514 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: I wish to contribute this on the fifth year anniversary of 9/11. Here we are 5 years down the road and I do not feel like we have adequately responded to the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11/01! We entered IRAQ under false assumptions and I feel that we (the country) were lied to at that time. We were told that Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and that this was why it was urgent for us to get into IRAQ and overthrow S. Hussein and eliminate the threat to OUR security, especially after the attack on the WTCs and the Pentagon. Lo and behold, there were NO WMDs, not even Chemical threats found in IRAQ! Should we have invaded IRAQ? Was S. Hussein a tyrannt? Yes, I believe he was 9a tyrannt) and now we are engaged in attempting to bring stability and order to what we believe is to their benefit, a type of democracy. Is this right? Is this our place to do? Should we be spending all of this money on IRAQ, when we have storm demolished areas of our country that have not been rebuilt? Should we be paying for the establishment of some sort of democracy in IRAQ, while we have starving, underpriveleged, underpaid, uneducated and unemployed legions in the USA? NO! Since we are already there, should we pull out? No, not just all of a sudden, however our politicians, must be held to account for their mistakes and we must be told the truth. Recently our President admitted to CIA camps around the world holding terrorists, which he claims that he did not know were torturing or mistreating their captives. Is this wrong? I believe that it is wrong that he claims that he did not know something, I believe that he did know and is attempting to distance himself from it for political reasons, only. Our country, sadly is in terrible shape, economically! I fear for our children and their children. I believe in GOD and Country and I love the USA and for our history but I feel that the time that we are living through now will go down in history as a dark period in our history and I pray for the grace of GOD and wisdom for our politicians. 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 story20560.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. 152.163.100.70 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: When I woke up that morning it was sunny and I was happy because I wanted to visit the World Trade Center with a friend. We wanted to meet at 8.00 at the Newark Penn Station to go to NY by subway. This was my 12th day in the USA. I was completely excited. My whole life I was dreaming about visiting the United States and finally my dream came true. So I took my bagpack, and when I wanted to leave the house I got a phonecall from the College I had made a test for my studies. They told me to come there in one hour at 9am instead of Wednesday, one day later as a was supposed to. So I asked a friend of mine to drive me. We had to go to Cranford, NJ. When we got back, the day was so beautiful....I raised my head and saw the WTC, the first tower was burning and I say the smoke. It was so unreal, what had happened? I thought it was a joke. I put on the radio and they were telling something but they either didn?t know what was going on at that time. My friend immediately said that it was a terrorist attack. I had to laugh because I thought that he was joking. Then I saw a plane coming very close, but the car turned and I couldn?t see no more. A little bit farther I could see the two towers burning and more smoke was coming up,. At that time I didn?t know that there were planes involved. When we finally reached the house back in Secaucus where I lived, I got into and screamed that everyone should turn on the TV. Then the same second I saw the two towers collapsing. I couldn?t move, for hours I was staring at the scenery imagining myself inside of the buildings. What if the college hadn?t called me? Would I be there, seeing and throughliving all what others? For the next days I was watching TV. The worst for my parents in Spain, they couldn?t call me and neither could I. THey thought I was there in the buildings, as I told them before. This had turned my life around. I?m with this city all the time, with my thoughts. And this will stay in my memory for the rest of my life. Regards for the firefighters who did the best they could. This was the worst experience I had in my whole 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 story10903.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. 80.58.40.237 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Well i was actually in Australia at the time of the devistating September 11 attack, i was watching morning T.V. and then all of a sudden this flashing news broadcast came on and interupted the program that i was watching. All i could see was images of the planes fyling into the building and then all of these people jumping out of the windows into the open sea. I found myself emotionally tied to the situation although none of my family members were hurt, all of the innocent people that were just going about there normal daily activity had lost thier lives to a very selfish person that realy had no reason to do such a thing. Not only did they take thier own life but that of innocent people, and although not the lives of the loved one's that had thier lives taken, it took apart of them that they will never be able to get back no matter how hard they tried. Thats only my opion any way. Meggan, 16yrs old 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 story11241.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2005-01-01 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 210.50.108.79 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: In Riyadh, it was late afternoon and I was driving home from work listening to the BBC world service on the car radio. They said a plane had crashed into the WTC. I thought of a small single engine plane lost in bad weather. But when I got home and turned on CNN, it was much worse. It was then the 2nd plane hit. I stayed up all night watching this horror. I had only moved to Saudi 3 days before, my wife was back in the USA. I woke them up when I phoned and told them what had happened. She was due to fly to Saudi that week, but we delayed for a few weeks. In the days to come, I would learn of 3 people I knew, who died in this act of terrorism. God bless the USA! 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 story8615.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-11-04 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 206.49.109.59 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was sitting in Reading when the Dean of students sent a letter to the teachers explaining everything, I didnt know what to think at first. I was scared and confused and didnt know if anything else was going to happen. I went on with my day helping my friends who needed me and my mom picked me and my sister up early, she just wanted everyone to be together. I never thought anything like this could happen ever. I turned on the TV but everything was coverage on the attacks. In december I went to Ground Zero. As soon as I saw the memorials I lost it.. i couldnt stop crying. To think that something that happens in a story book can happen in real life. I saw the rubble and the people working. I cant belive that they go in there and do that. They really are hero's for giving their lives for someone elses. New York and the United States will stand strong. And Everyone who is helping is doing a great job. I just want to say thanks to Everyone who is helping out at ground zero and even if i dont know you, you all are my heros! 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 story208.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. 2002-03-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.185.0.69 Annotation Annotations to this item. Ground zero- at or about Rescue/clean-up workers/volunteers DOMESTIC Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was about 9 years old when this happened.When I first heard about the twin towers.It didn't really have an affect me baecause I was so young. As I started to get a little older I started to undersand what was going on.i watched a Tv show on what happened.When I First heard the Tv show was comin on I got happy because I never heard what relly happened.Now I feel Safe because of what thay started to do.When people started to do what thay had to do.My haert goes out to all of the ones who lost a loved one. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story20473.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 grew up on the East Coast and could always see the Trade Center from the corner by my parents' home. My old law firm had an office in the South Tower on the 78th floor. Fortunately, no one was there that morning. Also, I was very blessed not to lose any friends. The images still haunt me though. I did go to Ground Zero at Christmastime last year. It was so surreal. 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 story2773.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. 64.50.35.191 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 come to work early on September 11 for an 8:00 AM breakfast meeting in the ground floor coffee shop of the City University of New York Graduate Center, which is located across from the Empire State Building on 34th St. and 5th Ave. in Manhattan. A late arriving colleague at the meeting announced to all of us at the table that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center. Like millions of others we assumed this was a small plane that had flown accidentally into one of the towers. We said something about this lamentable accident and resumed our meeting, which ended a bit past 9 AM. On exiting the coffee shop I encountered the president of The Graduate Center, who stood ashen faced near the entrance to the college. She asked me if I?d heard the news, and I said yes, something about a small plane hitting the WTC, and she then told me that, no, a second plane, a large airliner, had struck the WTC. And like everyone else, in that instant I realized that this was no accident, but a planned terrorist act. I immediately flashed back eight years earlier when the WTC had been bombed by terrorists. Along with many others inside our building I was drawn to the street where, if one looked down Fifth Ave., even that far north, it was possible to see the tops of the twin towers. Black smoke billowed from the two towers and as I stood, with fellow New Yorkers on Fifth Ave. (traffic, except for emergency vehicles, had disappeared) gazing south and trying to comprehend what was happening, I saw the first tower silently crumble and disappear from view. Someone standing next to me screamed "the tower fell" and I responded, with absolute certainty, that that wasn?t possible, that perhaps just the top of the tower had crumbled. We all rushed inside, seeking functioning radios or televisions, and I soon discovered on TV, to my uncomprehending horror, that the first tower had indeed fallen. I knew that the WTC drew tens of thousands of people every day, this was after rush hour, and I was certain, in that instant, that literally tens of thousands of people had died. Those of us who stood around staring at the college?s few TV sets were subjected to endless recorded and live images of fire, mayhem and that awful shot of the second plane flying full speed into the second tower. Within minutes of coming inside, as we watched the second tower crumble, an intense feeling of shock and numbness washed over all of us. Some of my colleagues literally couldn?t speak; others couldn?t stop speaking. We all sat in front of those horrible televised images for several hours after, not knowing what else to do but bear witness to what was unfolding just a few short blocks downtown. Periodically, we?d leave the TV for our desks to try to call loved ones, usually without success because of clogged phone lines. I was particularly concerned about my colleagues at the American Social History Project offices, which are located in lower Manhattan, scant blocks from the World Trade Center. ASHP staff members were attending the weekly staff meeting in the downtown office and only hours later did I finally learn that they were unharmed, though they?d all had to walk for miles to get home that morning. I was also finally able to reach my wife by phone (she works far uptown) and a bit later learned that my daughter, who had been on her way by car to teach in southern New Jersey, had gotten stuck in Staten Island when all the bridges into and out of the city shut down. It ended up being far easier to communicate with friends, colleagues, and family members via email, which I was able both to send and receive within minutes of the attacks. The feeling of numbed horror stayed with me and every other New Yorker for days after the attacks as we tried, largely unsuccessfully in the coming weeks, to have our lives return to some semblance of normality. Steve Brier 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 story292.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. 2002-03-21 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.255.24.91 Annotation Annotations to this item. Internet Struggle to get home Television Coverage 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: On September 11, 2001, it was very common day like everyday routine. The TV was on, that moment I saw the second plane crash to World Trade Tower and turn to my daughter what is the name of the movie this is horrible..sometimes I like watch action movies but this is one is very weird...she said to me, "MOM it is not movie it was real" and she kept repeating (I am hard of hearing) I saw the TV again, I realized it was real. It shooked me so bad because I am ex-New Yorker.. I used to work that area where the WTC build over 40 years ago. I moved to Virginia in 1969 and saw WTC build, became beauitufl World Trade Center. Everytime I come to NYC and see the towers standing at night it is beauitufl. NOW, HORRIBLE to see its gone. I finally visited Ground Zero few weeks ago, I drove around and very sad face. And cried. To rebuild the towers I don't agree they should build differently and put a big memorial park in a center with all names who have died there like Vietnam Memorial, Korean Memorial. WTC should remind us "we never again and we are freedom". I am very proud of everyone who puts up the flags of our freedom colors. I feel we are reborn. Remember our grandparents came to AMERICA and saw the Statue of Liberty. Thats FREEDOM. 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 story6455.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. 68.100.68.39 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 finished this at 2:33 a.m. on September 11th. 2002, and crying most of the way through it. It was almost as living it over again... THE DAY THAT CHANGED THE WORLD It started as a normal day as most my days have been. Waking up, the bathroom run, the time was seven-ten. Picked up my remote and slowly did the channel walk, Stoping at the Morning Show, watching Brynt talk. Why I didn't watch the show as usually I do, I guess I wanted just to go to something that was new. As I was changing channels,the ringing of the phone, It was my daughter calling, a day when she was home. "What do you think?" she asked of me, "That this could really be?" I had no idea what she meant, so she explained to me. "Turn the channel and you'll see the crashing of a plane, Into the Trade Center Building, now everythings aflame." I quickly turned to NBC and watched the awful site, The look on all their faces. was shock. It was a fright! As they were asking how this accident could be, What all America wittnessed next, I hardly could believe. I saw it come, and turn, and hit. "A second plane!" I cried. To my daughter on the phone, "All those people died!" This was no accident that we saw. The world was catching on. This was done with cruel intent. All those people gone! It was as if time had stopped, and stayed in place a while. People running everywhere, smoke covering a mile. Feelings are an awful thing when they get out of hand, And when they come all at once, they're hard to understand. I was so scared, I was so sad, surprised and sick and grived. Who would do this awful thing, and who would be so mean? And then it hit me as I watched the day that changed the world, I wanted family close to me to watch as time unfurled. All my life, I've never thought that I would have to say, I fear the one that can come and take my nice safe world away. I remember them going through my mind, my family one by one. I prayed for angels to guard them, I felt I had to run! No longer could I sit alone and watch this dreadful site, As I drove to my daughters, I was looking toward the sky. The rest of the day was kind of a blur, we watched as the world truned around. Another plane hits the Pentagon, and one crashes into the ground. Firemen working, trying to save lives, people running in four different ways, Then we all stopped breathing as we watched it go down, When the first building fell, we were dazed. It didn't take long for the second one, to follow the first and we knew, Our lives would never be the same again, my fear for my safe world grew. What do you do when your life is changed, you look around and find, That you're not alone, we are all the same, Where is that Peace of Mind? Evil people will come, we found that out,and they will have their way, But I'll tell them right now, they've made a mistake, cuz they've messed with the USA! United we stand, and we stand hand in hand, All because of that day...we're stronger now and we'll never give up, until the guilty have paid. Yes, that day changed the world, the whole world round, The day the world turned grey, It brought us close, enlarged our love, and taught some people to pray. 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 story4039.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.111.220.53 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: (I was working for Deutsche Bank on the fifth floor of 4 World Trade Center on the morning of 9/11/2001) On Tuesday morning, I arrived at my desk on the 7th floor of 4WTC at approximately 8:40am. I glanced at a building notice which had been placed on my chair announcing a scheduled World Trade Center powerdown for the coming weekend and opened my briefcase to unpack my laptop. Within 5 to 10 minutes, I heard a rumble and felt a tremor. The lights flashed once. I looked up and said to no one in particular, "Oh-oh. That can't be good." But really didn't give it much thought. Within 15 seconds, I heard yells and the sounds of running footsteps coming from across the floor. Because of the way the floor was shaped, I couldn't see who was making the noise As they arrived over to my side, several were shouting "Get out of the building! Get out of the building!" At that point, I looked at the left-most corner of the windows and could see papers and other debris cascading down from the floors above and to the street. At that point, I jumped up and moved for the glass doors and the elevators. Someone then yelled for us to take the stairs and we all headed down, with several of us calling for everyone to be calm and move quickly. When we reached the bottom, the lady security officer shouted for us to run and get away from the building. I walked up the steps and exited the glass doors at the corner of Liberty and Church streets into an atmosphere of falling paper and confusion. Turning around to look up, I could barely see the tower through all the smoke and thought that it had probably been a terrorist bomb. Fearing falling debris heavier than paper, I decided to walk south on Church Street and tried to use my Nextel to contact other colleagues. But the communication circuits were already being overloaded - the same for cellular service. I then walked over to a coffee stand to get a cup in order to get change for a pay phone, and overheard someone say that a helicopter had hit the building. I thought, "Oh! It was an accident!" and decided to walk to 15 Broad Street (JP Morgan's original headquarters) to see a friend of mine and use his phone. Other people had since remarked on the street that it was in fact an airplane, and not a helicopter and so I thought that there might be even more danger of falling debris and that it would be in my best interests to keep away from the stricken tower. It astounded me that there was a steady stream of people walking in the opposite direction towards the Trade Center! I guess not everyone shared my apprehension. As I walked up a small street towards Broadway, I heard a loud rumble and felt the ground shake. The sounds of screams and the sights of groups of people running full-tilt southwards on Broadway convinced me to drop my cup of coffee and join them. I turned around but really couldn't see any reason for their fright, as the local buildings blocked my view of the towers. I then heard someone yell that another plane had struck the Trade Center and I realized that this was no accident, but an attack! It was now about 20 minutes after the first strike. I decided to continue to 15 Broad, reasoning that the Trade Center seemed to be the target and there should be little risk to the more traditional financial area where the Stock Exchange and Morgan stood. At least it seemed logical at the time! People were moving quickly in mostly southerly directions and several company security personnel were standing on the streets, but there seemed to be no further word on what was happening. I entered the 15 Broad main entrance and had my friend paged on the 12th floor, whereupon he cleared me to come up. He had a windowed view of the Trade Center and told me that there was a gaping hole in the side of one of the towers. I went to an empty cubicle and made phone calls to my mother to assure her that I was all right and checked my voice mail for other messages. While returning the calls, I started to notice that it was getting harder to connect to outside numbers and had to continually redial. Curiously enough, around that time a colleague was able to reach me by Nextel radio for about 30 seconds - then it was again unavailable. Approximately 20 minutes after I had arrived on the floor, the Morgan building shook and we heard loud rumbling. My friend announced from his window that the tower had just collapsed! At that point the building public address announced that everyone should take the stairs to the lobby as they were preparing for evacuation. I accompanied my friend and his team down the stairs when we were told to stop at the second floor. We were shuttled between the lobby, mezzanine and the second floor where we were given access to chairs and telephones and provided with water, soft drinks, coffee and snacks. While in the lobby, I noticed that the glass doors had become opaque! Where once you could see clearly across the street, the doors were now completely white as if someone had painted the glass! We passed a man who had just come in from outside - he was completely covered in white soot! If someone poured a dry bag of concrete over you, that would approximate the sight. Because of these conditions, the building security locked the doors and advised us to stay indoors, even though the air was becoming noticeably stale. I began to worry that the conditions might become worse as the air filters would become clogged by the particles outside the building, but fortunately the conditions never became any worse than the air having a stale quality. But who knew? Several people were crying and others exhibited strange behavior probably due to shock. One fellow came over to our group to ask us if we knew where the Equities training program was, and then continued on to ask others. There was a wall-enclosed television available and we learned about the Pentagon attack and other unaccounted for planes still at large. Surgical masks were handed out to everyone and at about 1pm they announced that they would allow us to leave and directed us to walk east to Water Street and then north. My friend and I exited at the Wall Street exit and stepped onto a scene from a Science Fiction disaster movie. The ground was covered with an inch of soot - it was like walking on a beach! The atmosphere was heavy with particles and there were abandoned street stands, the fruit covered with soot. We made our way to Water Street and then walked north as per the advice. Only after we passed the South Street Seaport did we see a major improvement in air quality and less soot on the ground. We walked to Greenwich Village and entered the West 4th Street subway station where we waited for an A train to take us uptown. Getting off at 34th Street, my friend and I wished each other luck as he continued on to the Long Island Railroad, and I to another platform to await a Queens bound E train. I finally reached Forest Hills around 2:30, safe and sound. I may have a few more grey hairs, but I didn't suffer the injury and loss that many of my fellow New Yorkers did. I only lost my personal possessions which I didn't think to grab as I left the building. Should I have hesitated and gathered up as much of my belongings as I could? Maybe. But in a situation like that it's probably best to just exit as quickly as possible. I lost my briefcase, personal laptop, sunglasses and other items as well as three months of hard work on my office computer. Major inconveniences to be sure, but certainly far better than than what could have been lost. When I first left the building, I never dreamed of the coming destruction. I thought that there would be an "all-clear" by tomorrow and I would return to claim my belongings and my daily routine. The World Trade Center has been part of my daily work routine for twenty years - working there directly for the past 9 months, meeting people for lunch or after work, or just passing through on the PATH or subway. There are a lot of my memories based there, and it's gone! It's going to be hard getting used to 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 story10683.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. 2004-07-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.172.207.3 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: To start my story, I have lived on Long Island my entire life, I am 29 years old. Unfortunatly for me September 11th is my birthday. I woke up and could not believe what I was seeing on TV. It was horrifying. The fact that over 3,000 people perrished is just too sad for words. The fact that they perrished on my birthday made it even worse. There are a couple of errie coincedences as well. I was born in 1973 which is the year the Twin Towers were completed, and they fell on my birthday exactly 29 years later. They were 29 years old as well. I was in Manhattan the night before the tradgedy and as me and my friend were driving home she told me to turn around and look at the skyline, It was night time and all the buildings were lit up. I looked at the Twin Towers for the last time, the night before. Also I had never been to Windows on the world and was supposed to be taken there by my boyfriend the night of Sept 11th for my birthday, thank God we didnt decide to go there for breakfast. I have been a New Yorker my whole life and since Manhattan is were us Long Islanders go to party on weekends, I spend alot of time there. What has happened has changed the world forever, In good ways and In bad. I can say this, I have never been more proud to be a New Yorker and An American. Thank you to all the support from around the world and from every state in the U.S.. We are a great Country, thats why we have such a varitey of nationalitys here (everyone wants to live here). I will never forget 9-11-01 and from now on when I blow out my candles on my birthday my wish will be that the familys of those lost will find peace, love and happiness through this. Let's all keep sticking together, for that is the way we prevail... 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 story8205.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.119.242.13 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: Recently retired in July. This was to be our first big vacation trip, three weeks, over 4000 miles. We had left Jacksonville, and were listening to the a local radio morning drive time program, when they started to report what they had seen on television. First one building and then the other. We did not really get to see the video reports until we arrived at our night time destination. Being also retired military were had reservations at Fort Bragg, NC of all places. It was somewhat surreal to arrive at the base and find that it was in a full security lockdown mode. Serpentine entrance barriers, and fully armed guards. Each vehicle and its occupants were fully checked. Once inside the base it gave us an unusal sense of security. I guess we were in the best place to be if things got any worse. After all of this, the rest of our vacation was somewhat subdued. We visited with friends and relatives all over the eastern seaboard and all were taken aback by the events of that day. Our daughter who was in Houston was on the cell phone almost every day making sure we were OK, and anxiously awaiting our return. She felt somewhat insecure thur it all. Reflecting on these events after all this time still makes me wonder how it all came about and where will it all end. Only time will tell. 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 story114.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. 2002-03-02 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.199.58.115 Annotation Annotations to this item. Military 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 remember Sept. 11th being a beautiful day in San Diego. I was getting ready for work when my husband came running into the house yelling for me. He had just heard on the radio that an airplane had flown into the WTC. I couldn't even comprehend what he was talking about. We watched on television as the 2nd plane crashed into the WTC. It didn't seem real. It was as if we were watching a movie on tv. I felt like I was dreaming and I remember being 4 months pregnant wondering if I should be bringing a child into this crazy world! 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 story5714.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.74.202.29 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: The first thing that I remember about September 11 2001 was what a truly beautiful morning it had been. There was not a cloud in the sky as I drove to the highschool where I taught. The day started out normally but around 9:30-10:00 A.M. while I was on my plannning period another techer came into the teacher's lounge where I was sitting and told me that an airplane flew into the WTC. At first I didn't believe him and I wanted to check it out for myself. I could'nt get to a radio or tv so I went to my car and called my mom and asked her what was going on. She said two planes had hit the WTC and one just hit the Pentagon. I quickly went back into the school and when I reached the office the principal was deciding if she should make an announcement about the terrorist attack. After much thought she decided to make an announcement and asked for a moment of silence for those who had died. From that moment on it seemed like that day would never end. I can not explain in mere words how hard it is to explain something like this to children. 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 story9045.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. 2003-02-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.117.171.36 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I have lived in NY all of my life. I came to ElPaso four years ago with my husband, LEON. We are native New Yorkers living in Texas. We have visited the Trade Center several times and had the opportunity to take our children there. I would have never imagine anything like that happening in America. My heart goes to the families and friends of the fallen. Regardless, of what happened on 9/11/01 , America is blessed. Our nation could have experienced greater tradegy. God Bless America. Sherry Atkinson 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 story5778.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. 198.81.17.177 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 turned 19 that summer. I was sleeping in that day because I wasn't scheduled to be into work until the afternoon. My mother was out of work on disability and had a tendency to wake up at the crack of dawn. For about an hour, the phone was ringing like crazy. I kept waking up mad wondering why someone could be calling this early in the morning in the middle of the week. I finally got out of bed and went downstairs to see what was going on and that's when my mother told me to look at the TV. At first I didn't believe it. I thought she was watching some movie. I asked her what it was and she told me that someone flew a plane into the World Trade Center. I still didn't believe it. Being that it was just the beginning of the "post 9/11 world", I automatically shot out a snide remark about how only an idiot can fly a plane into a building that big. "How do you not see it?" I said. And as I said it, the second plane flew into building 1. After that I was quiet. "Terrorism, they think" my mother said. Until that very second, I had never in my life thought about what terrorism actually was. To me, and every other person in my generation, terrorism was something that happened in third world countries. In school we were taught that "there will never be a battle fought on American soil, not in this day and age.". In 10 minutes everything I had ever learned, believed in and known was relinquished from reality. Here I am, almost 4 years later and I'm crying as I write this. The goosebumps all over my body and the chills going up and down my spine haven't eased the slightest. My stomach churns when I see pictures, my heart stops momentarily every time I hear a plane over head (and I do mean EVERY TIME!). I'm four years older than I was then, and none the wiser. I still don't understand this "terrorism", not that anyone in their right mind should. I'm still relearning life. The "new" way things are. nothing is taken for granted, and nothing goes unappreciated. My heart aches just as much as it did that day, the images are fresh in my mind and the tears flow just as freely. Us New Yorkers have a new bond, not one we brag and boast of but none the less, we all feel "it". "It" is different to each one of us, but yet we understand completely about the other's. Everyone seems a bit nicer, a bit more compassionate and a bit stronger. It seems like everyone has that same wrinkle on their forehead, that same frown-line. 50 years from now, it'll be me and my friends left. The only ones who will remember the "pre 9/11 life". The way things were. 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 story11686.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2005-08-04 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.100.135 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: I was in my bed with my 14 month old asleep when the phone rang and woke me up.I will never forget that disturbing call,it was my sister telling me to go turn on my tv that our nation was under attack.Half asleep I was trying to process what she was saying while running to turn on the tv.Once I saw the first tower on fire I was in shock and was asking my sister what was going on!She said that she was not sure but a plane crashed into the tower and then the second one hit while we were talking.At that point in time I was 7 1/2 months pregnant with my third child.I just started crying and got my older son up and told him he was not going to school and that I was staying home with them. I called my husband and asked if he knew what was going on he said he heard some of it but had know idea how bad things really were until I told him.He tried to reassure me that everything would be ok but I saw the images on tv and it was horrible and I felt like nothing was ok!I sat in front of the tv crying while I held my two kids and thanked God that I had my family to hold.I felt like everything that I knew of life had just been taken away.I tried not to cry for the sake of my children but it did not work I felt like a big part of me was lost and I just could not imagine how all of those families who lost people were feeling.i was really upset and very angry and confused on how poeple could be so ignorant to do such a horrific thing to another human being.It was definitley a life altering day that will stick with me for the rest of my life.I had a hard time dealing with this like so many others .I found my self worried about bringing a new life into this world,and I would just cry a night for a those who were lost and pray for them.I felt like locking up my family so they were with me all the time to know that they were safe,my husband kept telling me that we are safe and to have faith.Finally I agree with him I have realized that no one can take away our freedom no matter what happens.I still worry what is going to happen in the future knowing that realisticly it is out of our hands and we just have to keep the faith alive and hope for the best.I feel that we have united as a country and will stay that way!I pray for all the poeple that were lost and their friends and family and all the heros you will never be forgotten and all will live in our hearts foever!!!!!!! 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 story4879.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.81.16.177 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: "No! Oh my God! Oh my God! We are going to war!" These were the first words spoken by me to my daughter, Holly, when she phoned and made me aware of the evil horror that was attacking our country. I began praying but mostly repeating ?please God help them out? over and over again. And as the rest of most of the world, I was in shock and disbelief that this was possible in our blessed USA. I spent most of the day emailing my family who were at work without TV keeping them up on the search for any survivors. I wanted to do something more to help but came up with nothing with being on the West Coast...so I made a simple big poster and placed it in my front window, "We are praying for our servicemen & women, the firemen and the policemen and thank thanking them for risking their lives to save us." Since then I have made it a point to go out of my way to shake the hand of a policeman or a firemen and pray for our armed forces and our President. Each and every time I hear a siren I stop and pray for their safety and wisdom. For 22 years, I have flown our USA flag in front of my home because I have always believed it was a sign of freedom and I still have that belief ...only it is stronger in my heart and has gone far beyond my personal world. I thought I had so many problems until 9/11 - then I realized I had none of any importance to compare. May God Bless America and May God Bless Our World. 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 story4894.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.125.214.107 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 morining of September 11, 2001, I was finishing a job of evaluating research proposals for state funded breast cancer money. I was gettting a taxi to go to the airport in Albany, NY to pick up a car I had reserved with my colleague and she told me did I hear that a plane had crashed into Tower 1. I said no and no way. I thought it was asamll private of commuter plane which had maybe losts its radar or something. No she said its a big commerical airline. By the time we got to the airport a second plane had crashed and we knew something terrible was happening. All the way down we stopped at he rest stops and when we got to rest stop one,there was a big tv set in the ceiling with about 75 people staring as the buildings toppled or rather collapsed floor by floor like a sea of pancake cement dust. We heard the screaning and pandomonium on screen and just stared and stared. We knew what we saw but I couldn't quite beieve it. My friend was saying who she knew in the buidlings and who might have dies (and by, the way that turned out to be true). We rushed down on the NY Thruway. She has a sick husband who just can not be leaft alone long and I had cats and job to go to. But while worrying about the bridges being opened to get from Upstate NY to Long Island, I knew in my heart that I would attempt to work for the Red Cross in some aspect of the job, because for years I have gone out to other places to help people and I just kept saying, but this is NY I have to contribute. We were luckily able to buzz over the Bewbridge-Beacon Bridge a little north west of Katonah NY. and drove down the 684 to the Huctinson River Parkway. It was erie with no traffice and when we got to the Throgs Neck Bridge separating the Bronx from Queens, Long Island, we saw police on the giant toll plaza waving us through the toll gates which were all open. No one paid the toll as they would not allow anyone to slow down or stop. The suspected that the bridges might be rigged or that someone might have a car bomb, hence no tolls (very strange) and no stopping. As we came to the Long Island protion of the Corss Island Parkway and drove south it was dead quiet, though we received what continuous news there was via radio, as we drove home. As we came to the Southern State Parkway I knoew there was some serious and terrible business goning on as the state and city police were out and carrying weapons I have on ly seen in Brazil and other developing countries; machine guns, and they woeren't kidding aroiund. They were looking for suspects and they want'ed no troupbe from the likes of us. All that night I received reports of people who knew people who were missing and I received questions about what to do about it. Some of my friends know that I am a Red Cross Disaster Mental health Specialist and a National Instructor of Disaster mental Health and that I know a little bit about the Red Cross goes about its business. I knew from my past RC work that they would have their fingers on the pulse and operation of the missiong persons systems, whatever that would be and I volunteered to take four names of missing people into the Red Cross in Greater new York to see if I could access the resources. When I got ij on the evening of September 12 at around 6;30PM, There were some very tired mental health staff and the Mental Health Job Officer lookinfg for an exkperienced person to take the vening shift and intrerface with the 24 hour fundtions we had up and running. They saw mw and asked and I said yes, which led me to a remarkable, difficult, emotional and compelling next five weeks of Red Cross Action. I was able to connect with missing persons and connect back to those friends who were worried about the four missing people in their lives. Sadly, each on e fo the four is gone! There are so many sotries like that with this Trader Center thing. I worked almost a round the clocl helping to give full birth to the delivery of Mental Health Services in a national disaster for the Red Cross. Once something this enormous is launced we know it is only a matter of time before the headquarters for the work moves to full-tine staffing and the resouces set up in the field (most of them at least) will be running wxtremely long hours if not round the clock. I worked at Red Cross Head quarters for the first 21/2 weeks helping to trouble shoot and to staff the may 24 hour services Red Cross was now and in the future going to provide for 9-11 persons affected and the staff helping them. Them ost compelling story I have from that time at headquarters was when on Freiday September 21, the officer agreed that I should leave headquarters for a field experience. What a field experience it was, too. I was assigned to work as a "Tech", on a boat leaving from the Marine Firefighters Station at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and travel by boat with chaplians and other Red Cross Mental Health staff to take about 50 family members to grouind Zero to see the devastation and to memorialize and honor their loved ones. We left the Navey yard and sailed under the Brooklyn Bridge around the Western side of manhattan and landed near the now metallic dessert of the Twin Trade Towers. There we met the new Fire Chaplain who would be filling the shoes of their dear and beloved Michael Judge who died with fire men in the building collapse. We were walked to the site, which was aweful and horrific and all lit up like a terrible hollywood movie set. There were canine body retreivers climbing over towering infernos of the former Trade Towers. It was a mass grave and had the smell and terror of my mental image of say, London after the Blitz. The odors and sounds were horrifying and the feeling that there were 6000 souls or remians ( at that time we still hadn't been given accurate figures of the number actually missing or dead) of shortly-before living, vibrant people was so sad. The Fire Chaplain spoke, so movingly, with such regard for the lost and for their familiy members that I was moved to internal tears. He was spiritual without being overwhelming or overly dramatic, he was real, yet kind and very sympathetic and I think the fire familiy members receivd his good intentions. We stayed about 45 minutes, prayed meditatied and the loved ones were given time to "talk" with thier fallen members. I was speechless at the feelings it dreq out in me, of loneliness, of awe and grief and the anger I feel at our governments for not having better securit in place and whatever else was running through my mind. Silently, out of respect for those who were lost and lying in molecules, parts on in whole pieces at varying levels of the rubble, we walked back to the boat. We got in and started the long night ride back to the Navy Yard under the Bridge. The night air was magnificent, perfect and the ride was visually awesome, perfect. We chatted with family members and I handed out lots of white or brown funnsy. fluffy teddy bears to anyone who wanted one or tow or three for themselves, children and gradchidren. After all, these people had just lost sons. husbands, siblings fathers and I thought, what will become fo all these people who woke up, sent a member to work and now traveled throught this sacred and spritiual place created by a momventof revenge, hatred and violence. We returned to the fired house, and then were driven by two wonderful firefighters back to Brooklyn Headquarters, chatting all the way, carefully avioding any talk about what we had experienced that evening in that strange and compelling place. We left our tasks at headquarters at around 4:30 and it was now about 11:00PM. I was set to now work a twelve hour night shift having just worked about 10 evenings straight and then going to my day job during the daytime. Nut, the officers on job told those of us who witnessed the memorial at Ground Zero that evening to go home and get some sleep. We were reminded that we Mental Health Staff needed to take care of ourselves as much as we supported and litened to those affected by the disaster and those who worked to delivery Red Cross Services. So. I got in my car and took the ride home to Long Island in utter spiritual silence. I did not shed a tear, but I wanted to. I didn't tell friends what I heard and saw in the space and ceremony. I didn't think any words I could imagine would conjure for any listener, the terrible, aweful feelings of the emptiness of that extremely busy 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 story73.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. 2002-02-21 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 137.139.33.23 Annotation Annotations to this item. Firefighters Ground zero- at or about Memorials/Vigils (location or person) Police Officers Religion Rescue/clean-up workers/volunteers Struggle to get home NY:3