547 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 was at schoo ,iwas 8 years old an my teacher stop the class an turnd on the radio after she got a call from another teacher. I was scard i thought that every body was about to die I nver thought some thing like this would happen to America . Now that am old I can really think about the lives that was lost . Now that happend I really don't feel safe in 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 story20566.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: Although I am in the UK I still feel the pain of Americans who didnt loose anyone close. I was at work and has just returned from lunch, my friend said," A plane has crashed into the world trade center" this was at 8:55 US time. Within minutes call after call was coming through. They started as people just wanting to find a number or the dialling code. After the second plane hit the calls changed. People were crying and screaming at me down the phone "Why cant I get through" from that to "My daughter works on the 83rd floor,please help me" If people in America felt helpless then there was also alot of people across the Atlantic who felt even more helpless. I stayed at work for 13 hours, I didnt have to but I felt that I had to do something, as little as it was. On an average day we take about 13,000 calls on September 11th we took 81,000 calls. I am no brave fireman or medic, I am an operator who tried all she could to help. This year on the Anniversary I couldnt face work. I stayed at home praying for all the friends and families that lost loved ones and I vowed to put the nightmares I have had since behind me. God bless all who died and their families God Bless America Love Helen Spall 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 story7629.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. 2002-09-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 62.254.0.10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On that day, I turned on the TV when I came down to make coffee as usual. It was approximately 8:05. I knew instantly that something was wrong. I sat down and saw the second plane fly into the building. At first I thought it was an accident, that something was wrong with the plane, but it wasn't long before the details became clear. I started crying and couldn't stop. I thought it was only the beginning of many more attacks and I didn't know where to go. I called my brother who is a retired army pilot and he talked to me to assure me that I was not in danger at that time. I avoid going downtown Chicago and I have not been so worried about our country since President Kennedy was assinated. 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 story3591.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Written by: Marianne T. Jervis, NJ/CISM Counselor 856-435-5115 Tuesday September 11, 2001 NYC World Trade Center gets hit 8:45 am It?s a little after 10:00 am and I hear my next door neighbor, Kevin, shouting for me somewhere in my home. I realize, as I rush upstairs from the sunroom, that he is yelling frommy front open kitchen window. He seems upset about something. He sees me and yells for me to hurry up and put my TV on. I ask him which channel. He replies, ?put any channel...you?ll see... hurry up?. I hasten to the TV set in the Living Room and see what looks like a movie of New York with the sky scrapers; so familiar to me in my past travels in the music business. I turn to the next channel; the same thing. I click the remote once again; the same scene. I turn to look back at my neighbor still standing at my kitchen window, and exclaim that ?every channel has the same scene of New York on it". ?What?s going on?? ?What are they filming?? Kevin responded with, ?keep looking... you?ll see?! I unsteadily watch and listen to the anchorwoman tell all TV Viewers that ?the World Trade Center, #1 Building has just been hit by what appears to have been a bomb?. On the screen I see the twin towers and realize that upper portion of Tower #1 is engulfed in flames. I stand frozen watching the scene with my mouth open, while my heart prays ?Dear, God... oh no?. I say aloud ?Oh My God? ?This isn?t really happening right now, is it?? Kevin yells back in to my kitchen window, ?I?m afraid so, Mar. At least that?s what all the news channels are saying? and adds that "he has to leave now to check on his 2 year old son who is taking a nap". ?My God?, I think. ?This can?t be happening.? Again, I change the TV Channel. To my added horror, I now hear the TV News Reporter announce that ?the World Trade Center has now been hit with yet another plane?. The News Reporter continues, ?Building #2 has just been hit. So now Building #1 and Building #2 have both been hit by what appears to be?......the Reporter stops in mid sentence.... I hear a loud ?Oh my God? and then, astonished and in shock, I actually see the entire building collapse. I am, shocked, pained, confused, mesmerized, numb.... shocked again,.... confused, angry,.... numb.... as I, too, utter aloud........?Oh my God?.. ?OH...MY..... GOD?... ?Please help those people, Lord?.... ?Please take them up with you?.... ?Hold them in your arms, Lord?.... ?Let them know everything will be okay?... ?Please, Lord...... Please, Lord........... Please, Lord.? ?Oh, Lord......... please help them.? ?Oh my God... I can?t believe this is really happening.? ?Is this real???? Tuesday September 11, 2001 W T C Hit 8:45 am It?s 11:00 am. The saddest and most serious Crisis Call for help, I?ve ever received by NJ State C.I.S.M. Director, Roland Kandle. ?Marianne, I need your help.? ?I guess you are already aware that we (C.I.S.M.)have been activated. I will be needing you to report to an undisclosed meeting point near the Holland Tunnel. You?ll be met by NY State Police, Port Authority Police and Federal Agents. You must give them proper I.D. (Name, Driver?s License, etc. whatever they require right now). You will then be escorted to our Command Center near the burning site. You will be needed to do ?whatever it takes? to get this situation under control. You will be going down to the site or manning the Command Post on 12-hour shifts; with the rest of the team.? ?You will be needed to do Crisis Counseling for all the Fire Fighters, Police, Emergency and Rescue Teams; and I understand there are Fire Fighters and Rescue Units being dispatched from other states. It doesn?t matter who you assist or Counsel; just be there for whoever needs it. You know what we?re looking for, so I want you to go out there and do what you do best.? He added: ?The nation is on Full Red Alert; and we don?t know what to expect next. But we do need to do something about the near and present situation at hand.? ?So.....are you prepared to do this??, Roland asked. ?Of course I?m ready, Roland.? (I responded without hesitation.) ?Whatever it takes, Roland. Whatever it takes.? ?Just tell me When and Where, and I?m there. You know me.? Roland replied, ?Great, Marianne, I knew I could count on you! You would be great at handling this, especially with all you?ve been through (referring to my own bouts with traumatic situations and post-traumatic stress while working as a NJ State Senior Correction Officer).? I thought for a moment and added; ?I know Roland...I know what you?re going to say.? ?Everything happens for a reason... and everything is in God?s hands.? ?I sure know that I will be great at spotting anyone who is about to go into any type ?Crisis Mode?. I?ll be looking for any signs of: Shock, Beginning stages of Post-Traumatic Stress, Signs of Depression, Anxiety, Panic, etc.. I know I?ll be, especially, good at detecting anyone going thru ?Crisis-Denial?. ?Crisis-Denial? is a name I gave for the symptoms I was experiencing due to many traumatic crisis situations and/or intended abusive situations I had undergone, or witnessed, while performing my duties as an Officer in Corrections. On another scale of Trauma, ?Crisis-Denial? could be defined as : What Fire Fighters, Police, Rescue Personnel, etc. go into when they are ?Toughing It Out?. ?Crisis-Denial? occurs when there are no answers, or help during extreme incidents of abuse, assault, critical incidents, of any type, etc. The Mind takes on the task of Acting Like Everything is Fine, as it attempts to make sense and/or remedy major critical situations of Extreme cruelty; Unusual punishment; Extreme Devastation; Extremely cruel Intended Hurt or Abuse; Extreme Intended Hatred / Terroristic threats or acts; etc. caused by outside forces, or the powers that be. Wednesday 10:00 am September 12, 2001 Roland telephones. ?Hi, Mar. This is Roland, again.? ?Are you ready to do some real dirty work? Get ready, because we have the Command Center up and I need you to call Linda at the Prosecutor?s Office, and get some C.I.S.M. Teams together. I?ll be calling for assistance up here in Newark and doing mostly North Jersey; but I need you to round up the troops in South Jersey.? ?Can you help me out?? ?I will fill you in on the rest of the details.? ?I can?t tell you a specific location right now.? ?Just stay by your phone, Marianne.? ?I?ll be needing you up here ASAP. I?m just waiting for clearance and the proper Authorities to get down here?. ?Get ready for a long haul, Marianne.? ?I?ll appreciate anything you can do.? (End of phone conversation.) I say a silent prayer for the victims....The Living and the Dead. I remember the words: ?He shall come to Judge the Living and the Dead?. I think, ?He?s probably Judging all of us right now........? I think to myself and stare into space....and reminisce... Dear God, I only ask that you: Give me the Right Words, to Say to These People , And Guide Me to the Ones who Need Us the Most. Amen Wednesday 2:00 pm September 12, 2001 I speak with Roland Kandle, again, about organizing the C.I.S.M. Team to go up to New York to assist with the support for the survivors and workers at the disaster. Roland tells me to stay put where I am, for the time being; as we don?t know what?s in store for us at this point. I agree. What he really needs, is for me to round up the troops and get dates and times when each member can be available for debriefing/defusing sessions. I tackle the assignment and, upon completion, await further orders. Thursday September 13, 2001 C.I.S.M. Director Roland Kandle calls to ask if I can be available for assignment in New York. I anxiously oblige; and am more than ready to assist. He gives me a check-in point where I will check-in (a 2-hour trip), get I.D.?d, and am assigned to my next post. I arrive for the 12:00 midnite to 12:00 noon shift. My first assignment is to report to the main site for a first-handed feel of what the police and fire-fighting survivors have seen and felt first-handed. Although, I really don?t see the need to have to go witness the site to effectively counsel the survivors; I obediently follow Roland?s orders. To my further astonishment (for lack of a better descriptive word), I am just totally shocked to see the high orange flames still shooting through the massive twisted steel that appears to be at least 3 city blocks in width and 1 in height. I see the grotesque ( but once so beautiful) sky scrapers with all their blown out windows on almost every floor. At the far end of the heaps, nestled between 2 more destroyed buildings, I see a huge glassed-in dome which looks as if it was hurled from atop another sky scraper during the blasts. I can?t believe what I am seeing. This not only does not look like New York City, this just doesn?t even look like anywhere or anything you can imagine in all of America. The big and massive cranes and dump trucks feverishly pulling in all around me, make this unreality and sure reality. I still can?t believe what I am seeing. Hundreds of fire-fighters and policemen hurriedly work, almost on top of each other, trying to find or rescue someone from the burning wreck. Many police in fire-proof jumpsuits, boots, gloves, masks, and protective helmets all seem to have that same glazed look and pale sickly color on their faces; as they courageously fight through the flames and thick billowing smoke coming from the fiery furnace engulfing their loved ones. Rescue workers, police, and fire fighters arrive from all around the 50 states as they all join together in trying to rescue their ?brothers? and ?sisters? from this horrendous disaster. Out-of-towners and well-wishers from among the 50 states stand with huge homemade white cardboard signs with ?Thank You and God Bless All Of You Rescue Workers?, waving American Flags, handing out boxes of food and snacks and bottles of water. It is just so unbelievable to see how all of mankind has pulled together during such a tragic event. The two extremes of visiting ?hell? and then seeing so much love ?heaven? around me brings to my mind a very familiar verse from the Bible: ?And I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth, for the former ones were passed away?... My next thought jumps to Revelations, in the Bible. I ask myself, ?Could this be Armageddon... the beginning of the end?? Friday 8:00 am September 14, 2001 Well, it sure is going to be a long haul. I still am in shock. I can?t believe the devastation on a once-traveled and well-known thriving street in the heart of New York City. The Heart of New York!! It?s indescribable. There are no words to describe the horror, the gaping enormous fiery hole in the middle of New York.....This just isn?t happening!!! This isn?t New York!!!! It doesn?t even look like anything in America. There is no place in America or American History, that I know of, that could possible come close to looking like this disaster scene....of flaming burning Concrete, Twisted Steel... Yes, Burning Concrete, and Burning Steel, etc. I?ve never heard of certain element being on fire. It is so eerie down here. The center of the City looks like it just blew up. Remnants of the explosion completely litter the cold, barren and damp dark streets all around the ?Yellow Taped? and Barricaded Site. Pieces of men?s shredded white and soiled tee-shirts wave from the tree branches from above. Desk-top ornaments and pieces of shattered pictures and photo frames are jaggedly peeking out from once ?well-manicured? bushes around nearby buildings. You can steel feel the after shocks underground from the unfathomable explosion that occurred here only a week ago. Numerous other surface explosions and fire bursts can be seen amid the heap of rubble and twisted tall steel. Huge eerily-looking skeleton-like beams of twisted steel hang at a dangerous angle nearly 12 stories in the air; and wedged firmly amid the deadly site. An enormous glass and steel globe that once crowned the top of a nearby sky-scraper dangles vicariously wedged between ruins of devastated twisted remains of once tall buildings. The only buildings that remain, are charred black and nearly windowless. There is darkness and fire and water everywhere. There is so much smoke and dust and debris in the air, that the smell of smoke or sense of smell is nearly non-existent. BRAVE Fire Fighters, and BRAVE Rescue Workers work feverishly trying to find victims under the debris. Just looking at the site tells an entirely different story, though. As I evaluate the situation, in an effort to be prepared for the inevitable, My mind thinks: ?Who could possibly have survived this?? ?I?m looking at steel and concrete burning.? I hear the Engineers telling the Fire Chief, standing next to me, that the temperature of the initial explosions was at least 2,500 degrees and the temperatures below are still rising. Fire Fighters and Rescue Workers still work feverishly, believing that they WILL save their buddies, brothers, fathers, co-workers, Superiors, sisters, mothers, etc. amid the burning rubble. There is such a feeling of Complete Contrast here! As you enter the site of ?Ground Zero? the eyes see such a dark, dark, coldness, and devastation. Yet, at the same time, there is an unbelievable feeling of nearly invisible White Glow and warmth. There is an unusual Spirit of Love, especially in the heart of all of this. It gives you chills of warmth to continue to go on. It feels like you are being hugged from up above. You can almost here angel-like singing or humming thru the loud sounds of the concrete blasters and excavating equipment. And when you look up.....You can?t help but see the white glow coming from the site, and going directly straight up to the Heavens. Working directly at the site and being directly below all of this light, especially on the 12:00 midnite shift... you get to see, feel, and hear so much around you. I see the glowing white feet of the two huge angels standing erect (as if at attention) in full-length with pure white gowns. They are standing in place of the two (2) destroyed WTC Towers. The Arch Angels are so huge and tall, their heads touch the clouds in the sky above. I wonder, how I can see the clouds above at this hour. It?s nearly 2:00 pm. Yet, the Angel?s heads light up the sky directly above. I CAN see the SKY ABOVE ad the WHITE BILLOWY CLOUDS! This is truly amazing. God?s Love is Breathtaking. I am sure that the victims are all fine and in God?s Hands. The Angels are standing Guard as we prepare the Holy Ground, from whence they came. There is such a peaceful silence through the horrific loud noises of the excavating, dumping, and welding equipment. There is such a holiness overshadowing the extremely horrific disastrous site. In your heart, you KNOW that all of these victims truly went immediately straight up to the Heavens to meet with their Maker?s Glorious Love. Two extremes are seen and felt everywhere, right now. Dear God... Sunday September 16, 2001 Just about every other day, I have been taking the 4 hour round trip jaunt to New York to assist in counseling the survivors of the WTC disaster. The trips have been very fulfilling. The stories by the survivors have been very uplifting. The experience of being a part of this rescue mission can not be described in mere words. This has been good therapy for myself, as well. At least I can do something with all of the experience I have learned from my own personal horrors. I can readily detect someone looking like they are in a daze, and going too within themselves; one of the first signs of post-traumatic stress. I can hear the survivors tell me that they are fine, as I listen intently to their hearts saying just the opposite; at times. I can offer so much moral support and good positive advice for therapeutically dealing with this major tragedy. I can finally understand why my God allowed me to go through the horrendous perils that were put before me; in order to be so useful today. As I peer out into the near distance of the burning twisted structures, my mind equates the feelings and emotions I get as my minds? files refresh flashbacks of myself being locked behind bars, knocked off flights of stairs, driven into dark woods...etc.. I feel the fear. I feel the peril. I feel the not knowing how to understand the violence. I feel the familiar and deep sadness welling deep in my heart. I feel and hear the confusion whirring and buzzing all around me. I see something so familiar, yet so meaningless and sad. I finally feel, once again, the All Familiar Feeling of my Father?s Love Hug me from deep inside; while a sturdy hand pats? me on the shoulder as chilling whisper in the air says ?Get In There....You know what to do.? I feel my Father with me and know He is definitely with them too. My feelings of confusion and terror slowly subside, as a subtle peacefulness hovers over me. An older short male Fire Chief from out-of-state looks over to me beneath a heavy looking fire helmet and special heavy yellow and orange rubber suiting. His glazed and squinted eyes try giving me a slight smile, as I read a gentle man with a crying heart. We exchange hellos and I ask if any of his crew were hurt or missing in this rescue? As he looks way down to the ground, he struggles with a muffled ?yes, ma?am?. He adds, ?too many to mention?. I ask if he is okay; to which I receive the common ?oh, yes.. I?m okay?. But his eyes tell me, please stay and talk to me. His eyes drift back away and off into deep sad silence, again. I proceed to tell him that ?God picks His Angels, you know?. I continue, ?And when He wants them with Him, there?s just no stopping that?. The fireman slowly gets attentive, again, and he looks up at me as I continued. ?I?m sure your friends are looking down at us right now.? ?They?re probably saying, ?Why are they so sad and angry down there? Don?t they know that we?re happy and finally with our Father? We feel bad for them. They?re the ones that are left down there to clean up all of that mess.? There is a long silent and sad pause....The fire-fighter finally looks up with a smile, now. He answers, ?Yes, that?s true. You know, you?re right.? I answered with, ?God allows things to happen for a reason.? ?Someday we?ll understand.? ?I?m glad to have been able to have met you, sir.? He smiles again. He then begins with, ?You know, you really made me feel so much better. I really appreciate you taking the time to stay and talk to me. You really made me feel much better.? I smile and feel like hugging him. He is such a sweet and humble man. Instead, I offer my hand and give him a very warm handshake, as I pat him on the back with my free hand. I thank him for coming out and taking the time to help his brothers. Before leaving, I add, ?Just remember, now you have a lot of guardian angels up there that you know personally by name. Don?t forget to talk to them, once in a while; especially if you need them.? The fire-fighter?s face instantly brightens and this sign tells me to move on to the next survivor. There has been such a touch of love from everyone, there are really no words that can adequately and accurately describe the current surroundings. I am truly blessed to be here. I have, personally, met so many beautiful people with so overflowing God-filled spirit and faith.. However, through this part of Heaven on Earth, there exists such a great sorrow and pain that fills the air with such immense tears of sadness to all who are around for miles of the site. Tears can be felt and heard, here, world wide. There are truly two (2) extremely visible contrasts present all around me. There is an extremely visible heartache, shock, and fear...side-by-side along with an extremely visible love, help, and hope. It is such a shame. As I enter the Port Authority Command Post, I see the many pictures of all the fallen comrades posted just outside the Control Center. There are approximately 30 to 40 faces strategically placed, amid enormous and beautiful bouquets of flowers and about 25 scented lit candles; making the shrine and faces all aglow. The faces...... The men and women in uniform... All seem to have one thing in common. Their eyes are all facing forward and direct, with a clarity and sharpness exhibited on professionals who are just a ?cut above?. They all were, indeed, above and beyond your average officer or individual. As I look closer to each individuals? photo, I further notice that each one of them appear to have been such a character in some way. They look playful and yet so sincere. I think back to how many times I have heard it said, over and over again by their fellow officers.... ?if you only knew him?.... ?he was exceptional?... ?they were so special?.... ?they were like no one you?ve ever met?..... yet I do know. I do understand. I can see it in the photos. I can feel them in my heart. I pray to God and to the deceased officers to please help me say the right words of comfort to their fellow officers and friends who have survived. Friday 10:00 am September 21, 2001 My friend Ernest Terry from Radio Station WTMR call to say hello. He asks what I am up to, and I inform him of my Counseling Job at ?Ground Zero? in NY. Ernest explains that the reason that he is calling me, is that he has been playing my song ?I?ll Climb The Highest Stairs...to You, Lord? on the air...and he has been thinking about me. I am surprised to hear Ernest say that, I inform him that the song he is referring to was written, ironically, in September of 1990. That was exactly 11 years ago. Not only that, but I discussed the conversation I had with him at that time... about the origin of that song. Ernest replied, ?I know? ?I know? ?And that?s why I?m calling you!? ?I remember you telling me that you had a vision of a pilot of a plane singing this song to God, as he saw his plane crashing into these tall skyscrapers....as he began to sing: ?I?ll climb the Highest Stairs to You Lord.... This Day of Warring....I Never had Enough Time to Say Goodbye... To All of the Ones....Who Loved Me....? Saturday September 22, 2001 Typical 12-Hour Shift from the WTC Command Post: 12 Midnight - 12 Noon Shift at the World Trade Center Site (WTC) in New York with the N.J./C.I.S.M. (Critical Incident Stress Management) Team. Met and Counseled Port Authority Police at C Base (Command Underground at Journal Square). The P.A. Police lost quite a few of their men in the line of duty at W.T.C. assigned posts above and below ground at Towers #1, #2, and #5. 1ST Post: Ground ?O? Warner Command. Temp. Base at St. Aloyisius? School Gym. 2ND Post: W.T.C. site of disaster. Recovered two more bodies from beneath all of the twisted steel,concrete, flames and dust. Supposedly, bodies were that of two more Port Authority Police. Supplied hands-on counseling and support to those still yet in shock. 3RD Post: M.A.S.H. Unit/Hospital and Body Parts Stations and crews on duty. Special Police, Rescue Workers and Sanitation Crews from all over the United States working in the Hi-Stress Venture. 4TH Post: Morgue. Priests and ministers are already in position upon arrival. Officers on duty carry that same blank stare and look of ?serious business?. Touched base with the human side of them, before leaving. Left with smiles, at least; and firm handshakes accompanied by statements of support. 5TH Post: Ground Zero. Attempting to extricate remains of a Fire Chief and possibly a Fire Captain, beneath large Red-White-Blue American Flags marking destinations and possible bodies. Huge cranes are fiercely scooping up remains of twisted steel, pieces of tan burnt office carpet accompanied with huge chunks of concrete, pieces of clothing, (appears to have been pieces of a man?s business suits, greyish white dirty sleeved button down shirts, parts of T-shirts stuck in trees and bushes along with all other debris for blocks around). Stood by many groups of fire fighters on site helping in the recovery assignment. Fire fighters lay on the ground (from Washington, DC) after working steadily all night, putting out reoccurring fires during the dig. I met with fire fighters from Miami and as far away as Los Angeles. Spoke with L.A. staff from F.E.M.A; who came equipped with their own support staff (including Chaplains) like NJ CISM. I thank them for coming out and assisting us at this time of need. 6TH Post: Recovery Mounds in progress at Site #1. Body Bags being handed out and rescue workers rush out with us in a group, armed with heavy rubber gloves and thick white rubber work buckets. Investigators from Sanitation Departments and DNA as well as several FBI investigators surround this area. The Fire Chiefs and Commanders remain focused with their feelings intact. Their prime concern, it seems, is for the many lives and safety of the rescue workers who are presently working now. Another big dump truck is filled to the top with debris. The next empty vehicle backs in to take his place. Again, the crew rummages through the next pile of debris before this, too, gets swiftly discarded. The look of hurt, pride, love, hopelessness, sadness, and unity is just overwhelming. It?s hard to imagine that so much sadness can be converted to so much beauty by the Grace of God. 7TH Post: Ground ?0? Warner Command Back to St. Aloyisius School Gym. Workers are everywhere. Some are asleep on cots. Some are in long lines waiting for clothing, supplies, equipment, etc. Salvation Army and local Restaurateurs are dishing out food and drinks for all rescuers. Fire Fighters and Rescue Squads from all over the USA are in Blue or Yellow Uniforms wearing Bold Letters or Numbers (advertising their precincts or Townships) Proudly on their sleeves or backs. Ladder Companies seem to be from everywhere; Dallas, Florida, Texas, California, Delaware, Ohio, Chicago, Trenton, Pennsylvania, Atlantic City, Newark, Oklahoma, Detroit, Mississippi, Tennessee, England, etc. (along with some of their Rescue and Police Units). I shuffle off to a back corner, behind a Temporary Wa-Wa Stand. I see a group of Out-of-state Fire Fighters huddled on unmatched metal tan and grey folding chairs. A tall wooden blackboard is set up with a few chalk diagrams behind them. I recognize the layout of the Ground Zero site on the blackboard, along with the many falling buildings around it. I notice the huge X above each underground staircase that the firefighters have been working on feverishly. My eyes scan the many sweaty and dirty-exhausted faces of this crew. I focus my attention on the middle-aged firefighter holding his face in both hands. As I near this fatigued rescuer, I touch his shoulder and hear him sobbing in a corner to himself. I sit beside him and tell him ?It?s okay? ?I know how you feel...This is absolutely terrible.? I continue, ?I?ve been through a lot of things and have seen a lot while working as an Officer in a Prison; but this is the worst things my eyes and my heart have ever endured? The gentleman tilts his head to the left, toward me, as he begins to look up. He asks, ?You worked in a prison?? ?You sure don?t look like you worked in a prison.? A few seconds go by. He asks, ?You mean a woman?s prison, right?? I smile, as I pat him on the back; and answer: ?No...an Adult Male Medium Security Prison... like in Camden New Jersey.? The Fireman now shakes his head in almost disbelief. We both smile. Then I proceed to ask him some essential questions. I find a common ground with him, now, and get him to talk. He has such a good heart. Apparently, he recognized a part of some Fire Fighting equipment which belonged to one of his long lost buddies that he used to know here (in New York) and was sad when he was the one to have found the piece of equipment which finally identified the name for the body count. (Inside, I felt like crying for him. I could feel his sadness.) He began to talk aimlessly on about his buddy. To tell you the truth, I felt his buddy right there with us as he continued to ramble on. When he was through with his story. I DID mention this to him. He said, ?You know, I didn?t want to sound weird or anything, but I actually feel like he is RIGHT HERE ALONG SIDE OF US, RIGHT NOW, TOO?! I replied, ?I know....So I guess you?ll be all right, now?? He nodded, fervently as we both smiled and waved goodbye. I said a silent prayer for the men....the Living and the Dead. I remembered the words ?He shall come to Judge the Living and the Dead?. ?Maybe He?s doing that right now?, I think to myself..again. ?Dear God, I ask you again...Please give me the words, and send me to the people that need us the most. Thank you!? Sunday 4:00 pm September 23, 2001 Upon completing, yet another day at ?Ground Hero?, I arrive at W.T.M.R. Radio Station in time to sit and chat with my dear friend, Ernest Terry. We have a very long chat and Ernest decides to continue our chat ?LIVE? on the Air. We talk about our friendship, my recent activities of support in New York, and finally we talk about my music. We begin discussing one song in particular: ?I?ll Climb The Highest Stairs? which I had written way back in September of 1990. It was recorded in Philadelphia with The Philadelphia Boys Choir. I then tell the story about this particular song as I first wrote it; again, to Ernest. It was early September of 1990 when I was deciding to finally get out of the music business, as I was very unenthused nor did I have any positive incentives to be around. I was primarily interested in sharing with the public a God-given talent I had; which was singing, playing piano, and writing songs. However, for the time being, I truly did not fit in with the current program which was being followed by the business. Also, I had bills to pay and a home to go home to. Not only did I have a good head on my shoulders, but my daddy didn?t raise no coward. I had the guts to stick it out, but I wasn?t about to lose house and home in order to be ?famous?. I knew I would always have a ?gift? as I would have dear loving friends and family. Nothing else, much mattered. Though I did know I would miss the adventure. Anyway, on one of my last trips to New York City, I was sitting on a subway train in Philadelphia, PA when I began having a private conversation with God. It went something like this: ?Dear God, why did you give me this talent? This talent amazes me and fills me with so much sunshine and light, yet the industry makes directs me to hide it under a bushel.? ?Why does it always end up like this?? ?I don?t care if I?m famous.? ?I just want to share this talent and my love, in return for the love that I feel that you give me.? ?That?s all....? ?You should have never given me this talent.? ?New York was right; when the N.Y./A.G.A.C. Guild members said that a God-given talent is a ?curse? and it?s a ?blessing?. ?And now I know it sure is.? ?Lord, you can help me.? ?Please help me.? ?And by the way, are you really singing these songs with these words and music to me?? ?Please give me an answer.? ?I?m baffled by it all.? ?I just want to make an honest living, Lord.... and maybe travel around to see the rest of your beautiful world that you created... and all the beautiful people I have yet to meet.? ?That?s all.? ?Lord, I don?t even know why I?m even on this train to New York City, again.? ?I?m just going to hear the same compliments, but nothing substantial, definite, honest, or businesslike ever comes out of it.? ?It?s all the same, Lord.? ?This is a waste of my time.? ?Yet, I forget.. when you sometimes show me reasons why; when I least expect it.? ?Sorry, Lord; if I?m nagging you again.? ?I?m only human, you know.? ?It?s your fault, that I am even like this.? ?You made me this way.? I laugh to myself, as the passenger sitting next to me sort of gives me a funny look. I can?t really tell anyone what I?m smiling about to myself. People would think I?m crazy. Oh well, what else is new? That never stopped me from being me. Boy am I tired, I think to myself. I?m at 30th Street Station, when I hear the conductor announce the stop. It won?t be too long until I arrive at the World Trade Center and meet my friend (Vanguard Financial Consultant) Michael Agnessini. I close my eyes and try to take a short nap. All this praying to God from way down to my soul has tired me out a little. With closed eyes, just as we pull away from the 30th Street Station, I am hit with a sudden image of a man with dark hair in his late 30s, early 40s, with a desperate look on his face with so much perspiration dripping from his dark close-cut hair to the back of his neck. As I sit quietly with eyes open, now, I see his face with very dark eyes of terror and love within a profusely sweating face. His skin is very smooth and almost shiny. His uniform is that of a pilot. It look like an airline pilot. As he speaks to me, now, he is saying to ?please just tell them I?m okay? ?just tell them I still feel them and will always feel them inside my heart? and that this feeling will never go away. He frantically says over and over again, ?Just tell them? ?Don?t forget to tell them" ...and finally, ?I?m going to be okay?. During this striking vision, there is such melodic music and distinctly different choirs of music all around me. The music is so loud. As the pilot speaks to me, the singing all around us entertwines with the words he speaks, and the words coming from my God who gives me the songs. We are speaking to the same one; the same father. The song is engrained in my head. It doesn?t go away. The choir looks and sounds like a boys? choir, in parts. It is not a girls choir, or a mass choir, or a mens choir. Yet at certain times, all of the choirs in the universe come together. The words begin to ring in my ears...?I?ll Climb the Highest Stairs... to You, Lord? This Day of Warring...... I never had enough time to say Goodbye..... To all of the ones, who loved me..... But I still have a feeling.... Deep inside.... Of Me....... These words can?t be right, I tell myself, as I write down this new song. This song is coming from this pilot. It should be ?I?ll Fly the Highest Skies........ to You, Lord? not ?I?ll Climb the Highest Stairs?. What does Highest Stairs have to do with it? This doesn?t even make sense. As I continue to write the song, I keep going back to adjust the words in the beginning. It is to no avail. Every time I try to change them, I hear angel voices and this pilot (I don?t even know? keep singing loudly ?I?ll Climb the Highest Stairs?..... I say to myself, ?well excuse me?. By the time I arrive at the World Trade Center Station, the song is written and completed and the chords are figured in; along with the choir parts. ?Boy?, I think, ?this is a new one.? ?Even the choir parts are written in.? Thinking nothing of it, I pack it away and exit the train to greet my friend Michael who has been patiently waiting for me. We have a scheduled appointment to meet Reverend Al Sharpton, regarding my latest song ?We?ve Got the Power?, which I wrote in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. The message in the song is to promote non-violence and non-discrimination, as well as remembering the Lord up above. It was an interesting meeting at the most famous French Restaurant in all of New York City, and then some. One thing I did notice, was that Rev. Al Sharpton?s fingernails were much longer than mine. It seemed very odd to me. Other than that, he was your typical well-polished businessman and/or politician. He seemed pleasant, but not entirely focused on business at this time. I remember driving all around New York City in Michael Agnessini?s limousine, sightseeing, and then grabbing a few drinks at a corner pub with a loud juke box playing a lot of Beatles and Rolling Stone music. After singing along with 20 or so songs, Michael and I said our goodbyes and I left for New Jersey. It is now, Sunday, September 23, 2001. I get a chill through my spine. I remember telling God ?Oh well, someday I?ll be singing this song and it?s going to mean something to someone probably on the other side of this earth?. I reminisce about the days that have just gone by. I remember, VIVIDLY, the sound of that man?s voice in the vision; telling me to ?just et them know that I love them... that I have this feeling.... that feeling of love....that I always had for them... and that I will always have for them... and that this feeling will always be with me....I think to myself, ?who would?ve known?? ?God was right, again.? ?This is amazing.? ?Lord, guide me now.? ?I know now what you were trying to tell me before.? ?Please help me to find the purposes.? ?Thank you, Lord.? I think back to how many times, when I told this story to people in the industry, they must have thought I was crazy. I told Joe Fitspatrick, Director of the Philadelphia Boys Choir. I told Alonzo Jones and Ernest Terry at WTMR Radio Station. I told Charles Webb, head Planner and Developer of Southeastern Transportation Department of Philadelphia (SEPTA). I bet they don?t think It's so crazy, now. I laugh to myself, again. ?Boy, does God have a sense of humor some times.? ?Who would?ve thought?? At least one thing is for sure. All of those victims surely became instant angels, and I know this in my heart. God Showed Me.. I heard them singing, long ago. Love is infinite. God is Love. Yet I still can?t explain it. Oh, well. I guess it?s not important. Some things are better left unsaid. Some things are better when they are left a mystery or a miracle. That?s when you know just how Awesome God Is! I wish I had a penny every time I heard a survivor tell me that they weren?t supposed to be off from work that day, or they were unusually late. I usually would smile and say, ?God knew?. ?God picks His angels.? ?It wasn?t your time to go.? ?You still have much more work to do down here with us.? Usually, the response and realistic advice is well taken. However, I did run across a few angry survivors who wished they were there instead of their dear friends. To that, I advise them to stop being so selfish; and to be thankful that they at least had the chance of having crossed paths with these special individuals in their lifetime. At least they know some of these guardian angels by name, whereas, others like myself would have wished to have known them. If that doesn?t get through, I usually add ?I haven?t met anyone who wanted to live down here forever... have you?? That usually gets a laugh, as they answer with a resounding ?NO?. It?s funny, through the course of my years as an Officer and Counselor; I have met many individuals who have tried repeatedly to take their own lives several times. And there were extreme cases. For example anywhere from ingesting up to 80 barbiturates at one time to repeatedly slicing their wrists (with the vein); and have astonishingly survived; only to repeat this performance again and again. Ironically, though, God decides when it?s time for you to come home. I have been a witness to this on numerous occasions. Noone decides how long they will live on this earth; only God makes that decision, when He feels you?re ready to come home. And that I can say with great conviction. Thank God that the disaster happened the way it did. The way I was told by surviving Officers, Experienced Fire Fighters and Building Experts at the site; it is common knowledge that the force of the airplanes colliding into the buildings caused such intense heat within the sky scrapers, that the victims didn?t have enough time to realize what hit them when they met their Maker and Father. The victims that perished from the mighty collapses, were instantly knocked unconscious as entire ceilings collapsed down upon them. The victims in the highest floors of WTC Building #1 were overcome by extreme smoke inhalation when the air tight building was spewing heavy smoke from below into the elevator shafts and staircases leading up to the highest floors. It also was good to know that they all made peace with their Maker; calmly phoned their families to say ?I just called to say I Love You... I don?t know what?s going to happen... but it?ll be okay... Remember I Love You?. The few people who were spotted jumping from the buildings, I am told by medical experts, either passed on from severe shock or painlessly passed on when their hearts stopped beating before they even hit the ground below (since our bodies are not designed to be built like superman or superhuman). To all of this I would add: ?If your friends could physically talk to you now, I?m sure they would be saying?... ?What?s all this crying about?? ?We?re happy!? ?It?s the people in the world that we feel sorry for...Don?t feel bad for us, because we?re with our Maker.? To this, surprisingly, I received quite a few ?Amens? from surviving comrades. (At this point, I would just say silently, ?Thanks again, Lord Jesus. Let?s mend the next broken heart.? c/o 10-01-01 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story1632.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. 2002-09-01 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 was just about to leave for the dentist with my 5 yr. old son when my brother called and told my mother, who was visiting and answered the phone, that a plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center Towers and then went on to say that another plane had just flown into the second tower. The first thing that popped into my head of course was terrorism. As the day unfolded, my husband, who had jury duty which was cancelled for 2 days due to the attacks, myself and my mother all sat in front of the television for 2 days watching the horrible events unfold. I was not able to fathom these horrific events then and I still can not now, a year later. To all those people who lost their lives, and to all of those people who lost loved ones; I wish you peace and may you find comfort in knowing they are in a better place. Thank you to all the hereos for all the help and support you provided. 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 story3352.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. 64.12.96.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Attack on America It was the beginning of my freshman year at Barker High School in New York when my attention was brought to a very serious issue. In my Global class we were learning about the current events in the Middle East. One in particular was on Afghanistan. We learned about an organization working for the government of Afghanistan that is the Taliban. They control the people living in the country. The people are not allowed to watch TV, listen to music, and much more. The leader of Afghanistan is against the United States and doesn't want promotion of the things that go on in the U.S. Also, the main religion is Islam. During that time there were eight jailed Christian workers in Afghanistan from the U.S. I knew that Afghanistan was a threat to us, but little did I know what was to come within the next couple of weeks. At 10:12a.m. on September 11th I walked into my fourth period class English. I heard a bunch of clatter and different noises coming from the monitor in the classroom. As I looked up I saw smoke and two buildings that had collapsed. Everywhere you looked people were running and screaming. I had no idea what had just happened. I went to my seat where my friend Bethany sat next to me. I asked her what had just happened and she told me the World Trade centers had just collapsed. I didn't know what to think at first because unlike most people I didn't really know much about the towers. As we continued to watch CNN a newswomen spoke of what had happened. She mentioned that many people had died. Some had even jumped out of the building due to fright and shock. Next I saw a replay of a plane going through one tower and then one through the other a few minutes later. I learned that the planes had suicide bombers in them. Many innocent people in the plane had died. As the day went on I learned more about the attack. A plane had gone into the pentagon in Washington. It is believed that Osama Bin Laden planned the attack and the suicide bombers were from Afghanistan. It turns out that thousands had died in planes, the pentagon, and the towers. Once I realized how serious the attack was and how many people had died, I was shocked, saddened, Scared, and in disbelief. I never thought that something as horrible as the attack was could ever happen to us. When I got home from school my mom was crying. She too had been upset due to the attack. Firefighters were searching for people that may be rescued. Many though were not found or were dead. It made me cry every time I heard people tell their stories on TV. One in particular was a story I heard on Oprah. A lady with long dark hair told her story. Her husband was flying home on a business trip the morning of the attack. The woman had been at work when she found out about the attack. When she got home she got a cell phone message from her husband that he had sent to her before the plane he was in crashed into the one tower. On the message he told her he didn't know what was going to happen but he loved her with all his heart. They played his message on Oprah. I feel so bad for the families and friends who lost their loved ones in the attack. It makes me realize how often we take things for granted. Our nation became really patriotic buying flags and more. The song "I Am Proud To Be An American played on every radio. As weeks went by, the search continued to find the infamous Osama Bin Laden. Till this day they have not found him. He could be anywhere. The destruction of the trade towers is still being cleaned up. Now comes an important question. Why would anyone want to do this to us? There are many answers to this question. One is global resentment. The United States has dominance over the world economy. Another reason is many people in Afghanistan don't like the way U.S. citizens act. They don't like our music, clothes, the shows we watch and much more. They don't like the freedom our people have. Afghanistan has a very low literacy rate and don't have freedom of press. There are many important things to consider for why they hate us. Since most people cant read in Afghanistan and don't have the Internet it is easy to persuade the people to believe one side of a story without hearing the other point of view. Another thing is children living in Afghanistan are taught to hate at a very young age. Last of all it is important to know that many people living in Afghanistan don't agree with the Taliban and don't support the attack on America. Overall the attack on America has changed everyone's lives forever. Everybody will and has been affected in different ways. Younger generations will be taught about the attack on America. I think now our country has stuck together stronger than anytime before and shown great pride in our nation. I hope that we will continue to stay strong and that hopefully the world will be able to accept each other's nations and live in world peace. 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 story667.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-05-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 168.169.8.35 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 posted the following on 9/12/02 on my website, www.GoDaven.com: In times like these, people often feel the need to record their own experiences, as well as to read about the eyewitness accounts of others. To that end, I decided to write down my experiences over the last 36 hours since the tragedy. I was in my car on the Long Island Expressway on the way into New York City where I work as a senior Ophthalmology resident at New York University. I'm currently assigned to cover Bellevue Hospital. I usually take the Long Island Expressway to the Midtown Tunnel to enter the city, but since they were reporting long delays at the tunnel, I drove instead towards the Queensboro Bridge. As it turned out, if I?d have tried for the tunnel, I never would have been able to get into the city before the tunnel was closed. I was listening to the news, and at about 8:45 AM, they went live to the traffic helicopter, which reported that they saw some kind of explosion at the World Trade Center. The reporters in the studio said they saw the same thing. For the next few minutes, there was some debate over whether the explosion came from inside the building or outside, until many eyewitnesses began calling in saying they saw a plane hit the building. Less than a minute after the plane hit, my car came over a rise on the highway, and I was treated to a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline, with the very obvious difference today of a long, grey, banner of smoke drifting from the north tower of the World Trade Center, out eastward over Brooklyn. The smoke itself just looked like it would have come from a large chimney, or factory, until you saw that the source of it was the top 25% of the tower, totally engulfed in the smoke, with a small, almost imperceptible hint here and there of redness in the grey, evidence of flames. I looked around at the cars around me, and everyone was obviously looking right at the spectacle, with the same shocked expressions I was sure was on my face as well. I left the highway at the exit for the bridge, and was stuck at a red light when, in a confusion of reporters and eyewitnesses calling in with conflicting information, it became clear that another plane hit the other tower. Until that point in time, I felt that the first plane hitting was a tragedy, yes, and perhaps an act of suicide or terrorism, but it was still the kind of thing we all could imagine might happen someday. From the time the second plane hit, until now as I write this, I?ve felt this pit in my stomach?it was now very obviously a terrorist attack of unprecedented proportions?nothing would ever be the same in this country? I drove onto the Queensboro Bridge, and again had a panoramic view of the Manhattan skyline, now marred by the same billowing grey smoke, this time coming from both buildings. The large gash in the side of the first building was more obvious from this, closer, vantage point. As I was crossing the bridge, it was reported that all the bridges and tunnels into and out of the city were now closed to all traffic, and the entire airspace over New York was being ?sterilized? (their word), with all planes diverted elsewhere. I still saw in the distance, far to the west of the city, a plane in the distance, and I kept an eye on it to make sure it didn?t seem to be heading in my direction. I believe I was one of the last cars to make it across the bridge before it was closed. I got off the bridge and turned south onto 2nd avenue, which I planned to take all the way down to Bellevue. Right away, the sound of sirens? Police car after police car, interspersed with ambulances and fire engines, came tearing down the center lane of 2nd avenue, with cars on either side parting to allow them to pass. I saw more rescue vehicles at that time than I?ve ever seen before in my life. Traffic began to slow more and more every few blocks, until at 38th street, it was a standstill. Before traffic could pile up behind me, I shifted into reverse, and pulled into the side street, where I parked. The sign said that parking was limited to trucks loading and unloading during the day, but I didn?t think the police were going to be busy distributing parking tickets on that day. I put an ID identifying myself as an MD in the dashboard, and left my car there. I walked from there to the hospital, which is on 27th St. and 1st Ave. In that short walk, it was clear that the city was in shock. People on the sidewalks were gathered around cars that were stuck in traffic, which opened their windows so everyone around could here the latest news, which included the fact that the Pentagon was hit as well. Looking down 2nd avenue, you couldn?t see the buildings themselves, but the dark grey stream of smoke was very evident, crossing the avenue all the way down south. Some people were shaking their heads in disbelief, some running southward in the direction of the buildings. I arrived at the hospital, and went up to my office. I encountered some residents who had no idea what was going on, and notified them of the situation. We were all informed that everything normally planned for the day, including all clinics, as well as all elective surgery, was cancelled. I quickly changed into my scrubs, and called up the patient I was scheduled to perform cataract surgery on that afternoon. He told me that the hospital had already called him to tell him the surgery would be postponed. I took the bag my wife had packed my lunch in, dumped out the food, and quickly filled it up with everything I could think we would need for any eye emergencies that would arrive: eye patches, eye shields, penlights, tape, gauze, all types of eye drops and ointments. I joined a few of the other residents, and we all went downstairs to Bellevue?s Emergency Dept. Right before we went down, I found out that a patient we had been managing for the past 2 weeks in the hospital with a very serious eye infection was being discharged home immediately, along with every other non-seriously-ill patient in the hospital, to clear up as my hospital beds as possible. The Emergency Dept. was absolutely packed, but with doctors, not patients. While the ED would usually, at that time in the morning, be moderately full with various types of patients, all non-essential patients were either being turned away by triage, or being sent elsewhere. Literally hundreds of doctors were quickly putting on gowns, gloves, and masks. While a team was selected to man each bed in the ED, all the other doctors (including myself) and medical students were herded into one central area. The sight of every single stretcher in the emergency dept. lying empty was shocking, and I?m sure many had never seen the ED that empty of patients ever before. Tape and markers were passed around so everyone could label themselves, allowing everyone to immediately identify everyone else?s function. I wrote ?Ophthalmology ? PGY-4? (post-graduate year 4), and smoothed the label across my chest. I was thinking about how long it had been since my Emergency rotation in my 3rd year of medical school , and hoped I remembered enough to be able to do what was needed, should it be necessary. Then, the waiting began? and continued? As we were standing around, the head physician in charge kept shouting out announcements, everything from ?Keep the hallways clear? to ?No ambulances are able to make it into the area yet?all patients are currently being evacuated by boat?. Supplies for each station were checked and rechecked. As it was lunchtime, food arrived and was distributed. The food distributor apologized 3 times to me that he had no Kosher food yet, and I reassured him not to worry. Still, as it was still quiet, I figured that it was a good time to actually grab a quick lunch, during the calm before the expected storm. I went upstairs with another resident, and wolfed down a quick lunch while we watched on a TV replays of both buildings collapsing. A few minutes later, we went back down to the ED, where a surprisingly small number of patients were being brought in. Still, those that were arriving were a grim testimony to the degree of absolute destruction that had taken place. Missing body parts, blood spilling, neurosurgeons being called, X-ray technicians wheeling their equipment from patient to patient to snap shots, but everything was apparently under control, with many more doctors standing around than were needed. With our biased view, my fellow residents and I took a quick peek at the eyes of every patient wheeled past us, to see if we?d be needed. We talked about how busy we expected to be later in the day, as patients would start arriving. We expected it to be the busiest day of our career, as went through the calculations ? 50,000 people in the immediate area around the hospital, with a large number of patients being brought to us, with the inevitable large number of eye injuries?I fully expected to be working nonstop for the next 48 hours, at least. We wondered if the hospital would spare an operating room for us to perform eye surgery, if needed, of if they?d keep all the rooms in reserve for lifesaving, instead of vision-saving, surgeries. As there was clearly no need for us to stand around in the middle of the ED, we found a room in the Urgent Care unit, right next door, which we adopted as our station. We set up a radio there, so we could listen to the latest developments in the news all day. I announced over the loudspeaker where were located, so all patients with any kinds of eye problems could be brought to our attention. In the adjoining rooms, orthopedic surgeons and other non-urgent care medical specialists had set up shop, as well, to deal with simple broken bones and an assortment of other non-life critical aches and pains. Then, finally, a steady stream of patients were brought to us to manage. Over 95% of the patients we took care of, throughout the day and into the night, were firemen and paramedics. We didn?t see any ?civilians? who had been inside the buildings at the time. Every one of the rescue workers was covered with a thin layer of gray soot. We were warned by one fireman that if were to examine anyone with a significant amount of the soot, we should keep our masks on, because of a fear of asbestos. Nearly everyone had the same exact eye injuries ? chemical conjunctivitis and mild corneal abrasions, both from the thick smoke and debris. Every fireman had a story to tell. One was about to enter the elevator in the second building when the first building collapsed. The wave of debris sweeped over him and the others in the area, and in the process of trying to escape the building, they were all knocked to the ground, by a combination of the force of the debris as well as everyone tripping over each other. With a thick layer of debris on top of him, he began crawling forward, not sure in what direction he was heading. He came to a grate, which he moved out of the way, and a few minutes later, emerged outside. He was fortunate to escape with mild eye and knee injuries, but had no idea if any of the other firemen in his team had survived. Others had been outside when the buildings came down. We didn?t see a single rescue worker who told a story of being anywhere above the ground floor ? the reasons why were obvious. At about 4:00 PM, we sent most of the residents home. As the chief resident who was already scheduled to be on call this week, I stayed in the hospital throughout the night, along with two first-year residents. Many of the residents refused to leave right away, insisting on helping well into the night, until it was clear they were no longer needed to handle the influx of patients, which had clearly begun slowing down as the evening wore on. One 2nd-year resident insisted on spending the night with us as well, stating that this was the reason he went into Medicine in the first place. Once things began quieting down, I left the building to go find a quick dinner. I was shocked by how different the city streets were than usual. New York seemed like a ghost town ? very few cars were on the road, with few pedestrians as well. First avenue was cordoned off by the police for a few blocks in either direction from the hospital to allow any ambulances to get the hospital as quickly and conveniently as possible. The only vehicles parked on the street by the hospital were police cars, and news vans from every major TV network. Finding a taxi proved to be impossible. A steady stream of rescue vehicles with lights flashing drove downtown toward the scene. On a few streetcorners, people had set up TV sets, with small groups of people gathered around. When I reached Lexington Avenue, both sides of the street were packed with long lines of taxis parked, with no drivers inside them ? I had no idea why. The long cloud of smoke was still visible in the sky. The hospital entrance was cordoned off by the police, and to get back in, I had to show my ID ? there has never been such tight security at Bellevue before. Back at the hospital, things were very quiet. We began seeing fewer and fewer patients, until we found ourselves just sitting around, talking and listening to the news. We kept walking around the main area of the ED, looking for anyone who many need any help, but still, there were many more doctors available than were needed for the few patients that were there. I walked outside to the ambulance receiving area, where there were over 100 doctors and nursing standing around, simply waiting for ambulances to arrive. The night was quiet. Depressingly so. I wished we would have been busy. I wish I could say we spent all night taking care of a continuous stream of survivors that were pulled out of the wreckage, who were fortunate to only have serious eye injuries. I wish I could have seen some kind of indication that the rescue effort downtown was meeting with some success, sending patients in droves to our ED, but it was, sadly, very quiet. It became very clear that not only was the rescue process going slowly, but that it was bodies that were being found, and not survivors. The night was quiet. The next day, Wednesday, was quiet as well. Another cataract surgery I had scheduled was cancelled, as well, in order to keep the operating rooms available for trauma surgery on patients that never came. Only one of the patients I had scheduled for the afternoon was able to come and see me, and that was only because he lived just a few blocks from the hospital. All my other patients were unable to make it into the area because of the imposed travel restrictions. Things remained quiet at the hospital, with just a few additional people showing up with eye irritation from the smoke and debris over the course of the day. After 31 hours at the hospital, I decided it was time to go home. Walking to my car it was apparent that the city was slowly returning to some semblance of normalcy. The dark cloud was no longer as prominent, and there was slightly more traffic in the streets. There was still a steady stream of rescue vehicles heading downtown. There was one long caravan of 19 dump trucks, heading slowly down 2nd avenue with police escort. In front of Bellevue, reporters from the various networks were interviewing family members of those missing, who had come to the hospital in the hopes of finding their loved ones. Every one had pictures that they were showing to the cameras, announcing their telephone numbers in the hope that someone with information would call them. The building next to Bellevue was set up as a gathering area for family members of the missing, and the scene of hundreds of people either crying or wiping away old tears was truly horrific. Interspersed among them were clergymen, including a Rabbi or two, and vehicles labeled ?Mortuary? were parked along the street. I?m home now, typing this on my computer, still wearing my scrubs in case I get called back to the hospital. My pager is quiet. The junior residents who are spending the night in the hospital know to call me with any kind of problem at all, but my pager is quiet. I would expect that by now, there should be a lot of people who had other body injuries taken care of, and will now be seeking help with their eyes, but my pager is quiet. Thousands of people missing, injured, and dead, and my pager is quiet. I wish it would go off, I wish it would start beeping, announcing that yes, there is another survivor we can treat and improve their quality of life, but my pager is quiet. I find it ironic that in the past, whenever I?ve been on call, I?ve wished for my pager to stay quiet, but tonight, I pray that it wakes me. 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 story1280.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. 2002-08-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.81.81.189 Annotation Annotations to this item. Environmental/Health Impact Firefighters Missing Persons Rescue/clean-up workers/volunteers NY:3 Sep 11- Sep 21, 2001 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: First let me tell you l was not born an American, l am English by birth, so as a person who has chosen this country by free will and not birth, l will tell you my story. l was home alone, when l saw the first pictures l thought it was a hollywood movie. alas it was true, we were hit. we thought this could never happen. Was London next the place where all my family are. phone lines internationally busy busy busy. no news from England on the t.v. that was a good sign. were we too busy though to report it if something was wrong as we had this terrible event before our eyes. pray, l thought pray for the whole free world. this is an atteack against us all. my heart broke that day, our world of no fear gone forever, this land l have loved, hurt,crying,wounded. l am to be a grandmother soon, will my grandchild never know the peace l had lived with all my life, going around as if all was well, forgetting that for all my life other people lived like this on a daily basis. we must never let them win, they are evil, my grandchild, an American will one day know that peace l had for so long, and took for granted without a single thought l know one day we will be as we were, it may not be in my lifetime but we are so strong, so kind, so loving. l will never forget the images that day. l will forever think of their children, their wives, mother's and father's l cannot help them, l wish l could. they watched what l watched and had a loved one inside those towers, but they are American's , somehow they will do it that is what American's do. my son is a policeman, his heart at age 30 has been broken, if he had been there on that day he would have done what they did. no questions asked, he would have gone in, he would have not been afraid, you see he is an American policeman and he loves America like l do, he was born to it l chose it but the love is the same. we will alway's remember every one of you, we will alway's cry and pray for you. we will alway's love America no matter what they try to do to us, it belong's to us, we have built lives here and we love the way it is and will not let them change it God bless America my home sweet home ruth krug Lakeland florida 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 story3023.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.32.138.116 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 A FRIENDS HOUSE ON 9-11-2001 WHEN ALL THE SUDDEN THE T.V. STATION INTERRUPTED THE REGULARY SCEDULED PROGRAMMING. "OH BROTHER WHAT'S SO IMPORTANT NOW THAT THEY NEED TO INTERRUP MY SHOW" I THOUGHT TO MYSELF. WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN I SAW PICTURES OF AN AIRPLANE FLYING INTO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER. I SAT IN HORROR AS I WATCHED IT HAPPEN NOT ONCE BUT TWICE. IT TOOK A FEW MINUTES TO REALIZE THAT IT WASEN'T ONE PLANE, BUT TWO! I WAITED FOR SOMEONE TO COME ON THE AIR AND SAY THAT SOMEHOW THIS WAS JUST A BAD JOKE, BUT NOBODY DID. AS I WATCHED OVER AND OVER AGAIN, MY HEAD STARTED REELING. I COULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT I WAS SEEING. I FELT SICK TO MY STOMACH AS THE NEWSCASTER BEGAN TELLING THE HORRIFIC STORY OF WHAT I WAS SEEING. TERRORIST? WHAT KIND OF HUMAN BEING WOULD HURT ALL THOSE INNOCENT PEOPLE LIKE THAT? JUST BECAUSE WE DIDN'T AGREE WITH THEM ON SOME THINGS? THIS WASEN'T A HUMAN, THIS WAS A MONSTER. THE KIND YOU READ ABOUT IN STEPHEN KING NOVELS. THEN I SAW PICTURE OFA MAN WHO REMINDED ME OF JESUS ON THE SCREEN. THIS WAS THE SICK PATHETIC PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF THIS GRIEF? WHAT COULD WE HAVE EVER POSSIBLY DONE TO THIS MAN OR HIS COUNTRY TO JUSTIFY THIS KIND OF ACTION?! NOTHING, NOTHING COULD EVER JUSTIFY SOMETHING LIKE THIS. FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS I SAT CRYING TO MYSELF. NEVER SINCE I HAD BEEN ALIVE DID I EVER WITNESS SOMETHING SO TERRIBLE. AS I WATCH OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, I JUST FELT SICK AND KIND OF NUMB AS I WATCHED THE FAMILYS OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN AFFECTED BY THIS MONSTER. I FELT SO BAD FOR ALL THESE POOR PEOPLE. I ALSO WATCHED NIGHT AND DAY ON TV FOR SOMEONE TO INTERRUP MY REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMS TO TELL ME THAT THE MONSTER HAD BEEN CAUGHT OR THAT HE WAS DEAD. I'M STILL WAITING.... I WILL WAIT UNTIL THE DAY I DIE IF I HAVE TO. I NEED TO SEE JUSTICE DONE FOR MY COUNTRY, FOR THE VICTIMS FAMILYS AND FOR MY OWN SENSE OF SECURITY. WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.....THATS WHAT I NOW NEED FROM MY COUNTRY. TAMMY JO WILHELM 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 story6600.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. 64.12.96.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I FEEL THAT THE ATTACKS THAT HAPPENED ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 REALLY CHANGED MY LIFE. MY LIFE HAS BEEN CHANGED BECAUSE, TO LOOK AND SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE IN THIS WORLD THAT DON'T HAVE MOMS, DADS, BROTHERS, SISTER, SPOUSES, AND MANY OTHER FAIMLY MEMBERS. FOR THOSE ARABS TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO US IS FOR NO APPARENT REASON IS REALLY MESSED UP. I HOPE THAT ONE DAY THE UNITED STATES WILL BOMB A BIG PLACE IN AFGHANISTAN THAT HAS A LOT OF PEOPLE IN IT AND KILLL ALL OF THEM. I HOPE WE DO THAT SO THOSE ARABS KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO HAVE FAMILY AND FRIENDS KILLED BECAUSE OF SOMETHING SOOOO STUPID. SINCE THEY DID THIS TO US THEN IT SHOULD BE OK FOR US TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO THEM. EVER SINCE THEY DID THIS TO US THEY THINK WE ARE SCARED OF THEM AND WON'T REACT TO WHAT THEY DID, BUT THEY ARE WRONG. WE WILL EVENTUALLY DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT WHEN THEY DO NOT EXPECT US TO. WHEN THEY THINK WE HAVE FINALLY GOT OVER IT AND THEY THINK WE ARE FINE WITH WHAT THEY DID. THEN WE CAN GO AND KILL THEM SO THEY KNOW HOW IT FEELS. TO ALL OF YOU THAT HAVE LOSTED LOVED ONES, I HOPE AND PRAY FOR ALL OF YOU TO FINALLY BECOME WELL AND GET OVER IT. I KNOW IT MUST BE VERY HARD TO GET OVER IT BECAUSE YOU HAD TO LOOSE A LOVED ONE BECAUSE OF ONES MISTAKE. GOD BLESS YOU ALL LOTS OF LOVE 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 story3077.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. 156.63.41.73 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 9/11/01, I was in court in Naples. I had just stepped in to Judge Turner's courtroom and he had just taken the bench late and he said that 2 planes had hit the WTC. I went next door to the Courtroom of Judge Murphy and told a bailiff who told the Judge. We quickly finished with the Court's business and he invited us all back to his chambers to watch tv to see what was going on. There was the judge, several public defenders, state attorneys, myself, the clerk and court reporter. We watched in horror as the towers collapsed. Judge Murphy instructed the jury clerk to release the jurors because he would not be holding court and that the jurors needed to be able to get home. One of the public defenders told how her parents were scheduled to fly home from the northeast that morning and then we learned of the closing of the airports. Judge Murphy talked of how he may be called back to active duty as he still serves in the reserves (he had been called to active duty in the Persian Gulf War). Ultimately we left the judges chamber and I started back to my office and called my assistant Lisa and told her what happened, as we don't have TV in the office she had no idea. I picked up Lisa and we went to my sisters house and stayed glued to the TV. I called the kids school to check on them and was told that the teachers had been instructed not to turn on the tv's or to talk about it in front of the children. I as most Americans spent the next days and weeks glued to the TV and newspaper for information. 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 story3305.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: I was at work on the morning of September 11, 2001. I was working in the railyard when the news over the radio reported that a plane hit the World Trade Center in New York City. I really thought that it was a small plane and that it was mostly an accident. As the news kept comming in over the radio, it became clear that it was no accident. Then I heard that another plane struck the other tower, I really didn't know that they had two towers. Serveral of other coworkers came and conversted during this time period about this over the time frame of the day. As the day went on another plane struck the Pentagon, and one more crashed in Penn. A lot of people I worked with were very shocked by the news as I was. Slowly the evening started turning into late afternoon. Reports of all the people being killed and injured came in over the radio. I worked over twelve hours that day, and missed the lines at the gas stations. I heard about the gas price going up real high. But by the time I got off work, they were back down. Anyway, that is what will forever be in my memory about September 11, 2001, which happens to be my mothers birthday. God Bless America! Terry Steward Denison, Texas 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 story3433.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. 64.12.96.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: When I first heard about the attack I was having breakfast in a resturant with my husband so we went to the nearest location to watch television, my mother's home. what terrible sights we beheld! I could not imagine the horror all those people were enduring. Most of us in the United States have never known what it is to be in jeopardy of life. We have never experienced war in our country. Pearl Harbor was a long time ago and possibly we thought we were invincible since we are the "Super Power". What we really need is for President Bush to call for a day of repentance. Yes... you read this right. We in the United States need to repent. NOT FOR BEING A GREAT, POWERFUL, AND PROSPEROUS COUNTRY. NO, FOR NOT BEING GRATEFUL FOR ALL OUR BLESSINGS. We also need to repent for our unrighteousness and for LEAVING GOD OUT OF OUR LIVES. We speak of and about God; but we do not reverence Him or live by His precepts. GOD HELP US! May God bless our country; bring our citizens to acknowledge Him in truth, and revive us all to righteous living. May our leader know and serve Him in truth. This terrible attack on our country is an act of war and I applaud President Bush on the actions he has taken. May God bless him and his family. 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 story6607.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was working the night shift in NYC at the time and would commute through the WTC in the afternoon (going to work) and late at night (coming home from work). My boss wanted me to work during the day on September 10th, so I commuted through the WTC around 8:30am. (I'm so thankful he didn't ask me to come in early on the 11th - I would have been there during the attacks). So, on the 10th, as I was riding up the escalator, I noticed the lighted sign which said "GOOD MORNING! WELCOME TO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER" and there was a big animated sun. I thought it looked weird because whenever I went through there it always said "GOOD AFTERNOON! WELCOME TO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER." After I got off of work (I worked a 12-hour day), I went through the World Trade Center at around 11:30pm. Something was very compelling about the walls for some reason. I was looking closely and touching the advertisements that had been pasted to the walls. Again, I don't know why I was so interested in this - I saw it every day. Little did I know that the very place where I was walking would be destroyed just a few hours later. I went home and went to sleep. At around 11am I was woken up by what I thought was a bunch of car alarms. I kept thinking to myself "those damn car alarms...why can't people shut them off!!!" As I was thinking this, the phone was ringing in my kitchen. (I had my ringer turned off in my bedroom because of my weird work hours - I was usually sleeping when telemarketers would call). I answered the phone and it was my roommate. She said "Mandy - have you gotten any of my messages?" and I was like "no...what's wrong?" and she said "look outside - the World Trade Center! It's gone!". I looked outside, and to my disbelief, there was a huge cloud of smoke and no towers. (I live right across the river from the towers, so this was happening very close to where I live). I didn't know what was happening. My roommate told me that planes crashed into the trade center and that thousands of people died. She said "Do NOT go into work today - they're closing everything off." I got off the phone with her, and turned on the news. I tried calling my parents and couldn't get through. I went to my answering machine and noticed I had 11 messages. My parents and my boyfriend kept leaving messages for me - and they were worried sick because they thought I was there. After tons of tries I finally got ahold of my mom and she told me to leave the area and come home because planes were flying into buildings all over the place (I live on the 29th floor of a high-rise). When my mom told me about the planes, I didn't realize it was terrorism, I thought one plane went off course and then threw a whole bunch of other planes off course. Well, that made me so nervous....but there was nothing I could do - I tried getting a cab but all of the roads were closed. To top this all off, I live on top of the Holland Tunnel - which totally freaked me out. I didn't know what to do. I finally heard on the news that they cleared the airspace so I felt a little more relieved. I spent the entire day watching the news. I videotaped the cloud of smoke and fighter planes flying overhead. I also filmed National Guard trucks and the longest line of ambulances I have ever seen filter into the Holland Tunnel. I decided to go into work the next day. The PATH trains were all free. The city was EMPTY. I saw a couple of women holding a newspaper with a picture of the burning towers on it, smiling and holding it in front of them while their friend took their picture. I wanted to punch them. My dad's cousin died in the attacks - and my uncle saved his whole company by telling them all to leave when the announcement over the loudspeaker told everyone to go back to their seats. I will never ever forget that day, and pray for those families who lost loved ones. Although I will always be shocked that I did, I am so thankful that I slept through the attacks. MAY 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 story9201.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. 2003-04-22 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.17.131.99 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 teach World History to ninth graders at Rose Hill High School in Rose Hill, Kansas. I remember walking toward the office and a teacher said, "the World Trade Center has been hit and is on fire." I asked if it was terrorists and the teacher said it was too early to know. He told me to turn on my room television. I went back to my room turned on my television and watched with horror as history unfolded before my very eyes. At about the time my planning period was over, my first class of that day began entering the room and we watched incredulously as the second plane hit; and as the first tower collapsed we watched and absorbed the seemingly unreal scenario as it grew in shock and horror. When the second tower collapsed, another class witnessed World History as never seen or witnessed before. We continued to watch television the entire day of September 11, 2002, and we continued to see incredibly grisly images of our fellow Americans who succumed to the whims of terrorists. We also witnessed American tenacity; the will to assist others, and the will to survive. This was a history lesson for the ages, we didn't read about it, we didn't view it on a video, and we didn't hear it on a casette player.....we witnessed this history live, and we shall never forget it. When we do read about it in our history books it will hold special meaning because we saw it first hand. I had just been instructing my students on the history of the Jews and the Palestinians just before 911 occurred......they now know full well why the USA is so hated by so many in the world of Islam; I hope they will also always remember that those kinds of people who do such heinous things are a very small group of depraved misled people. Sincerely, Rocky Stone World History Teacher Rose Hill High School Rose Hill, Kansas 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 story5021.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.192.108.90 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 13 at the time and this is what I remember..... That morning my mother, my father and I where heading to New Jersey for business we left NYC about 5:00 am. I remember it was a beautiful clear morning I grow up in the city so the NYC skyline did not faze me much but as we where leaving the city the WTC caught my eye it was beautiful l the way the rising sun shinned it. We stopped at the rest area for some breakfast. About 8:40 am I heard a loud crashing sound and saw smoke coming from the NYC sky line. Nobody at the rest area knew what happened. We left the rest area and got off at the Woodridge exit. It was not until we stopped at a local gas station when we heard the news from a gas attendant. Wanting to watch the news we drove to SEARS at Woodbridge Mall. We walked in and the store was dead as we got to the TV department is when we saw about 60 people all gathered together watching this horrific tragedy unfold. My grandmother and sister lives close to NYC and I was getting worried because every time I tried calling them I got a message saying "All circuits are busy please try again" I finally got a hold of them at 10 at night. That evening we slept in our van at a rest area because they were not letting anyone in the city. Sitting in the rest area we saw firemen and emergency personnel from all over the country stopping for coffee before going to help out at ground zero. finally some days later they let people who lived in the city back in. the city looked like a ghost town the streets where empty and when you saw someone the where wearing a white mask because they where afraid of what?s in the air. The supermarkets where all most out of food I saw these to men fight over the last gallon of milk. I kept on saying to my self this is not happening this is not my city it felt like we entered the Twilight Zone. A month later my step father lost his job do to lay offs so we packed up and headed to California in our purple Grand Caravan covered with American flags and saying like "these colors don't run". GOD BLESS AMERICA OUR HOME SWEET HOME Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story11632.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. 2005-07-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.116.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I'm a hospital corpsman in the Navy and once or twice a month we held blood drives throughout base. 9/11 was our scheduled blood drive for that month. We got stuck in a basement of an old building but we did what we could to get set up and soon we were ready for donors. The morning had been slow but there was a continous flow of people coming in. One of my friends then approached me and told me that two planes had crashed into the twin towers. Rumors spread so quickly and being stuck in a basement we didn't have a T.V. or radio so none of us really knew what was going on. All I heard throughout the day were rumors. I remember being upset because the officer in charge told us to stop talking about it and focus on what we were doing. Soon, people starting coming to the blood drive by 100's. On an average blood drive we would normally get around 25-30 units of blood. This day we received over 100 units of usable blood. We didn't stop taking donors until after dark. When I was finally on my way home I still had no idea of what was really going on. When I pulled out of the base I saw miles of cars lined up trying to get on base. I think it was then I started to realize how big this really was. I walked in my house to find my boyfriend staring blankly at the T.V.. I'll never forget how I felt the first time I actally saw those planes crashing into the towers. For days after that, whenever I closed my eyes, all I could see was that image. The days that follow were the most horrible days of my life. My boyfriends' grandmother passed away and he would be gone for the next week. It was also my 21st birthday but I felt so sad and heartbroken, I really couldn't be happy. All I remember is getting in my car and driving for hours because I couldn't stand the feeling of being home and everthing on T.V. was so upseting. I had never felt so unprepared and alone in my life. All I could do is think about the families of the victims and how much I felf so lucky to be alive. At 21, I felt for the first time, how important and short life could be. A year later, I can hardly stand to watch images form 9/11. Although I will always feel for the families of those who were affected, I wish I never had to see or hear about it again. I have so much pain inside of me but I can't even begin to understand what the families are going through. They're always in my prayers. 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 story8025.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. 2002-09-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.26.122.14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was on my way to the dentist,and as usual was barely going to be on time. The radio was playing a 60's melody when suddenly the was a break in the melody and a very excited voice was telling me that a plane had just crashed into the Trade center. I was so intently listening that I went past the dental office and continued on for about a half a mile before I realized where I was. When I entered the dental office everyone was clustered around the T.V. the second plane had crashed. Every one was reaching for their phones to talk to a loved one, and reassure themselves that they were safe. My two Daughter were in Chicago,Il. They were to attend the Ophra Winphrey show that day. The show was canceled, but the were stranded in Chicago as all planes were grounded. The next morning my son-in-law drove from Mpls.,Mn to Champaigne, Il. They took a train to the little town and met him and they drove back together to Mpls. Even with this personal turmoil it still didn' feel real. We spent our time the next few days watching the t.v. or if we had to go anywhere, listened to radios and called home to reassure ourselves that they were there safe and sound. My biggest concern was for my grandchildren and greatgrandchld.What kind of a world are they going to live in? It's hard to teach love when such a hateful thing has occured. Harriet Davis 9/13/02 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 story7197.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Did anyone else see the future in the Illinois clouds? September 11, 2001 lurked a few days in the future that afternoon as I bicycled through Herrick Lake Forest Preserve, praying for career guidance. I implored the heavens for a sign (though Id never seen one before), and then noticed two distinctly-shaped purple clouds frozen unchanging (unlike most clouds), side-by-side in the western sky. But this couldnt be right! The first cloud, shaped like the silhouette of Miss Libertys leftwards-gazing head, with her Roman profile and chignon, looked so much like an old coin that I protested, reminding God of my disinterest in financial occupations. The second cloud profiled the front half of an Eagle, its talon outstretching fiercely to the right, an image Id seen in old emblems and advertising for the U.S. Military, Government and Postal Service. Again, I protested, certain my career could not be in those organizations, nor in Washington DC. Then I noticed the contrails of two airplanes slowly approaching my clouds from the upper right. One pierced Miss Libertys head and I sadly watched the resultant deformation. But when the cloud stopped changing, Miss Libertys head remained intact -- and now she had a body, and the contrail lingered to make the shape of a spear over her shoulder. Miss Liberty stood poised like Athena, ready to fling her spear. The other contrail struck the Eagle in its back, behind its head. This time the result was undramatic, as the Eagles shape prevailed and the contrails effects dissipated. As I rode my bike home, I marveled that the clouds changed no further. After September 11, I realized that I had seen a prophetic vision. The plane destroyed the clouds resemblance to a coin (New Yorks World Trade Center) and transformed its shape; from the wreckage, Miss Liberty (America) arose intact and braced for war. The Eagle (The Pentagon), like the U.S. Government and Military, remained steadfast and quickly healed when struck by the plane (a memory especially reassuring during the days of chaos and uncertainty immediately following the attacks). A year has now passed. Though I still wonder if an answer to my career prayer was embedded in this experience (perhaps guidance to work in Homeland Security), I remain awed and comforted by what I saw. God, the Ruler of the Universe, foretold of the September 11 attacks and Americas response. As Americans scurry about planning warfare, restoration, and memorials, the vision in the clouds reminds us to keep foremost in our hearts the words cast on all our U.S. coins: In God We Trust. 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 story20602.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. 69.209.68.59 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 walking to my 2nd hour class when my teacher called me into her class room and her tv was on the news and all of it came crashing down i couldn't belive my eyes i was shocked and tearified. See my uncle lived in New York at the Time and i had no idea what happened to him so i went out and started back to my 2nd hour class when i feel to my knees in the hall and started to cry like a baby.. i was so so scaryed that i would loss my uncle that i loved so so much.. so i finally got to my 2nd hour and my teacher just kinda looked at me and then turned away she had no idea what had happen so i told her to turn on the News and then everyone in my class was shocked to see that someone would kill so many inocent people for no reason at all... I broke i couldn't hold it in any longer she grabed my arm and i couldn't even stand so i walked to the office called my grandma and went home... i got home and i called my uncle and he didn't answer the phone and then i called 5 more times still no answer i went to my room and cryed and i went to bed without eating cause i was so so scared the next morning i got to school my teacher i told my teacher and she didn't know what to think and i told her that he would answer the phone and she said that i can go home and be with my family just incase so i left i got home about 10:25am. and the phone range and it was him on the other line telling me that i had nothing to worry about and he was okay but the point is he could have lost his life like all the other people that wore inocent and i can't never for get the horriable day that the plans hit that tower and the pentagon... samantha Jo Miller 15 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 story20637.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. 70.245.172.6