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. On September 11, 2001 I was in Moab, UT at Zion National Park. It was the last day of a vacation I was spending with my friend Kristie Jones. Kristie and I live in Maryland, near Washington, DC. At the time, I was a Washington, DC based Flight Attendant with United Airlines. We were using my passes for our trip, and had been planning on flying back to Dulles from Las Vegas on the red-eye the night of September 11. That all changed. We had slept in, and woke up about 9:15 am, Mountain Time. The big story the night before on CNN was a rumor of whether or not Michael Jordan was going to return to the NBA. We awoke, lazily, and turned the TV back on. We were greeted with CNN...breaking news at the bottom, and a split screen of New York City and Washington, DC....black and smoking. By the time we turned the television on, both towers had been hit and collapsed, the Pentagon had been attacked, and there were rumors of a 4th plane crashing in Pennsylvania. In a matter of seconds, we had to process what most of America had seen unfold over the previous 2 and a half hours. We were out of cell phone range in the middle of Utah, and had no idea what had been going on. And as a Flight Attendant, my cell phone was my link to all my family and friends, no matter where I was. And they all knew that the only time I turned my phone off was when I was flying. As we watched and tried to comprehend it all, it seemed surreal. We began to make phone calls to our families. I checked my messages and had so many voice mails....Julie...i'm worried, call me as soon as you can...Over and over again. I will never forget the moment that I heard that the weapons were commercial airlines...My office in the sky. I was still unable to really take it all in, but I remember wondering if any of my friends were working that day. And I remember being angry. They hijacked MY PLANES....I could have been on those planes. I probably had been on those very planes at some point or another. I then immediately went into planning/survival mode. How were we going to get back to Maryland?? I was scheduled to fly on Friday, September 14. We ended up driving 2400 miles back to Maryland in 2 and a half days...missing most of the televised news, but listening to the radio much of the way across the country. On September 15, 2001 I was called to fly to London. The first day that flights were going anywhere. I was terrified, but I went. I spent the next day, my birthday, in London. Flying back on Monday, September 17, we flew close enough to see the sklyline of New York. The new skyline...or what we could see of it through the still rising smoke. That trip was my last. I knew that with the cutbacks, I would be furloughed. And I decided that it just wasn't worth it anymore. I admire those who continue to fly, but I just couldn't do it anymore. September 11 will forever be a day that divdes history. It was a day that I don't think I have fully dealt with, even almost 10 months later. It was a day that changed us all, brought us together, and made us appreciate our freedom. It was a day that no one will ever forget. 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 nmah56.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. 2002-07-04 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.244.82.122