479 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: My name is Suzanne Pinder, and I did not personally lose anyone on this day that I know of but I still feel connected. You see my mon lived in Brooklyn NY at the time and I live in New Jersey. The WORLD TRADE CENTER was our halfway meeting point. We would meet and have lunch in Sabarros and then go shopping and talk. My mom is my best friend and I still picture us there at the time running for our lives. That morning, after the first plane hit, the first person that I called, was my mom. The funny thing is that we were not allowed to use our cell-phones at work, but that went out the window for me and everyone else that day. When I picked up my phone to dial her number, she was already on the phone, I am not sure how that happened but I guessed she felt the same way that I did. She said that she knew that something was wrong and we just started crying after I told her what had happened. My mom lives in Canada so for her to be on the phone at the same time that I was calling her is a miracle. As I said, I did not loose anyone that day but my heart goes out to anyone that did. I pray and ask God to protect us all. My mom is here with me on the anniversary of this sad day and we are praying for you all. GOD BLESS US EVERYONE. Suzanne Pinder/Wilson. 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 story2720.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at school when it happened *&* every class room had the news on what happened well i was in 6th period when my mom came *&* got me and i was watching on the news what happened *&* so i went on the websites and ppl have already made websites of what happened and there was hundreds of them!and i was so sad when i seen the second plane hit the tower with my own eyes!!i didnt see the first one all i seen was it burning and i was crying and devastated for all the ppl in the 2 buildings!!but no matter what they will be in my heart for the rest of my life!!RiP everyone 9/11/01 will never be forgotten!!! *&* for the ppl in all the flights thanks for being heroes!!I went to the memorial of flight 93 *&* i have pictures all over my wall from the memorial!!*&* they will be with me for ever!!(They Are Framed!) 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 story8700.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. 2002-11-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.227.6.178 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 was a horrifying, life changing day for the world and especially for the United States of America. I witnessed this day much differently than other people. That morning I was going about my normal business in the seventh grade at the middle school. At around 10a.m., my grade went outside for bus evacuation. Everyone was seated on the bus, and the bus driver announced that our country and our lives would be drastically changed forever because someone just crashed an airplane into the World Trade Center towers. My classmates and I were in complete shock! It didn't seem like something this unthinkable could happen. At that time I did not know what the World Trade Center towers actually were. My classmates and I wanted to know as much information as possible about what had just happened. My teachers were only allowed to tell us as much information as they were advised to. So for the rest of the day all my classmates and I were wondering what was going on in our country. My math teacher told us that we were witnessing history right then and there. Emotions and thoughts were going through everyone's heads. One of my teachers cell phones rang and it was her son telling her that he was okay. Right then I knew how serious the crash was to our nation. Everyone tried to get their mind off of things and went about their school work for the rest of the day, but it was really hard to focus. Some people were wondering if their families were safe and alive. That was a scary thing to think about for everyone. After school I rushed home and watched TV. Every channel showed what had happened that morning. I couldn't believe my eyes! My first thought was why is this happening? Then the news said they were terrorist attacks and that people had hikkacked the airplanes and flew into the towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Pennyslyvania. My mouth dropped and I couldn't believe anyone would ever do such horrible things. It seemed like it was a bad nightmare, but it was actually happening. The television kept showing the planes crashing into the towers over and over again. Each time I watched, my heart filled with hate. It also showed many people, police, and firefighters running for there lives with smoke, dust, and rubble behind them. I have never seen anything quite like that. It also showed a lot of people shedding tears and praying that loved ones were safe and that they would soon come home. I felt so horrible for the families who lost their innocent loved ones because of mean and selfish act. I saw everything I never thought would be imaginable. After watching television, there were so many thoughts and emotions going through me. I was just so overly shocked, scared, and especially very sad! It seemed like nothing would ever be the same again. After that day our lives were changed forever! My life was personally changed in many ways because of the tradgedy of September 11. I now live life each day as if it were my last, and I don't take anyone or anything for granted, especially my family and friends.Without my family and friends, it would have been very hard for me to get through that terrible time. Grieving, praying, and sharing others thoughts together with them made it a lot easier to heal, not only my heart but their's as well. We all got through it together, but it was hard and took a long time. Now I know that if I'm ever going through a hard time, my family and friends will be there for me and help me through things. I now pay more attention to safety and security has been increased and people are a lot stricter about it than they were in the past. Whenever I have to fly an airplane in the future, I am not going to feel as secure as I did before that day. I also became much more patriotic after that day. I am proud to be an American living in such a strong country. Seeing the flag now standing tall in the air with pride makes me realize all those brave people who risk there lives everyday to fight for our country. There are so many things that should be remembered about 9/11. The most important thing is that we should remember all the innocent people who died on that day. I cannot even express the words I feel for there families. I am very fortunate that I did not loose anyone. All the people who helped rescue the people are my heros. We wil never forget 9/11! Our hearts will live on forever. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story8556.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-10-22 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.60.58.139 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My sister and I had brought our Mother, 86 yrs to my home because I was going to take care of her. We were watching television when the attack happened and we were both devastated and crying. Later, Mother said "God does not have time for me right now, He is busy taking care of all the firemen and policemen who died." She was hospitilized three days later for a minor ailment and again made that statement. On September 17th she passed away on my deceased husband's birthday..he was a police officer and I think he asked God to take the time to bring her to Heaven.. 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 story7803.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. 2002-09-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 208.169.219.10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I had woken up early that morning, in order to take my grandmother to an appointment with her eye doctor. I had a few extra minutes before we had to leave, so I was playing video games. When I turned off the gaming system, it was about 8:30am, central standard time. As soon as I shut off the power on the system, the image of the first tower hit was displayed on the television screen, in all of its horrific destruction. I didn't know what I was watching at first. It was so surreal; I thought that it must have been a movie or some old video archive of some kind. But, then, I realized to my dismay that it was a live news broadcast of the terrible events that had happened only a short time before. I walked around all that day in a sort of shocked daze. I will never forget how that felt. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that there was only a fraction of the normal crew in those towers and in that part of the Pentagon that day. May the Lord watch over the souls of those who perished. Amen. 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 story5030.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.35.170.26 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11th 2001, I was on the bus to school wondering what every one was talking about. I hadn?t heard the news about the tragic accident. I picked up what I could from others, but most people at my school seemed to be making a joke about it. I didn?t truly find anything out until it was on the announcements. About one week later I found out what went on, along with some details. I can?t really share an experience, because I didn?t experience anything. 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 story2898.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 163.150.15.187 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Although I live on the outskirts of Shanksville, PA I was at home that morning with my baby boy Dawson who was one at that time. It was a georgeous day and a gentle breeze was blowing outside. My other children were off to school for the morning and I just settled in to watch the TODAY show on television. I can remember watching the interruption of news to tell us about the first plane in the first tower. I called my husband who works at the local state corrections facility and he said that they knew nothing about it there. I then hung up and went back to watching tv when the second plane hit the second towner. That is when I became concerned knowing that something "was not an accident" at that time. I was glued to my tv the whole morning. Suddenly, my house shook. (Around our area it isn't uncommon for a large coal truck to tip over and create the ground to shake hard and that is what I thought it was at first) I then called my husband again and asked him if he thought I should be concerned as I was standing on my front porch speaking to him. I was concerned as we live near the turnpike tunnels on the mountains and wondered if we were entering into some kind of war if I should worry. Then I saw a huge black cloud move very slowly across the air over the distance. I kept thinking that something didn't feel right. "What was this?" Then the tv reported that another plane crashed somewhere near Pittsburgh, PA and I thought it was too coincidental, the black cloud to be anything else but the plane...I just knew. Then a bit later, the report said Shanksville, PA. Still being in my night clothes, I slipped a pair of shorts on, grabbed the baby and a bottle and out the door we went to collect my other children at Shanksville school. My heart was pounding and my mind was over reacting. I was driving irratically on a road that wasn't fit to go over 30 MPH, but these were my kids and this was my town. I was hoping to pull onto main street to see my familiar sites and to see people going about their business as usual. As I pulled onto Main St. life looked okay and as soon as I spotted a neighbor of mine who was picking up a child from daycare, I knew that our school was still intact. When I got to the school, it was a circus. Parents quickly signing out kids for the day till they found out what was happening in our sleep little town. My children were frightened as well, telling me that books fell out of their desk and that a light bulb fell out of a fixture. They knew that a plane crashed but they were very confused as to why so many were scared and pulling children out of school. Teachers did their best to explain the least to children without making them scared. As I went to check on my sister's house along Skyline Road (the road that the plane crashed) with my children, I was surprised not to see emergency workers flooding the area yet. It still seemed quite still except for the debris in her yard. I will never forget that feeling standing there and it became a reality that terror was litterally in our backyards. Then a fireman directed me and the children to evacuate the area... 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 story882.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. 2002-07-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 164.156.20.10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was in the hospital giving birth to my son on September 11th, 2001. I feel violated at the notion that someone turned such a beautiful day into such a tragedy. I wish none of us would have to reflect on the days events but I find it hard to feel comfortable to celebrate his birthday on the actual day since when I mention it, people automatically comment on what a day to have been born. It was obviously meant to be and I thank God for him everyday. I also feel sorry for those who lost so much that day. Surely NONE of us will ever forget, yet let us remember that out of tragedy comes something good..... 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 story5936.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.163.236.76 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: On September 11, 2001, I awoke to an early alarm at 5:50 AM Pacific Time in Glendale, California. As a television producer, I had to get up early for a commercial shoot that day, and, as usual, I had set my alarm the night before to the Los Angeles all-news AM station, KFWB. The first words I remember hearing were "...top 15 floors of the World Trade Center..." which jolted me out of bed, and into the living room to turn on the TV. I tuned in ABC TV, to a long tight shot of the north side of WTC 1. The impact point was clearly visible, and at that time, the newscaster was mentioning a commuter plane may have struck the tower. In a flurry of thoughts, I remember thinking the sky was too clear for that to be an accident, and that the hole was too large for a commuter plane. My girlfriend was awake by this point, and I told her about what had happened. Horrified, she couldn't watch any more, so she left the room. Then, it happened -- still watching ABC news, their video feed locked on a tight shot of both towers (so tight, that a little sliver of sky was visible on both sides), I was listening to Peter Jennings when everything went into slow motion: I registered a flash of a plane on the right of the frame. I instantly thought it was a plane in the distance taking off from Newark airport across the Hudson, since the distortion of the long lense compressed the image of the towers. About a second later, the fireball erupted on the left side of the frame. I remember Jennings stop his commentary, and hearing in the background, the ABC news room staff in New York yell and scream. Right then, what I suspected in the back of my mind became reality for me. It was clearly a terrorist attack. For the next hour, I was glued to the TV, like the entire world. I never lost my grasp of the fact that what I was witnessing was real, but my grip was shaken when the first tower fell. Once again, a tight shot of about 10 burning floors in WTC 2, an eruption of flame and dark gray soot, and a rush of clear thought: There was an explosion...the corner is falling... the tower is falling. Clear as day what was happening, but it almost didn't register. I almost couldn't comprehend what I was watching. When the second tower fell, I thought, at first, it was a replay of the first tower. Only when the camera zoomed out and revealed both towers down did I realize the truth. I made it to my shoot. I gathered the crew of 40 together and made a speech -- I don't remember the details, other than if anyone wanted to go home, they could. No one left, and we went about shooting -- amidst it all. Ironically, surrounded by millions of dollars worth of the best video equipment in the world for our commercial, the only TV we could get was a black and while 7" monitor with an improvised antenna, which was on between takes. As we finished shooting, I walked outside to a beautiful Southern California sunset, not a plane in the sky, and knew I, like so many of us, I will always remember this moment: where I was on that black Tuesday in September. 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 story10361.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-01-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 206.117.136.48 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Traveling on interstate 40 to Durham NC going through Greensboro and Burlington NC.I was listening to the radio when the news broke.The DJ'S reported a plane had hit the World Tade Center.I had thought a small plane had hit the building. Then what seemed like a few minutes later,the second plane hit. I was shaken,Knowing this was no accident.Then hearing a plane had hit the pentagon, with the possibility of more planes targeted at other sites.That was somewhat correct. that plane went down in PA.I worked the rest of the day listening to the radio when I could. Trying to call my family in NJ,and not being able to get through made me feel uneasy.I knew they should have been OK. That evening I rushed home to catch the news,which we get out of NY via sattelite dish. I was Angered by what I had seen,Saddened by the lives that were lost,and the peoples Whos lives would be forever changed.Sept 11 2001 Changed my life. It has taken me some time to put things in perspective. But I will never understand. My thoughts and Prayers will always be with the victims and their families.I will never forget 9-11-2001 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 story11852.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. 2005-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.41.252.223 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was sitting at my desk when all of a sudden my coworker said the World Trade Center and been hit by a plane. My immediate reaction was the World Trade Center in downtown Norfolk, Virgina (about 15 minutes away and also where my co-workers husband works). My immediate reaction was how in the world did that happen and what size plane was it. Kelly, my co-worker told me to log on the internet. I went to MSNBC and saw a picture of the building. I sat stunned not realizing right a away that this was the Twin Tower building in New York. It took me a few seconds to say to myself, "Hey this is not Norfolk, the building is way to too tall." I went upstairs to our Conference Room where it seemed everyone had gathered. A few minutes later the second plane hit the other Tower. I think you could have heard a pin drop at that moment. They let us go home to be with our family. I'll never forget the drive home. Everyone seemed to have the same look on their face. A look of despair, a look of utter sadness. I picked up my son from the sitter and went home where I immediately turned from channel to channel while I waited for my husband to get home. I was remined how easily we take our lives for granted and how precious our friends and families are to us. My son, who was almost three at the time made me smile and and laugh during a day that was tragic. Even at the innocent age of three, he understood something was terribly wrong but it was his innocence and warmth that gave me hope that dark day. In the days, weeks and months to follow, our family grew closer and Christmas was more special that day. My husband and I grew very close which led to the birth of our new son Garrett in June 2002. I think our lives will be forever changed. We will never look at an airplane the same way again and we will certainly never take our freedom for granted. In closing I would like to say that we need to love like we've never loved before, pray for our country and never take each other for granted. Take time to enjoy the simple things in life for in an instant it can all be gone. 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 story3401.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.54.2.242 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 remember the morning of 9/11. my husband who is in the navy, had just returned from a deployment the weekend before. we had just gotten up to prepare for work and we turned on the television to cnn like we always do in the morning of course we saw the video tape of the jetliners crashing through the twin towers we were shocked,horrified, and confused at what we had just seen. the phone rang and my husband was recalled to the base. i then reported to work at the school age care facility where i work the children were all scared and confused as they had viewed the reply of this horrible horrible act. many of the chidren we care for are children of military members so of course they were concerned that mom or dad or mom and dad would be deployed. many of the children were concerned that what they had viewed on the television would be re created here in hawaii i quickly reassured them that it would not and ushered them up to the art room with a television and several childrens movies in order to take their mind off of the days events-- submitted by danielle a bogard 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 story3139.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.91.89.127 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I am a Captain with the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office. I have a daughter living and working in New York City. On that fateful morning I was in a police meeting at the North Syracuse School District Office discussing the upcoming school semester. I was advised of the first plane strike by pager alert. As soon as the second plane struck, my only thought was to locate my daughter,Maggie. First her home phone; already left for work. Next at the office; lines dead. And lastly her cellular phone; no answer. I, along with a detail of Deputy Sheriffs, prepared to respond immediately since we are less than four hours away. We were prevented from going. No need for any additional police officers we were advised. Even though officers responded from around the world, our Department did nothing. My personal concern was for my daughter's safety. My professional concern was to assist the NYPD in any way possible. At 1:30 p.m. I received a message that my daughter was safe. She fled to Brooklyn. I finally made contact with her early in the evening. Two weeks later we were in New York City assisting the NYPD. My daughter still lives in Manhattan. 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 story1364.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. 2002-08-21 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.95.178.187 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: THE DAY THE DEVIL DESTROYED THE HEART OF AMERICA I FELT SO HURT AND CONFUSED, MY DAUGHTER WAS IN THE NURSERY SHE WAS ONLY 2 MONTHS AT THE TIME I FELT SCARED THAT I WILL LOOSE MY FAMILY BECAUSE OF THIS I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT AMERICA WANTS TO LIVE SO PLEASE SAVE US WE NEED PROTECTION THANKYOU! 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 story8731.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. 2002-12-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 165.155.128.134 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 returning to my office from a meeting when one of our assemblers came up to me and told me that an aircraft had flown into the World Trade Center. My reply was "How can that happen; the two tallest buildings in New York. This is a joke right?" Steve told me it was no joke, so I went to my office then walked into the conference room in time to see CNN. I was shocked and sadden. But then they showed the second aircraft fly into the other tower and I just wept, I just couldn't believe that it happened. It was like watching an action thriller movie like Die Hard, but this....it really happened. My next reaction was to return to my office and I immediately called my reserve squadron to see if we were going to be recalled. Three months later, after I was transfered to a Naval Support Unit in New Orleans, I was mobilized for a year to perform Security on the base. I am now approaching the end of that year, and I can honestly say that my life has been changed. I have a deeper respect for my active duty counterparts, and the other souls who have been taken from their everyday lives to fulfill their country's call. I for one feel that the people who have been activated for Homeland Defense deserve an applaude and a Thank You. You may not been in some foreign country or in harms way, but you are here defending and protecting us at home and this reservist would like to say Thank You!! Your efforts have not gone un-noticed! 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 story7378.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. 2002-09-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 164.229.105.95 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: This was my last week working at AT&T. My husband was flying back to Phoenix from Vancouver Washington and we were packing to move to the great Northwest in only 5 days. I was so excited that's all I talked about. There was a mumbling on the floor and some of the representatives were talking about planes being hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagone. It was so unbelievable. I was so scared. My husband was suppose to be in the air right now. I called my room mate who told me that Todd had called to say his flight was cancelled. I was both upset and relieved. Relieved that he was safe and upset that he was so far away. We can normally see the oncoming air traffic to PHX. It was strangely quiet. Right after I talked to Colleen, AT&T closed the office. That was a shock because they never close for anything. We've had bomb threats and tornado's and never closed. I spent the rest of the day watching CNN, and calling friends and family to make sure they were all OK? Todd told me that he was walking through the airport when the second plane hit and thought it was strange that so many people were so interested in a disaster movie. He didn't realize until a few minutes later that it wasn't a movie, it was real. It took us days of waiting and trying to get a flight back before he finally got one. When he finally arrived on Friday and I saw him for the first time since labor day , I practically fell to my knees I was so happy to have him back. Three days later, we moved. 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 story978.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-08-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.225.191.199 Annotation Annotations to this item. Struggle to get home DOMESTIC Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was on the phone talking to my mother and she said a plane just crashed into a building and I said are you watching a movie??? She cried no turn on your tv;My God they just hit the world trad center . I saw the second one hit and my mother and I both prayed to dear god. I would like to offer this from the website of spiritlands as it is a Native American Prayer that the author is unknownThis native American Indian prayer seems most fitting for today. I offer it as my souls gift to all that were affected on every level by the events that happened on september 11, 2001. BrothersHeart So how do you sit with a shattered soul? Gently,with gracious and deep respect. Patiently ,for time stands still for the shattered, and the momentum of healing will be slow at first. With the tender strength that comes from an openess to your own deepest wounding, and to your own deepest healing. Firmly , never wavering in the utmost conviction that evil is powerful, but there is a good that is more powerful still. Stay connected to that goodness with all your being, however it manifests irself to you. Acquaint yourself with the shadows that lie deep within you. And then, oopen yourself, all that is you to the light. Give freely. Take in abundantly. Find your safety , your refuge, and go theere as your need. Hear what you can, and be honest about the rest: be honest at all cost. Words won't always come; sometimes there are no words in the face of such tragic ecvil. But in your willingness to be with them, they will hear you; from soul to soul they will hear that for which there are no words . with breathes of love an encouragment I support and encourage you on your lifes path. If ever I can be of help call my name....BrothersHeart 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 story4774.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. 172.143.89.18 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 with my daughter on September 11, 2001. I was awake and still in bed when a friend from Atlanta called me and told me to turn on CNN asap. She said someone has just flown into one of the New York trade center buildings. I turned on the TV just in time to see the second plane fly into the south building. I watched in horror as the New Yorkers stood stunned in the street and begun to realize this was no accident and their city had turned into a war zone. My daughter watched with her wide innocent eyes and kept asking me, "mommie, it's just Hollywood, isn't it, it's not for real, right?" How do you explain such evil, premeditated terror to a seven year old? I explained to her that it was not Hollywood, that this horrible deed was, in fact, all too real. She was very upset and I kept her home from school that day. I knew no one personally in New York, but have friends that have relatives that were there that day. They have accounts of running for their lives, having to move from their homes, the darkness of that day, literally and figuratively, the brave emergency rescue people with hardly no one living to rescue. This day will be forever seared into my memory as the day one of the most heinous, evil acts was ever committed against everything American and what we stand for; freedom and going to great lengths to ensure that everyone has this freedom. One year later, I am left with the hope of our great country, the realization that we can survive anything and the fact that we will run from nothing. 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 story3752.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.81.16.152 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was sitting at my desk when my boss came rushing through the office on his cell phone, stopped at my desk and said a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. I immediately turned on the radio and went to the CNN website and actually watched in horror! Within minutes I could not belives what I was witnessing, another plan. I called my husband on his cell phone (he had not heard the news yet). "Oh my gosh, honey two planes just crashed one right afterthe other into the World Trade Center" not believing what I was tellin him, he went into a conferenc room and turned on the t.v. and we both watched in silence. At first I thought "oh my gosh" but when the second plane crashed I got such a sick feeling that this was a deliberate act of some sick individual. The rest of the day in our office building was a blurr. When I returned home from work, I was never so happy to see my children and my husband. All sports and after school activities in our area had been canceled. Together as a family we watched station after station until the wee hours of the morning. (we taped about 3 entire videos and packed them away). Having just lost my mother just 2 months prior, my heart just broke in two for all of the victims and their families. You know you heard your great grandparents speak of world war I, II and neighbors talk about viet nam, and now we experience this - the thought of war horrifies me, when I watch the history channel, I cry for all the people who lived/died through world war I, II, viet nam, the korean war. I pray that I nor my children have to go through that devistation. 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 story2144.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. 2002-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.40 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: A Clear and Sunny Day in September It was the last day of our Fall vacation in Washington D.C. Early that morning my wife Judy and I had driven downtown with my step-son, Jerry. Taking a shortcut, we passed through the parking lot of the Pentagon. Jerry was going to work while we would spend the day sightseeing. Later, we were going to meet for dinner, to celebrate my 47th birthday. Then Judy and I were flying back to Cleveland. After Jerry parked his car and went to his office, Judy and I had breakfast and stopped at Starbucks. While Judy went in for coffee, I waited outside. It was about 9:20 A.M. A man from one of the offices in the building came outside for a cigarette. He told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York. His company was involved with the airline industry and he had gotten calls about it. When he turned on the T.V. he saw a live broadcast of a second jet striking the other tower of the World Trade Center. He said he knew that it was a terrorist attack. When Judy came out of Starbucks I told her what had happened. We were shocked. As we walked through the tall buildings towards the Mall area we talked about what it would be like to see a jet hit one of them. We watched the faces of the other pedestrians to see if they had heard the news but it didn?t seem like anyone had. Everyone looked calm and normal. As we approached the Mall, we saw a huge cloud of angry, black smoke billowing across the sky behind the Washington Monument. We didn?t know what was on fire but we knew that it was big and close. The first sirens hadn?t even sounded yet. We continued to walk towards our destination, the Holocaust Museum, less than a mile from the Pentagon. We speculated that perhaps a jet had crashed at Ronald Reagan National Airport nearby. Then we started to hear the first sirens and see the first emergency vehicles. As we continued to walk closer to the museum we observed small groups of people standing on the street corners or in front of their office buildings. We thought they were waiting for busses. As we got close to the office of the National Park Service we could tell that the buildings were being evacuated. One women was angry about not being allowed to go back inside. A man inside an unmarked, white SUV parked in the street was directing pedestrians to cross. He seemed very tense. We got to the Holocaust Museum and joined a group of tourists waiting in line. It was still before 10 A.M. and the museum wasn?t open yet. As they passed out tickets for the first 10 A.M. group to enter, we spoke to the people around us. The group in front of us had heard about the World Trade Center attack. From the group behind us we learned that the Pentagon had been bombed! We didn?t hear the explosion because the tall buildings had muffled the sound. We began to feel afraid and thought it?d be best to be inside the museum, perhaps in the basement. As we waited anxiously to go in, three workers were leaving the building. One of them said, ?I wouldn?t be standing in front of a Jewish museum.? As we pondered this, we started hearing rumors that the State Department had also been bombed. The staff of the museum seemed unsure about what to do so we waited a little longer. At 10:10 A.M. we heard what sounded like a loud explosion. It was so near that I could feel the reverberations. I?m still not sure what it was. Perhaps it was a sonic boom. We later learned that a section of the Pentagon had collapsed. We looked at each other and I said, ?We?re out of here!? The group of tourists all dispersed at the same time. We still didn?t know that a jet had intentionally crashed into the Pentagon. I thought that the entire East Coast was under attack from some unknown enemy that was exploding bombs all around us. I was expecting a nuclear attack next, since we were in the nation?s capitol. Everything seemed surreal as we headed towards the open Mall area across the street from the Washington Monument. That was the only open space away from all of the government buildings. Just then we looked up and saw an F-16 jet fighter streak across the sky. Rather than feeling reassured by this sight, we both just felt a huge wave of fear. Things must be really bad when you see F-16?s flying over the air space of the capitol! Feeling like we were in a war zone, we stopped under a tree where Judy sat down and searched her purse for her cell phone. She remembered the battery had run down so she left it with our luggage in Jerry?s car trunk. She searched her address book and found his office phone number. She was determined to reach him, to find him and flee, or at least to all die together. As we got up to start walking towards a phone and his office, a police car pulled around the base of the Washington Monument and announced on a bull horn that everyone had to leave, the Mall was closed! This was the first and only official notification that we ever got that an emergency was unfolding. (We later learned that there was no disaster or air raid siren to warn those outside. No one, not even congresspersons, had an evacuation or emergency disaster plan). Judy, who already had P.T.S.D., was triggered by the unfolding series of events. She just wanted to hide under that tree. It was the only place she felt safe. But we had to get out of there. She seemed frozen and disassociated. As we started walking she said, ?O.K. Now we have to walk real slow.? I must have lost it a little then also because I was scared and I could see what was happening to her and I knew I had to take care of her and get us both out. I felt my ?fight or flight? instinct kick in. I said, ?We have to leave now! We have to walk fast and get out of here.? I knew we would have to go far so we couldn?t run, even though I felt like it. Judy grabbed my hand hard and off we walked, towards the White House! It was the only direction we could have gone to get away from the Pentagon and get to Jerry?s office. But in order to get out we had to pass through streets lined by big, tall, official, U.S. government buildings. Although we wanted to avoid them we couldn?t. I remember thinking, ?Well, we could die now, but we have to walk through.? As we walked up 14th street I kept seeing things that were clearly amiss. I knew Judy was upset and scared. So was I. There were more sirens and emergency vehicles and ambulances. At first there were few people on the street, but soon there were more and more as the buildings were evacuated. Some were upset, and some looked grim. A few were even walking towards the Mall! We reached a hotel a block away from the White House. It seemed like a good place to find a phone so we stopped. We didn?t realize how close we were to the White House and hadn?t considered that the White House was a possible target! We waited in line for the phone. Many other people were trying to phone out. One woman was taking messages from people in line and relaying them on, through her family. Judy got to a phone and called Jerry?s office and his cell phone. His office had been evacuated and the cell phone traffic was disrupted. Judy was having a lot of difficulty finding the focus and concentration she needed to dial the long string of numbers and to follow the many phone prompts needed to use our calling card. Finally, she called Jerry?s father in Cleveland who was able to reach Jerry on his cell phone. He had been driving around north of the city hoping to hear from us. When he learned of our location he said, ?Tell them to get the hell out of there!? He had heard rumors of the Mall being on fire and that the State Department was bombed. He had been worried that that?s where we were going. We agreed to move on and set a time to try to reach Jerry again as we had lost the connection. Judy was relieved to have had contact with Jerry. While Judy was on the phone I had to use the restroom. I considered the irony of dying while on the toilet and worried about being separated from Judy. As I walked back to the phones I felt a huge wave of anger at the people who had done this to us. I felt that they would have to pay. I guess that was the ?fight? part of the fight or flight response. As Judy finished her calls I studied the map to see how we could find our way out of the city. I saw a woman sobbing out of control in the lobby. We left the hotel and walked north. The street was filled with people. It was almost impossible to judge their thoughts or feelings. Many seemed quite calm and relaxed. Some talked and joked with their friends and walked slowly and casually. Others looked upset, tense and grim. We had heard talk of another jet missing out there. Only later did we learn of the heroic efforts of the passengers on Flight 93. That jet had crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, rather than somewhere in D.C. I feel those passengers may have saved our lives that day. We continued our journey on foot out of the city. The traffic was totally jammed with cars trying to get out. We saw many long black limo?s with tinted windows leaving. There were white vans with men in black uniforms. At one point I saw a solder in full camo running down the middle of the street clearing traffic for a gray, emergency bus from the Walter Reed Medical Center, going to the Pentagon. We had little information about what was happening. I heard some from a car that had the news blaring out of its open window. It wasn?t good. There were small crowds gathered in front of buildings. A woman tripped and fell to the ground. She was helped up and continued on. Most stores were closed. The Metro was shut down. We found another hotel and Judy again called Cleveland and relayed messages to Jerry. We set up a possible place to meet. We also learned a plane suspected in the attacks was grounded in Cleveland. I was shocked by the enormity of the morning?s events. As we walked in the clear, warm, sunshine, away from the destruction downtown, the crowd looked as if they might have been on a holiday, freed unexpectedly from work. Inside, I felt like a war refugee escaping from a battlefield. We tried to avoid the rough parts of town as we walked north and then west. I stopped at a small electronics store that was open and bought a radio. I had to know what was going on. While Judy waited outside she was part of a small crowd watching the breaking news on a T. V. in the store window. Our hearts sank with shock and horror and fear as we saw the devastation in New York. We walked for about 3 hours that day, until we reached a bridge that I recognized and got close to the area where we hoped to meet Jerry. As we walked up the street we saw Jerry walking casually towards us, sipping on a McDonalds coke! We all hugged each other, we were so glad to find each other again. We had to eat, and we called back to Cleveland on a payphone to let everyone know we were safe. Jerry offered to drive us back to Cleveland as all airlines were grounded. We spent the entire ride back listening to the news on N.P.R. When we got home I watched the news on T.V. for days on end. It was a part of my survival mechanism, I had to stay informed. Thankfully, I had a few days of vacation left. Judy tried to work but couldn?t. We were both traumatized by what we had experienced. We tried to comfort one another as best we could. Jerry went back to D.C. the next evening and was back to work the following day. We couldn?t believe his office was open. We were worried about him being back in D.C. so soon. He is a brave young man. It has been several months since the attacks of September 11th. For the first few months I suffered with a stress and grief reaction. Judy struggled with P.T.S.D. We took lots of long walks together in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and worked through our feelings. We forged an even closer bond, because we survived that day together. More than any single day or event in my life, September 11th has changed me, for the good, I think. I have become more grateful to be alive, more compassionate to others, more in touch with my feelings. I will never forget those who died that day, or were injured, either in body or in spirit. My cousin?s husband, father to three young children, died that day. Who could have known that on such a clear and sunny day in September, we would be swept up in a tragedy that would change our lives forever? Chris Wimmer, Cleveland, Ohio, May, 2002 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 story10421.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-02-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 162.119.240.100