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 guess I must have walked past the tv only a couple of minutes after the "Special Breaking News " broadcast had started. I'm assuming this because I was in a public, crowded place- the gym- and no one had turned down the work out music to make an announcement over the intercom. That moment was short lived. Soon, it became deathly still and quiet as everyone deserted their normal gym session to find the nearest set. I stood in front of the stationary bike looking at the screen, totally confounded. Was that really the world trade center with a plane stuck inside it? My thoughts went immediately to the challenge it would be for firefighters to get adequate water up that high, or ladders to rescue the people inside. Then, I heard the reporter speak the words that HADN'T crossed my mind: "possible terrorist attack." I left the gym then, anxious to get home and plan an alternate route to school as my normal route would've been the PATH to the world trade and I was running short on time. In my eight minute commute home, I missed watching the second plane hit. I was nothing short of confused when I entered the house only to turn on the news and see not one, but the two towers smoking. This was going to be much more complicated than how to contain the fire. This was no accident, no miscalculation. I was watching a deliberate war strategy unfold in front of my eyes. The terror did not really strike me as when the first tower fell. I was immediately overwhelmed with tears as the building collapsed to the ground. And when the second tower fell, my my tears and cries could not be subdued. The only thing that I could actually subdue was my immediate panic. My first instincts were to get my family and drive to Ohio or anywhere west of the tri state. I knew we would be hit next, being in such close proximity to NYC and I did not want to be in the line of fire when it happened. Although, initially, after the towers collapsing, the plane going down in PA, the Pentagon, my thoughts went to all those people affected and all the lives lost right in front of my face, I couldn't help but want to protect my loved ones. The only other person I knew directly that made the daily commute from NJ to the city, or who worked anywhere near the tower was my uncle, who fortunately, had a court date in NJ that morning. When it was all done, everyone I knew was accounted for. How lucky we were!- Because later on that night, having dinner with a friend near our local train station that had direct service to NY, I observed all the families waiting on the platform for their loved ones to disembark from the trains. Unfortunately, almost every train that night was severely under normal occupancy. It was a sorry site to witness. The last estimate was eighty people lost from my small town. Comparitive to the total loss, it was next to nothing. But those lives lost created a big dent in our small community. Life is slowly but surely, making its way back to normalcy or the equivilent in the perspective of things.As for myself, the numbness, disbelief and most of the fear has surpassed. But I would like to share one thing: although many of us wish to have tall tales, or grand exciting stories to pass on to the youth of the next generation, 9-11 is a far cry from what I had in mind. There's is no way to explain or describe. Even this narrative is not enough to express what was felt, heard and witnessed. Let us not make light of the disaster and destruction we were witness despite the "over-exposure" for the sole fact that we are still here. Able to come together and share what we felt, heard or witnessed. In this instance we were lucky enough to be witness, as opposed to the true victims- our fallen heroes. 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 story142.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.83.28.162 Annotation Annotations to this item. Firefighters Missing Persons WTC, attack NY:3