up from there Emancipation Equalization Self-determination Hundreds of millions share These Inspirations These Realizations These United Nations Hear ? the tolling bell Freedom you decay Freedom you betray Freedom! You will pay Hear ? the tolling bell Never . . . in Quite the Same Old Way By George R. Larsgard 11-4-01 While noticing an airplane flying overhead and reflecting on the September 11th terrorist attacks on America and all the subsequent threats and heartache since . . . the anxieties, the shattered lives, the maimings, and the deaths. Lyrics for my song written for the victims? families. We will never look at airplanes in quite the same old way Soaring freely through the lofty, azure sky Taking hundreds on their way to destinations near or far Flying to awaiting arms there by and by Hushed to silence in a moment, burned up in the flames These were someone?s loved ones calling out their names For those in pain or suffering; for you who grieve or mourn We all have been affected; our hearts, too, were torn We will never look at buildings in quite the same old way Standing firmly on the ground, through day and night Holding thousands there inside them as they do their daily jobs Working toward their lifetime goals and stars so bright Crushed to silence in a moment, burned up in the flames These were someone?s loved ones calling out their names For those in pain or suffering; for you who grieve or mourn We all have been affected; our hearts, too, were torn No worthwhile cause, idea, or passion promotes the terror we have seen It makes itself a vomit, a putrescence; filth; unclean It declares its own extinction as a cancer to mankind Exterminate a free world? If you preach it ? you will find The free world will excrete you ? your goal is truly blind You should never threaten freedom! It is one united mind! We will never look at nations in quite the same old way For we are a world-wide fam?ly ? by God?s decree Having each our own dimensions; each our qualities Sharing, though, that one desire ? that all mankind be free Rushed to fight or to surrender, or burn up in the flames We are millions, even billions, calling out our names We stand with those in pain or suffering; with you who grieve or mourn You loved ones have not grieved in vain ? our freedom is reborn Renewed and strengthened; broadened; lengthened ? our freedom is reborn To all the voices of expression, may I add mine as one of hope amidst the devastation that we will go on - renewed and strengthened; broadened; lenthened - our freedom is reborn. George R. Larsgard 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 story6212.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at home like any other day. I turned on the tv and the channel already on was the 700 Club. As I watched I thaught they were talking about a movie in the theaters. But then I realized the horror of what I was seeing. I remember feeling it was all to much to believe. How can someone do something like this!!! I continued to watch and still wonder what was really happening. Terrorists!!! But these were our own planes. How! Why! Then the next plane strikes and then the Pentagon and Pennsylvania. I feel the need to call my mom and see if she is watching.I want to call my husband at work but know I can't. I could not take my eyes off the tv. Everything repeated over and over again and I know it was all real but I still could not imagin it. Hatered fills me and I cry all day. It is not even anyone I know but I feel for everyone who hurts. These people were Americans and we will never forget and never forgive. It affected all of us in someway, maybe you don't know it. But if you think about what happened and you feel any kind of emotion....it affected 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 story4042.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. 204.42.22.51 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Where were you on July 22, 2002? You may or may not know. Now, what if I asked you where you were on September 11, 2001? Chances are you know exactly where you were and what you were doing on that day. Either you were at work, school, or somewhere else. Everyone can tell you where they were, just like the generation before me knows where they were the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. September 11th was a day that will infamously go down in history as a day of death and destruction, one that none of us, especially me, will ever forget. We all know what happened. Two hijacked planes flew into the World Trade Center Buildings in New York City. Another plane also flew into the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C. And a third plane crashed in the middle of a Pennsylvanian field, its original destination unknown. Thousands of people died from the event and it without a doubt changed America forever. Whenever you go on a plane, you must pass through extra security. You carry a small bit of fear that cannot be escaped, about that fact that it could happen to you this time. Yet because of that fact that America can be harmed, makes us question if we are really safe, even though we have always thought America was not a country that could be attacked. People are more patriotic because they want to support America and remember all of those who lost their lives. The term ?terrorist? has become a household term and may remain that way for a long time. The people who crashed into the Twin Towers did so for only one visible reason: to create a sense of terror in America. They did not destroy our county in the attacks but they strengthened our patriotism and in effect made us stronger. We will never forget September 11th, but we will remember it as a day that we came through for our wounded in the attacks, and as a day that America became a new country. Everybody has a story about that day which they will tell to their children and their grandchildren, a story of how it changed America, and how it changed them personally. My story started early that morning. If you had asked me on September 10th if the next day would be eventful, I would have said very much. I was to skip school and take the subway to downtown Baltimore where I would enjoy a day at the science center with my mom, my brother Eric, and some of Eric?s friends and their parents. It was a home school group and we were all going to meet at the science center for an educational ?field trip?. But I was not home schooled and I was just skipping school for the day. I was with other children who were being taught by their parents in a carefree utopia. That?s how I saw it, anyway. I never would have imagined I would eventually join that utopia. When I got up that morning, I was ready to go. I loved the science center and going would be the highlight of my week, if not the entire month. So we headed out to the subway station in the cool, crisp September morning. I can remember the dew on the grass and a slight mist in the air, cooling my face. When we got to the subway station, we met Eric?s friends and their parents. Then we dropped off our cars and headed into the station. Once we arrived downtown, we walked up the stairs and headed out. The science center in Baltimore is just feet away from a beautiful harbor, the inner harbor, which is one of the best sights in Baltimore. Once inside the building, we began to explore and do things. The exhibits were great and we were all having fun. Then we walked up to the very top of the building for a laser show. I enjoyed that more then anything else in the whole museum so far. After that, we were supposed to go downstairs to see an Imax movie about the ocean, on a five-story screen! I was really excited about that because I had never been to an Imax theater. Still on the upper floor, I noticed that all of the employees were standing around a small television set. Then the parents started looking at it. I began to wonder what could be so important that all the employees were watching TV in the middle of the morning? And then I saw what they were all looking at. Two giant skyscrapers, hundreds of feet tall each, were both billowing with smoke. I began to get scared and I heard some people say thing like ?oh, my God? in a hushed whisper. But I was partially annoyed about it. I did not know what the buildings were, nor did I know why people did not go about their businesses. I simply had no idea why everyone was staring at the buildings, crashing down in front of our eyes. I was told what had happened but I was still anxious to see the rest of the exhibit. I didn?t care what had happened to the thousands of people in the buildings. People die everyday and they don?t get a national memento. I didn?t see why these people were so important. Eventually, we went downstairs toward the big screen theater. But then we turned and left the building. We sat on some benches outside the front gate. I was in shock. How could something hundreds of miles away make us leave a perfectly harmless place? I was almost frightened. Then my mom said we wouldn?t be going back in. That gave me a feeling in the pit of my stomach, something that should have happened when I heard of the disaster. Then across the harbor, I saw something that personally made it all real for me. I saw a building that I knew to be the World Trade Center in Baltimore. There was yellow tape wrapped around the building, the kind that?s used at crime scenes. I also saw policemen standing around the building, preventing people from going in. I saw that it really had affected me, all the way in Baltimore and it was scarier then I could have imagined. Some of the parents in our group went up to the ticketing office of the science center to get some more information. I saw people running around briskly as if they were in a hurry and I heard fragments of thing like ?what?s going to happen now? and ?how could this have happened?? I was then confirmed in my belief that the science center would be closed. I would never see that Imax movie on that large screen like I wanted. But now I suddenly wanted to be in the comfort of my own home, in the safety of my own bedroom and away from this madness. When I was there, the world seemed to melt away. That?s what I needed. I ate my packed lunch and then we left for the subway station. Some people were talking about rumors that the subway was closing but we headed on. I imagined it as a perilous journey that we had to complete before the station closed. If we failed to reach it in time, we?d be trapped in a place that seemed far from home. But when we finally got there, we were all glad to see it was indeed still open. When we boarded, it was so crowded with all the people trying to get home that we all had to stand. One vivid memory I have of the ride was many of the gentlemen giving up their seats for children. This surprisingly continues to be one of the most powerful memories I have to date. But we made it home, and the to my grandmother?s house. I do not know for sure why we went there, but I imagine we did to get emotional support or simply to tell the tale. She and my mother were very close and saw each other often. I remember the days when we took her to the store to go shopping for groceries once a week. At the time I had no idea there would be only a few more. That would be a larger tragedy then five September 11ths combined because it would be a personal tragedy, one that I could relate to. But her dieing the next year would help me eventually begin to imagine the same tragedy that had happened to thousands on that one-day. All those innocent lives, just like my Nana. Over time we found out more. I don?t really remember many of the details about the aftermath. All I know now is that it somehow led us to war. I?m not very connected to that, either. It seems even further away in a far away county called Iraq. It?s funny that I hadn?t even known it was a county before the war. But that?s one of the things I?ve learned from the news. The 6 o?clock news now contains horrible scenes of war and terrorists, some that many will never forget. I always hear about the families of the casualties of war. They are always sad but hopeful. They are hopeful that peace will be brought in the world someday and that the entire endless killing will stop. But that is not what they say. They say that their husbands fought for their county and they did and still do support that cause. Recently, there has been a similar disaster on the islands of the Indian Ocean. These Asian islands have been hit with a tremendous tsunami. It has been called the September 11th of Southeast Asia. And so I have thought about this statement. It has killed many more people then our attacks and many more are dying of the disease and water contamination in the poorer countries. But there is one large difference between this and the attacks on America. Humans carried out the September 11th attacks. Other humans created the disaster, our own people. But the tsunami disaster could not have been helped. It was a force of nature. It also helped bring many wealthy countries together, including America, to aid these people in their own crisis. It has brought us together to help, not harm. A better kind of disaster as many would say. If you ask anyone on the street if September 11th has changed America and the world, they will say yes. They will tell you mainly the same thing. If you ask them if it changed them, they will say yes, but every single story will be different. My story is unique, just like every other person?s story. It is not that I was in a strange place that day. It is that I was in ignorance. I refused to accept the facts. But I have gone over the facts in my head over and over. I feel now that I acted immaturely, even though I was only ten years old. I have made a decision that this experience has personally changed my life for the better. I can share sympathy with the mourners of the attacks. I know what they lost. I lost my grandmother. When I set out to write this piece, I had no idea that I would include her untimely death. I had not realized the connection until I began writing and the experience flowed out of myself and onto the paper, the ultimate goal of all writers. But the immense sorrow I have for her can give me somewhat of an idea of what the families of the attack victims felt. They must have felt extreme rage and anger at the people responsible. All I have to be mad at for my grandmother?s death is the uncontrollable cancer, similar to the seemingly uncontrollable terrorists. She showed me that tragedy in it, and I am somewhat grateful that I fully understand now. 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 story11260.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2005-01-18 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 69.174.158.121 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 morning I saw it on the tv and called my mom on my cell. We talked and watched together. All the sudden we saw the 2nd plane hit. We thought America was under attack. We were right. I went and picked up my 2 boys, 5 and 1. I am a single mom and they are my life. All I wanted to do was hold them. I think of the children the most. It is so unfair to them. We pray together at night for the moms, dads, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, sons and daughters that lost loved ones. I wish I could help them. The most I could do is give blood. I will continue to pray every night for the rest of my life. 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 story3774.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: How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I first heard the news that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Centers, on the radio while I was getting gas that morning. Honestly, I thought I had heard wrong, because I couldn't imagine a plane flying nto the World Trade Centers. I was going to go help a friend in his store, and so by the time I got to the flower shop, it was on the radio that a second plane had hit. We had turned the radio on and listened to the news reports, and one of the newscasters started using the term "terrorists' attack," which seemed a little unnerving. So, we continued to listen, and then a report said a plane had crashed into the Pentagon. Now it seemed very real, because they attacked Washington D.C. We went next door to the beauty parlor because they had a T.V., and all of us were sitting around watching it when reports of a plane crash in Pennslylvania came on the news. And then, all of the news was so unclear, because we didn't know who was attacking us. Here we are near a military base, and we wondered if we were going to be hit. I wanted to get the kids out of school and bring them home. In the afternoon, when they came home, and we watched all of the reports on T.V. and tried to find an answer to what had happened. After awhile, it was too difficult to watch, because all I was doing was crying watching the scene play over and over again. Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? if so, tell us how. I was always afraid to fly before this happened, and now I am even more afraid to fly. It also made me more leery of strangers. I don't look at America any different now. I was always proud to be an American. I always tell my children to never go to bed angry at someone and always tell those you love that you love them. You never know what can happen to that person. After these attacks, I think they understand. What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? The innocent lives that were lost, who committed the attacks, that no one is untouchable, and that it could happen to any country. We are just as vulnerable as everybody. Also, the brave men and women who risked their lives to save others. The people that helped with the cleanup should be remembered as part of September 11th. It was a day that America stood still, and Americans united together. Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? We have always flown the flag, and my feelings have not changed about it. I always regarded the flag as an emblem of American pride. I feel that all Americans should have been flying the flag, before this tragedy happened. I think it shouldn't have taken a terrorist attack and many lives lost to make everyone pull together and support America strongly. We should have been doing it all along. 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 story8846.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-12-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.54.14.84 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: WRITTEN ON OCTOBER 5, 2001 by Fredda Weiss ? a born and raised in Manhattan, now living in Los Angeles, California Minor additions and corrections made on October 30th - with many thanks to Richard Masur for his ?fact check?! I feel compelled to record my impressions of my first evening and day in New York (October 3 and 4) ? in order to remember the images, which I cherish, and which are sure to fade with time. I have not watched television since the first days after 9/11 ? preferring to read the eyewitness accounts and emotions emailed to me by friends, which seemed much more immediate and ?real?. To these, I am now adding my own. I realize that my personal reactions are filtered through my five-year experience with the Victims of Pan Am 103 ? perhaps making my emotions more raw ? but I can?t imagine anyone not reacting with deep emotion ? and some concurrent denial ? to an event so overwhelming and awe-full. The ride from JFK to 37th Street and Lexington Ave. (usually a 40-minute drive) took about 20 minutes! The night was clear and warm ? Indian Summer at its best. My driver was a Sikh, and his appreciation at being treated like a human being was palpable. God knows what abuse many NY cab drivers have suffered since 9/11. As we approached the City, the view of the skyline was more disorienting than I had expected. I never loved the architectural ?monotony? of the twin towers, but eventually they must have become the anchors by which I ?constructed? the skyline in my mind. Without that anchor, I found myself searching for older landmarks in order to structure a new orientation. It took some time to assemble the Wrigley Building, then the Chrysler Building, then the Empire State Building ? and after that, all the other smaller landmarks. Still the change in the skyline generates a real sense of loss. The following morning: Murray Hill is a quiet residential part of town, but five blocks north is Grand Central and the busy, commercial area that surrounds it. The streets are crowded, but not as crowded as usual. What really impresses me is the new sense of calm ? a slightly slower pace to everything ? and an almost unearthly quiet, compared to what I expect in New York. The blaring of car horns is gone, for the most part. When an ambulance or a fire engine siren is heard, it literally splits the silence instead of merely raising the decibel level of the existing din. Courtesy is the order of the day. ?Excuse me? is heard everywhere, and people give each other space on the subway and wait patiently for riders to exit, before they enter the cars. Met a friend, Marjorie. for lunch, after which we intended to get as close to Ground Zero as possible. Before I left California, I had no desire to go anywhere near the site. Then - during the drive in from the airport ? for some unknown reason, my attitude flipped, and I decided it was a pilgrimage that I wanted to make. Marjorie had been in touch with Richard, and he had been going down to the Red Cross Respite centers every day ? sometimes taking other celebs ? sometimes alone. We reached him on his cell phone, and he offered to take us down there with him. We met at 14th Street and then took the subway as far as Houston Street (all the stations south of Canal St. have been inoperable, since 9/11). We then hiked downtown (zigzagging our way south west) toward Pier 40 on the Hudson River, where Richard had to make a stop. We began running into barricades many blocks from the pier, but Richard?s credentials and the two OEM (Office of Emergency Management) passes he had given us, got us past each checkpoint. Most of the uniforms we saw, at this point, were NYPD. Later, as we got closer to the Ground Zero, however, the diversity of uniforms increased, and one marvels at how all of these different ?troops? can remain organized in a coherent operation. Pier 40, is the staging area for the New York City Highway Patrol. In charge is a woman named Kathy, who was a store manager for Cohen?s Optical somewhere in Massachusetts. She quit her job on ?day one? and has been a volunteer at this facility ever since. This distribution center is charged with delivering uncredentialed, but ?cleared?, equipment and vehicles to points within the Ground Zero perimeter. It is also responsible for providing ?escort? within the perimeter. Cameras came out all around, and appreciation for our visit got us a lift closer to Ground Zero in a patrol car. The thicket of checkpoints and barricades south of Pier 40 serves to narrow the streets to one lane, and the route towards Ground Zero becomes almost impassable. Water trucks work the streets constantly to keep as much dust out of the air as possible. HazMat (Hazardous Materials) crews with hoses stop every car and truck as they leave the area and wash them down. We were dropped off at the Red Cross ?Respite Center?, (at St. John?s University). A row of hoses lines the walkway leading toward the entrance. Everyone who has been working at, or near, Ground Zero washes down his or her shoes, before entering the building. The Respite Center is a haven where anyone and everyone working in the area can come for ? that?s exactly it ? ?respite?. There is an entire room of donated Lazy Boy chairs, where search & rescue and security personnel can watch TV ? but we see most of them napping. There is another room with cots for sleep-deprived workers. Volunteer massage therapists and chiropractors are on hand, and food is available 24/7. There?s a 24/hour AA meeting available on an upper floor! The atmosphere is super-charged with both energy and exhaustion. Again, the appreciation for the visit was overwhelming. We are still quite a hike from our next destination ? The Spirit of New York ? one of the Dinner Cruise boats, which usually ply the Hudson. It?s docked two blocks from Ground Zero and serves as another Respite Center for the work crews on the southwest side of the site. We are now one block west of Ground Zero, at North Cove -- a large promenade and Plaza that borders the river, where the Spirit of New York is docked. There is only one row of buildings between us and the ?site?, and the ancillary damage to nearby buildings is in clear sight. A structure called the Winter Garden looms over the plaza like a giant transparent jukebox. Its steel structure, which resembles the triangular shapes of a geodesic dome, is completely sheathed in glass. Miraculously, the fa?ade facing the river is unharmed, while the one facing Ground Zero has been blown to smithereens. It is incomprehensible that this structure survived in any part! But the most incredible sight is the glass skyscraper immediately to the north, the right-angle corner of which is impaled by twisted and jagged steel beams - jettisoned from the imploding north tower, as it collapsed. Richard tells us that the largest one of these is (conservatively) estimated to weigh 40 tons, although it appears to be floating weightlessly in air like some beautiful contemporary sculpture. We are now walking along the water toward the two ?shrines? which have appeared spontaneously at the southern edge of the promenade. The first is very small and shielded from the elements by a makeshift tent. It contains mounds of flowers, pictures of fallen firefighters, policemen, and Port Authority personnel, as well as burning candles, badges, copious notes and mementos from police and firefighters from NY and the rest of the nation. The profusion of images is chaotic and forces one to take time to focus on one photo, note or bouquet at a time, before the impact of the personal loss is felt. It is a place of immeasurable sadness. There are two men in uniform crouching to read the notes and view the mementos. Their grief can be read through their backs. We feel our intrusion and round the corner where a very long granite wall backed by a three foot, still-green, hedge has become a more public shrine. Along the wall, and resting in the hedge, is a sea of teddy bears ? most of which have been sent from Oklahoma City. Again, there are bouquets of flowers three and four deep, in various stages of wilt. Pinned to them, and to the wall behind them, are more notes from children of all ages. It is here that the enormity of the human sacrifice and concomitant grief becomes overwhelming. It is a short one-block walk to Ground Zero, and we approach it through one last Marine checkpoint ? trying to keep a very low profile. Access is extremely restricted, and we are astounded that we are actually being allowed to approach the site. It appears suddenly ? as if we?ve turned a corner into some huge Italian Piazza. The area is vast (16 acres), and the frenzy of activity is evidenced only by the clouds of dust that rise around the huge cranes and grapplers, which pepper the site, and which dwarf the crews working beside them. They stand precariously on piles of rubble like tinker toys, and the jaws at the end of their huge arms could easily hold two dozen men. At the southwest corner of the destruction, where we are standing, the hugest of the cranes towers over us. This one, we are told, arrived on 42 flatbed trucks. It weighs 1.5 million pounds, can lift 1000 tons (2 million pounds), and took one week to assemble on site! But most amazing of all are the remnants of the World Trade Center that still stand ? steel structures which do not relate to the flat, modern lines of the towers from which they came, but are reminiscent of the gothic arches seen in the medieval cathedrals of Europe. The simile is undeniable, and the result is an eerie spirituality that envelops the sight and leaves one with a deep sense of awe. We stand there speechless. Denial breaks down, and we ?feel? as well as ?know? that we are standing at the edge of a mass grave. No images on television or in print can capture the physical and emotional devastation and the absurd beauty of the complete scene. I long for a camera (forbidden, of course) ? ache to capture those religious arches that stand in two semi-circles, and seem to embrace the rubble-strewn space and the men laboring to clear it. Is there no wide-angle lens that can capture this sight? ? Or has my avoidance of the media frenzy simply ?missed? the best images? Slowly, we become aware of the incongruity of our presence; our standing amidst those who ?belong? there. We turn tail and head back toward the Spirit of New York, where we will await ?The Screamer? ? a high-speed boat that ferries the volunteer shifts between Ground Zero and the Chelsea Pier upstream. We board the ship to save us the long hike out of the area. The ?spines? of the two interior main cabins are long steam tables ? constantly supplied with food, drinks, deserts and candy. Rows of catering tables, at right angles to the windows, have replaced the more elegant ?dining tables?, which usually seat tourists. The weary crew of the shift just ended is quietly eating. At the bottom of the semi-spiral staircase, which ascends to the observation deck, is a sign reading ?Massage and Chiro upstairs?. My mind is so numb that I make no connection between ?Chiro? and ?chiropractor? and have to ask Marjorie what it means! There is very little conversation. The young volunteers manning the catering tables are emptying the chafing dishes in preparation for the re-supply coming with the next shift. For some reason, the Screamer is not arriving, and we decide the ?hike? will get us uptown faster. We are leaving the pier when Richard spots a NYPD Harbor Patrol boat. A moment of ?hi? and shaking hands gets us a lift upriver. The view from the river, minus the twin towers, again grabs at the stomach and boggles the mind! Marjorie finally starts snapping pics. Some of the buildings, which have not been destroyed but have been damaged beyond repair, are marked for demolition with a sheath of red mesh. Another, less damaged, sports a huge American flag, which defiantly faces the river. We are mid-river when Richard asks the three crewmen if they could run us farther upriver than the Chelsea pier. They offer to take us to the 79th Street boat basin. On the way north, we pass two Coast Guard speedboats - each one hardly bigger than a dinghy -- with 50 caliber machine guns mounted on the bows! Lots of pictures accompany the goodbye and thank you at the Boat Basin. We ascend to Riverside Drive along the bucolic paths of Riverside Park , hardly able to believe where we?ve been and what we?ve seen. The emotional and physical exhaustion is indescribable! AFTERTHOUGHTS: I have no recollection of the rest of this day or evening ? none, in fact, until the Weizmann Weekend begins the next morning. I am, of course, tempted to write something profound or witty (or both) as a fitting conclusion to these recollections. But they stand alone in my mind and heart, and I have no cogent explanation for how I feel ? then or now ? about what I saw and felt. I only know that I am glad I got there ? that my empathy lies with the workers at the site who will never ?integrate? the horrendous things they are seeing ? and with the children who lost parents and the parents who lost children. Their grief will be renewed every holiday season for the rest of their lives. This morning I awakened at 4am ? a time without defenses or denial. For one moment the depth and breadth of the tragedy again hits me full force. It is always the same ? the noose around the diaphragm and the sob still unreleased. 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 story688.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. 2002-05-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 129.174.27.143 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 On September 11th, 2001 a terrorists group high jacked two commercial jet planes. One plane crashed into one of the two World Trade towers and it was on fire from the jet fuel that blew up upon impact. Then a second plane crashed into the second World Trade tower and it caught on fire. Firemen, policemen and average people were helping people to get out of the towers. People on the floors above the crash were trapped and many died from jumping out the windows instead of being burned alive. The planes exploded and the towers started to burn because the flames and heat were so hot the steel structure melted. It collapsed to the ground. A lot of smoke and objects were flying all over the place for miles. Alot of firemen and police were in the towers helping those when they were killed during the collapse. There was no structure standing after it had fallen down. There was a large black cloud of smoke covering New York City when it was all down. The Pentagon in Washington DC was also hit before the second World Trade tower collapsed. The Pentagon was hit by a commercial jet plane that a terrorist hijacked. The terrorist drove the jet right into one section of the Pentagon. Many people died. I saw the replay when the 1st tower got hit. I was in Miss Kersh?s Science room at the end of 3rd period it was 10:08. When I saw the second tower get hit live on TV. I never thought this would happen. I never thought that someone would use a commercial jet plane as a bomb and dropped it into the tallest buildings in New York City. When the towers were destroyed I was shocked that they were gone in minutes. Those towers were standing for so many years and it was destroyed. I never thought they would hit our top military base the Pentagon. When the World Trade Towers were destroyed I thought there would be a war. The person who did it is still out there somewhere, but he is going to get stopped sometime. I think they should find the person who did it and punish them badly. 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 story750.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-06-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 168.169.8.37