501 20 70359 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On my way out the door to go to college and work, I passed my friend watching tv. I asked if there was anything interesting in the news, and he didn't answer me. I looked at the tv to see why he couldn't answer me just in time to see the second tower get hit. As I watched it I realized what was going on and sank into the chair. I had forgotten about having to go school for a few minutes, until I realized I was late and pulled myself into my car and drove to the university. Upon arriving I was asking everyone I saw if they knew what was happening. I came to a very close friend and started to tell her what I had seen, and she thought I was kidding, she had no idea what had happened until I turned the radio on. She sank into a chair and was speechless. We sat there for a few minutes thinking and thought we should get to work. We gathered our tools and a radio and started building while talking about what was going on. Next thing we know someone ran to where we were and told us that they had just seen the first tower collapse and that other planes were hitting the pentagon and Pennsylvania. We dropped everything and ran to watch the 3 inch television that 25 other people couldn't take their eyes off, all crowded around and embracing each other. We got there just in time to see the second tower fall and all the people running and screaming. Neither of us could take watching it anymore and walked outside of the room tears billowing from our eyes. We hugged and comforted each other. We decided we were to emotional to go back to work, so we cleaned up our tools. At this time the school hadn't cancelled classes so we sat in the scene shop talking and listening to the radio. A couple of minutes later our boss comes in and joins our conversation. Me, our boss, my friend, and a few other people sat there just talking about life and how priorities change and anything else that came up, until the school cancelled classes at noon for everyone. I can't ever remember a time when everyone forgot about everything else in their lives and realized how trivial many of their problems are. In that 3 hours I was at school everyone showed compassion and their humanity. Everyone was affected. I saw strong men cry, selfish people give, and teachers and students being closer and more intimate. Older people always talk about where they were when Kennedy was shot, or wars they've been in. Until NY was hit the only event I could remember was when the Challenger exploded, and even that only vaguely, but 9/11 will always live in my memories. I'll remember the horrors of the attack, but more importantly, I'll remember the people, all the emotions, and the conversations we had that morning, forever! I'm lucky and greatful to have had the oportunity to weather the storm with those special unforgetable people! 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 story5580.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.217.214.241 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was in my apartment getting ready for work. The maintance personel for my apartment complex came by to fix my dishwasher. When he came thru the door he asked, "have you heard yet? Turn on the news." As I did so, the second plane hit. All sorts of emotions went thru me. I had not heard anything from my husband. He is in the military and I knew he would be directly involved. I was not even sure if he was still in Tampa or had they sent him off already. He left one week later for an undisclosed location for the next six months. Ironicly, on September 10, 2001 we found out we were pregnant. I went thru the entire pregnancy alone and scared. Even though this did happen to me I feel blessed that my husband was alive and able to eventually come home to me. I was not having to bury him or even worse just having a memorial because a body was never found. My heart goes out to those who lost there loved ones but a bigger part of my heart goes to the ones that lost and have no proof that the loved one is dead. I could not imagine having to let go of my husband without some part of him to prove that he was is fact dead...This day will be a part of me forever and my son will grow up knowing every detail of this day. 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 story6822.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.26.68.117 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 around 8:45, while writing out birthday cards at my desk, a coworker ran by, frantically rambling. It sounded like she said something about a problem with a train (as in an Amtrack train). I figured that another train had derailed and people were injured. I went back to filling out the birthday cards. Suddenly, I heard the scurry of more coworkers. I finally went to the board room to join them. 10 of us huddled around the t.v. that really doesn't get exactly work well. That's when I heard "A plane has flown into the World Trade Center." (It has to be an accident.) Then, "two planes have hit the WTC," and we all knew immediately what had happened. On the Southside of our building, we have a very clear view of the WTC. Only 2 month before had I become aware of the view. All of us ran to the windows to see. More coworkers filtered in, claiming to have heard the roar of planes, had seen them fly overhead as they walked to work. Someone brought over a small radio. Now we could see the holes in the buildings, the fire, the black smoke. But still, we were optomistic. No one spoke of people dying. We talked more about how exactly they could rescue the people above the fire. I naively wondered if they had ladders that long or if they could get helicopters to land on the roof. We wanted to know WHO had hit the WTC and how big the planes were. Coworkers called other people (relatives at home, friends at work) and slowly we heard that these were not private planes. These were commercial airlines with passengers aboard. (God help us.) You could see other people leaning out their office windows, going to the roofs of their buildings...(My God, what is going on?!) In just a few minutes, work-aholic Manhattan stopped...everything just stopped. Right as the news began to filter in, I realized that my brother's offices had recently moved. Being that he handles stocks, I figured that he must be right there. But I didn't have his new number. I ran back to my cubicle and called my mom at home ("I'm okay...but who did this to us?!?!"), my dad at work ("Have you heard from Rob, is he okay?"), my sister-in-law (got her voicemail). No one had my brother's new number. (God, why didn't I get it last weekend when I saw him?!) Just as I hung up the phone, I heard the screams. The most horrific, desperate screams you will ever hear. And in the moment it took me to run back to the windows, everything went silent. I saw my coworkers screaming faces, but I couldn't hear them. I couldn't hear anything. One of my corworkers was on the floor crying. I saw why... Tower 1 had collapsed. (Why did it have to collapse?) Immediately, our CEO closed the office just as the mayor had closed the city. (I don't live in Manhattan, where do I go?) I went back to my cubicle just as my brother called. He was not near the WTC. He was coming to get me. I met him in a bar downstairs. It was the only place open and it was getting very crowded. We met an elderly couple from Belgium. They didn't know how to call home from the pay phone. We tried to make small talk and for some reason I said, "You know, this doesn't usually happen. This is America." By then, the Pentagon had been hit and Tower 2 had fallen. The streets of Manhattan were crowded and slow, quiet and polite. Every person was on the sidewalks and in the streets...walking...walking nowhere. Millions of people on the street, sleepwalking. Eventually my brother and I made it to Grand Central just as they opened up. People were running to trains as if it were the NYC Marathon. We missed two trains before we got one...to Conneticut. It was our only way out (although my brother lives in NJ and I live in Queens). Suddenly, a man was arguing with a woman. He was pounding his head against the train wall, screaming about how his cousin was in Tower 1 and was probably dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. He kept repeating it. It took us 2 hours to get to Conneticut, where my brother's friend lives. My family was fine, my boyfriend eventually got a hold of me(he and his family were okay)...we saw the people on t.v. looking for loved ones. We cried for them. Then at 11pm, my boyfriend called again. His friend worked in Tower 1 and was missing. (God, help us!) I watched the t.v. until 1am. As I went to sleep on the floor of my brother's friend's house, I turned to my brother. "I'm afraid to go to sleep...we could wake up tomorrow and the president could be killed, the White House could be gone, more people dead..." He cried, "I know." I didn't sleep. At 5am I awoke to the t.v. again. Two weeks later, we buried my boyfriend's friend. Gold help us. 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 story59.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. 2002-02-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.40.230.60 Annotation Annotations to this item. Missing Persons Personal connection to someone at site Struggle to get home Victims NY:3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I recently had given birth to a perfect baby boy. That morning was like any other, except for two things. My son, Calebs one month check up was at 9:00 am, and like the rest of the nation we were about to have our life changed forever. I was on my was to the doctors office when someone on the radio said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. That was all the information the station had, and it was time to head up to the doctors office. The doctor came in and he was the one who told me that a commercial jet had hit one of the towers. The whole office was in an uproar. I finished his visit and raced home to turn on the news. I got home just in time to see the second plane hit the towers. I couldn't believe my eyes. Here I was enjoying the new life that God had given me and all around me there was death and destruction. I like many other new mothers were wondering if this was the end of the world. If so, why would God give us these perfct little packages and give us so little time to enjoy them. When the towers started to crumble like a stack of childrens blocks there was total silence for a moment. The newscasters on the television could not find any words for that moment. The phone stopped ringing, the baby want silent, the whole nation shrieked to a halt. That one day September 11th changed everyones lives. I just wanted to share with you my sorrows for everyone who was lost that day. Most of all I want to express my thanks and gratitude to everyone who gave their lives, because there deaths may have been done by terrorists, but they gave the nation a sense of unity, a sense of no boundaries, no political parties, and no colors. Our nation became truley one that day. So, for all the victims of the 9/11 tragedeys THANK YOU! You are the heros along with your loved ones who died that day. Thank you for the time that I have with my son. He is now a year old and happy. Thank you for the sacrifice that you made. I am just one person in this nation, but I want everyone to know just how much we owe to the victims and their families. 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 story4572.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. 12.255.216.139 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: I had just woken up for school and i was up a little early so i turned on the tv. The news was saying that a plane just hit the wtc. I was thinking how stupid can someone be to hit the wtc. Then as i watched in awe as the second plane crashed into the second building and then i knew that it wasnt just an accident. That it was an act of hate by someone so spiteful that they could so easily take many lives. I had to go to school so i got ready and came even though i didnt want to. To my suprise, in almost every class we just watched it unfold. I remember the people jump out and thinking of how hard that would be to be faced with a choice to jump or be scorched. I never thought that they would fall, but unfortunately they did. Everyone was in awe in the class and there were even some gasps. As the day went on u could tell that it wasnt the same around the school and that it would never be the same in the whole country. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story8345.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. 2002-10-03 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.24.228.163 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 coming home from work. I was listening to the radio at first I thought I turned on just as a commercial was playing, because I heard them say the tower was hit. Then it was repeated The Tower Was Hit. I was stunned. I had to run into my daughters school, and saw it with my own eyes as they replayed the scenes of the towers being hit. My heart stopped. I didn't know how to react. I knew no one but I felt as if I just lost a close family member. I left the school and went home to watch the news. My son had just turned 3yrs old, and he saw the t.v. and said mommy who did that mean thing. He really understood. My daughter was 11 yrs. old then, she came home from school and said mom I feel like I lost someone there today even though I know no one. I told her I felt the same way. We all cried over this tragedy. I felt as if we were in mourning along with all those thousands of people who lost loved ones and friends. I have taught both my kids this year that these are very jealous people because they want what our country has and can't have it and jealousy can lead you to do very sick and cruel things. My son who is now 4yrs old came to adopt a country song called God Bless The USA. He has also told us on more than one occasion that he is Proud TO BE AMERICAN and GLAD HE IS FREE. It sounds funny to think of a 4 year old saying this, but it goes to show how little credit we really give kids, they understand more than we think. So I believe in telling them as much history as possible so they know and understand what our ancestors had to go through to give us this freedom. REMEMBER 9/11/2001 NEVER FORGET THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES, NOR THOSE WHO BROUGHT THAT PLANE DOWN TO PROTECT SO MANY OTHER LIVES. When you are sad remember what my 4 year old sings and it will bring joy and peace back to you. GOD BLESS THE USA. I WILL PROUDLY STAND UP AND DEFEND HER STILL TODAY CAUSE THERE AIN'T NO DOUBT I LOVE THIS LAND GOD BLESS THE USA. Keep God first and He will bless us all. Bin Laden you can run and hide for now, but you will be found and justice will be served, if not here on earth when you meet your maker. God won't have mercy on your soul. 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 story4546.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.80.159.122 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: When I woke up my mom had already turned on the news she told me that a plain had hit the world Trade Center in New York. So I watched the news till it was time to go to school. When I got there I learned that the whole school would be going down to the library to watch the news this is when I first found out that it was a terrorist attack when I got back to class my teacher told us that we could tell our grandchildren about, this further angered me because she was saying it like it was something to brag about I just could not understand why she thought it would be a cool thing to discuss over dinner I mean what would someone think if you just came out at dinner and said ?hey guess what I saw the twin towers fall to the ground burning?. After that day I never looked at the American flag the same, I never skipped out on saying the pledge of allegiance in school, and I never sat during the national anthem. But I also must say that I do not agree with president bushes decision to go to war because what did we do in that war? We did the same exact thing that they did to us and by bombing Afghanistan we killed innocents we did the same thing that they did to us and I will never agree with that. But when I look back on 9-11 I will always remember how I would feel if my mother where to have been on that plane. But now I have a question for you please e-mail me at childberd@msn.com to let me know if you think I?m right for thinking the way I do about this cruel act on 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 story10623.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. 2004-05-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.231.90.126 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 in the United States Coast Guard Active Duty, I have been for about seven years. 9/11/01 was a terrible nightmare, I relive the events when I put my uniform on to complete our daily missions of Homeland Security. I am grateful to be a part of our Nations Defense and I stand behind the Commander-In-Chief 100%. I salute the heros every day when the American flag is raised at Sunrise, and every night when it's lowered for Taps at Sunset. America is strong and I feel that we were all brought together to fight for what is rightfully ours. Freedom..... Karen Olson, E-5, USCG 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 story7461.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.121.36.65 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On the morning of September 11, 2001, I had a normal day. It was a beautiful day. I went to work, thinking it was going to be a great. I am a teacher, and I was teaching sixth grade. I was on my planning period when I heard that the World Trade Center has been hit. Someone in the office had told me. I want back to my classroom, but before I got there I want into another teacher's classroom, and told her what had happened. She already knew because she had her tv on. We were talking, and I told her that I did not want to raise my baby in this world (I had four weeks to go in my pregnancy.) She knew how I felt because I want the best for my daughter. I finally went back into my classroom, and I still had time to call my husband at work to see if he heard what happened. Then it was time for my planning period to end. It was time my class to come in. Right before the period ended, the principal came on the PA and told all of us to lock our doors. Because our school is very close to Fort Bragg. We had to stay in the building when we took our students to lunch, and many parents come to the school to check-out their children. Many of the students at our school are military. As the day went on everyone was just going on with their lives. When I got home from work, my neighbor came out, and I asked how she was doing. She was getting to get out of the military, and she was afraid that she would not be able to get out because of this horrible day. I did not hear about the plane that crashed in PA until I got home. I started to think of my family back in PA. My parents and sister lives an hour away from where the plane went down. I talked to my mom that day because she was worried about us, and she told me that my sister had to stay at her job, while the rest of Pittsburgh went home. I will always remember this day. Everyone who lost someone on this day are always in my thoughts in prayers. 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 story5316.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. 24.88.238.42 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: As I watched the TV in horror with the rest of the world, I was feeled with great fear, sadness and a deep seeded knowledge that the world as we knew it had just changed forever. Having a son in the military I knew that suddenly more than ever before, how much danger he would be in. I cried and prayed much of the day and just watched the events unfold that I could not even comprehend. But the one thing I saw as never before, was a nation united holding up freedom as never before, no fighting, no prejidice, just unity and I was proud to live in this nation, under God. Everything was different now, this was history, evil raised it's ugly head, but it would not prevail. Poetry has always been my source of consolation and I wrote several that day. Today I reflected with this one: It's been today a year ago, since freedom's roots were shaken so, The safety that we all held dear, was suddenly replaced by fear. But fear can be an awesome thing, when backed by cries, "Let Freedom Ring." And this great nation "under God", refuse to let the monsters trod, Upon the truths we all hold high, these stars and stripes will ever fly. Under skies of blue and white, the Eagle rises up in flight, and spreads its wings protectively, its head held high for all to see. Your arrows may have pierced our skin but in the end you will not win. This is our land, Home of the Brave, paid for with blood our fathers gave, We'll not give up, lay down or die, nor shrink behind our mourning cries. Your arrow may have grazed our heart, but freedom's song it's pain did start. It's melody a shield has formed, which pierces through the raging storm. United now our voices raised, we offer up this song of praise. To all who would your arrows fling, hearken now as freedom rings. Nancy Dill Bonne Terre, Mo 9-11-202 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 story2358.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. 192.128.134.68 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 scheduled to be induced on Sept.11. My husband and I arrived at Reston Hospital midnight that Tuesday morning and by 3:30 a.m., my water broke but it wasn't until 8:30 or so that I was given an epidural to ease the pain of the contractions! I remember how quickly the epidural kicked in and just as I was feeling comfortable and relaxed, the nurse ran in and told us that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. My husband turned on the t.v. and for the next few hours, everyone and everything around us in the hospital seemed to shut down and nothing but the replays of the planes hitting the 2 buildings and then that of the Pentagon, the towers collapsing, images of people running for their lives, were all that seemed to mattered. Eventually, it was really too much for me to take/handle. Of course, at the same time, rumors were rampant of a hijacked plane still in the air around Dulles International airport. Reston Hospital is about a 10 minute drive, if that, from the airport. It was a little nervewracking. I must say that this day was supposed to be the most important day of my life and yet, I found myself concentrating and worrying about my family, my friends, the people of D.C. and New York, the safety of the world etc. I was doing everything but concentrating on my unborn son who I was anxious to meet. I finally had enough and asked my husband to turn the tv off. That lasted about an hour and the t.v came back on and it stayed on until 4pm when we were told that I was fully dilated and could start pushing. Our son, Riley Edward, was born that awful yet blessed day of Sept. 11 at 6:09 pm. I have saved every newspaper, magazine clipping I could get my hands on to share with him when he gets older to show him what a blessing he was to us on such an awful day filled with tradgedies. 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 story219.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. 2002-03-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 165.247.83.252 Annotation Annotations to this item. Television Coverage DC:2 Feature Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Well, first off I am wheelchair bound. I was home in bed. Which was doctor's orders because of an illness. I was watching "Good Morning America." It was at a commercial and when it came back, Diane Sawyer and Charlie Gibson said that a plan slammed into The WOrld Trade Center. At the time I didn't think much of it because they kept repeating what they were saying until the next plane it. This got my attention as it did everyone else I bet. I was waiting for my caregiver. That day it was a different caregiver because my regular was ill. When the caregiver came she paid no attention to the television and just talked away!! Then I pointed to the Television and she was shocked at what she saw. Both buildings were on fire and she asked my what happened. I told her the whole thing and she couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it myself even though I had watched the second plane hit. Then there were reports that a plane had hit the Pentagon and another was missing in Pennsylvania. I'm not sure what oder these incidents happened by the way. My Dad and Sister called from their jobs to find out if I knew what was going when they heard about the planes hitting the World Trade Center. And I told them what I knew. 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 story1016.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. 2002-08-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.142.144.206 Annotation Annotations to this item. Television Coverage 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 had given birth to my beautiful baby girl at 6:36 am. Around 9:00 am the nurse had finally taken my husband and I to our private room. When we got there the tlevision was already on CNN. It was showing the actual broadcast after the first attack had taken place. I watched some t.v. but really didn't pay that much attention to it. I remember asking my husband to turn off the stupid movie and find something better to watch. He just looked at me funny. It was then that I realized I wasn't watching a stupid movie it was real. It took a moment for my brain to register what I was seeing. Then all of a sudden they struck the second tower. I was horrified. I really couldn't imagine why anyone would want to do this. I just wanted to believe that it was all a movie, make blieve. As the day progressed we heard of all the reports. Although it partially took the attention off of my new baby it also made us realize how precious this new life was. We will never forget any part of September 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 story4958.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. 63.144.68.82 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I work at an International Labor Union, not far from the Pentagon. The view from my window is beautiful with the Washington Monument in the background and the Capitol behind me. When one of the employees told me the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane, I immediately ran upstairs to see it on television as my boss had one in his office. Once the second plane hit, I knew we were in trouble. It was as if I had been told something in another language that I didn't understand. I was incredulous, preplexed and confused. How could this have happened. When I went back to my office, a co-worker told me that the Pentagon had been "bombed". I told him he was lying I was so sure it couldn't be so. But when he pointed out my window, I saw the billowing black smoke and realized that America was under attack. I'm a single mother and all I could think of was my two children in school more than forty-five minutes away. I ran upstairs to my boss and told him I was leaving to get to my children. He told me I'd never get out of the City, but I said "I'm all they've got and I'm going to try". It took me two hours to travel 17 miles, but I got home just as my neighbor pulled into her driveway with my children. It seems that in a school of 1,200 children, by 2:00 that day, only 200 were left waiting for their parents. All but 200 of the parents had the same idea I did - get to your family, hold them tight and thank God that you are safe. I will never forget September 11th. Although I always told my children continually how much they meant to me, I do even more so now because I learned how in a moment's time, so much can be lost. I grieve for those who lost members of their family and pray that they can somehow find solace, somewhere. 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 story3734.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. 12.4.18.2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Ughhh another day of work on such a gorgeous day. Routine morning- leave the house, hop on the train with my eyes barely open. The Q express train from Kings Highway in Brooklyn to be exact which goes over the Manhattan Bridge where you get a view of the gorgeous skyline and on that gorgeous morning as I went over the bridge all I thought to myself was "WOW, Im living in the greatest city in the world. People fight theyre whole lives to get here and I have it in the palm of my hand." I really said that to myself every day my train went over the bridge. And all you can do it look at the Twin Towers which I did that morning. It must have been around 8:25 or so. Anyways I make my transfer at 14th St Union Sqare to an R train- for some reason the trains were running slow that day and I was late for work by about 20 minutes. When I get off at 23rd St and Broadway I saw everyone looking up at the sky from the corner of 24th St but I didnt know why. When I looked up and saw a fire that looked like it was from WTC I asked someone "Is that the World Trade Center on fire?" He said "Yes we hear a plane just hit it." This is exactly 8:50. So I go into my building which is 7 blocks from the Empire State building and I tell my boss about the news. Apparently word traveled at the speed of light that day because 2 minutes after this happened everyone knew. I called home where my mom and dad both had the day off (my father in part of the NYPD). Yet everything seemed calm. I remembered hearing that back in the 40's when we were at war a plane crashed into the Empire State building so I figured it was an accident. My boss and I went to the window to see what was going on. A few other people join us as we discuss whats happening. As were talking out of the corner of my eye, flying south from 34th St I see a low flying plane and say "hey guys you see how low that plane is flying...It looks like its going towards the Trade Center." As it disappeared from our vision I thought oh well must have been a low flying plane. Then I see an explosion and my co-workers and I went nuts. Everyone then new it was scumbag terrorists. I almost threw up from being so scared especially working right near the Empire State building. My office is in a frenzy by this time. I called home again and my parents who are the most calm people I know seemed to be very conerned. I told them I was leaving work. 9/11 marked 3 months since I started full time so I had no vacation or personal days accumulated. My parents in a very frustrating moment told me to ask my boss if it was alright to leave. In anger I screamed "What the hell are you crazy. This is life and death right now and you want to stay over here?" I realized my father would probably have to go into work. I told him to quit the friggin job. I was trapped, no way out of the city but I figured being outside was safer than a tall building. I tried rounding up my co-workers to at least try to get across a bridge to Queens or Brooklyn but it seemed like everyone was bullshiting. When it comes time to leave a bad situation noone knows better than me when to leave. As Im planning what to do I hear the Comptroller of my company screaming "Its gonna fall, Its gonna fall. Oh my God, Oh my God." Thats when I knew things were getting bad. At that point I felt my heart in my throat. I didnt want to see it fall so I stayed far away from a window. Then Im remembering a girl who I was dating at the time worked right near there who I was with the night before. I tried calling but all phone lines were out. I remember thinking about the first possible death from someone I know from this situation and thinking "I was with this girl last night and now shes gone." I didnt know if the building toppled or not cause if it did there would have been alot more buidlings damaged. I also remembered that I went to school a few blocks away from WTC at Pace University, which I graduated in May 2001. We also had a campus on the 55th floor. I started calling people there to tell them if they dont get out theyre gone but no phone lines were working. My boss and another co-worker huddled in prayer so I joined. Then it really hit me that theres a chance I may be next. After that I said fuck this Im leaving with or without you guys so I did. My plan was to go towards the east side of Manhattan and south towards the Brooklyn, Williamsburg or Manhattan Bridges. I tried avoiding going near any tall building or landmark. Going uptown to the 59th St bridge was a bad idea also because you have the UN and Israeli Embassy on the way. As I get out onto the streets, I was in a trance. I remember walking by myself and saying this is a nightmare. Everyone was walking in groups that day. People who didnt know each other from a whole in the wall- didnt matter what race religion race or nationality you were. As I was taking my route that day to try and get to a bridge I remember passing alot of bars and liquor stores. Man people were throwing their drinks back left and right. I decided to buy a bottle and walk the streets with it and maybe being drunk it wouldnt be as bad. However the liquor store was sold out of anything I drank so other people had the same idea. I remember seeing everyone just walking uptown- people that used to do security at my school, covered with dust. Then someone said the other tower went down which happened while I was coming out of my building but not to my knowledge. I figured how much worse can it get but apparently it did. As Im walking in a trance someone I graduated college with saw me. Of course we were chatting about what was going on. His brother had an apartment on 1st Ave and 11 St in the East Village which was 2 blocks from where I was standing. I was very thankful that I could stay there. In there people were just piling in that he knew. People from Pace started coming up there so I was glad to see everyone was ok. Phone lines finally start working so I call the girl I was dating. My message went something like this: "Lauren I hope youre alive...call me back." My buddy Mio called my house saying that another friend (Etnyre) who we were close with worked on the 69th floor and he couldnt get in touch with him. Thats when I began to think I must know alot of people who worked down there. Luckily later that night Etnyre wound up on his doorstep covered in dust. When trains finally opened up I tool the L train from 1st Ave and 14th St to my grandmother in Williamsburg Brooklyn. She looked at me like she saw a ghost. I just took a nap there since I was so tired. I finally took a cab to my house which is in southern Brooklyn at around 5:30. Seeing my house that day felt wierd. It felt like I was living in a different place when I left that morning. Either way I was home and felt safe. I checked my email and it seemed that people who I havent talked to in years were checking on me. Girls from Chicago and Boston who I met on Spring Break, friends from years ago- it was insane. My pager voicemail was overloaded with messages from my ex-girlfriends and other close friends. Made me feel like everyone was concerned which was a nice feeling. I feel blessed that I didnt know anyone directly that was killed. My heart goes out to those who were and any of their loved ones and friends. I thank God everyday for my father being alive because if he were at work he would have been down there and who knows what would have happened. The next few days were tough to deal with as well just watching the news and hearing about all the casualties. Bottom line here: There are so many details that I left out. The emotions I felt that day cannot be put into words-its just a way of talking about it to try and heal myself. It was one of the darkest days in American history but also one of the brightest. From that day on Ive never felt so proud to be a New Yorker and an American. This country is based on freedom which other countries are jealous of because of the harshness that is brought upon them. We fought long to have this freedom and we wont let it be taken from us. Its a shame that 9/11 has opened everyones eyes to things like this even my own but in a way its almost a good thing that we finally realize who were are. Unfortunately you still have these scumbags who cry racism and prejudice and all other things. Grow the fuck up. Everyone saw from 9/11 how productive America can be if we work cohesively and throw all this bullshit behind us. Another thing we should learn is to never let our guard down. Unfortunately these terrorists hate what we stand for and will try anything to make us misreable like they are in their 3rd world countries. We have to make sure that were not going to let 9/11 happen again. Be vigilant- if it means profiling, so be it. If it means act when something looks supicious, do it. Treasure life and what it means to be free because it was what happened that day that is what happens when you do the opposite. I can speak alot about this subject as you can see but Ill stop here. God Bless America, NYPD, FDNY, EMS, PAPD and victims who worked like ordinary people in those towers and the pentagon and on the plane in Pennsylvania. Coward terrrorists can hold us down. 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 story390.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-04-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.124.6.186 Annotation Annotations to this item. Civil Liberties/Discrimination Personal connection to someone at site Struggle to get home Terrorism WTC, attack NY:3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I remember watching television that morning as I do every morning, the today's show, when Katie made the announcement that a plane crashed into the World Trade Center. I thought oh Lord. Then they switched to the World Trade burning and I saw the second plane strike and I was horrified. I though Jesus this is terrorism right off the bat. I was in shock and when the World Trade center fell, I was on speechless. I had called my neighbor who never watches television but on that day, she did after I told her. I remember not sleeping because I felt so bad for the people who lost their lives there and for the families that will miss them. I was sleepless for about ten nights. I could not stay away from the television no matter how I tried. It was so hard to comprehend. I know the country was in shock as well. I know we all had to actually pray to keep ourselves together and to pray for the families that were in distress. This was a terrible blow to us all. I do believe we have become stronger as a country as a result of this and I believe we will stay strong. Pray for the families that suffered a loss. Pray for their recovery. God Bless America. The country that they are jealous of. 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 story5319.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: My friend who calls himself HATS, was working at ground Zero immediately after the terror attacks. He wrote me that he was upset about all the movie stars and famous singers and generally curious public that was standing in the wings, watching him and the rest of his men, posing for pictures and giving out interviews. I wrote this for him and for the men and women working tiredlessly, day after day, at GROUND ZERO. to hats to look at it a huge still smoldering tangle of twisted metal concrete and smoke one cannot yet see the beauty within it the resting place of nearly 5000 souls the resting place of dreams hopes and fears love lost fortunes destroyed tears shed bodies torn apart and still a place where hope is alive the hope that we as human beings can learn to love again learn to trust again learn to crawl out of the ashes and still the flames of hatred the hope that love never dies that memories will never take the backseat to apathy the hope that hope itself trusting in itself will somehow be enough for tomorrow and yes my friend as movie stars traipse and tourists gaggle and onlookers disturb you please remember that todays stars may actually make a difference tomorrow if their art their acting their writing their singing takes an upward turn after viewing Americas graveyard and they start saying no!!! to just making the buck and spend some time spreading the message of Love. with love to all of you M 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 story1515.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. 2002-08-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.195 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I remember Sept11 very well i was still in bed it was my 25th birthday and my husband came running in the room saying get up get up...you have to come see this i asked him what it was he said a plane had just crashed threw one of the twin towers,i said stopp messing around it's my birthday,im tring to relax,he said baby i am not kidding a plane had just crashed threw the tower..i jumped up and ran into living room as i approached the tv another plane was hitting the second tower .......it was the most devastating exsperience of my life..and then when the pentagon was hit and the plane went down in Pa i knew it was a teror attack and i just couldnt believe what was happening..i quickly called my mom because she lives right across the river in NJ and she said she could see lots of smoke and the air smelled really bad....i was scared that more were coming and my step father worked at the power plant there in NJ so i was terrified that there would be more attacks,and his work would be a target as well.I sat in front of that tv all day and night into early hrs the next morning.Today i turned 27 and my birthdays are never the same.i feel theres nothing to be happy about on this day,and for many never will be til we get that SOB bin laden............ God Bless America..................No one can take us down. 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 story9757.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.135 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: During second hour, we were watching the movie"The Patriot", and all of the sudden a teacher comes rushing through the doors and yells out to my teacher that the twin towers had been hit by a plaane. At that very second, my teacher ran to the t.v. and turned to CNN, and we saw the fire, and then a few minutes later we saw another plane hit the twin towers. about ten minutes later the phones were ringing off the hook, and it was a lot of the parents taking the students out of school early, then the phone rang for the seventh time and it was my ma, picking me and my sister up from school. 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 story9218.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. 2003-04-24 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.56.37.213 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 office hard at work on the 11th and like many other people I experienced the tragedy in a number of ways. TV, radio, through the stories and frantic anxiety of others and my "commute" home that day. It all provided an emotional overload. The tremendous amount of loss and grief and the sheer unfairness and lack of sense of it all contributed to a feeling that I needed to write about it. What follows is a story, not necessarily of my experiences but of thoughts that were ?and still- go through my head. ----------------------------------------------------- Lightning The alarm sounds and Murphy pulls his boots on and grabs for his hat. Something about a plane crash at the WTC. ?How the hell did that happen?? ?Lets Go?. The fire truck busts out of the station. The siren screams and the truck weaves through the Manhattan traffic ?nothing new for Engine Co. 54, the pride of midtown. 1st lieutenant Murphy, on the job for 8 years now, looks out at the steady stream of commuters, with their briefcases and pinched up faces ?focused on the daily tasks that wait upon their desks. Past the reluctant cabbies and bike messengers and the occasional nameless, faceless bum, psycho or addict. He thinks about the softball game he has scheduled for later that night and the next four days off duty. About six days of things to do stuffed into the four day down time. A smile crosses his face as he thinks about walking his daughters, 8, 7 & 4 to school tomorrow and then picking them up for a special lunch at Burger King. ?What a beautiful day, how do you fly into anything on a day so clear?? ?Murphy, how?d your daughter?s soccer team do last night?? yells Santiago ?one of the few in the company with a longer tenure. ?Great, we won again? Murphy answers through a big, easy smile that seems to make his bushy fireman?s mustache almost invisible. The sound of other sirens, police, EMS and other fire companies reel his mind back to the task at hand. By the sound of it, this is something big. Everyone in Manhattan is being dispatched downtown. Smoke billows from one of the towers, now in view. A stark contrast to the bright blue, cloudless sky. The sun beats down hotly on the truck as they near. The mental checklist of equipment and responsibilities complete as Murphy & Co arrive at the scene and jump off the truck. As they rush towards the entrance ?Santiago is taken?..he is gone. Murphy gets a quick, terrible feeling in his gut ?this is wrong?. Instinct takes over and gets him in the building before he realizes what is raining down from the sky. The men, though shocked, know they have a job to do. They split up into groups of 4 and head for different stairwells. Running a long side other fire fighters, and against a steady stream of horrified office workers, they start their climb. Murphy feels the effects, the vibrations, of what must be a distant explosion. Nothing on the radio, ?We?ve got to get these people out?. Deeply disturbed by what he has just seen, he fights his way upstream with all his gear through the black stairwell. He realizes there were other heaps outside on the ground and gravity was pulling more. ?There is death here?. All fires are dangerous but the ones where death have surfaced are the worst -death always wants more. Murphy thinks about his father, a retired firefighter out of Brooklyn. The old man would?ve never thought that firefighting in NYC would mean extinguishing flames from a Cessna half a mile up in the air? Come to think about it, who would have? Murphy knows that this is a big one, it?ll probably be all over the news and he?ll have some stories to tell back home. The guys on the softball team love to hear the war stories, like the time he was at the warehouse fire and a falling brick narrowly missed his head and crushed his hand. He also knows that he is needed here. His training and physical conditioning will make the difference between someone upstairs living or dying?.. ?got to get there? ?? ?Santiago? ?.. ?What kind of hell must it be for people to launch themselves from 100 up?? ?. ?keep climbing? ?Life for Murphy is moving fast now yet the anticipation of the unknown seems to have suspended time. Murphy?s mind drifts for a moment as he times his heartbeat to one for every 3 stairs. Even so, he knows that he is now on floor 42. He thinks about Santiago?s rocking chair at the firehouse and his spot at the dinner table. Murphy notices that there are no longer people going down the stairs ?good, they should all be out of harms -WOW! A very deep, muffled rumble takes hold ?it shakes the building and stops Murphy for the first time. The 3 other firefighters stop with him. They hold on and listen through their fast, deep breathing. The shaking and rumbling subside. The 6? 5? black firefighter, known as Frenchy back at the firehouse for his love of French Fries, suggests that a ?transformer musta blown above?. The other 3 mumble or grunt in agreement, almost trying to convince themselves. Murphy goes for his radio but it is still overwhelmed with static and broken, choppy transmissions ?been that way since they entered the stairs. He hears ?it fell? but that?s all he can make out. Just more incoherent noise. They continue their ascent towards the sky. ?There is death here? thinks Murphy again, ?BE CAREFUL?. At floor 77 Murphy is physically exhausted but mentally firing on all cylinders?he continues. At 91 he smells the burn for the first time and gets a kick of adrenaline that could make him rip one of the stairwell doors off of its hinges. At 92 another rumbling stops them again. This one is different, not as violent as before?but it seems to be growing?. Suddenly, it opens up ?it?s everywhere. Upside down, backwards, inside out. His flashlight is useless, Murphy doesn?t even know if it?s still in his hands. He covers up and grabs onto?something?he?s falling, twisting like a bug in a tornado??.Murphy knows he is dying. In an instant, like a crack of lightning, he sees the faces of his beautiful children. He sees their smiles and, oddly, he sees there voices. His heart breaks?.His wife ?he misses her. They have built so much together. He hopes she knows the love he has for her. His mother, his brother and sister, his friends. How can he go on without them -or them without him?.his kids?. The instant is up, the lightning is gone. darkness? quiet.. 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 story9533.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 192.223.243.6