570 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 had been sleeping on the couch with the TV on. I awakened just in time to see the second plane hit. I thought it must be an advertisement for a movie. There was no way this was real. Then, I realized it was real. My eyes welled up with tears. I screamed out to my sister to get in the living room. She came in and we both just stared at the TV in silence. Trying to understand.We both thought it must have been a weird twist of fate.. 2 planes hitting the towers on the same day. As the day progressed, we realized the truth. The expression Comfortably Numb seemed to fit my life for the next couple of weeks.Back home in Portsmouth, Va., I tried to live my life but I was so drawn to the news. I just watched TV night and day. I cried so many tears. I thought about all the children without mothers and fathers, Freinds and relatives waiting for any news,all the parents who had lost their children, spouses who had no clue if their mate would be found. On the last day at Ground Zero, I cried again. Glad it was finally over, but still very sad for all those who had lost. 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 story4583.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: The night before I had been watching friends and remember at about 1130 Pacific time I was tired and needed to go to bed. The next morning I laid in bed and just didn't want to get up but I said I need to get up and from the night before I left the channel on that I was watching friends on which was KTLA out of L.A. Satellite tv you know. I remember putting on the TV and The World Trade Center was on fire. I yelled an expletive that I won't use here but I remember calling a friend of mine in Boston and she was freaking out and she said it was highjacked airliners. I asked her who was her confirmation source as we both work in media and she gave me a good source, actually 2 of them. I remember she put me on hold and I woke up about 5 minutes after the second plane. So when WABC in New York replayed the video and I dropped the video and screamed. She came back to me and getting a call out was so difficult. Were sorry all circuits are busy. That voice rings in my head to this day and when I hear it does bring me back to the morning. I call my Boss at the time and go are you watching this? He says what and I told him and he went into action as did I. I got to work and like all Hell was breaking loose already and for me it was a horror and a day I never want to endure again. But I remember I got back home as I live across the street from work and now I know what they mean by home field advantage. I remember getting into the shower and Listening to Howard Stern to monitor New York as his local station picked up the live broadcast and I remember he was recapping and I am rushing and I am cut from shaving. I mean good cuts from not paying attention. I get out and wanted to see how the internationl media was covering this so I put on the BBC and see the Pentagon was hit and thought we will die today as we are heading for nuclear war. I truly thought the worst and so I get dressed and ready and see FOX tv in L.A. was up becase Fox tv in NYC was down off the satellite. 6:59 AM PST/9:59 AM EST-It goes down the 2 World Trade if that is wrong I am greatly sorry. I remember I froze and suddenly it felt like when I was suicidal again. I heard nothing. I felt nothing. Like I remember then sun being out and I remember snapping out of it. I knew I had a job to do. I get to work my boss all non essential staff out and we just kept going and going and going. Running back and forth and just seeing the horrific events of the day. Later that day 7 world trade goes down which by the way I am so glad is up. I think it speaks volumes to what we all can do. 7PM PST/10PM EST MY Boss orders me home as I just put in the longest 13 hours of what became a 72 hour marathon. I slept maybe 2 hours within those 3 days and that Thursday, wrestling on tv was my personal refuge. That saturday I collapsed and just slept for the entire weekend. I was ordered to bed and my boss made sure I was well fed. I to this day never stopped caring and I have whats called survivors guilt and I also feel like a piece of me died that day as well but know as long as I am walking this planet, I will do whatever I can to preserve the memorey of all of those because your passing will not be in vein. My love is with all of the 3000 plus victims and their families. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story20658.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. 65.31.6.101 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: MY PARENTS WOKE ME UP. TURN ON THE TV THEY SAID. WHAT I SAW WAS UNBELIEVEABLE. WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS THE FEAR - I SAT AND WATCHED AS TOWER 2 CRUMBLED TO THE GROUND. DISPAIR. HERE IN CALIFORNIA THOUSANDS OF MILES FROM NYC. THERE WAS NOTHING TO DO BUT PRAY. I DIDN'T WANT TO GO TO WORK. MOST OF THE DAY WAS SPENT ON THE WEB. I WAS HUNGRY FOR NEWS. THAT NIGHT AT HOME GLUED TO THE TV. I CRIED. TEARS FOR FALLEN BROTHERS AND SISTERS; MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS; FATHERS AND SONS. THEN I PRAYED - FOR THE NATION. YEARS FROM NOW I WILL TELL MY CHILDREN THAT IT WAS THE MOST HORRIFIC THING THAT I EVER SAW. I WILL ALSO TELL THEM THE STORIES OF HEROISM. THEN I WILL TELL THEM ABOUT THE NATION THAT CAME TOGETHER - TO LOVE, PRAY, AND BE FREE. 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 story7302.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.166.61.181 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On September 11, 2001 I was in AIT at Ft. Lee, Virginia. We had less than a week left before my class was to graaduate. The poeple within my class and I had been together through basic and now AIT. Most of my company was outside the post in a field excercise. I was left behind for medical reasons. We were in our bay when the post alarms went off. The whole post was completely shut down in less than five minutes. My classmates were still off-post in the field. We had no knowledge of the bombings for almost eight hours. The next day my company returned. the chaplain came to the company and a breifing was given to those whose family members were involved in the tradegy. It seemed like everyone grew closer; however that ended. I am Muslim and after another classmate of mine realized this things changed. Some people looked to me as a scapegoat for the events as if I planned it...the same people I was to suppose to be close to turned on me. A few people were not as optimistic and did not treat me any differently. Four days later we graduated and wwere flying out. Due to the current situation we were searched. I was searched twiced however. It was said to be a random checked but before I was pulled to the side for the search my name plate on my military luggage was pointed out. I am glad that America came together in its time of need. I just wish that the religious scapegoats were not made. 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 story6995.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. 147.40.250.250 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 fourteen years old, I was at school on 9/11. I am from the United Kingdom, and the attacks happened around 2pm UK time. I didnt find out until i got home at 4pm. My younger brother told me, "Planes are crashing all over America!! The WTC towers have collapsed!" I thought, "nah, not the two towers. It must be a smaller, more insignificant building" I watched the news, and herad that thw WTC towers had collapsed, although they were showing pictures of when they were still standing. I was confused. I wasnt sure if they'd actually collapsed or not. I also heard about the Pentagon and Pennsylvania. Over the next hour, it all became more clear. I felt numb. I have never been to the US, and it was as if it was all pretend. I wanted to do something. I wished i could just be there in New York, helping people. I also had strange thoughts. "Could I have done anything??" It sounds so crazy, but i just wished i could have prevented it somehow. I wanted to turn back time, and somehow stop it all. I felt so helpless. In my fourteen years on this earth, i had never seen anything to bad. People jumping out of the WTC is something i'll never forget. I couldnt believe human beings would do that to other human beings. I would never ever wish that on anyone. Now, a year later, i still keep the edition of 'Newsweek' so that i can show my children. I will want them to realise that there is evil in the world, but also that there are an immense amount of caring people who will pull together in times of need. The things that happened during that time made me realise that my problems are so petty. God Bless America...the UK is your closest ally, and we will always support you in your times of need, as you would do for us. Remember. 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 story1782.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. 2002-09-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 80.225.4.101 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: Unlike someone who either watched the news as it unfolded, or awoke on the West Coast and pieced together the news bit-by-bit, I received almost the whole news in the span of about 30 seconds. Though a student at Indiana University School of Music, I have more in common with a typical absent-minded professor. On that infamous day, I got confused about the starting time of my first class, which involved learning the trumpet. I had left home before 9:00 eastern time and arrived via public transportation early for my class, so I settled down for a little practice before classtime. I had no watch, but after a while I sensed that class should have started already. I stuck my head out the door and asked someone what time it was. Suddenly a professor came running down the hall very agitated because her computer was down and her radio was broken. She said something about hoping to find information in the library. I thought this was a little strange, but I was still very focused on practicing. I returned to the classroom. When my teacher arrived, she apologized for being late (as was the only other student attending) by saying, "It's been a strange morning." I said it had been the same for me (referring to my time confusion). She said, "It's unbelievable, isn't it." Neither I nor the other student (who had been in a 9:00 eastern-time class) knew what she was talking about. She then told us a plane had hit one of the WTC towers. We were both horrified and said, "What an awful accident!" She said, "Wait, there's more." She had seen the second plane hit live. As we were attempting to wrap our brains around that, she said, "There's still more," and told us about the Pentagon. Then she told us about the rumor of a bomb at the State Department, and of the several planes that were at that time still unaccounted for. My classmate and I were literally speechless. We couldn't form coherent sentences. We just babbled and stared at each other. None of us knew what to do other than to somehow keep moving. So we picked up our instruments and started to play. Concentration was almost impossible, but we plodded ahead, stopping occasionally for incoherent exclamations of shock. It was over an hour later before I had access to a campus computer to find more information. The first headline I saw said, "WTC Tower collapses." I stared at it trying to understand what that meant. The picture of it in mid-crumble did not make it more real. As I clicked on various stories and began to read, I kept going back to that picture to make sure I hadn't imagined or misunderstood it. As I read, the story of the other tower's collapse was posted. At first I thought it was another story about the first tower. It was all more than I could comprehend. I printed out several stories to take with me so that I could find a quiet place to try to read. Professors in the rest of my classes either gave us time to talk or cancelled classes compeletely, knowing our minds were elsewhere. By midafternoon I could no longer bear to keep my attention on anything other than the attacks. I went home and sat in front of the TV. That evening I worked as an aide to a naturalized American citizenf from Germany who has clear memories of being a child in Germany during WWII. I walked through her door and just dropped my backpack on the floor. I did not say hello--that somehow seemed trite. We just looked at each other. "What an awful day," I said. She agreed. I went through the motions of preparing her meal and caring for her, but I felt disconnected from my body and my surroundings. Netiher of us said much. As I prepared her for bed later that night, she began to talk. She said that it reminded her of the bombings of her town in WWII. She said that she couldn't bear to watch anymore. "I know what those rescue workers are experiencing", she said. "I remember what powdered buildings and dead bodies smell like. I didn't know I remembered the smell, but I can smell it as I lay here." (In the weeks ahead she began to have nightmares and found that she had never dealt with the trauma of the war.--"I just stuffed it away, like all the Germans did." Many times over the next year, she would talk about the war). That night I watched TV until my eyes wouldn't stay open. The next weeks were one long blur. I know I attended classes, but nearly every other waking moment was spent sitting cross-legged in front of the TV. I don't remember there being Halloween that fall, and I don't remember the change of the seasons. I would sit in front of the TV to watch the news and lose track of hours at a time. When I would become aware of myself and surroundings, I would find I was rocking back and forth with silent tears falling down my cheeks. I cried for those who died. I cried for those who survived. I cried for our national loss of innocence (or ignorance?). I cried because in order to protect me, soldiers were leaving their families and doing things that I myself did not have the courage to do. Though I no longer have as intense feelings today, I still mourn and still worry, and I still feel the ground of our country shifting under my feet. The status quo no longer exists, and what we will become is still unknown. 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 story7578.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. 156.56.118.125 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I had just started a program for inmates just arriving at Nottoway Correctional Center, when word spread throughout the prison from inmates and staff that a plane had hit one of the twin towers. Unlike most, I knew right away that it had to a terrorist, remembering the 1993 bombing attempt of the Twin Towers. My first thought was of my wife and our unborn child, our first, about how thankfull I was that I knew she was safe. But however, my heart sank to think about all those who must have lost their lives on the plane and in the area that the plane must have struck. I went on with the program, only to learn at 10:00 am just how bad things had gone. This was the first time I could get to a television and see the coverage. The first tower had already fallen, the Pentagon had been hit, and I witnessed as many did live on TV the second tower fall. At that point, sorrow had just filled my heart in way that I had never felt before. From that point on, I knew that I would never be able to forget the events of this day. I WILL NEVER FORGET, and I know that as a country neither will AMERICA. God Bless America, and all those who lost their lives and love ones on September 11, 2001. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story2698.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. 205.247.117.45 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 think we should have a remembrance because it will help us to remember us of all the people who was killed and so there families can remember what they used to do. Also it will remember us to catch the people who did this and take there organization down also.It will help us to remember the Twin Towers if they don?t rebuild them.Then it also helps us remember that we don?t stand for this and us the United States will fight back and take care of these terrorists.The day of remembrance is good for reflecting and telling people we will remember and won?t forget what happened to us. Also we won?t forget the people who have died for trying to save us and those who lived threw this tragic moment in peoples lives.Having a remembrance helps us to also remember are families and those in New York and in the Pentagon.This is also for all those harmless people on them planes that died that day for some dumb organization. That is my I think we should have a remembrance and why we should remember people. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story3403.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: I was in 6th grade and school had started only a few days before the attack happend. Around 9:45 all of the sixth grade teachers told us that we were combinding the classes and the principal had an announcement to make. Our principal told us that there was a plane that went down in Penn and two planes that crashed in New York, but they didn't mention the Pentagon. They told us that some parents would come to pick us up and we shouldn't worry. My parents didn't come and pick me up but I remember walking into my house and seeing everyone in the family room watching the news. They explained what happend and I watched all of the footage, but I didn't fully understand what had happend because I was too young. My mom had driven past the pentagon within minutes of the attack, but she made it home without witnessing the crash. My dad was on a business trip so he wasn't at the Pentagon that day, but he worked in the building and was fortunate enough not to have witnessed all of the destruction and chaos. It was a day that greatly affected a lot of people and I am fortunate enough not to have been personallly effected by all of the distruction. 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 story20824.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. 2006-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 151.188.16.21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at my desk listening to the radio when it was interupted stating that a plane crashed into the World Trade Center and that details were sketchy. My first reaction was that it was a plane crash never in a million years would I have imagined what was to come. Then another interuption saying another plane crashed into the other World Trade Center that is when panic set in my stomach I had a sick feeling that this was not a unsuspected plane crash. I spoke to other people in the office who also heard the news (I worked in the Boston Stock Exchange Building) and we decided we had to get out of there. In the meantime my son who is a shuttle driver for Hyatt at Boston Logan Airport called in a panic to get out of the building and get home these are terroist not plance crashes. When I exited the building it was chaos in the streets of Boston it was like we were being bombed you could see the anxiety and fear on people's faces. The train stations were packed with people everyone speaking to each other about what was going on as if we really understood that early in the game. When I finally got home I immediately put on the news and heard more details it was the most scary and shocking news I have ever heard I thought Kennedy's assisanation was horrific this was worse. I live right near Logan Airport and the quiet of no overhead planes just an occasional airforce jet were eerie. I think of the event almost daily with a pain in my heart for all the innocent lives lost that dreadful day and will bow my head and pray in silence on September 11, 2002. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story1248.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. 2002-08-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.102.37 Annotation Annotations to this item. DOMESTIC Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Our thoughts and prayers go out to the survivors and we will always remember the heros and the families of both. We were visiting my husband's family and friends in his boyhood community of Y-City, AR. We walked into the truck stop for a cup of coffee and visit the locals currently there. Someone asked if we had heard about a plan hitting the World Trade Center and we said, "No". Where upon I said, "Please tell us this is an 'April Fools' joke in September." Unfortunately is wasn't. Soon after we returned to our RV trailer to watch the news on TV. It was looking seeing something out of a Hollywood Movie, But of course it wasn't. 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 story6368.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.68.169.64 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 driving in my car across town to a tech-school I was attending at the time. I had the radio on and there came an interuption from the radio broadcast. He said a plane has crashed into The World Trade Center. When I first heard that an airplane crashed into the twin towers I first thought, "How could a pilot hit them? They're so huge!" It didn't quite sink in yet on how much damage a plane could do to them. I arrived to my class to find that my small class had heard the news also. We were talking and exchanging what little information we knew at the time. Our substiture for the day came in and rushed to find a working TV. We struggled to get an outside wire and turned it on two minutes before the 2nd plane crashed. When I saw the 1st tower on TV with the smoke coming out of it I thought, "This can't be real. It has to be fake." I chose not to believe it until two minutes later I saw another plane crash into the 2nd tower LIVE. I could feel the panic in my class mates as we all wondered, "What's going on?" It sank in fast how very real this was and that is was no accident. We stared in awe as we watched New York panic and run in horror. The only things that managed to come out of our mouths for the following minutes were words like, "Oh my gosh", "Oh no," and "What's going on?" We were mesmerized by the attack and didn't know what else to do but watch in devistation. The towers collapsed and we lost our emotion. We couldn't take in what was happening because it was all so horrible so fast without any explanation. We were ordered to continue our day and go to our individual high schools. I remember that I didn't return to my school that day. I felt vulnerable and unsafe. I drove around that day listening to the radio and hearing about the other 2 planes. I still couldn't believe that this was happening. I read and hear stories like this in history books by I never expected to be experiencing. All day I kept thinking, "What's next?" and "Is it going to end?" Airlines were ordered to land the planes which caused an erie silence and suspence in the sky. I didn't feel comfort until weeks after the attacks. Even though I didn't know anyone directly or personally involved in the tragedy, I still mourn for the loss of others and my own loss of my feeling protected in the U.S. My security and my rights were taken away on Sept. 11, and I was vialated in everything my country fought so hard for before. Reliving another Sept. 11, day has brought up old feelings of helplessness and some anxiety. I don't think another year in my life will go by where I don't question if it will happen again and if this time it'll be worse. I often think of how lucky I am to have not known someone involved but at the same time I feel guilty for the same reason. I can only pray that I will never know what it feels like to lose someone to such a tragedy. 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 story5076.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. 205.127.67.14 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: The Impact of 9/11 on Our Society and on Subsequent Disaster Mental Health Efforts Complacency took a serious blow on 9/11 and millions of us began rethinking the ultimate priorities of life. Suddenly Americans had to stop and consider things wed prefer not to face about the ways we live our individual and collective lives. Everyone in the helping professions shared something in common with many of our clients we all came to better understand our own vulnerability as we watched in horror as others suffered. Many of us found it harder to cope, as our usual healthy defenses were tested and, in some cases, began to fail. At the time, many of my colleagues reported feeling fear, helplessness, and anger at depths theyd never previously experienced. Government workers were especially hard hit, psychologically, as buildings were evacuated. Returning the next workday was especially hard for Federal workers in DC area, as many worried What if we are the next target? Many usually peace-loving people found themselves with an urge to bomb someone in retaliation. Three years later, the ongoing war on terrorism continues and we all hope and pray it is successful in preventing anything like this from happening again. Since 9/11 we have seen dramatic changes in social relationships. Many people made major moves - some more quickly married than they had originally planned, others tired of unhappiness in their lives and separated or divorced. Many folks travel less and cocoon more - family time is more important to them. Finding time for small pleasures (like attending all kids activities) is easier and people make sure to stay in closer touch with family members and friends. People say goodbye differently and many people physically moved back to communities they long considered their real homes. In the short run, we became a kinder, gentler society. While I was in NY in late 2001, I saw an editorial page essay on fears about the city becoming the Seattle of the East (people were holding doors open, allowing lane changes without blasting their horns, and displaying less cursing and in-your-face attitude). The same types of positive changes happened in many other parts of our nation too. Sadly, this has, for the most part, worn off during the ensuing years and weve returned to our old ways. Our patriotism soared for a while, as people developed a strong sense of national pride, the likes of which wed not experienced since Pearl Harbor was attacked. Sadly, so did our nations racist tendencies, as many people began targeting Arabs, Muslims, and others who stood out as different and were visiting or living here in America with verbal harassment, vandalism, and even physical assaults after all, many people seemed to think, they could be terrorists too. As a society, we have begun to place increased value on public service and on volunteerism. Weve seen increased respect for the roles our police, fire/rescue, emergency service personnel, and even the roles other health/human service workers play in our society. After 9/11, many Americans also did some serious rethinking about issues of work and money. Folks were asking themselves: Did I pick the right job? (and the right career); Is it worth it? (to put in so much overtime); and Is this really what I want to do with my life? Consequently, there were many career transformations due to post-9/11 introspection on employment issues. We learned that 24/7 TV coverage created overexposure to trauma. Many people feared missing something that was new and important, so they watched and waited. In the process, they saw the buildings attacked over and over again (or whatever the event happened to be). Many people needed permission/direction to stop watching. It seems the media has gradually begun to recognize this phenomena and has become somewhat more responsible in their anniversary coverage. I continue to often think about the victims, the survivors, and the many dedicated colleagues who served with me on the two assignments. My volunteer work in disaster relief constantly reinforces the fact that people are incredibly strong and resilient. Most of what we value in ourselves and in others our character and our inner strength has not come to us easily and quickly. It has come to us via the slow and difficult process of experiencing and overcoming the adverse events weve already faced in our lives. The events of 9/11 have presented us with a defining moment and it is now our responsibility to do something meaningful in response to it. * * * If I had to pick one major lesson learned from my disaster relief experiences, it would have to be the importance of careful screening, proactive supervision and daily self-care efforts to keep the entire workforce safe and sound. My greatest frustration while serving in mass casualty assignments usually comes from the troubling behaviors of a very small group of my fellow relief workers who end up requiring large amounts of administrative staff time. Sadly, there have been many people who required investigation and intervention following incidents of sexual harassment no big surprise, as this is an unfortunate part of our culture. Nevertheless, it requires lots of careful work by skilled people to quickly and thoroughly resolve these distracting situations whenever they arise. Even more troubling to me, though, were the self-proclaimed trauma experts who told me they had wasted their time coming to help, because they had not gotten to spend their entire assignment working at ground zero. These same people had trouble following directions (and some seemed prone to freelancing). In retrospect, it strikes me that tighter screening of personnel might be able to help with this in future operations. Till we come up with a better vetting process, consider using this overly simple one. Ask people: How do you think you can best help us with this relief operation? A. By working at or near ground zero. B. By working anyplace but ground zero. C. By working wherever you need me. Those who answer A have a greater potential for becoming part of the problem rather than the solution use with care (if at all). Those who answer B probably have good insight into their own strengths, needs, and tolerances use them in low-stress settings. Those who answer C tend to be the best workers for sensitive and high-stress locations. 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 story21288.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. 2006-09-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.193.142.35 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: That morning was a late morning for me. I woke up late and was just about to leave for work and the neighbors heard me moving around. They grabbed me and told me to watch the TV. I went over right away. When I got their the first Tower came down and a few minutes later the second one fell and I cried. The rest of the day I sat at home hurt from what happened. I talked to my mom and my roommate and stayed by myself. 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 story4205.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.81.17.21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was puttting my daughter to sleep on that terrible morning of September 11,2001. I was playing poker when someone said the WTC had been hit by a plane. I quickly went upstairs, put my sleeping daughter in her crib, and went to tell my husband who was off that day watching sport center. We turned to CNN and went to the Today show, and we horrified. When the plane went down in PA., which is an hour and a half from my home, I went to school to get my son out. I was in a state of shock. I told my 7 year old that there were bad people trying to hurt people and I wanted him home with his family. I think of the people who lost their lives that day quite often. My heart goes out to their families. I cried for days after Sept. 11 and still do. The firefighters and police who lost their lives trying to save lives hurts so much. They were so brave going in them buildings knowing they might not come out alive. They should make the meaning for the word HERO, cause that is what they are. They are and will always be hereos. The people on the planes who lost their lives not knowing what was going on is really sad. Flight 93, the people who lost their lives by saving maybe 1,000 of lives. They are heroes too.. I will never forget any of you. Never......... 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 story2462.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: It was a normal day, I was hanging out with my friends before class when the bell rung at 9:00. We all went upstairs to our class and went inside. Our teacher always put the news on so we didn't pay much attention. Until some people started saying, "Whoa, what happened?", and we looked at the T.V. We saw a building with smoke around it. At first, I didn't know what building it was and thought it was just a fire. Then my friends told it was the Twin Towers and a plane had crashed into it. I had know idea why it would have crashed. We weren't prepared for what was to happen next. I'm not sure why I didn't see it or remember it, probably I had my back turned or was talking to someone, but my friends did. A second plane hit the other Towers. A couple girls screamed and I looked. I saw the plane's explosion come out the other end. It was just pure black booming out of the building. Then we heard that it had been a terrorist attack. On T.V., we saw people talking to the camera and crying about what had happened. To tell you the truth, I didn't really feel anything at first. Of course, I didn't feel good, and although I tried, I couldn't feel sad for the people or for what had happened. It wasn't until this week, September 9-13, where we talked and watched things about 9/11, that I felt the magnitude of it. I saw the impact of the disaster, after hearing all the stories and looking at movies, I felt sad for them. I really feel bad now how someone could have done such a horrible, terrible thing. But I know America will still live on. 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 story5010.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. 65.80.247.176 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I remember waking up to what may have been the most horific tragedy I have ever witnessed. I will never forget this day. As soon as I heard the news all I could think of was where all the people that I loved were at that very moment. I could not imagine the hurt and the pain that so many people had to go through because of the terrorist act. I also feel that even though I did not lose anyone close to me from this incident, I still feel that I have lost something, but in returned gained the strength to move on and always cherish life and to cherish the love of my family and friends. It has opened up a place in my heart that just keeps getting bigger every day, in a way I am thankful because it has given me something that has made me realize what I have and what I do with it. I just want to say to all the families who have lost their loved ones that they are not gone, they are watching over us from the heavens above and will always be with you. 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 story4064.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. 207.220.137.119 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: It was my daughter's 20th birthday. I was very pleased to have been able to phone her at her University in Belfast to tell her "happy birthday" and that I loved her before the attack happened. In a few hours I didn't know if I'd ever see her again. I didn't know if I'd ever get back to my family; I didn't know what was happening. It was two months before I was confident to fly back to them. 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 story4162.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: How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I was watching television when it showed that a plane had crashed into one of the towers. I was listening to the people on Channel 13 talking about what had happened when all at once they said the second tower had been hit also by a plane. I was shocked and couldn't believe what had happened. My mind kept telling me something was very wrong. Has your life changed because of September 11,2001? If so, tell us how. Yes, my life has changed alot. I pay more attention to other people, their actions and what their possible intentions may be. We need to be more caring about each other today. What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? I feel this was a dastardly act and that we should never take for granted that the United States is untouchable for being attacked. I feel that this could have been prevented if President Clinton hadn't cut the money and reduced the capability of U.S. intelligence services. We must be alert at all times. Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? Yes, I did in order to show we can never be defeated for we will stand for the flag always and our freedom. Yes, because this is a symbol of our faith. 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 story8815.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-12-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.54.14.84 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My first awareness of what was happening came by way of a phone call from my wife after the first plane hit but before the second one. I immediately turned on a portable radio I keep at the office to confirm what was happening and then sent a brief "all hands" message (now unfortunately lost) to my colleagues in the Office of Space Science here at NASA Headquarters. I then went down to a conference room that had a TV to watch the unfolding events. An image came on taken from the roof of the White House that showed a huge plume of smoke in the background, and the commentator remarked that it seemed to be coming from the Pentagon. I remember remarking something to the effect that if this was true then we should be able to see it from the window in our office suite that looked due west toward the Pentagon. I stepped out to look and confirmed in a second that it was true: the Pentagon had been hit as well. The rest of that morning is now a blur of watching TV, talking to my wife by phone, emergency staff meetings, and hearing the announcement that the Government was closing for the day and that we were to evacuate the building as soon as possible. However, by then the local streets, as well as the freeway that I would need to use, were in gridlock so I decided to just stay put until things cleared out. I went down to our in-building deli to get some lunch and bought a bottle of water for the trip home whenever that might be possibe. Finally about one o'clock the streets looked clear so I retrieved my car and started out. Never had I seen the streets of Washington so absolutely deserted: it was as though everyone had simply evaporated. That memory itself remains in my mind as one of the most dramatic of that day. My route home crosses the Potomac River on the 14th Street bridge where I then exit onto the Washington Memorial Parkway to head south. When using this cloverleaf exit the eye sweeps across the entire east face of the Pentagon (indeed, one of the few places where it can be easily, though briefly, seen from a car on any of the major highways), and the smoke from the funeral pyre from its west side formed an ugly black smudge against the otherwise brilliantly clear blue sky. As I type this rememberance I'm listening to the recitation of the Gettysburg Address at the One Year memorial service in New York City. Some have disparaged that these words by Lincoln have been overused but in my estimation never before have they been more appropriate or meaningful, and indeed trying to find new ones appropriate to the occasion stikes me as a exercise in hubris. They're now reading the names of all those who died there, which will take the order of several hours according to the radio announcers. It's amazing how many of these names are distinctly not the usual sounding ones that we tend to recognize as "American." Clearly an enormous number of non-U.S. citizens, or at least recent U.S. immigrants, died that day, and I'm not sure that this fact has been properly recognized and advertised - the acts of barbarism that day were really against all peoples of the world and not just those of the United States. More and more I feel myself as a citizen of the world and not just that of one country. Maybe that's a consequence of working for NASA where I'm constantly exposed to various images of our Earth from space, images of our own Milky Way galaxy that show millions of other stars like our own Sun, and then the images of the myriad of other galaxies in the depths of space itself. Good grief, we can't even claim to be speck of dust in our own cosmic neighborhood much less one in the larger scheme of things. I'm led to recall those plaintive words by Rodney King, to the effect 'Why can't we all just get along?' I'm also reminded of Carl Sagan's wonderful essay entitled THE PALE BLUE DOT that I recast in free verse last year after the attack, and which I now use to end this memoir. THE PALE BLUE DOT - Carl Sagan (1934-1996) Excerpted from a commencement address delivered May 11, 1996, concerning the image of Earth as it appears in a ?portrait? of the Solar System, taken in 1990 by the Voyager 1 spacecraft from deep interplanetary space. ********** ? We succeeded in taking that picture, and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives on it. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sun beam. ? The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. ? Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity ? in all this vastness ? there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling and, I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known. 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 story2481.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. 131.182.108.123