255 20 7169 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 was not here at Arlington House the day of the September 11th attack. I was in my apartment watching CNN when the Twin Towers were hit. I immediately called my friend and the Historian at Arlington House, Karen Byrne to inform her of what was happening. The nearest phone was located in my kitchen. I grabbed it and made the call while keeping an eye on the TV. I asked Karen if she knew what had happened. She told me, ?No.? Then I proceeded to tell her about the tragedy in New York. I was thinking that it was a Timothy McVeigh type of situation; an American who hated the United States. Karen and I were both asking the question, ?What?s wrong with these people?? She turned on the radio to see if she could pick up the news. At around 9:30, Karen said, ?Wait a minute, I see Joy running.? She put me on hold and then she said that she had to go. I looked at the TV screen. The reporter stated that a plane crashed into the Pentagon; the section closest to Arlington National Cemetery. I tried to call Karen again, but no one answered the phone. I was very worried. Things did not get better once I realized that an old housemate of man actually worked in the Pentagon. Even though we were not the best of friends, I needed to know that he was okay. He was fortunate enough to be away on busy at the time of the attacks. Then CNN reported that the Capitol was the main target. A new set of worries overtook me. I had lots of friend who worked on the Hill as well. My roommate is the defense reporter for Congressional Quarterly. He was on the Hill that day. He came to the house at around 10:30 with loads of other reporters. Our apartment became a regular newsroom. They were filing stories and calling their families to tell them that they were okay. We watched more of the news, then went to the grocery store for provisions. Safeway looked like a hurricane was about to hit with people stocking up on bread and water. I even saw Congress members getting cereal and eggs. And of course, everybody needed to buy alcohol. The stores were picked clean. I called my family and friends to tell them what happened. I had not yet felt the full brunt of what just occurred. I was running on vapors to keep me going. CNN was reporting that the Mall was on fire and I panicked. We all did. My apartment is a ten-minute walk away from the Mall. We calmed ourselves down and looked out back. No fire. No fire at all. The networks had begun to report any little rumor that came their way. We decided to turn off the TV. I had to go to work the next day. I saw grown men weeping behind their newspapers. No one said a word. Everything was fine until later on in the day. The smoke from the Pentagon was visible. And from our hill, you can see all of Washington DC and the Pentagon. I avoided looking in that direction. I had to drive that way while running an errand for my supervisor. I looked to my left and I saw the destruction. I almost lost control of the van. I couldn?t stop shaking. When I got back to work, I broke down. Karen and I went for a walk and talked about things. My life changed. Since then, I have noticed a difference in my attitude. I still have my wicked sense of humor, but my tolerance level has dropped. I tolerate all people from all backgrounds, but I cannot tolerate people who waste my time. Money I can get back, but I can?t get back my precious time. I want to spend it enjoying my life and the people in it. I have been the queen of communication now. I am sure my family is tired of hearing from me. 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 story154.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. 2002-03-06 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 165.83.228.102 Annotation Annotations to this item. Newspaper and Magazine Coverage Rumors Television Coverage Terrorism DC:2 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 was sleeping when my husband called me a little after nine on 9-11-01. He told me to turn on the news. I cried as I watched the towers fall and I thought of all of the innocent people whose lives had just been devestated. I didn't know how the rest of the world was being affected, but I felt like mine was coming to an end. I had just received bad news the day before that my husband and I were unsuccessful at conceiving a child again. Though we hadn't been trying long, when you are hoping for something so much it is hard when reality says no. In the midst of all the destruction and death I felt very empty inside. I was terrified that this attack would mean war and my husband would have to go. My husband was in the active army for three years just before we met. At the time of the attack he still had over two year in the inactive ready reserve. He can be called for active duty in situations like this. I did things as I normally would that day, but I hardly remember doing anything. I walked around in daze, waiting for my husband to get home from work. I called my parents and cried to my step-father. I remember bathing my dog and cat and spraying the house for any fleas that may have jumped on either of them. I remember riding with my sister-in-law to pick up her paycheck and there was no music on the radio. The DJ was worried about his parents before they live in Manhatten. But they aren't my memories. I feels like a movie that I have watched over and over again, but I still don't know what the ending will be. Today, one year after the horrible attack, I watch my baby daughter sleeping and I watch my husband sleeping and I thank God that my family is together and healthy. And I ask God to take care of all the babies born without fathers because of senseless violence and jealousy. And I pray for all the people who are still mourning their loves ones. Somehow we must find a way to heal from this tragedy. 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 story5836.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. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.38 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 can still remember everything said and done that day. I had to take my son who was 18 months old at the time for a check up at the doctors office that morning and we had gotten up late so the t.v. or the radio wasn't turned on. We were in the office when the first plane hit and on our way to get breakfast when the second plane hit the Twin Towers. I was still unaware that anything had happened when we finished breakfast, once we were in the truck I finally turned the radio on and heard for the first time that America had came under attack by terrorists. I tried to control the shock and fear that I felt so that I wouldn't scare my son but I couldn't I started crying uncontrollably and shaking all over I grabbed him from his seat and held him as tight as I could as I cryed and tried to comfort him. I had never felt the kind of fear that had came over me before and I didn't know how to feel even though I wasn't directly effected I was hurt and shocked that someone could do that to anyone and that it had happened on American soil. After I calmed down we went into a local store where they had every t.v. and radio turned to the news channels and you could feel the fear and sorrow through whole store. We left the store and went to my parents house where my father was glued to the t.v. and my mother cryed while listening and canning tomatoes when we pulled up my Dad ran out to the truck pale as a ghost and hugged both of us telling us that it was going to be okay. We sat together and watched in horror as they showed the sickening scenes over and over and told the death toll as the found bodies. I didn't go home till my husband got home that night and then we sat huddled together as a family listening to the reports on the radio. The next day was supposed to be a school day for me at Tri-County Technical College but some sick individual called in a bomb threat and with what had happened they were afraid to let us stay so instead of going home I went and gave blood for the first time in my life and although it may not have saved anyone in New York or Washington I felt like I had helped some who may have been effected by the attacks the day before. It is the one year anniversary and the nation is still in shock and mourning but we have all pulled together and became ONE NATION UNDER GOD, AND WE ARE ALL BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 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 story6229.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. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.144.94.205 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 was on my way to school that day when I heard the shocking news on the radio about the attack that morning. At first I was very confuse, but then I became extremely terrify and wish that I could just leave school to run straight home where I would feel safe. When I finally got home though, the TV in our house was on 24-7,and watching the clips of the attack over and over again made me feel even more devastated. The following days of the attack were equally depressing because I was able to feel and share the tears with those who refuse to give up on searching for their love ones. I can't believe it had been a year now since that horrible. Even if it had been 50 years though since September 11th of 2001, to me, it will always be unforgettable. 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 story8333.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. 2002-10-02 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.81.26.177 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: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times My Account of the World Trade Center Attacks Chinatown, New York, New York, September 11th, 2001 By Erin R. Yoshino December 31, 2001 As I sit here, trying to find the words with which to describe the events of the last year, I know not where to begin. Much of my year was filled with your garden-variety hardship, heartache, and accomplishment. However on September 11th, the world was forever changed. Telling my account of the 11th, I?ve grown into routine and clich?, detached and automated, always sensitive, but never sincere. In our attempt to comprehend the sheer evil and terror of the Attacks, I tell my story to those who inquire. But I can never convey the magnitude of the moment, nor do I want to, for that one day in mid-September shook the very foundations of my world; to explain my account so as to do it justice would require that I divulge much of myself. I neither wish to be so candid with every person that asks, many of whom I don?t know very well, nor do I wish to recount my experience so thoroughly and so often as it is a painful one. So on this, the last day of the year of 2001, I will attempt to retell my experience in its purest form. I?m doing this mostly for myself. I?m afraid that one day I might forget what happened, the fear I felt, the pain I went through. And whereas there was a time when all I wanted to do was forget the hard times, it?s a part of me and I need to remember. September 11th was a Tuesday. My classes at NYU had just started the Wednesday before. I only had one class on Tuesdays: Italian at 11:00 am. At that time, I was working at the Borders at World Trade Center 5 as a bookseller. I think I was working almost 30 hours a week, which was a lot as a full-time student. I had been offered another job in the package room on September 10th, an incredibly boring job, but it was closer to home, I got off earlier, and I could do homework when it was slow (which was all the time). I had set my alarm for 9:00 am on the 11th in order to call my manager at Borders to rearrange my schedule so that I could work both at Borders and the package room. Just before my alarm sounded, I felt the building shake. Since it was so strong, the first thing I thought was, ?Sounds like a plane just flew into a building.? But yielding to better judgment, I figured a bird had flown into my window, or being a California girl, I figured it was an earthquake (although in my sleepy state, I forgot that I was in New York, where earthquakes are rare). So I rolled over and waited for my alarm to sound off. But instead of waking to the annoyance of my alarm, my cell phone rang and caused me rise. Knowing what time it was, I knew it was my dad, since none of my friends would call me at that hour and that the only person awake otherwise would be my father. After apologizing for waking me up, he asked if I had seen the morning news yet. I told him that I hadn?t and he proceeded to tell me what had just happened: a plane had just crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. In sleepy disbelief, I climbed out of my bunk bed and walked to my window. As my heart stopped the only thing I could say was, ?Holy shit.? My voice started to shake, but I wasn?t sure why, so I tried to hold it back. My dad asked that I call my mother to tell her I was okay. He told me he loved me and we hung up. As I trembled with fear, I plugged the television in and called my mother. She hadn?t heard the news; it was around 6:30 am in California. I told her what happened and as she turned her television on I heard her gasp. I felt another ?boom,? but figured it was the top of the north tower shifting and paid it no mind. At that point in time I didn?t know what to make of any of it, so our conversation was brief. I was a little teary, but once again, didn?t really know why, so I fought the tears back. After I hung up the phone I got my camera and I as I peeked through the view finder, I realized that the ?boom? I heard was actually a second plane that had left a burning hole in the south tower of the World Trade Center. At that time class hadn?t been cancelled yet, so I sat at my computer trying to type my homework for my 11:00 am class. But as the television blared the horrifying images that resided just outside my window, I couldn?t concentrate. There was talk of the planes being terrorist attacks, but I couldn?t believe that a person could purposefully do something so horrendous. I sat staring at a blank computer screen when I heard a huge, low, rumbling. I ran to my window to see the south tower crumble to the ground. I panicked. I tried calling my sister on my cell phone, but I couldn?t get through. So I grabbed the landline and dialed Brooke?s number, shaking the whole time. She answered the phone and I could tell she had been crying. In my teary voice, I croaked, ?Brooke?? She couldn?t recognize my voice and asked who it was. I?m not quite sure why I called; I was so confused that I didn?t have anything to articulate even if I could have. I stated the obvious: ?The World Trade Center just fell.? I don?t really remember what else I said, I just remember crying. I got off the phone and had decided that even if classes weren?t cancelled by that time I wasn?t going anyway. I had told my dad, when the first tower was hit, that it looked like the building shouldn?t be standing. He said, ?Well, we build ?em good here in the United States.? And so when the south tower fell, I was in complete shock. It caught me completely off guard and I was overcome with fear. Having composed myself to some extent, I received a numeric page on my cell phone from Adam. I sat in my windowsill, holding my knees tightly against my chest, staring at the one existing tower and the cloud of debris that surrounded it, as I called him back. His roommate picked up and just as Adam came to the phone the north tower began to fall. I became hysterical. An odd mixture of crying, sobbing, and inaudible speech left Adam begging, ?Erin, what?s wrong? Are you okay? Where are you? What?s happening? Are you okay?? I tried to explain what I was seeing, but he couldn?t understand me. ?Erin, slow down, what?s happening? Are you okay?? I finally managed to calm down enough to say, ?The second tower just fell.? He told me he knew, that he was watching it on television. I told him I was watching it from my window. In shock, I didn?t have much to say, but I told him that I was okay and that it meant the world to me that he had called. Sometime in all the commotion, I had managed to take a short shower. I love to take showers, so I thought it would make me feel better. However, the thought that I might have missed some breaking story on the news required me to rush through my shower and resume my place in front of the television. And at some point in time I went down stairs, eyes red and sore from crying, to tell the woman in charge of the package room (Olga) that I (obviously) wasn?t able to contact my boss at Borders and that my store probably didn?t exist anymore, thus freeing me to work at the package room. I?m not really sure when all of that happened and I?m not really sure why I thought that was a priority at that time. But as I entered the lobby I felt like I was in the midst of a war zone. Stepping off the elevator, people were crying, wailing, hardly able to walk, traumatized. The dramatic intensity of the scene made me want to return to the safety and security of my own bedroom. As I concluded my conversation with Olga, I passed a woman wailing, being supported by a friend of hers who walked her to an empty office to cry, and I stepped into the elevator. I hid my head in the corner as I tried not to cry. I got to my bedroom and remained firmly seated in front of the television. Just after the second tower fell, someone knocked on our door. My suitemate answered it and we were informed that we needed to evacuate the building immediately. They told us to go anywhere north of Houston Street; the NYU sports center had been set up for us if we didn?t have anywhere else to go. Then our R.A. came around, knocking on everyone?s doors, delivering the same message. I went to gather my things and in my fuzzy state of mind, I thought I was well prepared for what lay ahead. I loaded my book bag with all the things I felt were essential to an evacuation: my walkman (so I could listen to the radio), a bottle of water (since everyone needs water), 3 packets of peanut butter crackers (2 for me and 1 just in case I ran into my roommate, Winnie), my camera (to document my experience), my planner with all of my phone numbers in it, my cell phone, my wallet, and my sweatshirt. I walked down the 16 flights of stairs with some guy that lived on my floor whose sole desire was to get outside and light up a cig. I found myself once again in the lobby. As I stepped through the front doors, I looked downtown to see a huge dust cloud hanging overhead, dark and dense, something from a movie, like Independence Day. Having stopped to stare, I was ushered uptown as the entire southern tip of Manhattan was being evacuated. I started walking uptown, listening to the radio in a catatonic daze. As I made my way, I passed two women covered in ash and dust walking like zombies, unaware of the world around them. I passed dozens of cars with the radios blaring as crowds gathered around them. At every working pay phone there were lines of people that went around the block. I got to the sports center. There were counselors and first aid on the ground level along with missing persons boards, an information center and a phone bank. There were cots, chairs, and food on the field house level. I got there but was embarrassed of my puffy eyes, so I left and went to Washington Square Park. The park was full of people talking on their cell phones and staring downtown at the cloud of smoke. The voicemails started flooding in. I spent some time trying to return phone calls, but the Sprint network serving the Manhattan area was down since its antennae was on top of the north tower. I got tired of being in such a crowded area. So I walked to Bleeker Street where there was a courtyard-like area in an apartment complex. I sat, away from the crowds, in the beauty of the fall afternoon, making futile phone call attempts with wet eyes while I listened to the radio and the foreboding cloud of smoke migrated slowly towards me. I finally got a hold of Beanie, who had left me a voicemail message asking me to call her. The first thing she said was, ?Do you know how long it took you to call me back?!? Somehow Ruth got through on her first attempt, I spoke with her. Then in the afternoon, after hours of waiting and sitting and crying, I got a hold of Winnie. I told her where I was and she met me there a few minutes later. She came prepared with a bottle of water and a box of saltines that she had fought for in the supermarket in addition to the few school supplies that she had left the house with that morning. Then we got hold of Ed and he graciously offered us a place to stay when I told him we had been evacuated. So Winnie and I made our way to Kmart where we purchased toothbrushes then we met Ed in the lobby of his building. We got there and he said, ?I feel 1,000 times better now that you?re here.? I felt the same way. Winnie and I met all of Ed?s suitemates and they were great, so great in fact that I named them ?the Sweetie-mates.? We sat around watching the news coverage, we told our stories of where we were when it happened, and periodically one of us would leave to answer a phone call. They made us dinner and baked us peanut butter cookies. Ed?s friends from down the hall, these giddy girls, brought extra pillows and bedding for us. Kenny called me that night to see if I was okay. He said that the television was on when he left the house in the morning, but when he saw the burning towers he thought it was a movie, paid it no mind and went to work. But that?s really how it seemed, like a movie, it hardly seemed real. Later that night Ed let us use his computer to check our email. My cell phone was out of juice and I had left my re-charger at home so I wanted to let everyone know that I was okay even though they couldn?t get a hold of me. I was completely overwhelmed by all of the people that called to make sure I was okay, but when I checked my email I almost cried. People I never met, people I hardly knew and people I hardly ever spoke to had written me, in addition to my family and many of my close friends. Some wrote brief messages, like Mike, who just wanted to know if I was okay. Some wrote and said they were friends of my mother. They informed me that she loved me very much, that she was so scared for me, and that I should call her. I was so completely taken aback by their support, encouragement, and concern. So this winter, I was looking for Christmas cards and I ran across a box of square shaped cards that read, ?It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.? And although I can?t stand Charles Dickens, I don?t think that anyone could have said it better; it certainly was the worst of times, but it was the best of humanity that I had ever seen. The next day, we decided to go outside and get some fresh air, but as we stepped out the door we realized that was not going to be possible. A horrid acrid stench of burning chemicals filled the air and as we looked around us, people donned facemasks. So we grabbed some lunch fixings at the deli on 14th: turkey, bread, and mustard (for the Ed Boy), and decided to go back to the room to eat. 14th Street was home to a checkpoint station that spanned the entire width of Manhattan, where identification was required in order to proceed south of it. There were two others, one at Houston Street and one at Canal Street. The streets were eerily empty. Since most of the city was closed, especially that far downtown, no one was in much of a hurry, just aimlessly walking around, with no particular destination, purpose, or motivation. No one was pushing, no one was rushing, just strolling. The pressures of normal New York society had been lifted from their shoulders, and a weariness, an emotional tiredness, a mental numbness took its place. They walked with a different sort of edginess where every loud noise sent every head turning in search of its source, where nothing mattered, but everything did. Every plane (fighter jet) that flew overhead snapped every eye to the sky and every siren heard conjured tears for we knew what it was for. Winnie and I learned that we were allowed to return to our building at 4:30pm. We packed up our toothbrushes and jumped on the subway. Hoping to get off at Canal Street, we forgot that security was increased and that the subway bypassed all of the downtown Manhattan stations. So we patiently rode the train to Brooklyn, since we had nothing else to do anyway. The train was silent. No one spoke a word and everyone wore a tired look of weary eyes and steadfast frowns and as the train came above ground, every head turned to see the emptiness of the New York skyline. I was never so relieved to get back home. That night the glow of flood lights and smoke rose from the vacant hole where the World Trace Center once resided. The wretched smell filled our room. Winnie and I somehow wasted the night away and when we woke in the morning, she decided she was going to her aunt?s house. She would never admit it, but she was afraid of asking her aunt if I could come along. But her mom (her aunt?s sister) told me to go with her since I didn?t have any family nearby and so we packed our belongings and headed to Brooklyn. We hardly spoke on the train. Her aunt, uncle, and cousin greeted us. They spoke mostly in Chinese. Winnie did some studying, but I spent the first day with a textbook in my lap, reading the same paragraph over and over again, not comprehending anything, getting frustrated all the while. So I decided to go easy on myself for the next few days. I read a novel and watched countless hours of television. Inundated with images of the falling towers, of horrified faces, of wreckage and heartache, each day left me emotionally and mentally exhausted. By the end of the day, all I could do was sleep. Time had an odd feel to it: each minute seemed like an eternity, but each day seemed to pass in a second. Friday, after spending an entire day in front of the television watching the same news broadcast over and over, Winnie?s aunt and uncle handed us all candles. They walked with us, and the dozens of others bearing candles, down to the pier. Many had congregated on the pier in order to gaze back on Manhattan Island and mourn for those who had perished. People handed out free candles and red, white, and blue ribbons. They hugged their loved ones as I grew jealous that I was 3,000 miles away from those that meant the most to me, that the only thing I wanted, a hug from someone I truly loved, was the one thing I couldn?t have. As the crowd sang Eric Clapton?s ?Here in Heaven? tears came to my eyes. And as the Pledge of Allegiance was said and the Star Spangled Banner was sung, the words took on a new meaning. Soon we were ushered off the pier by the NYPD for security reasons. Returning home, I took my place in front of the television. As part of their regular broadcast, they showed the second tower falling one last time. I lost it. I snuck into the guest bedroom where I huddled in the corner on the cold tile in the masking darkness. I cried. I cried harder than I can ever remember. I called my mother, my sister, then my father, but none of them were home. I called my mom?s cell phone and when she answered I apologized for calling because I was making an analogue call. I tried to explain what was going through my head, but my speech was jarred by short, clipped breaths and periodic sobs. I felt guilty that I was so concerned with my studies when there were (at that time) 6,000 people who had lost their lives, just blocks from where I lived. I was so lonely, surrounded by people who not only didn?t speak to me, but who spoke among themselves in Cantonese. I was tired. I told her that the one thing that scared me the most was the sound of my own voice. Every free moment my mind found, between the constant stimulus of the television, the fighter jets, and the sirens, I replayed the cry/sob/inaudible speech that wailed from my mouth as Adam picked up the phone and the second tower fell. I felt guilty that he had to hear that. But the panic and freight that was demonstrated by that sound sent chills up my spine for weeks. I had never been so scared and that sound was a constant reminder of my freight. My mom kept saying, ?Oh, baby, I?m so sorry,? whenever she could understand me. And at one point I heard her voice quiver; that scared me. My mom was strong, she never buckled under pressure, but that night I heard her voice shake. She told me she would come and get me if I wanted: a sign that she was scared, because otherwise she would?ve encouraged me to stay. Although we were on the phone for a substantial length of time, I was not able to say much, so we hung up and I continued to cry. After awhile I called my sister?s cell phone and the same type of conversation took place: crying, crying, and more crying. I wanted to come home more than anything; I wanted to be in a place where life was normal, where the smell of the air, the haze in the sky, the sounds of the street weren?t all constant reminders of my darkest time. But I knew that would be difficult as air travel for the first time in aviation history was completely halted. My pride also interfered; didn?t want to seem like a quitter, ya? know? My sister encouraged me to stay and I agreed it was for the best. I wanted to tell her all the things that were in my head, all the things that were making me cry, but I physically couldn?t and I didn?t think I really needed to; I had the feeling she already knew. After I got off the phone I sat in the darkness, holding my knees, hiding my face, and crying. And for the first time I prayed; I prayed for the heartache to stop. I tried to keep a low profile, but Winnie found me. She dragged me out of the corner and sat me on the bed. She sat down next to me, put her arm around me and just let me cry. In her typical way, she didn?t try to draw any explanation out of me; she just let me cry. Besides, she knew why I was crying; it was the same thing that she would lose countless hours of sleep over throughout the next few months. But then it was time for dinner, so her aunt came to seek us out. She flipped the lights on and told me, in her broken English, not to cry. ?Stand up, we have to be strong, stand together, be strong fo? each other, stand up, stand up.? I thought she was saying, ?stand up? in a metaphorical sense, but she meant, ?Stand up. It?s time for dinner, stand up and walk to the table.? Later that night a phone call with her uncle sent Winnie into an inconsolable crying state as well. We were all worn down to our wits end, exhausted and waiting for the relief that never came. We stayed until Sunday and the rest of our time was spent in awkwardness. When we returned home, everything was hard. Everything touched a nerve but I could never cry; I was too tired to cry. Everything took on a new meaning. I was walking through Gould Plaza one morning as they prepared for Autumn Fest. A group of a capella singers rehearsed the Star-Spangled Banner on a makeshift stage. I stood captivated by the rich notes booming overhead; so beautiful they seemed to be those of angels. As they sang, ?And the rockets red glare,? each note struck my heart with such force that tears filled my eyes, although not one was shed. I was worn out. I kept thinking, ?Please let life get easier; I don?t think I can take any more.? But then W began Operation Enduring Freedom and talk of a draft left me terrified. Shortly thereafter Israel bombed Palestine after a series of Palestinian suicide bombings. Then tensions grew between Pakistan and India (both nuclear powers) when a Pakistani opened fire on the Indian Parliament. America delved further into recession, Argentina neared default and as this all ensued, letters full of finely milled Anthrax made their way through the United States Postal Service. And as my new job in the package room once seemed perfectly timed and ideal for studying, it was suddenly a dangerous job, adding more stress to my anxious state. It felt as though the world was falling apart around me. For months I couldn?t concentrate on anything for prolonged periods of time, which made studying pretty much out of the question. The smell still lingered and the glowing hole outside my window was a constant reminder of the 11th. Our telephone service was out, as was our internet connection. My contact with my friends grew scant. I spoke only with my family. My mom, sister, dad, and stepmother, were the only people I didn?t live with that I kept regular contact with. I didn?t feel like talking with anyone else. I didn?t want to burden my friends with my troubles and was annoyed by their inability to comprehend what I had been through. I wanted to be able to talk about ?normal? things, but the only topic of conversation that could hold my attention was the World Trade Center. I desperately needed my friends, but was too afraid to reach out for them. Jolene would call me about once a week and listen to what I was going through. She reached out to me and speaking with her helped the healing process. Beanie would call every once in awhile, but would always skirt around the issue of the 11th. Towards the end of the semester I heard from Adam quite a bit and I slowly realized why I needed my friends. But in the meantime, without school, friends, or work to occupy my time, I spent all my time with my roommates, avoiding the responsibilities of life. I turned to exercise for a while, did a lot of cooking and cleaning, read a lot of newspapers, watched a lot of news, and became increasingly interested in world affairs. As the city began to wake up out of its daze, patriotism boomed. Everyone fashioned red, white, and blue, a phenomenon that took my friends and I aback. Having never grown up in a patriotic period and being accused of having no loyalties, cares, or concerns for anything, I was surprised at how accepting and appreciative my peers and I were of this new found identity as Americans. I?m told this sort of expression took the whole country by storm as flag companies worked around the clock to keep up with demand. Jessica, who was studying abroad in Montreal, Canada, said that she saw a Canadian fire truck go by sporting an American flag. But as cheesy as it may seem, it was comforting to see such support, collaboration, and unity during a time when it seemed that everything in my life was so disjointed. A few weeks after the Attacks, the roomies and I went down to ?Ground Zero? to see the wreckage. The closest you could get was Broadway, so huge lines formed and street vendors whipped out their flags, pins, pictures, and scarves all donning patriotic themes. Everyone was fairly civil and respectful, but of course there were a few who treated it like an amusement park. One man instructed his daughter, whom his wife was wheeling around in a stroller, to smile as he took her picture in front of the World Trade Center remains. I saw my building. It was a hollow shell of a building. The steel beams were there, but they were charred and supported nothing; you could see through to the other side. On the ground level I could see a huge sign reading, ?Borders.? Even as far as Broadway, the buildings were covered in ash and debris. All the stores were closed. It looked like an abandoned ghost town or a movie set. Walking along the sidewalk, you could peer into the shops and see their merchandise covered in soot. One clothing store left everything in tact well after the clean up had begun in order to show people what it really looked like. It was unbelievable. I hadn?t heard from Jonathan since the summer, but was finally able to get a hold of him at the end of the semester. He said that Heather had come to New York and said that nothing was that different. I was so annoyed. Perhaps things appeared to be in order uptown, but there was nothing normal about where I lived. During every second of everyday one could find National Guard, State Troopers, and NYPD outside our building, at every corner. The smell, sort of a burning rubber scent, lingered for months. The day I returned to California, Governor Pataki announced that all of the fires at the World Trade Center had been extinguished; that was on December 19th. Every night the glowing hole sits outside our window. The semester was filled with reevaluations of my place in life. I went through several phases. After that Friday when I cried so hard, I didn?t shed another tear until a few months later. I had been getting so frustrated with my lack of motivation in school. So, when I found some emails that Adam and I had written each other last year when we were together it made me reconsider my priorities in life. I was so tired of everyday life being so hard; all I wanted was to be happy, to be in love, to have something to look forward to. Thus, the struggle over school seemed futile and trivial. It felt like life was too short for hardship and heartache; all I wanted was to be happy. I also went through a phase where I felt like I needed to make an impact on the world and that in order to do that I needed to be educated so I focused on school. I pulled several all-nighters as I tried to redeem the grades that I had let slip all semester. I worked myself ragged; but all said and done, I pulled my grades up. And in this process I decided on my academic focus: American foreign policy and its affect on the international arena. As winter break approached, I synthesized the two outlooks on life together to create a complex world for myself, where I wanted both to be happy, to make the most of each day, and to make a difference in the world. I returned home, shared my story, loved every second spent with my friends and family, and anticipated the coming semester. I had hoped this memoir would reflect more true to life the feelings, emotion, and hardship of my experience. However, as I read back through what I?ve written, it seems as cold and rehearsed as my automated verbal responses. But in the end perhaps there is no way to convey it in its entirety. But as the year comes to an end and a new one begins, I hold high hopes for what lies ahead. I believe that there will be peace, that we can be both happy and purposeful, that love is the most important thing in life, that there is still good in this world. I believe that what does not kill me makes me stronger. And although I would never wish for another September 11th in my life nor in someone else?s, it is a part of my life and it has been formative in shaping me. I?m excited about the future and the role I play in it. I?m excited about life and fun and growth. I?m excited about love. 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 story307.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. 2002-03-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.165.8.2 Annotation Annotations to this item. Economic effects Environmental/Health Impact Firefighters Foreign Policy Ground zero- at or about Patriotism Peace Students/Teachers Telephones and Cell Phones WTC, pre-911 WTC, worked in (ever) NY:2 Feature 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 was getting ready for school like I do everyday, and I whent into the kitchen to eat my breakfast. While I was eating my bowl of cereal my mom was watching The Today Show like she does everyday. The show was going just fine the first few minutes then they showed a small plane in the World Trade Center. I was and the people on t.v. thought wow what a bad aciddent someone ran into the WTC. Then a couple minutes later I saw a bigger airplane crash into the other tower of the WTC. At first I thought it was a replay of the first plane, but then I looked at the top right hand corner of the sreen I saw the word LIVE in big bold letters. I was in shock I could not belive it, then I knew it was no aciddent, someone is tring to send a message to America. My mom didn't say much but OH MY GOOSH!!! When I got to school all of my teachers were glued to the T.V. I didn't do much in school that day, we talked about it a little bit but we mostly watched T.V. When I got home it was still on every channel, but the main thing my dad told me was do not take life for grantied it is to short not to be living each day to the fullist. That was the main thing that changed me from 9-11. 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 story5558.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. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.206 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 was in the shower when my husband called me and told me to turn on the television, that a plane had hit the WTC. At first I did not take it too seriously because I thought that it had probably been a small plane. That it had been an accident. I stood watching the TV and was stunned when I thought I was watching a replay of the first plane hitting the tower. It was not until several days later that I realized that I had seen live the second plane hit. Then I pulled my shocked self together and tried to reach our son who had just moved to Lower Manhattan. No response on his cell phone, his wife's or their home number. I was not worried about our daughter in law since she would have been in class at NYU. But our son still had not started his program there. He had been enjoying his free time exploring the city, so he could have been anywhere. As it turned out, he was in bed. When he heard on the radio what had happened, he grabbed his cameras and ran to his corner from where the whole thing unfolded before his eyes. He was able he finally was able to reach a friend's cell phone in Chicago and his sister in Orlando who both then notified us. We spent a scary 2 1/2 hours not knowing where he was. I felt numb for the next week. I won't ever forget it. I felt dead inside, hopeless, looking around me not understanding how people could be planning house remodeling, weddings etc. It took awhile, but I finally got over the depression, but not the obsession of reading about what happened. So I don't. The night of September 11, we gathered at our synagogue to pray, to try and find some answer. The service concluded with our singing of "America, the Beautiful". Never in my life had that simple tune sounded so poignant, have the words meant more than on that night when our world changed forever. 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 story1984.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. 2002-09-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.40 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: My wife was due to give birth September 11, it was rainy here in the Philippines then. While preparing things we would be needing for our stay at the hospital, I turned the tv on to catch the latest news. To my shock I was watching the aftermath of the first plane hit. Woke up my wife and witnessed the second plane crash. It was so unreal!!! I remember asking my wife "is this for real?". It was like a scene cut from the Independence Day movie. Being an "spy and military buff" myself, I was already theorizing. This is no coincidence...America is being hit from different directions simultaneously. That made me and my wife fear for my coming baby boy. We were expecting the worst. 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 story8542.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. 2002-10-21 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 129.174.27.131 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 was coming back from my 10:30 class that morning and I could tell that something wrong had happened. As I walked onto my floor a girl ran out of her room and started screaming that the U.S. was under attack. I didn't even listen to her at first because she had always been a little strange but out of curiosity I went to my room and turned on the tv. And there it was, on every station. The World Trade Center had been hit and I think by that time the Pentagon had been hit too. I dropped to floor. My cousin lived four or five blocks from the World Trade Center and my uncle's company was the company working on the Pentagon at the time. A lot of my family works for his company and my heart dropped. I got up from the floor and ran to my phone trying to call my mom. Being from Philadelphia, all I could think of is that I wanted to go home. No one could get through though and I can just remember hearing nothing but the news coming from every room on the floor. My roommate came in and asked what happened and all I could do was point to the tv. My whole body was numb. Then we heard about another plane that had crashed in Somerset, Pa. Our school is about an hour or so away from Somerset but a lot of people knew that area very well and more panic seemed to spread because no one knew what to do with themselves. It was impossible to call out on the phones so you had nothing else to do but to sit and watch the terror on tv. Our phone did rang once though which helped take us away for a brief moment and it turned out to be my exchange student from the Ukraine. She heard about what happened on the news and called me as soon as possible because she heard about the plane hitting Pa and thought that was our area. I told her I was fine but then she started to cry even harder than she already was and said to me "How could anyone want to do something so horrible to such a beautiful country?!" I told her that everything would be alright and that we all would be strong. After I got off of the phone with her I began to cry myself for the uncertain feeling I had about my family. I heard from my mom the next day and she said that everyone had been ok. We were very blessed but my heart went out even farther for those families that had lost loved ones. Our school had a candle light vigil the next day and if you looked around, all you could see were people, coming together to be strong together and to be loving together. I know none of us will forget this day because it's not only a day of a terrible loss, but it's the day that we became one as a nation. 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 story3282.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. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.154.197.241 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: My name is Kirklin Bateman and I am in the Army currently attending the School of Advanced Warfighting at the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia as part of the Advanced Military Studies Program. I am also a graduate student in the History Department. I was at home on September 11th studying for the next day's seminar. I had no idea what was happening until about 1000 hours when one of my brothers-in-law called. He asked if my family and I were all right saying he wasn't sure how close we were to the Pentagon. My response was one of confusion as I had no idea what he was talking about. He then asked rather increduously, "Don't you know what is going on?" When I replied that I didn't, he quickly explained that the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon had been hit my planes and that our country was under attack. I assured him my family and I were alright and then hung up the phone. Spending the next several hours glued to the television and Internet, I was like most of America in a state of shock and disbelief. Quantico Marine Corps Base along with the rest of the military was put on Threat Condition Delta, the highest level of security and soon the sounds of fighter jets could be heard overhead. Over the course of the rest of the day, into the evening, and the next day I received over 35 phone calls and emails from family and friends checking to make sure that we were alright and wondering if I was going to be involved in any sort of military response. I was amazed and overwhelmed at the level of concern for my family and I, simply because we were in the military and because we lived so close to Washington D.C. In the months since the attack, I've seen America take great pride in her emergency workers and her military and a fresh wave of patriotism sweep across the land. I hope that we never lose sight of the daily sacrifices that our public servants make and that though the price of freedom is expensive, there is no higher honor than to preserve it. 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 story202.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. 2002-03-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.49.114.197 Annotation Annotations to this item. Gov't workers (non-military and non-rescue) Military Patriotism DOMESTIC 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: My boyfriend and I were woken up very early in the morning by his mother, who lives in Sacramento, CA and was usually up before the sun came up. I saw Michael get up, turn on the TV, place his left hand on his forehead, speechless, gaping at the burning towers. I looked up at the TV and remember having no idea what it meant. Yes, I saw the fires and the planes, but it didn't click. The shock of it all really threw me off. Michael looked at me, in disbelief, and said we were being attacked, the world trade buildings were being attacked. It wasn't until I heard that planes were headed for downtown L.A. that I realized the gravity. My mother works downtown. I did not stop crying for a week. 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 story11650.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. 2005-07-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.164.68.199 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 was almost 9 months pregnant when the events of 9/11 unfolded. Home waiting for my father to show up with coffee, my sister-n-law called to ask if I was watching tv. I frantically spent the next hour or so trying to get a hold of my husband at work. My father and I sat here for hours just watching everything in disbelief. I couldn't believe I was about to have a baby and here I was thinking this is it. Next month my son will be a year old. I have saved what I could of the events that happened so close to his birth. My hope is some day, while living in peace with everyone, my son will pull the stuff I put away for him and see how far we've come as a people. A people of One. The Feinbergs 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 story6179.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. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.8 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 witnessed the history of September 11 on television. That day I was sitting in Biology class when my teacher Ms. Mostiler annouced we were under attack. After a few minute after the attack Dr. Ryan rushed kids down to the Media Center to watch it. It was very sad because we saw people running and jumping out of the building. They kept showing the plane on the television smashing in to the towers. 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 story2019.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. 2002-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 206.74.153.150 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 was in class and one of the students had receive a call from someone at there home. We all thought that maybe is was a little airplane that just strayed off course. Becasue it was a computer communications class, we started trying to pull CNN or some news organization. One of us had finally gotten through and then we saw the destruction. Class was silently dismissed and no one know what was going on. Also, cellphones started ringing and one was my husband who wanted me to go start home and I ask him what he was going to do because he worked for New York Life and the building is basically at the end of one of the runway. So, I went to the lower level of the student union becuase at that time I still had a class in the afternoon. When I got there I found the place full. It was so quiet with everyone just starring at the television. At that time, a plane had gone down in Pennsylvaina but the news reporters were not sure at the time. At about Noon, they decided to close school. The highway was unusually busy for that time of day. On my way home, I have to go across a bridge. And the whole time across, everyone drove slower than normal and all the drivers were checking each other out because no one was sure what was going on. I finally made it home and my husband came home a couple hours later. We spent the rest on the night just watching television tying to figure out what was happening 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 story3644.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. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.35.209.51 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 brought my son to the Metro-North Station in Stamford, CT at 7:00am that morning and noticed the commuters on the southbound track to Grand Central Station. I came home and started my laundry and other chores. I usually fold my clothes with the television on. At 8:45 am, my t.v. flickered. After the t.v. came back, the World Trade towers were televised and then I witnessed the second plane attack the second tower. I did not feel safe that entire day. Little did I know that the commuters on the platform in Stamford, CT will never be seen again. 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 story7057.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. 2002-09-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.8 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: we were all in math class just going on like any other day when suddenly a teacher walks in and tells us that the world trade center had been hit by two planes. my teacher didnt even turn on the television to see the footage. So we all had to wait until next class to see the videos. when i first saw it i couldnt believe my eyes. After school was out, this is all that people talked about, and all that was on tv.Then later that night while im talking to my friend, he also informs me that the pentagon had been hit by a plane. 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 story20851.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. 2006-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 151.188.16.21 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 was in my p.e class when the planes struck the first Twin tower on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in the 9th grade. My class was of all girls and you know how us girls are, we freak out about everything. So when I heard about it I couldn't believe it. I started to cry... as I started to think about everything I did that morning, I tried to remember if I told my mom I loved her before I went to school. I was so worried... I was scared they would attack us and I would never see my family again. As I watched the news I thought of all the people who were suffering, while I was just sitting there watching t.v. What happened was definately NOT a good thing... as if you didn't know, but it made our country stronger, and made everybody open our eyes and realize how important everything was to us. God Bless America! 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 story5206.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. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.8 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: Iam a Sgt In the New York State Police, On September 11th I was to report for work at the Brewster NY barracks at 3:00pm, so that morning I was going to the hardware store to get some items to do work around the house. While going to and from I put on the radio and I thought it was odd that no music was playing, then i heard a plane had hit the World trade center, at first I thought it was a small private plane and continued on my way, soon I realized it was something much more when I heard the radio DJ state that one of the towers had collapsed, I immediately went to the nearest TV set which I knew was at my doctors office, ant there i saw the tradgedy unfolding i immediately called work and was advised to report to work and pack three days of clothing. When I arrived at the barracks I was told to muster my men at Stewart airport and wait. We got to stewart airport and were sent down to NYC 50 Troopers at a time for a total of about 600. On my way down to the city I saw the sign on the thruway "NYC Closed" unbelievable....the next sight I remember was coming across the George Washington bridge back into NY and seeing the billowing smoke covering Manhattan...it was an incredible sight. I thought there must have been at least 10,000 dead. upon arriving at the Javits center we were deployed throughout manhattan and the next day I was working on the Pile digging. Pictures cant come close to relaying the devastation that was at ground Zero, what I remember most was the dust and the fact that nothing recognizable was in it no chairs, tables, phones...just dust and paper. God Bless America and our President who has some very hard decisions to make. I was glad to help. 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 story8603.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. 2002-10-30 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.172.128.38 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: Writing about September 11th poses many problems. On the one hand, you almost feel a need to write deeply, and to paint in broad strokes about how the day changed your life, and made you think in Clintonesque platitudes about ?our common humanity.? And at the same time you reflexively feel obligated to either declare your newfound love of country, or to step back and temper your patriotism with some sort of pseudo-intellectual criticism of American foreign policy. And so in writing about that day I am trying not to simply add to the same tired patriotic or demagogic arguments or declarations, but at the same time be true to what I felt that day that when I was working at the White House. It was eight o?clock on September the Eleventh when I passed through security, skipped up the grand staircase to the second floor and entered my office. The lights flickered alive, and I turned on the decade-old television propped atop a file cabinet as my coworkers began to stream in. The CBS Morning News was on and Bryant Gumbel was nodding as his guest gushed about some topic or other that, in any event, I didn?t especially care about. ?Have we staffed out the education remarks for Thursday yet?? someone asked. ?No, they?re still with Public Liaison?? another trailed off. Every day began like this: it was going to be a quiet day in the White House?s Office of Speechwriting. And while that sounds melodramatic and reads like the intro to a cheap cliffhanger movie, the reality for those of us who were awake and beginning our morning work just after eight o?clock in the morning on September 11 was precisely that. We weren?t shaken awake by our hysterical roommates, and we experienced the same weird sensation of turning to the television at one moment and seeing normal, perky morning television and turning back a minute later and seeing a gaping, smoldering hole in the side of a familiar building. We wondered dumbly what had happened, as if it wasn?t obvious, as if we didn?t somehow already know the answer. We all told ourselves that there had been some sort of mistake, but we all knew deep inside that planes don?t just hit buildings at angles and in locations that, coincidentally, would do the most damage possible. We knew what had happened, and so nobody really believed the news anchors when they said that a small plane had hit the World Trade Center and yet the raw footage clearly showed enormous engines under the wings of a banking, diving, clearly under control airplane. I can?t speak to how everyone else at the White House reacted during those initial moments. We left our office door open and people on their way to the West Wing or to the political offices down the hall briefly stopped by and, unsure what to make of the scene, continued on their way. Within my office people tried to continue their work; preparing for a flurry of presidential speeches to come over the next few days. Certainly the more important people, the ones who worked closely with the president and were able to make things happen, were on the phones and funneling the raw information on to the president?POTUS. I tried to call my parents back in California?a circus act that took me about fifteen minutes to perform because the phone lines were already jammed?everyone else in my office was on the phone, and I imagine everyone else in every other office was too, or would be soon. Nobody knew what was going on, and we hadn?t even come to the self-important realization that ?nothing will ever be the same again.? We remembered Oklahoma City and how most of us had probably, until Timothy McVeigh was captured, fantasized about B-52s turning by their fiery deliverance the sands of Arabia into a sheet of glass. We held our judgment; we knew who had done the deed, but everyone tried to wait and see, tried to remain intellectual and removed from the situation. Until the Pentagon was hit. And then, within about twelve seconds, the arrogant objectivity and removal from the situation was gone. If someone had the ability to crash multiple planes into high-profile targets and they had just hit a target of lesser importance and fame than the one in which you were standing, you don?t worry about the effects of U.S. foreign policy on the environment or on the poor, and you don?t worry about who might have been upset about the rejection of Kyoto or who is upset that U.S. planes are protecting the Holy Land from Iraqi assault. And what followed was sort of a personal experience that I imagine was different for everyone. The press said that the White House was evacuated shortly before 11:00 a.m., but we were all gone a good 45 minutes before that, so I don?t know who the Secret Service was able to evacuate. The streets were crowded with staffers from the White House, from banks, lobbying firms, and everywhere, and it was one of those impossible moments when nobody bragged about where they worked or how important they were. We were all flesh and blood and in that moment totally aware, albeit latently, of our mortality. Everyone walked?few people ran?away from The Ellipse because we all expected it to be hit within minutes but nobody wanted to look as terrified and clueless as we were. And with distance from the potential new Ground Zero our strength returned, our resolve, and once the towers came down, our hearts filled with love for country and complete and utter hatred for the enemy?whoever he was. For my part, the day had many lessons to offer. I learned how and where to give blood, and I learned how many people really cared about me when I was finally able to check my Instant Messenger and voice mail messages. I thought of the thousands of energetic, young, thoughtful people my age and a few years older working in the Towers that day, and about how many didn?t get out fast enough because nobody really thought that the Towers would come down. I can?t say that I took away one specific, lasting lesson from September 11, 2001. It?s just a day of memories. I think often, and in private, about Flight 93 and where it might have been going, about whether it would have killed me had brave Americans not decided otherwise. I think about the geopolitics of it all, and I suppose I simply don?t care why it all happened. I know why, but I just don?t care, and maybe that?s one of the lasting effects of proximity to it all. Selfishly though, I suppose I felt privileged to be at a place that was in the crosshairs and yet wasn?t hit. I felt almost special to be able to say that I was at a certain place when everything went down, but I think now that that kind of thinking was just a way of not confronting their logical extension: that yes, in fact, I and everyone else at the White House that morning, had narrowly dodged a bullet. It?s a feeling that no new AU freshman (I imagine) will be able to understand in the same way because they weren?t here for September 11 or for anthrax, and while they could worry about the possibility that their local city hall might become the target of Radical Islamists, they probably knew as well as any of us that the real targets were in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, London, and?above all else?in Washington, D.C. Asking what it was like to be at the White House on a year ago September 11 is an impossibly loaded question. Everyone had their own unique experience, and everyone took away different things. By virtue of my proximity to events and to potential events I suppose I took a rather uncompromisingly Spartan view of things. But my experience is no ?better? or ?worse? than anyone else?s. The closer you come to proximity to the events of that day the more upsetting, I think, everything becomes. Certainly if you were in one of the Towers or at the Pentagon or aboard Flight 93, you were in a place nobody would ever want to be. And, once you put your politics aside, nobody would have wanted to be in President Bush?s shoes after his chief of staff, Andy Card, whispered in his ear, ?Mr. President, a second plane has hit the World Trade Center, America is under attack.? Proximity is fun to think about when you?re a safe distance away, but as someone who was too close for comfort that day, I wish I had just stayed at home and been shaken awake like everyone else. 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 story6698.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. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 147.9.158.101 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 am appalled at the way the event has been used--to justify an unjustifiable war, clamp down on civil liberties, discriminate against innocent Muslims. It just seems to me that it is the universal excuse for doing the wrong thing. I am also appalled at the politicization of the memorial project. Oklahoma City had a brilliant and moving memorial so soon after the event. I am appalled at the lies Christie Whitman told and the neglect of the health of those who worked so diligently and with such care after the event. We have compounded from within the damage that was done to us. It was a horrible act of violence but it would seem to have made us turn that violence against ourselves. 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 story20668.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. 2006-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.161.124.130