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: As I was driving back from the ATM like I usually do on Tuesdays, to pick up my rent money for the week I had no idea that the life I had known and become comfortable in all of my 22 years would change drastically over the next few months. When I drive I usually listen to tapes or CD's in the car but for some reason I thought to turn on the radio. DC101, the pop rock station around here usually has an annoyingly interesting morning show thats sometimes fun to listen to. When I turned on the radio, and by now it was around 10:00 or so, things had changed. The news came pouring in, "one tower of the World Trade Center is gone after being hit by an airplane," Radio personalities that usually pride themselves on being funny or crazy had suddenly become very very serious. I quickly flipped around. There were reports that The Washington Monument may have been hit, along with the Pentagon. This is when I began to worry. I live only 20 miles from D.C., and that's less than a three minute flight by plane. As I got home I turned on the television only to be inundated with images of disaster in New York City. Fire and explosions would occupy my thoughts for weeks following this tragic event. I immediately called home, to the mountains of North Carolina. By some chance my call got through. Most phone lines were busy and no one was able to call anyone, including and especially cell phones. I was talking to my father shortly thereafter about the ramifications of such an event while we both watched the second tower crumble to the ground. I could not believe my eyes. Something that has always stood in incredible majisty of all its own, somewhere I had visited only a matter of months before was completely erased from existence. As my father and i watched on in horror and wonder he said "Think of all of the people trapped in there, the firemen who rushed in to save them, they are all lost." The human aspect of such an event must not be forgotten in the power of seeing it. Then came the rumors, "There was a car bomb outside the State Department, The Mall was on fire," and so on. I did not go to school that day. George Washington University was all too close to the heart of the incident, but I feared for my friends who lived there on campus and could not leave. I then quickly went through a mad search to find all of my family, most of which work around DC. I can only image what DC commuter trafic must have been like For an area infamous for it, this mad rush must have been unlike anything anyone has ever seen. My cousins, whom which I now live, made it home later that afternoon, and rushed around to find their children, pick them up from daycare and the like. Their mother whom I spent the majority of the day conversing with kept on saying in a very worried tone that "I'm just not sure I want all of my family in one place right now," as if the worst that could possibly happen, could possibly happen. I heard that my uncle who works in the Smithsonian had indeed left and was returning home as fast as possible. I contacted my other cousins who worked in Springfield, and they were shocked but alright. I later discovered that one of my cousins was scheduled to give some sort of talk at the Pentagon later that evening, but thankfully she had not yet gone out there. Then I learned that my aunt and uncle had gone to New York City for the weekend. I had no idea. Out of all the weekends to see a baseball game... but thankfully they were uneffected by the tragedy. With everyone accounted for I was much relieved. Weeks later I fell into the same patriotic routine as the rest of the nation, driving with an American Flag on my car and spending hours glued to the television. It was a couple of months later before I could bring my self to drive out to the Penntagon, only a short 15 minute drive, to see for myself the devastation. When you see it you realize just how real it is. Television does not do it justice. No sight has thus far effected me as much in spirit and mind as the one that laid before my eyes that day. Thankfully no one in my family was hurt by the terrorism, I was lucky, and I give thanks every night for this. 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 story43.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. 2002-02-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.48.0.99 Annotation Annotations to this item. Radio Coverage Rumors Television Coverage DC:3