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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. A Day to Remember BY: Amanda Britton Sitting in my Data Processing class, first block, I heard the rumors of a plane crashing into the World Trade Centers. I thought that it was all a joke and that this could never happen. I started to get anxious and wonder what was happening. My teacher quickly turned on the television and we watched in amazement. I still, after seeing the news, didnt believe that it was true. I thought that nothing like this could happen to America since we are so powerful and ahead of all the other countries with our strong military. The bell rang and students filled the hallways and were telling the stories that they had heard. I felt overwhelmed. I must have heard 10 different ones. I got into my gym class and our teacher said that we didnt have to dress out today that we were going to watch the news. I was glad about that. We all went into a classroom and began to watch the news. No one said a word. Everything was silent. I remember feeling terrible for a teacher whose husband was a pilot, and she was frantically trying to get a hold of him. She couldnt ever reach him, until finally I heard her let out a big sigh and she had reached him. I watched the news for the rest of the day in all of my classes, and we discussed what had happened. There was a gloomy feeling over the whole school. We continued to watch the news for the rest of the week and some of the next week. When I went home I would watch the news and they were trying to figure out who and what kind of cruel person would do this. I would hear the tragic stories of people who had lost loved ones and it would make me want to cry even though I didnt even know them. Then I would hear the heroic stories some of the firemen and police officers had to tell and it made me feel more patriotic than sad. I was just beginning to process what had actually happened. There were many rumors of many things that people that had went on, but finally I got down to the truth. At 8:46 a plane that had been hijacked flew into the 2nd WTC tower. Some people who were in the building said that they thought that it was a bomb. This was probably due to the fact that there was a bombing in the WTC before. Then there was an announcement that someone actually made over the PA system that said for no one to exit the first tower and that everything would be okay. Then a second hijacked plane hit the other tower. There were people scattering everywhere, and tons of fire fighters, policemen, and rescue workers ran to the scene to help and try to save as many lives as possible. Then a while later we saw on the news that a hijacked plane had hit the Pentagon. This one did not do as much damage and we didnt lose as many lives. It wasnt that much longer before we got news that a plane had crashed in Pennsylvania, which they believe was headed for the White House. Many people lost their lives due to the acts of Osama Bin Lladen. I was thinking how terrible it was that because of the hatred of one man that millions of lives had to suffer. I was talking to people around me and they had bitter in them towards him to and this was the first that they had ever heard about him. There was no reason for him to do the things he did. It is just true hate in his heart. Even if he does hate America there was no reason for him to kill innocent citizens. He couldve done something to our government and not innocent people. The things that he did has made America hate him, and we are going to seek revenge on him. Since the attacks on America I feel that I have become much patriotic and I have become much more aware of my surroundings. The security has gotten a lot better too. The airports are very secure and you have to go through many metal detectors and policemen searching you to be able to get onto the plane. Many people blame the reason for the hijackers getting on the planes on the airports poor security. So now they are cracking down on their security. They are doing this everywhere in the U.S. not just in New York. So the whole U.S. has changed. I think that we are prepared now, and that I am prepared for an attack on Osama Bin Lladen. This has changed my life and I think that it has changed many others lives too. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? NMAH Story: Flag 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? 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 nmah5190.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.204.242.22