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          <element elementId="50">
            <name>Title</name>
            <description>A name given to the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="513795">
                <text>"September 11: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
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          <element elementId="41">
            <name>Description</name>
            <description>An account of the resource</description>
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              <elementText elementTextId="513796">
                <text>Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002.</text>
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  <itemType itemTypeId="26">
    <name>NMAH Story</name>
    <description/>
    <elementContainer>
      <element elementId="99">
        <name>NMAH Story: Story</name>
        <description>How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience.</description>
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          <elementText elementTextId="518058">
            <text>"As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.  For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more"

These words kept ringing in my ears as I was watching live the devastation and the tragedy of that sad day. How fleeting one's life can be.
  
Early that morning about 8:30a.m. I was on the road to my supervisor's home for a meeting in a Montreal, Quebec suburb of Lorraine.  It was being held there (with two other colleagues) because he had recently had a leg infection and it was difficult for him to get to the office.  

I vaguely heard about an accident at the WTC on the car radio but had not really been listening.  When i got to his house, one of my co-workers said something serious was happening in NYC.  

We turned on the television about 9:00 am to be greeted with the unbelievable scenes of destruction and repeats of the first plane hitting the tower.  It was so surreal.  But then we were witnessing LIVE the second plane hitting a few minutes later....we all couldn:t fathom the images....Too much to absorb.  We all went silent....We remained glued to the set the full morning and again saw LIVE the falling of both towers....the Pentagon being hit and the downed plane in Pennsylvania.  We were witnesses to history.  It felt like a movie just as it was in 1963 when, as a 15 year old, I saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald live on national TV.

The horror and sadness were overwhelming.  Especially when the initial estimate of lost lives was being estimated at 10,000 or more....I wondered where God was that day.

Was this an omen of what the new Millenium had in store for mankind ?  A period of upheaval, destruction and pure evil ?
I was numb for a long time afterwards....


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      <element elementId="100">
        <name>NMAH Story: Life Changed</name>
        <description>Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how.</description>
        <elementTextContainer>
          <elementText elementTextId="518059">
            <text>Sorrow washes over me very easily now.....</text>
          </elementText>
        </elementTextContainer>
      </element>
      <element elementId="101">
        <name>NMAH Story: Remembered</name>
        <description>What do you think should be remembered about September 11th?</description>
        <elementTextContainer>
          <elementText elementTextId="518060">
            <text>The brotherly love that led to the ultimate sacrifices of many firemen, policemen &amp; countless others.  No greater love than to sacrifice one's own life.</text>
          </elementText>
        </elementTextContainer>
      </element>
      <element elementId="102">
        <name>NMAH Story: Flag</name>
        <description>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?</description>
        <elementTextContainer>
          <elementText elementTextId="518061">
            <text>Yes, a large one in my living room....
I am a Canadian and have had a mini US flag in my car since 1985.....I just feel that, with all of its faults, shortcomings and errors, America is a beacon unto the world.  All my life, I could never understand why the USA is often put down when they have shown the greatest generosity and spirit of any nation in history.  God bless America !!!!!</text>
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        <element elementId="50">
          <name>Title</name>
          <description>A name given to the resource</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="518062">
              <text>nmah4235.xml</text>
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    <elementSet elementSetId="4">
      <name>911DA Item</name>
      <description>Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item.</description>
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        <element elementId="52">
          <name>Status</name>
          <description>The process status of this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="518063">
              <text>approved</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
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        <element elementId="53">
          <name>Consent</name>
          <description>Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="518064">
              <text>full</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="54">
          <name>Posting</name>
          <description>Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="518065">
              <text>yes</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="55">
          <name>Copyright</name>
          <description>Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="518066">
              <text>yes</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="56">
          <name>Source</name>
          <description>The source of this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="518067">
              <text>born-digital</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="57">
          <name>Media Type</name>
          <description>The media type of this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="518068">
              <text>story</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="59">
          <name>Created by Author</name>
          <description>Whether the author created this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="518069">
              <text>yes</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="60">
          <name>Described by Author</name>
          <description>Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="518070">
              <text>no</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="61">
          <name>Date Entered</name>
          <description>The date this item was entered into the archive.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="518071">
              <text>2002-09-11</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="62">
          <name>IP Address</name>
          <description>The IP address of the device used to submit the item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="518072">
              <text>64.10.91.70</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
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