495 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: At 8AM Central Time my alarm clock went off across my Ferrell Hall dorm room. With in seconds my roommate?s radio alarm turned on to the reports of an airplane crashing into the World Trade Center. In a half a sleep haze my roommate and I passed the news off as a morning prank by the 98.9 morning show. As the report went on I quietly asked my roommate, "Ed, are you listening to this?" He responded, "Yeah, I think this is for real!" Without cable I ran down the hall half-dressed for class and still somewhat asleep. At the moment that I walked into my friends room a second plane hit the other World Trade Center tower. From that moment we knew it wasn't an accident. I finished getting ready for class that morning listening to the radio the entire time. Just as I was leaving for my first class I heard about the plane hitting the Pentagon. On my way to class there was this sickening sound of silent cries. People were talking about the events of the morning, about their family at the different crash sites, their friends that worked in the World Trade Center; yet, under all the discussion there was silence. On my walk up the Benedictine Hill I realized that there was no I way I could sit through my Mass Communications class. With permission I left the classroom and returned to my dorm. Phone calls started to come in, my distant Uncle who worked in the Pentagon was "on special assignment" and we wouldn't find out if he survived the attacks for some time. My father was evacuated out of his offices at the Oil Trade Facility in Houston, TX. Every where I went that day I ran into friends who weren't so lucky. That evening I raised an American Flag in the window of our newly renovated dorm room. The Flag would remain in the window for the remainder of the year; it served as a constant reminder of the freedom that we enjoy and that so many have died for. 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 story2409.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. 65.112.101.34 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: I feel good that I am a lucky person. Why? Because my family is still here with me. I am glad known of my people not hurt. If my family was in there, i would not know what to do. I think that Bin Ladin is to smart for us. Why? Because we all thought that they was going to hit on the New Millinium (2000), but they didn't. So in other words they caught us off gaurd and got us. Ladin has too many connections all across the U.S. So how are we going to catch him? I was at home when I seen it on the news.( NO ONE KNOWS HOW WE GOING TO CATCH HIM) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story20463.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.186.239.238 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 my 8am government class in high school when my guidance counsellor, Ms. Burke, came into the classroom and announced that "a plane flew into the World Trade Center". None of us were really sure what to think of it, and since that was all the information we were given, we had no idea about the severity of the attack. Just a few days earlier, someone had flown a very small plane into a building (not as a terrorist thing or to cause harm to others) and my classmates and I began to assume this was something of that nature. Class continued, and throughout the day more and more people became worried. We were not allowed to listen to radios, watch TV, or leave school. By the time lunch was over and I headed to my chorus class, some people were in tears for fear that their loved ones attending NYU or visiting the city were hurt. I didn't really understand why they were so upset. I didn't understand the situation at all. We weren't told that more than one plane was involved, we weren't told that the towers had fallen, we weren't told about the incidents in PA or DC, and we weren't told that it was a deliberate act of terrorism. I arrived home around 3pm and turned on the news. I was absolutely shocked. All of the stations were replaying clips of the second plane hitting (the clip of the first plane hadn't been released yet), both towers falling, and the destruction at the Pentagon. Over and over I watched people jumping from a hundred stories off the ground, and grown men and women weeping on the streets feeling helpless and lost. Suddenly and with pangs of guilt I realized why so many people had been upset at my school. They knew. They knew everything and I knew nothing. So instead of receiving reports throughout the day at planes crashed and towers fell, it came to me all at once through pictures and visibly upset newscasters trying to keep up their stoic facades while reporting the deaths of thousands of husbands, wives, parents, children, siblings, and friends. I didn't know anyone in NYC or DC, and even though the planes came out of our nearest airport, Logan, I didn't know anyone travelling at the time. I didn't have one person to focus on. They were all strangers to me. But that didn't make it any easier. As I watched the news through the evening, I began to imagine what it must have been like for the people in the second tower who did not have time or did not think to evacuate. I imagined what it must have been like to see a plane headed straight for the building you were working in. Or to be on the top floor, unable to get out and knowing that you were going to die. I couldn't handle those thoughts, but I kept watching the news and all that footage, even though I spent much of the night crying too hard to be able to see. The next day at school we talked exclusively about the attacks of the previous morning, and it was cathartic to see my classmates just as upset and angry as I was. Our teachers described these events as "definitive moments in history". "Your children," they said, "will ask you where you were when it happened, and will have no knowledge of a pre-9/11 world." There's a very strong feeling of sadness I get when I think about that. 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 story10933.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 168.122.245.130 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, I was in the 6th grade. I remember waking up like normal and going downstairs to eat breakfast when the phone rang. No one calls at seven in the morning. I answered and I remember my aunt telling me to have my parents turn on the news. Of course I wanted to see what was going on. I saw what was on and I thought that it was a movie, so I turned the channel and saw it again. I asked my parents what was going on and they told me. I was late to school that day. All of my teachers were talking about it. When I was in 8th grade I was able to go to New York and see ground zero for myself and it was amazing. I couldn't belive what I was seeing. I will never forget it. 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 story11776.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. anonymously 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. 2005-08-27 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.116.63.140 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: Impact. This is the day our world will change forever. This is the beginning of the end. This is the end of an era of American security, of unconditional American freedom. Images and sounds bombard us and there is no escape. We close our eyes, and still we see the towers flaming, smoking, falling. We cover our ears, and still we hear the sounds of people screaming, of gargantuan monoliths dissolving before us. We stand as a nation, silent, and still. Some of us are weeping, and some of us are stoic. All of us feel the same basic emotions. We are scared, we are angry, we are sad. We stand as a nation, resilient and strong. These attacks have been meant to break our spirit, to drop us to our knees. They didn?t. We cried, we mourned, we acted. For now, we must focus on rescuing our fellow Americans, on helping the families of those so brutally murdered. And then... Impact. It happens again. Scarcely half an hour has passed since we last saw this. Now they?ve struck at our nation?s capital, boldly attacking the symbol of our military power. Again the same tides of emotion run over us. We are silent and still, gathered in streets and homes, in churches and schools, in stores and offices. We still weep, we still mourn, we are still angry. Again the images bombard us, the sounds of the wounded and the wails of lamentation fill the air (waves). Again, we stand as a nation, silent and still. Through the confusion and the rumors, through the speculation and the ?unconfirmed reports?, we remain resilient and strong. We do not know what will happen next, but we know that regardless, we will continue on. And then.... Impact. A third plane has fallen, apparently missing its target. Again, we stand together, again we mourn. By now we have seen armed military in our streets, jet fighters in our skies, and battleships off our coasts. It is not even 11 am, and already we are numb. Acts of war have been brought against our people and our nation. None of us have ever seen such destruction, such pain, such chaos before. Most of the world has joined us in our mourning and our pain. A few rejoice, and we see them do so on TV. We make note. We know we will be vindicated. And then.... We continue with our day. Classes are cancelled and stores are closed, so we spend the day with loved ones, trying to cope with such pain and fear. We tell the story over and over again, as if constant reiteration of it will prevent any more attacks. We stand as a nation, resilient and strong, and at the same time anxious and worried. We never asked for this war, but it has been brought to us, here and now. We stand as a nation, certain of our victory, but wary of the cost. We don?t want to see people die, we don?t want to lose our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers, but we will. That is almost certain. We stand as a nation, tense and ready, preparing for war. These savage and brutal attacks did not break our spirit. They did not stem our pride, nor did they weaken our nation. To the contrary, these attacks reinforced our spirit, they strengthened our pride, and they brought our nation together. And with that, we stand as a nation, resilient and strong, and we wait. We will bide our time, gather ourselves, and we set out to bring whoever perpetrated these attacks to justice. And then... I disconnect from the billion node interconnected patriotic matrix that America has become. I look around me. I see thousands of American flags that weren't there two days ago. I see gas guzzling SUVs running on Middle Eastern oil sporting American flags. And I reflect on what could make a people hate us so much. Some will say they're jealous, some will say they're religious fanatics. No one wants to admit that it's our lifestyles. No one wants to think about how we, one country amongst 180 others, use over half the world's oil, and produce half the world's waste. That oil fuels our lifestyles, powers our SUVs and B-2 Bombers. We then use those B-2 Bombers to protect the intrests of our SUVs. And I come to understand that that is one of the reasons a people could hate us so much. As I realize this, I still burn with anger and rage over what they have enacted upon us. I know that they'll pay in kind, and I'm left with an old adage that my father use to tell me constantly as I battled through school. "Two wrongs don't make a right" he'd always say. I'm left to stand here, pondering the tides of change that could potentially sweep this country, mourning the people lost, and trying to understand the world. And here I stand as an individual, silent and still. 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 story501.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. 2002-05-02 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.172.33.200 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 dropped my kids off at child day care center at Fort Hamilton and decided to drive fearing that I would be late for work. Everything was going as usual (traffic by the toll before entering the tunnel in Brooklyn). I had gone through the tunnel and was stopped at the light before the bridge that connected the finanial center when I heard an explosion and something hit the top of the car. I looked up and saw a smoke cloud on top of the first tower. In a panic, everyone waiting on that light tried to go reverse into the side street. I had made it to a street right behind the towers where I was trying to use my cell phone to call my boss. My phone didn't work so I had to get out of my vehicle to use a public phone. I had informed my boss that there was an explosion at the top of one of the World Trade center towers. I thought that it was a terrorist act because of the bomb explosion a few years back. When I got back in the car, the news broadcaster informed that it was a small plane so I just assumed that it was really an accident because prior to that week there were accidents involving small planes. I was waiting on the light right behind the second tower when the second plane hit and I saw the building light up right in front of me from bottom to the top and I paniced and tried to make an immediate right. I panicked because i didn't want to hit any of the pedestrians running away from the explosion. I made it as far as the south street seaport when I saw people running towards me and I heard noises like shots being fired and at this time I knew that it was a terrorist act because I had heard on the radio what was going on with the hijacking of the planes and about the plane diving into the pentagon. I started to scream out "Oh my God! they are coming after us to kill us with guns" and at that point I started to cry because the sounds from the building crumbling sounded like gun shots. Then the police came and ordered everyone out of their vehicles and directed us to go towards the waters. That's when the towers started to collapse and I saw people coming out the debris it was like a dream because all you saw was smoke from the debris and people coming out of nowhere. Some people were bloody and full of soot but they were walking as fast as they could. I saw three young ladies that attended either a high school or Middle school across the street from the towers and they looked really desperate. One was having problems with her asthma so I picked them up and I drove until we could get to the upperside of manhattan. I tell you that day I will never forget how one couldn't breathe because the debris made the air so thick. I was lucky to have been in my vehicle and if it wasn't for God I would have been one of the victims. It was only God that I didn't hit anyone in the street trying to get away from the explosion. I just felt so helpless that day like now when I think about it, I wish that I had taken some people in the car with me but in a panic I wasn't thinking about anything but getting out of there. I just thank God that I was one that survived. 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 story5944.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. 198.81.16.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My story is not unusual. I was driving southbound on I-95 on my way to a job interview in Sanford, Maine. I hardly ever turn my car radio on, but that morning something compelled me to. I turned on the radio just after the first plane hit. At that point they weren't sure if it was an accident or not. When the second plane hit, a chill ran up my spine. I instantly knew that we were victims of terrorism. I could not help becoming emotional and shedding tears on my way to the interview thinking about the innocent people in the planes and the towers. I am not a religious person, but that night I actually got on my knees in my apartment and prayed for the victims and their families, and all of America. I ended up getting the job I was interviewing for that day, but I just did not feel like celebrating. I could not bring myself to. The thing that amazes me the most is that I will never forget exactly where I was the moment I heard the news. I will never, ever forget what happened that day and I will remember the victims of 9-11 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 story9188.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-04-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.198.24.74 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: Lines Wntten, Teiza Rima, On the Northern Alliance' s Taking of Kunduz The Alliance of the North pursues The remnants of the Taliban Puritans who treated like Jews In the holocaust their own citizens Who are fleeing from Kundui that stews From our Air Force's mighty bombs' Zen Who had scared and Anthraxed to the news That the U.S. Forces are so advancing, Forcing these ~irds of prey to pew And kneel and genuflect... Allah The Lord from the Allah - 'al, the And "Ilah," god, supreme power - For all gods are One from A to Z So that our Yahweh is blood brother Muslim's submit, our vanity By which axiom and law, sisters And all brothers must join our Blut- Bruderschaft so that blisters Of war and hate, bury all to the roots. C copyright 2001 John Soldo 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 story626.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. 2002-05-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 146.96.95.21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was about to leave to go to New York on that same morning around the same time that the first plane had hit the WTC. I realize I had to check the weather to see what to wear and how to dress my one yr. old daughter at that time. When I put on the t.v. I heard the news say a plane just crashed into the WTC. I really didn't pay much attention because I thought it was an accident, so I continue to get ready. Then I saw the second plane hit and it still didn't register in my mind that it was an attack because I didn't want to believe that. As I sat down in front of the t.v. my telephone rang it was my uncle who worked in building one asking questions about the buildings, "which building was hit" and can does it look bad. I thank God until this day that my uncle had decided to take vacation on that week because I would have been feeling the same way as the other victims family not that I'm not feeling sad anyway. My uncle worked there for 25 years and he had got me a job working there, every year I use to replace the people that go on vacation, so I did get to meet many people and that is why I'm sad. If my uncle didn't take his vaction that week like he always did every year instead of calling me from the brooklyn bridge he would have been trapped or buried under one of those buildings. Everyday before I had my daughter I use to leave the house to go to work around that time because I use to work on Broadway, so my morning commute was to take the path to the WTC and walk down Trinity or Broadway. In the evening I use to work at the WTC so I use to take the path home. And I believe until this day that if I didn't meet my baby's father at the WTC 3 yrs. ago I probably would have been on the path train or walking out of the WTC building during the collapse. I use to go to the bank in that building (xcel on the 39th fl). I can sit here all day but the point that I'm trying to make is that I feel God have given me so many chances to live and to keep my uncle here again on this earth, because he made it through the 93 bombing and a stick up in the elevator at gun point in the WTC on the 12 fl., (I don't know if you are aware of that story. As for me if I did'nt get pregnant and quit my job, or turn on the news that morning and oversleep, my daughter and myself would have been trapped, hurt or anythingelse that is heartbroken about that day. Before I go I want to leave this for the people of this world especially those with this question,"WHY DID GOD DO THIS". He didn't do this to hurt or destroy anyone's faith in him, everyone is going to have to die oneday and it was just those souls that was time to go. We would never know the reason "WHY", but I feel God has a reason for everything so stay prayful and always believe that oneday it would be better. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story6175.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. 66.2.44.19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: That Day One Year Later It was one of those days where you believed it was a sin to be made to have school inside. The air was warm and the sky was without a cloud. I was in my second period class, but due to block scheduling, it was my first class of the day. My Spanish teacher was a great educator, but she had a very monotonous voice that was barely keeping me from sleeping. I sat in the middle of the class, adjacent to the wall that hung a clock on it. I recollect staring at the clock, somehow believing I could speed the time up. As the bell finally rang, I went through my break rounds. I changed books, said ?Hi? to some friends, and proceeded to the Sports Lobby where the other Football players were. When I was bored with the conversation, I decided to dress out for my weight lifting class, and walk down the long hallway to the weight room. After stretching, Coach Renner told us to warm up with a two-lap jog. It is funny how you can remember the very last minutes before a cataclysmic event happens to you, but I vividly remember running on the inside track at a fast pace, as to keep up with my friend C.J. Coach Renner stopped us after only one lap and told us to relax talk amongst ourselves. As he faced us, he whispered over his left shoulder to a bald, heavyset man I had seen near the security office. They whispered back and forth, and then, with a large nod, Coach lifted both his arms to us in a ?lets everybody come this way? motion, as he muttered to another coach about an attack. My first thought of it was a bomb threat to the school. I wondered if we could maybe get out of school early because of it. As we were sat down in the uncomfortable weight room equipment, Coach excused himself for about twenty minutes, and a man I didn?t recognize sat down in his place in the office. D.C. 101 was blaring over the speakers, but nobody talking seemed to know just what was going on. Finally, A reporter came on saying that the World Trade Center had been hit with a private plane, apparently by accident. As we reflected and talked about this accident, I was puzzled why we were made to go inside. Five minutes later, I found out. The Pentagon was also hit with a 747 jet. This was no accident, I remember thinking. Something sounded familiar about the World Trade Center. I tried to think about it, but my mind was a blur of people I know in Washington. Our class joined Mr. Munoz?s class in the Driver?s Ed room, as the big screen T.V. blared Channel 5. ?The second tower has been hit!? said the invisible voice on the T.V. This was followed by screams and ?oh, my God!?s. Then it clicked. The Twin Towers?Dad...the Twin Towers?Dad. The following day I had received a concussion in Football practice, and one of the few things I remember my father saying to me at the hospital was, ? Ill be in New York all tomorrow, but ill be back tomorrow night.? Having been to New York, I asked him where he would have his meetings. ? The World Trade Center, ya know, the Twin Towers?? As this registered in my brain, I saw the collapse of the North Tower and the rubble crashing down as people screamed and ran for their lives. I stared at the T.V. for about ten seconds, calmly got up, walked to the bathroom and threw up for ten minutes. I ran through school looking for a cell phone, asking strangers for their own. I finally saw my friend Danny, as he put his back in his pocket. I fumbled my fingers with the memory of my Father?s cell phone number and when his voicemail picked up, I ran to the office to use their phone. As I waited for the chance to call my mother where she taught, I saw girls screaming at the top of their lungs for their parents, and tears of joy when a reassuring voice picked up the phone. After many times when the phone lines were too busy to pick up one more call, I finally reached my mother. She was crying, but trying to hold it in, for her Kindergarten students surrounded her. She had not been able to reach Dad, so I hung up and went back to the Driver?s Ed room to use Mr. Munoz?s cell phone. After reaching both my hysterical sisters, I finally reached my mother again, who told me she had a thirty second conversation with my father as he was exiting the second tower, where he was working that day. He told her he would call her back when he got outside. Two minutes later, the second tower collapsed with the first. I have never been overly religious, or even religious at all, but when I saw the second tower collapse with the possibility of my father not making it out in time, I threw myself on my knees and prayed for the life of my father. I would later find out that my father had gotten out of the building moments before it collapsed, but the people that were behind him about twenty feet did not. It was now 1:30pm. My father was alive, and I sat in Mr. Hamilton?s Health trailer, bewildered at the events that just took place. My sister picked me up early from school that day, and had taken me to her apartment to wait for the rest of my family to arrive at Home. For seven hours, I watched the T.V say the same things over and over. New news about a third hijacked plane that was crashed in Shankesville, Pennsylvania emerged, and I had the duty of calling my grandparents to tell them that their son had been in the World Trade Center, but had gotten out in time. My father called from a train station saying he would be home soon. I never asked my dad how he somehow got the train, being as everything in the country stopped at once. At 11:30 pm, my Father walked into the door of our house. I had never seen him look so consumed with grief as I did in the passing month. It seemed that the words I said to him didn?t register in his mind, but were rather were blown away as if I said nothing at all. Three months passed before he could talk about the experience in it?s entirety. The day came when he finally described his experience, over a glass or two of Scotch. . He told me of the smell of burning jet fuel and the intense heat of the crash burning his face. He described the feeling of helplessness he felt stepping over the mortally wounded, wishing to God for a way to save them. He vividly told me of the sight of seeing his co-workers diving out windows and little children crying over the body of their dead mothers. Before he could finish his story, I asked him to stop. I really couldn?t hear of his experience anymore, and I?m quite sure he didn?t want to continue reliving his nightmare anymore. 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 story7726.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. 151.188.17.4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Now that we're observing the 5-year anniversary of the terroristic attack, that morning of that terrible scene, I was with my sister who is now expecting her third child. She was on the phone with a friend of hers, Chrissi Milby, that she had just gone to New York with for a holiday. She was there for a week like we have in our home a picture of the twin towers that they took. I was in the kitchen having breakfast when the news hit on television and got up from the table to see what was happening and it was a joke, I didn't want to believe it but, it was true because I was looking at it before me. I said a prayer to God immediately and felt much better. With today is 9/11, Brandie, who is my sister, was working at the time in a sporting good store, Hibbett's. The woman that she worked with was from New Zealand and had a proper accent that sounded British. I loved being around her when I was in the store which was only one time to buy a couple of racing car t-shirts. I met her and she was very sweet with a warm personality. Brandie had said that there was a prediction made about the attack which was the fact that the date was going to be 9/11 and everyone was going to be alerting 911 with how we were hit at the 9th hour of that morning. That is the truth like how I believe in Hinduism and have believed in for 7 years with how I got into through spiritual enlightenment and through George Harrison. I said a couple of mantras that day and felt much better with all prayers answered. The way that I've written about that day is the way that I've only talked about it with God and my family because with the terrorists are people who can't be trusted, people in society are just like them because they believe in doing the work of the devil as well. No one likes a terrorist because they are literally hated the way that the person of society is literally hated because of the destructive ways in being very satanic. In 5 years, the terrorists have been tried and sentenced to life in prison but, at the same, the people who still think just like them need to have a life sentence in prison so they can get there just dessert in being punished for their sins which are many. This is like knowing fully well the story of the fatal plane accident in Lexington,Kentucky of Flight 5191. What made those 49 passengers get killed was the faulty agenda planning of the pilot and the agenda schedule of the person at the control tower. The pilot is still living and that's good but, the families of the 49 passengers will never be the same ever again. The world is full sick people and they're to be pitied but, when judgement day gets here, they know where they're going to because their hellish thinking and lifestyle is matching all the time still now their final resting place for the idiocrasy and insanity. 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 story20604.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.169.239.219 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 teaching a preschool class at my daycare. When my sister called me with the news that something was going on in New York. I turned on the tv just before the second plane hit. I didn't know what to do. I just stood crying and called my husband at work to tell him. He had to calm me down before i could get out what happen. I was in shock all day long. I didn't even make sense when I tried to talk. I just cried. The next day I woke up angry, And for the first time I said I hope the kill the ones who did this. And God forgive me I still do. Sharon 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 story3057.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. 216.53.250.69 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 worked in 4 World Trade Center and arrived into the PATH station under the 2WTC at 8:50am, minutes after the first plane hit. Thank God for quick thinking authorities at the PATH who did not know the gravity of the situation but decided not to let us get out of the train and re-routed us back to New Jersey. We were told that there was police activity upstairs. The announcement was met with several groans. Most people in the train got out at Newark, NJ, the first stop, with the idea that they could catch a ferry to work. I decided to take the train two stops further to Hoboken, where I lived. It was very quiet as I got out of the station. My cell phone wouldn't work. So I walked out to the water to get reception and find across the river the World Trade Centers burning. Police men were crying and screaming that people were jumping. It was surreal. I gathered near a group of people who had a radio and found out that it was two commercial jets that had crashed into the towers. There were rumors that there were two planes unaccounted for that might strike the area and someone shouted that the Pentagon had been hit. I thought the world was coming to an end and I went back to the train station to get a train home to my baby. They waited an hour to fill the train before it departed. As more people came in we heard that the first tower had collapsed and then the second. Around 11am our train departed Hoboken, NJ and as it came out of the station we saw the skyline for the first time without the Twin towers. 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 story3233.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. 67.82.92.70 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: SEPT. 11 ,2001-TUESDAY.... THAT DAY, I ARRIVED WTC LOBBY AROUND 8:10 A.M. FROM JERSEY CITY, WHERE I LIVE. IT WAS A LITTLE BIT EARLY, SO I STOPPED BY AT "STRAWBERRY STORE" LOCATED AT WTC CONCOURSE TO BROWSE AROUND, THEN BUY MY BREAKFAST AT ONE OF THE DELI LOCATED AT THE CONCOURSE TOO. AS USUAL, I TOOK THE ELEVATOR GOING STRAIGHT TO 44TH FLR THEN TOOK THE ESCALATOR TO 45TH FLR. I ATE MY BREAKFAST WHILE STARTING MY COMPUTER TO START PRINTING MY REPORTS....THEN SUDDENLY I FELT THE BUILDING SHOOK LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE AND A VERY LOUD NOISE-EVERYONE LOOKED AT EACH OTHER AND ASK..."WHAT WAS THAT?"..THEN WE LOOKED AT THE WINDOW AND WE SAW DEBRIS FALLING DOWN....METALS,PAPERS,ETC....GOD I WAS SO NERVOUS (AS A SURVIVOR OF 1993 BOMBING...I'BECAME SO PARANOID). I HURRIEDLY GOT MY BAG (LEFT MY OTHER THINGS) AND TOOK MY PREGNANT OFFICEMATE AND HURRIEDLY WENT OUT FROM OUR OFFICE. WE MET SOME WORKERS AND WE LEARNED AT THAT MOMENT THAT A SMALL PLANE CRASH AT TOWER 1...WHEN WE GOT TO 44TH FLR AND ABOUT TO TAKE THE ELEVATOR-OUR SECURITY GUARDS ADVISED US TO TAKE THE STAIRS INSTEAD (LATER I FOUND OUT THAT THEY DIDN'T MAKE IT...GOD BLESS THEIR SOULS...). FROM 44TH FLR WE WENT DOWN-LIKE THERE WAS NO END...I CAN'T WAIT TO GET TO THE GROUND FLOOR. WHEN WE WERE AT 30'S FLR SOMEONE AT THE "PA" ANNOUNCE THAT TOWER 2 WAS NOT AFFECTED AND ONLY TOWER 1 AND IT WAS SAFE TO GO BACK...BUT FOR ME..NO WAY I NEED TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE...WHEN I AND MY PREGNANT CO-WORKER REACHED 10 OR 14TH FLR (CAN'T REMEMBER), A LADY OPENED THE DOOR AND SAID WE CAN TAKE THE ELEVATOR THAT WILL GET US DOWN TO THE LOBBY...I WAS HESITANT AT FIRST BUT I WAS WORRIED WITH MY CO- OFFICEMATE SINCE SHE IS PREGNANT. INSIDE THE ELEVATOR WE LOOKED AT EACH OTHER AND ASKED'" ARE WE DOING THE RIGHT THING INSIDE THIS ELEVATOR?" BUT THE DOOR CLOSED AND I PRAYED HARD THAT WE REACHED THE LOBBY QUICKLY. THANK GOD WE DID, AT THE LOBBY A LOT OF FIREMEN, POLICEMEN, WTC SECURITY GUARDS HELPING PEOPLE IN DIRECTING WHERE TO GET OUT...I COULD REMEMBER THOSE FACES OF THE FIREMEN WHO WERE STARTING TO ASSEMBLE AT THE LOBBY TO GO TO TOWER 1.... WE STARTED RUNNING TO GO TO THE ESCALATOR GOING OUT TO CHURCH STREET AS THAT WAS THE DIRECTION GIVEN TO US...APPROXIMATELY 10 STEPS BEFORE WE REACHED THE REVOLVING DOOR, A LOUD AND TREMBLING NOISE, LIKE THE TOWER IS BEING SHAKEN ( I FOUND OUT LATER THAT WAS THE SECOND HIT TOWER 2)-I SCREAMED AS I SAW DEBRIS FALLING AND ALL THE THINGS AT THE PLAZA, THE METALS WERE ALL GOING DOWN LIKE PAPER..I GOT SO HYSTERCAL-AND A GUY TOLD US TO GET BACK TO THE LOBBY...WE ARE ALL RUNNING...CRYING...I COULD SMELL FUEL, SMOKE AT THE CONCOURSE... A POLICEMEN WAS TELLING US TO GET TO THE SUBWAY (UNDER THE CONCOURSE)...E TRAIN...FULL OF PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON AS THEY WERE ONLY COMING TO GO TO WORK...POLICEMEN HOLDING THE TRAIN DOORS, YELLING TO US TO GET IN FAST...I THINK THAT WAS THE LAST TRAIN THAT DAY... MY OFFICEMATE GET OFF AT 23RD ST TO BE WITH HER MOTHER AND I WENT BY MYSELF TO 33RD ST, THINKING I COULD GET PATH TRAIN TO NJ...BUT AS I WENT UP THE STREET, I COULD SEE SMOKE FROM THE TOWER ( IDIN'T KNOW YET THAT TOWER 2 COLLAPSED).. I PASSED BY ST FRANCIS CHURCH THANK GOD FOR HELPING ME GET OUT...THEN I SAW CROWDED PEOPLE LOOKING ON A TV IN ONE OF THE STORE..GOD, THEN I SAW TOWER 1 COLLAPSING-GOD I CAN'T BELEIVED IT...EVERYONE WAS CRYING..I WALKED TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE I SHOULD BE GOING, MY MIND WAS BALNK, PEOPLE WALKING WERE CRYING, ONLY SIRENS YOU COULD HEAR, PEOPLE WALKING LIKE ZOMBIES....I REACHED MY SISTER'S OFFICE AT 53RD AND 7TH AND WHEN THEY SAW ME THEY CRIED AND HUG ME, AS THEY CANNOT CONTACT ME AND THOUGHT I DIDN'T MAKE IT OUT... WE WERE ABLE TO GET HOME SAFELY THROUGH THE FERRY WAITING ON THE LINE FOR 3 HOURS...I NEVER FELT SO RELIEVED WHEN I REACHED NJ AND SAW MY FAMILY..THE NEXT FEW DAY AS I LEARNED WHAT HAPPENED I FELT SO WEAK AND SICK-SAD AND ANGRY..NOW, I'M ABLE TO FACE IT BUT STILL FEEL THE SADNESS EVERYTIME WE TALKED ABOUT IT.. OUR COMPANY MOVED BACK BACK TO DOWNTON A BLOCK AWAY FROM GROUND ZERO-FIRST IT BOTHERS ME BUT NOW I LEARNED TO ACCEPT IT. I DIDN'T GO TO WORK ON SEPT 11 (IST ANNIVERSARY) BECAUSE OF THE EMOTIONAL FEELINGS IT WILL BRING ME. MAY GOD ALWAYS BLESS US ALL AND ALWAYS LIVE TO THE FULLEST... 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 story7295.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. 64.12.96.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at my job in the Emergency Department of a local hospital. It wasn't a very busy morning so I stepped outside to enjoy a few minutes of that gorgeous morning. I walked back into the ER through the triage area and stopped to catch the latest news on the Today Show and was struck dumb by what I saw. After the attack had registered, I immediately thought of my brother-in-law who was working somewhere in Manhattan, exactly where I did not know. I spent all that morning waiting and watching the unfolding horror, not knowing. I was not the only one. My family and I are lucky, our brother was not close enough to be injured. Our hearts and prayers go out to those who were not so fortunate. The ER, in which I worked, was put on high alert, expecting the influx of casualties especially burns (the hospital is a regional burn center) that never arrived. The realization that we would not be needed was a reality that was hard to face. I will never forget that feeling of total helplessness. 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 story5012.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.94.51.133 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 gotten into the habit of watching the early morning news as I got ready for work. On Sept. 11, I had just turned on the tv and instead of our local anchors, there was Peter Jennings. I knew something was wrong and just then they switched to a live view of the Twin Towers. I plopped on my bed, couldn't believe my eyes, there was one tower on fire and they said that a plane had just flown through it! As Mr. Jennings was speaking in the background, I caught out of the corner of the screen the second plane coming straight for the other tower! The tears immediately started flowing and all I can remember saying at that moment was, Oh My God! Oh My God! My youngest daughter came into the bedroom and asked me what was wrong, I just pointed at the tv. She asked me what was going on and I explained to her what had just happened. She asked me then, she is 14, why it upset me so much, it was in New York and we were in California. I then sat her down and explained to her that this was an attack on America and that everyone in our country would be affected by this. It was not until a couple of months later that it finally sunk in and she understood. I called both my parents, waking them up out of bed, as it was only a little after 6am in California. I told them to turn on the news, that planes had just hit the Towers in New York. As I was speaking to my stepmother, the plane hit the Pentagon! I was mortified and practically moaned over the phone! I sent my daughters to school and went immediately to work. I work for the Dept. of Transportation in Northern California. We listened to the radio until Governor Davis sent all government employees home for the rest of the day. I run the mailroom here at Caltrans and for the next two months we had to use special procedures for handling the mail. It has been an emotional experience, one that I will never forget. 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 story1698.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. 2002-09-03 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.174.7.254 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 had brought back a truck load of supplies from a warehousee to our factory. I went up to the office to grab a cup of coffe when I noticed everyone was in the breakroom watching TV. I asked what was going on when someone commented that a plane had "crashed" into the World Trade Center. I commented "Oh we're being attacked". People looked at me and said things like "No, they think the pilot had a heart attack or it was a mechanical error". I replied "No we are being attacked". People were about to start arguing with me (a dirty little driver) when suudenly..."This just in, a second plane has crashed into the towers...the report is unconfirmed but I repeat...we have reports comming in that a second plane has crashed into the World Trade Center and we will bring you etails as they become available...." People looked at me and started asking "Oh my God waht do we do". Now I was angry and I replied, "We shut the hell up and listen for further instructions. I then phoned my mom and dad because my sister worked just five blocks from the towers. To this day I thank God that my sister is 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 story10524.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. 2004-04-04 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.155.56.49 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: We could feel the building shake across the water in Brooklyn. Who could have ever thought of the horrors we were to witness. Looking out the window, we could see the smoke and the papers flying through the air. I was 4 months pregnant with my first child and couldn't believe that something this horrific could happen. I couldn't help thinking that the papers flying through the air looked like angels flying through a sea of despair. How true that was. We couldn't get direct information in the school. We couldn't find our loved ones - some never did get to say goodbye. We had to stay calm for the elementary school children. How can you explain to such small children the impact of the events? The days following were 'numb'. I believe that the rain was the tears cried in heaven by those who had to look down upon us. They couldn't keep us safe. So many new angels. It is hard to believe that so many were needed. Those who found loved ones safe and sound were thankful for answered prayers. Those who did not continued to hold out hope. Following such a great tragedy, the people of New York came together like never before. There was such a sense of mourning, brotherhood, and comraderie. Since this tragic day in September 2001, this sense of brotherhood has waned. This continues to add to the tragedy of all those lost souls. My daughter is proof that life is precious. May you all find such proof of life and love. May you all remember loved ones here and passed. Keep them and your neighbors in your heart. May God bless you all. We will see our loved ones again, in a happier and safer place. 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 story4533.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.38 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Construction workers were banging away for days on the floor above me so noise and thuds of dropped equipment were nothing new. This time they moved the whole floor on a slant as an earthquake would disembowel the contents of tidy home. Papers were flying outside the tiny windows near my cubicle like a ticker-tape parade. Yet as a tried and true in-your-face New Yorker (yes, I'm still a New Yorker although I've lived in the Garden State for six years), not even the slanted floor or flying papers concerned me. It wasn't until my normally gentle-voiced supervisor screamed, "Everybody, get out" that I thought there was a problem. I stopped to get my huge bag and tote bag because as any woman will tell you, your bag contains everything important in life. Or so I thought. I methodically walked down seventeen floors of lightly smoke-filled stairs. I remember seeing firemen climbing in the opposite direction which gave me my first clue of what was happening - a fire. Reaching the promenade level of One World Trade Center, I wasn't prepared for the sight. Glass was everywhere. There were injured. Policeman were screaming, "Walk, don't run. Cover your heads. Don't look back!" I distinctly remember hearing thumps but I had no frame of reference for the sound. It wasn't until much later that I learned that the thumps were bodies hitting the ground. "Don't look back" was not only a safety order but a call that protected my now-fragile mental state. To this day, I feel blessed that I didn't witness the horror of seeing my fellow man - well you fill in the blanks. Then an anonymous voice said, "A plane hit the building." I kept walking, stopping a few minutes later to what I thought was the sound of a sonic boom. A huge plane was aiming directly for Tower Two and in the minute that it would take me to turn my head, the plane struck. I witnessed a body plunging to finality. Fear finally struck and I started to run. I heard one of my co-workers screaming, "Oh my God. Oh my God!" I knew what he was witnessing and I didn't look back. My flashbacks include the plane hitting Tower Two but thankfully I wasn't witness to masses of my friends dying. I was still running, trying to think where I should run to. Were there more kamikazes to come? My husband worked at the Verizon building on Broad Street. Where was Broad Street? I stopped a detective directing traffic to ask him in which direction I should run. He pointed me to safety's direction. "Thank you for helping us today, officer." He knew that this was more than just a casual thank you. I somehow reached Broad Street and found my husband. Nothing has been the same since. I've lost my job of 29 years due to the terrorist cowards. I saw a therapist. Surely, I would need some kind of help after facing death. After two sessions, he sent me packing reassuring me that I would be fine. To an extent, he was right. No one ever forgets a brush with death, the loss of loved ones or a long-held job. But from that tragedy, a new life has started for me. I'm attending Brookdale Community College on a full-time basis. I always wanted to be a registered nurse. Now at 51 years of age, I'm getting the opportunity to fulfill a dream that I though had eluded me. And now I carry the smallest of bags. My family, the important treasures of my life, couldn't possibly fit in there. 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 story7227.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. 2002-09-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.43 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 bulletin interrupted the morning news in my apartment on September 11, 2001: ?An aircraft hit one of the World Trade Center?s Twin Towers in lower Manhattan.? The radio report cut to an eyewitness in the south Tower. He described the crash in English with a Jamaican lilt. Companies in the World Trade Center employ thousands of citizens and immigrants from the West Indies and Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. At 9:00 A.M. I flipped on the TV, stomach churning. Manhattan is where I was born and raised; my mother, family, and friends live there. The TV image showed a smoldering north Tower. Suddenly, I saw?live?a plane traveling at demonic speed slam into the south Tower. In mourning, I left to drive to work. The highway from Washington, D.C., to my employer, a university in northern Virginia, passes the Pentagon. Traffic was thinning as I glimpsed a shiny blur low in the horizon. It was the hijacked Dulles flight. Fifteen seconds later the military complex was fading in my rearview mirror, and the jet had plunged into its target. On a cloudless day cars heading toward the Capitol turned on their lights, vehicles and drivers gaping wide-eyed. When I arrived on campus minutes afterward, few seemed to know what had happened. In my office the phone rang. I grabbed the receiver and heard my mother crying: ?are you OK?? At the Manhattan school that she helps to run, I could hear children playing. Some of their parents, she said, might not return to them. ?What about the Pentagon? Is the White House under attack?? She asked. My wife, I choked, is blocks from the White House. As another pirated flight hurtled toward the Capitol, I phoned my wife at her job but there was no answer. Two hours elapsed before she contacted me. It would be the last call until late afternoon, with communications jamming in the panic. In the unnatural quiet we realized the worst: an immense death toll of parents, spouses, sons and daughters, artists, athletes, dreamers, loved ones. My lecture plan for the day was to introduce the great empires of ancient Africa but I could not teach. Half the class straggled in, angry and bewildered. Recriminations poured forth. America was bearing the brunt of foreign extremism, students growled. I urged them to recall the 1998 embassy attacks in Africa. When our citizens were murdered, Kenya and Tanzania suffered horrible casualties as well. We reflected on the Oklahoma City bombing. Two terrorists convicted for that diabolical crime gouged the nation. History records their names as Timothy and Terry, U.S. citizens. They believed the mythic Anglo-Saxon heartland was under threat from a Big Brother, immigrant-loving state. Their target, a government building, was filled with people from the heartland, many of them children. In the wake of detonation, Timothy and Terry slithered into hiding, while some Americans bayed for ?Arab? blood. Students remembered this event and spoke of respecting law-abiding people. Now that the U.S. military glares at an erratically defined Islamic enemy I wonder: Will we be able to engage in painful dialogue about the origins and consequences of September 11, 2001? I have taken solace from the international messages that my family received in the aftermath of the colossal violence. An ?aunt? in Islamabad, a Pakistani who fasts at Ramadan, was praying for us. Another ?cousin? from Tunisia, a muslim and scholar of Romantic poetry, sent his love. Calls and emails from friends in Pietermaritzburg, Johannesburg, and Durban offered heartfelt solidarity to my family and all the victims. Such support came at a crucial moment. We were seeking ?unaccounted for? people. Today, I learned the last of my ?unaccounted for,? Nick the school buddy and New York City fireman, was alive. So many other families would be hollowed out by loss and sorrow. Firemen down the avenue from Nick?s unit raced to the burning Towers. Their stationhouse now sat empty--every truck and uniformed man entombed in the rubble under a choking mist of pulverized concrete. As the horror sinks in and those responsible are ?credibly? identified, what else will be entombed? Will it be our ideals of justice; our critical understanding of America?s role in the world; our struggles for sensible openness? More important, will the drive to retaliate pull Americans from a pit of tragedy into a cloud of vengeance? We grieve for so much. written 9/14/01 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story57.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-02-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 140.247.82.236 Annotation Annotations to this item. Afganistan/Mideast Arabs in U.S. Civil Liberties/Discrimination Firefighters Internet Military Pentagon Personal connection to someone at site Religion Students/Teachers U.S. retribution DC:2 Sep 11- Sep 21, 2001 Feature