28 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: First let me tell you l was not born an American, l am English by birth, so as a person who has chosen this country by free will and not birth, l will tell you my story. l was home alone, when l saw the first pictures l thought it was a hollywood movie. alas it was true, we were hit. we thought this could never happen. Was London next the place where all my family are. phone lines internationally busy busy busy. no news from England on the t.v. that was a good sign. were we too busy though to report it if something was wrong as we had this terrible event before our eyes. pray, l thought pray for the whole free world. this is an atteack against us all. my heart broke that day, our world of no fear gone forever, this land l have loved, hurt,crying,wounded. l am to be a grandmother soon, will my grandchild never know the peace l had lived with all my life, going around as if all was well, forgetting that for all my life other people lived like this on a daily basis. we must never let them win, they are evil, my grandchild, an American will one day know that peace l had for so long, and took for granted without a single thought l know one day we will be as we were, it may not be in my lifetime but we are so strong, so kind, so loving. l will never forget the images that day. l will forever think of their children, their wives, mother's and father's l cannot help them, l wish l could. they watched what l watched and had a loved one inside those towers, but they are American's , somehow they will do it that is what American's do. my son is a policeman, his heart at age 30 has been broken, if he had been there on that day he would have done what they did. no questions asked, he would have gone in, he would have not been afraid, you see he is an American policeman and he loves America like l do, he was born to it l chose it but the love is the same. we will alway's remember every one of you, we will alway's cry and pray for you. we will alway's love America no matter what they try to do to us, it belong's to us, we have built lives here and we love the way it is and will not let them change it God bless America my home sweet home ruth krug Lakeland florida 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 story3023.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. 65.32.138.116 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 posted the following on 9/12/02 on my website, www.GoDaven.com: In times like these, people often feel the need to record their own experiences, as well as to read about the eyewitness accounts of others. To that end, I decided to write down my experiences over the last 36 hours since the tragedy. I was in my car on the Long Island Expressway on the way into New York City where I work as a senior Ophthalmology resident at New York University. I'm currently assigned to cover Bellevue Hospital. I usually take the Long Island Expressway to the Midtown Tunnel to enter the city, but since they were reporting long delays at the tunnel, I drove instead towards the Queensboro Bridge. As it turned out, if I?d have tried for the tunnel, I never would have been able to get into the city before the tunnel was closed. I was listening to the news, and at about 8:45 AM, they went live to the traffic helicopter, which reported that they saw some kind of explosion at the World Trade Center. The reporters in the studio said they saw the same thing. For the next few minutes, there was some debate over whether the explosion came from inside the building or outside, until many eyewitnesses began calling in saying they saw a plane hit the building. Less than a minute after the plane hit, my car came over a rise on the highway, and I was treated to a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline, with the very obvious difference today of a long, grey, banner of smoke drifting from the north tower of the World Trade Center, out eastward over Brooklyn. The smoke itself just looked like it would have come from a large chimney, or factory, until you saw that the source of it was the top 25% of the tower, totally engulfed in the smoke, with a small, almost imperceptible hint here and there of redness in the grey, evidence of flames. I looked around at the cars around me, and everyone was obviously looking right at the spectacle, with the same shocked expressions I was sure was on my face as well. I left the highway at the exit for the bridge, and was stuck at a red light when, in a confusion of reporters and eyewitnesses calling in with conflicting information, it became clear that another plane hit the other tower. Until that point in time, I felt that the first plane hitting was a tragedy, yes, and perhaps an act of suicide or terrorism, but it was still the kind of thing we all could imagine might happen someday. From the time the second plane hit, until now as I write this, I?ve felt this pit in my stomach?it was now very obviously a terrorist attack of unprecedented proportions?nothing would ever be the same in this country? I drove onto the Queensboro Bridge, and again had a panoramic view of the Manhattan skyline, now marred by the same billowing grey smoke, this time coming from both buildings. The large gash in the side of the first building was more obvious from this, closer, vantage point. As I was crossing the bridge, it was reported that all the bridges and tunnels into and out of the city were now closed to all traffic, and the entire airspace over New York was being ?sterilized? (their word), with all planes diverted elsewhere. I still saw in the distance, far to the west of the city, a plane in the distance, and I kept an eye on it to make sure it didn?t seem to be heading in my direction. I believe I was one of the last cars to make it across the bridge before it was closed. I got off the bridge and turned south onto 2nd avenue, which I planned to take all the way down to Bellevue. Right away, the sound of sirens? Police car after police car, interspersed with ambulances and fire engines, came tearing down the center lane of 2nd avenue, with cars on either side parting to allow them to pass. I saw more rescue vehicles at that time than I?ve ever seen before in my life. Traffic began to slow more and more every few blocks, until at 38th street, it was a standstill. Before traffic could pile up behind me, I shifted into reverse, and pulled into the side street, where I parked. The sign said that parking was limited to trucks loading and unloading during the day, but I didn?t think the police were going to be busy distributing parking tickets on that day. I put an ID identifying myself as an MD in the dashboard, and left my car there. I walked from there to the hospital, which is on 27th St. and 1st Ave. In that short walk, it was clear that the city was in shock. People on the sidewalks were gathered around cars that were stuck in traffic, which opened their windows so everyone around could here the latest news, which included the fact that the Pentagon was hit as well. Looking down 2nd avenue, you couldn?t see the buildings themselves, but the dark grey stream of smoke was very evident, crossing the avenue all the way down south. Some people were shaking their heads in disbelief, some running southward in the direction of the buildings. I arrived at the hospital, and went up to my office. I encountered some residents who had no idea what was going on, and notified them of the situation. We were all informed that everything normally planned for the day, including all clinics, as well as all elective surgery, was cancelled. I quickly changed into my scrubs, and called up the patient I was scheduled to perform cataract surgery on that afternoon. He told me that the hospital had already called him to tell him the surgery would be postponed. I took the bag my wife had packed my lunch in, dumped out the food, and quickly filled it up with everything I could think we would need for any eye emergencies that would arrive: eye patches, eye shields, penlights, tape, gauze, all types of eye drops and ointments. I joined a few of the other residents, and we all went downstairs to Bellevue?s Emergency Dept. Right before we went down, I found out that a patient we had been managing for the past 2 weeks in the hospital with a very serious eye infection was being discharged home immediately, along with every other non-seriously-ill patient in the hospital, to clear up as my hospital beds as possible. The Emergency Dept. was absolutely packed, but with doctors, not patients. While the ED would usually, at that time in the morning, be moderately full with various types of patients, all non-essential patients were either being turned away by triage, or being sent elsewhere. Literally hundreds of doctors were quickly putting on gowns, gloves, and masks. While a team was selected to man each bed in the ED, all the other doctors (including myself) and medical students were herded into one central area. The sight of every single stretcher in the emergency dept. lying empty was shocking, and I?m sure many had never seen the ED that empty of patients ever before. Tape and markers were passed around so everyone could label themselves, allowing everyone to immediately identify everyone else?s function. I wrote ?Ophthalmology ? PGY-4? (post-graduate year 4), and smoothed the label across my chest. I was thinking about how long it had been since my Emergency rotation in my 3rd year of medical school , and hoped I remembered enough to be able to do what was needed, should it be necessary. Then, the waiting began? and continued? As we were standing around, the head physician in charge kept shouting out announcements, everything from ?Keep the hallways clear? to ?No ambulances are able to make it into the area yet?all patients are currently being evacuated by boat?. Supplies for each station were checked and rechecked. As it was lunchtime, food arrived and was distributed. The food distributor apologized 3 times to me that he had no Kosher food yet, and I reassured him not to worry. Still, as it was still quiet, I figured that it was a good time to actually grab a quick lunch, during the calm before the expected storm. I went upstairs with another resident, and wolfed down a quick lunch while we watched on a TV replays of both buildings collapsing. A few minutes later, we went back down to the ED, where a surprisingly small number of patients were being brought in. Still, those that were arriving were a grim testimony to the degree of absolute destruction that had taken place. Missing body parts, blood spilling, neurosurgeons being called, X-ray technicians wheeling their equipment from patient to patient to snap shots, but everything was apparently under control, with many more doctors standing around than were needed. With our biased view, my fellow residents and I took a quick peek at the eyes of every patient wheeled past us, to see if we?d be needed. We talked about how busy we expected to be later in the day, as patients would start arriving. We expected it to be the busiest day of our career, as went through the calculations ? 50,000 people in the immediate area around the hospital, with a large number of patients being brought to us, with the inevitable large number of eye injuries?I fully expected to be working nonstop for the next 48 hours, at least. We wondered if the hospital would spare an operating room for us to perform eye surgery, if needed, of if they?d keep all the rooms in reserve for lifesaving, instead of vision-saving, surgeries. As there was clearly no need for us to stand around in the middle of the ED, we found a room in the Urgent Care unit, right next door, which we adopted as our station. We set up a radio there, so we could listen to the latest developments in the news all day. I announced over the loudspeaker where were located, so all patients with any kinds of eye problems could be brought to our attention. In the adjoining rooms, orthopedic surgeons and other non-urgent care medical specialists had set up shop, as well, to deal with simple broken bones and an assortment of other non-life critical aches and pains. Then, finally, a steady stream of patients were brought to us to manage. Over 95% of the patients we took care of, throughout the day and into the night, were firemen and paramedics. We didn?t see any ?civilians? who had been inside the buildings at the time. Every one of the rescue workers was covered with a thin layer of gray soot. We were warned by one fireman that if were to examine anyone with a significant amount of the soot, we should keep our masks on, because of a fear of asbestos. Nearly everyone had the same exact eye injuries ? chemical conjunctivitis and mild corneal abrasions, both from the thick smoke and debris. Every fireman had a story to tell. One was about to enter the elevator in the second building when the first building collapsed. The wave of debris sweeped over him and the others in the area, and in the process of trying to escape the building, they were all knocked to the ground, by a combination of the force of the debris as well as everyone tripping over each other. With a thick layer of debris on top of him, he began crawling forward, not sure in what direction he was heading. He came to a grate, which he moved out of the way, and a few minutes later, emerged outside. He was fortunate to escape with mild eye and knee injuries, but had no idea if any of the other firemen in his team had survived. Others had been outside when the buildings came down. We didn?t see a single rescue worker who told a story of being anywhere above the ground floor ? the reasons why were obvious. At about 4:00 PM, we sent most of the residents home. As the chief resident who was already scheduled to be on call this week, I stayed in the hospital throughout the night, along with two first-year residents. Many of the residents refused to leave right away, insisting on helping well into the night, until it was clear they were no longer needed to handle the influx of patients, which had clearly begun slowing down as the evening wore on. One 2nd-year resident insisted on spending the night with us as well, stating that this was the reason he went into Medicine in the first place. Once things began quieting down, I left the building to go find a quick dinner. I was shocked by how different the city streets were than usual. New York seemed like a ghost town ? very few cars were on the road, with few pedestrians as well. First avenue was cordoned off by the police for a few blocks in either direction from the hospital to allow any ambulances to get the hospital as quickly and conveniently as possible. The only vehicles parked on the street by the hospital were police cars, and news vans from every major TV network. Finding a taxi proved to be impossible. A steady stream of rescue vehicles with lights flashing drove downtown toward the scene. On a few streetcorners, people had set up TV sets, with small groups of people gathered around. When I reached Lexington Avenue, both sides of the street were packed with long lines of taxis parked, with no drivers inside them ? I had no idea why. The long cloud of smoke was still visible in the sky. The hospital entrance was cordoned off by the police, and to get back in, I had to show my ID ? there has never been such tight security at Bellevue before. Back at the hospital, things were very quiet. We began seeing fewer and fewer patients, until we found ourselves just sitting around, talking and listening to the news. We kept walking around the main area of the ED, looking for anyone who many need any help, but still, there were many more doctors available than were needed for the few patients that were there. I walked outside to the ambulance receiving area, where there were over 100 doctors and nursing standing around, simply waiting for ambulances to arrive. The night was quiet. Depressingly so. I wished we would have been busy. I wish I could say we spent all night taking care of a continuous stream of survivors that were pulled out of the wreckage, who were fortunate to only have serious eye injuries. I wish I could have seen some kind of indication that the rescue effort downtown was meeting with some success, sending patients in droves to our ED, but it was, sadly, very quiet. It became very clear that not only was the rescue process going slowly, but that it was bodies that were being found, and not survivors. The night was quiet. The next day, Wednesday, was quiet as well. Another cataract surgery I had scheduled was cancelled, as well, in order to keep the operating rooms available for trauma surgery on patients that never came. Only one of the patients I had scheduled for the afternoon was able to come and see me, and that was only because he lived just a few blocks from the hospital. All my other patients were unable to make it into the area because of the imposed travel restrictions. Things remained quiet at the hospital, with just a few additional people showing up with eye irritation from the smoke and debris over the course of the day. After 31 hours at the hospital, I decided it was time to go home. Walking to my car it was apparent that the city was slowly returning to some semblance of normalcy. The dark cloud was no longer as prominent, and there was slightly more traffic in the streets. There was still a steady stream of rescue vehicles heading downtown. There was one long caravan of 19 dump trucks, heading slowly down 2nd avenue with police escort. In front of Bellevue, reporters from the various networks were interviewing family members of those missing, who had come to the hospital in the hopes of finding their loved ones. Every one had pictures that they were showing to the cameras, announcing their telephone numbers in the hope that someone with information would call them. The building next to Bellevue was set up as a gathering area for family members of the missing, and the scene of hundreds of people either crying or wiping away old tears was truly horrific. Interspersed among them were clergymen, including a Rabbi or two, and vehicles labeled ?Mortuary? were parked along the street. I?m home now, typing this on my computer, still wearing my scrubs in case I get called back to the hospital. My pager is quiet. The junior residents who are spending the night in the hospital know to call me with any kind of problem at all, but my pager is quiet. I would expect that by now, there should be a lot of people who had other body injuries taken care of, and will now be seeking help with their eyes, but my pager is quiet. Thousands of people missing, injured, and dead, and my pager is quiet. I wish it would go off, I wish it would start beeping, announcing that yes, there is another survivor we can treat and improve their quality of life, but my pager is quiet. I find it ironic that in the past, whenever I?ve been on call, I?ve wished for my pager to stay quiet, but tonight, I pray that it wakes 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 story1280.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. 2002-08-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.81.81.189 Annotation Annotations to this item. Environmental/Health Impact Firefighters Missing Persons Rescue/clean-up workers/volunteers NY:3 Sep 11- Sep 21, 2001 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: Attack on America It was the beginning of my freshman year at Barker High School in New York when my attention was brought to a very serious issue. In my Global class we were learning about the current events in the Middle East. One in particular was on Afghanistan. We learned about an organization working for the government of Afghanistan that is the Taliban. They control the people living in the country. The people are not allowed to watch TV, listen to music, and much more. The leader of Afghanistan is against the United States and doesn't want promotion of the things that go on in the U.S. Also, the main religion is Islam. During that time there were eight jailed Christian workers in Afghanistan from the U.S. I knew that Afghanistan was a threat to us, but little did I know what was to come within the next couple of weeks. At 10:12a.m. on September 11th I walked into my fourth period class English. I heard a bunch of clatter and different noises coming from the monitor in the classroom. As I looked up I saw smoke and two buildings that had collapsed. Everywhere you looked people were running and screaming. I had no idea what had just happened. I went to my seat where my friend Bethany sat next to me. I asked her what had just happened and she told me the World Trade centers had just collapsed. I didn't know what to think at first because unlike most people I didn't really know much about the towers. As we continued to watch CNN a newswomen spoke of what had happened. She mentioned that many people had died. Some had even jumped out of the building due to fright and shock. Next I saw a replay of a plane going through one tower and then one through the other a few minutes later. I learned that the planes had suicide bombers in them. Many innocent people in the plane had died. As the day went on I learned more about the attack. A plane had gone into the pentagon in Washington. It is believed that Osama Bin Laden planned the attack and the suicide bombers were from Afghanistan. It turns out that thousands had died in planes, the pentagon, and the towers. Once I realized how serious the attack was and how many people had died, I was shocked, saddened, Scared, and in disbelief. I never thought that something as horrible as the attack was could ever happen to us. When I got home from school my mom was crying. She too had been upset due to the attack. Firefighters were searching for people that may be rescued. Many though were not found or were dead. It made me cry every time I heard people tell their stories on TV. One in particular was a story I heard on Oprah. A lady with long dark hair told her story. Her husband was flying home on a business trip the morning of the attack. The woman had been at work when she found out about the attack. When she got home she got a cell phone message from her husband that he had sent to her before the plane he was in crashed into the one tower. On the message he told her he didn't know what was going to happen but he loved her with all his heart. They played his message on Oprah. I feel so bad for the families and friends who lost their loved ones in the attack. It makes me realize how often we take things for granted. Our nation became really patriotic buying flags and more. The song "I Am Proud To Be An American played on every radio. As weeks went by, the search continued to find the infamous Osama Bin Laden. Till this day they have not found him. He could be anywhere. The destruction of the trade towers is still being cleaned up. Now comes an important question. Why would anyone want to do this to us? There are many answers to this question. One is global resentment. The United States has dominance over the world economy. Another reason is many people in Afghanistan don't like the way U.S. citizens act. They don't like our music, clothes, the shows we watch and much more. They don't like the freedom our people have. Afghanistan has a very low literacy rate and don't have freedom of press. There are many important things to consider for why they hate us. Since most people cant read in Afghanistan and don't have the Internet it is easy to persuade the people to believe one side of a story without hearing the other point of view. Another thing is children living in Afghanistan are taught to hate at a very young age. Last of all it is important to know that many people living in Afghanistan don't agree with the Taliban and don't support the attack on America. Overall the attack on America has changed everyone's lives forever. Everybody will and has been affected in different ways. Younger generations will be taught about the attack on America. I think now our country has stuck together stronger than anytime before and shown great pride in our nation. I hope that we will continue to stay strong and that hopefully the world will be able to accept each other's nations and live in world peace. 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 story667.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. 2002-05-23 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 168.169.8.35 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 just about to leave for the dentist with my 5 yr. old son when my brother called and told my mother, who was visiting and answered the phone, that a plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center Towers and then went on to say that another plane had just flown into the second tower. The first thing that popped into my head of course was terrorism. As the day unfolded, my husband, who had jury duty which was cancelled for 2 days due to the attacks, myself and my mother all sat in front of the television for 2 days watching the horrible events unfold. I was not able to fathom these horrific events then and I still can not now, a year later. To all those people who lost their lives, and to all of those people who lost loved ones; I wish you peace and may you find comfort in knowing they are in a better place. Thank you to all the hereos for all the help and support you provided. 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 story3352.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: Written by: Marianne T. Jervis, NJ/CISM Counselor 856-435-5115 Tuesday September 11, 2001 NYC World Trade Center gets hit 8:45 am It?s a little after 10:00 am and I hear my next door neighbor, Kevin, shouting for me somewhere in my home. I realize, as I rush upstairs from the sunroom, that he is yelling frommy front open kitchen window. He seems upset about something. He sees me and yells for me to hurry up and put my TV on. I ask him which channel. He replies, ?put any channel...you?ll see... hurry up?. I hasten to the TV set in the Living Room and see what looks like a movie of New York with the sky scrapers; so familiar to me in my past travels in the music business. I turn to the next channel; the same thing. I click the remote once again; the same scene. I turn to look back at my neighbor still standing at my kitchen window, and exclaim that ?every channel has the same scene of New York on it". ?What?s going on?? ?What are they filming?? Kevin responded with, ?keep looking... you?ll see?! I unsteadily watch and listen to the anchorwoman tell all TV Viewers that ?the World Trade Center, #1 Building has just been hit by what appears to have been a bomb?. On the screen I see the twin towers and realize that upper portion of Tower #1 is engulfed in flames. I stand frozen watching the scene with my mouth open, while my heart prays ?Dear, God... oh no?. I say aloud ?Oh My God? ?This isn?t really happening right now, is it?? Kevin yells back in to my kitchen window, ?I?m afraid so, Mar. At least that?s what all the news channels are saying? and adds that "he has to leave now to check on his 2 year old son who is taking a nap". ?My God?, I think. ?This can?t be happening.? Again, I change the TV Channel. To my added horror, I now hear the TV News Reporter announce that ?the World Trade Center has now been hit with yet another plane?. The News Reporter continues, ?Building #2 has just been hit. So now Building #1 and Building #2 have both been hit by what appears to be?......the Reporter stops in mid sentence.... I hear a loud ?Oh my God? and then, astonished and in shock, I actually see the entire building collapse. I am, shocked, pained, confused, mesmerized, numb.... shocked again,.... confused, angry,.... numb.... as I, too, utter aloud........?Oh my God?.. ?OH...MY..... GOD?... ?Please help those people, Lord?.... ?Please take them up with you?.... ?Hold them in your arms, Lord?.... ?Let them know everything will be okay?... ?Please, Lord...... Please, Lord........... Please, Lord.? ?Oh, Lord......... please help them.? ?Oh my God... I can?t believe this is really happening.? ?Is this real???? Tuesday September 11, 2001 W T C Hit 8:45 am It?s 11:00 am. The saddest and most serious Crisis Call for help, I?ve ever received by NJ State C.I.S.M. Director, Roland Kandle. ?Marianne, I need your help.? ?I guess you are already aware that we (C.I.S.M.)have been activated. I will be needing you to report to an undisclosed meeting point near the Holland Tunnel. You?ll be met by NY State Police, Port Authority Police and Federal Agents. You must give them proper I.D. (Name, Driver?s License, etc. whatever they require right now). You will then be escorted to our Command Center near the burning site. You will be needed to do ?whatever it takes? to get this situation under control. You will be going down to the site or manning the Command Post on 12-hour shifts; with the rest of the team.? ?You will be needed to do Crisis Counseling for all the Fire Fighters, Police, Emergency and Rescue Teams; and I understand there are Fire Fighters and Rescue Units being dispatched from other states. It doesn?t matter who you assist or Counsel; just be there for whoever needs it. You know what we?re looking for, so I want you to go out there and do what you do best.? He added: ?The nation is on Full Red Alert; and we don?t know what to expect next. But we do need to do something about the near and present situation at hand.? ?So.....are you prepared to do this??, Roland asked. ?Of course I?m ready, Roland.? (I responded without hesitation.) ?Whatever it takes, Roland. Whatever it takes.? ?Just tell me When and Where, and I?m there. You know me.? Roland replied, ?Great, Marianne, I knew I could count on you! You would be great at handling this, especially with all you?ve been through (referring to my own bouts with traumatic situations and post-traumatic stress while working as a NJ State Senior Correction Officer).? I thought for a moment and added; ?I know Roland...I know what you?re going to say.? ?Everything happens for a reason... and everything is in God?s hands.? ?I sure know that I will be great at spotting anyone who is about to go into any type ?Crisis Mode?. I?ll be looking for any signs of: Shock, Beginning stages of Post-Traumatic Stress, Signs of Depression, Anxiety, Panic, etc.. I know I?ll be, especially, good at detecting anyone going thru ?Crisis-Denial?. ?Crisis-Denial? is a name I gave for the symptoms I was experiencing due to many traumatic crisis situations and/or intended abusive situations I had undergone, or witnessed, while performing my duties as an Officer in Corrections. On another scale of Trauma, ?Crisis-Denial? could be defined as : What Fire Fighters, Police, Rescue Personnel, etc. go into when they are ?Toughing It Out?. ?Crisis-Denial? occurs when there are no answers, or help during extreme incidents of abuse, assault, critical incidents, of any type, etc. The Mind takes on the task of Acting Like Everything is Fine, as it attempts to make sense and/or remedy major critical situations of Extreme cruelty; Unusual punishment; Extreme Devastation; Extremely cruel Intended Hurt or Abuse; Extreme Intended Hatred / Terroristic threats or acts; etc. caused by outside forces, or the powers that be. Wednesday 10:00 am September 12, 2001 Roland telephones. ?Hi, Mar. This is Roland, again.? ?Are you ready to do some real dirty work? Get ready, because we have the Command Center up and I need you to call Linda at the Prosecutor?s Office, and get some C.I.S.M. Teams together. I?ll be calling for assistance up here in Newark and doing mostly North Jersey; but I need you to round up the troops in South Jersey.? ?Can you help me out?? ?I will fill you in on the rest of the details.? ?I can?t tell you a specific location right now.? ?Just stay by your phone, Marianne.? ?I?ll be needing you up here ASAP. I?m just waiting for clearance and the proper Authorities to get down here?. ?Get ready for a long haul, Marianne.? ?I?ll appreciate anything you can do.? (End of phone conversation.) I say a silent prayer for the victims....The Living and the Dead. I remember the words: ?He shall come to Judge the Living and the Dead?. I think, ?He?s probably Judging all of us right now........? I think to myself and stare into space....and reminisce... Dear God, I only ask that you: Give me the Right Words, to Say to These People , And Guide Me to the Ones who Need Us the Most. Amen Wednesday 2:00 pm September 12, 2001 I speak with Roland Kandle, again, about organizing the C.I.S.M. Team to go up to New York to assist with the support for the survivors and workers at the disaster. Roland tells me to stay put where I am, for the time being; as we don?t know what?s in store for us at this point. I agree. What he really needs, is for me to round up the troops and get dates and times when each member can be available for debriefing/defusing sessions. I tackle the assignment and, upon completion, await further orders. Thursday September 13, 2001 C.I.S.M. Director Roland Kandle calls to ask if I can be available for assignment in New York. I anxiously oblige; and am more than ready to assist. He gives me a check-in point where I will check-in (a 2-hour trip), get I.D.?d, and am assigned to my next post. I arrive for the 12:00 midnite to 12:00 noon shift. My first assignment is to report to the main site for a first-handed feel of what the police and fire-fighting survivors have seen and felt first-handed. Although, I really don?t see the need to have to go witness the site to effectively counsel the survivors; I obediently follow Roland?s orders. To my further astonishment (for lack of a better descriptive word), I am just totally shocked to see the high orange flames still shooting through the massive twisted steel that appears to be at least 3 city blocks in width and 1 in height. I see the grotesque ( but once so beautiful) sky scrapers with all their blown out windows on almost every floor. At the far end of the heaps, nestled between 2 more destroyed buildings, I see a huge glassed-in dome which looks as if it was hurled from atop another sky scraper during the blasts. I can?t believe what I am seeing. This not only does not look like New York City, this just doesn?t even look like anywhere or anything you can imagine in all of America. The big and massive cranes and dump trucks feverishly pulling in all around me, make this unreality and sure reality. I still can?t believe what I am seeing. Hundreds of fire-fighters and policemen hurriedly work, almost on top of each other, trying to find or rescue someone from the burning wreck. Many police in fire-proof jumpsuits, boots, gloves, masks, and protective helmets all seem to have that same glazed look and pale sickly color on their faces; as they courageously fight through the flames and thick billowing smoke coming from the fiery furnace engulfing their loved ones. Rescue workers, police, and fire fighters arrive from all around the 50 states as they all join together in trying to rescue their ?brothers? and ?sisters? from this horrendous disaster. Out-of-towners and well-wishers from among the 50 states stand with huge homemade white cardboard signs with ?Thank You and God Bless All Of You Rescue Workers?, waving American Flags, handing out boxes of food and snacks and bottles of water. It is just so unbelievable to see how all of mankind has pulled together during such a tragic event. The two extremes of visiting ?hell? and then seeing so much love ?heaven? around me brings to my mind a very familiar verse from the Bible: ?And I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth, for the former ones were passed away?... My next thought jumps to Revelations, in the Bible. I ask myself, ?Could this be Armageddon... the beginning of the end?? Friday 8:00 am September 14, 2001 Well, it sure is going to be a long haul. I still am in shock. I can?t believe the devastation on a once-traveled and well-known thriving street in the heart of New York City. The Heart of New York!! It?s indescribable. There are no words to describe the horror, the gaping enormous fiery hole in the middle of New York.....This just isn?t happening!!! This isn?t New York!!!! It doesn?t even look like anything in America. There is no place in America or American History, that I know of, that could possible come close to looking like this disaster scene....of flaming burning Concrete, Twisted Steel... Yes, Burning Concrete, and Burning Steel, etc. I?ve never heard of certain element being on fire. It is so eerie down here. The center of the City looks like it just blew up. Remnants of the explosion completely litter the cold, barren and damp dark streets all around the ?Yellow Taped? and Barricaded Site. Pieces of men?s shredded white and soiled tee-shirts wave from the tree branches from above. Desk-top ornaments and pieces of shattered pictures and photo frames are jaggedly peeking out from once ?well-manicured? bushes around nearby buildings. You can steel feel the after shocks underground from the unfathomable explosion that occurred here only a week ago. Numerous other surface explosions and fire bursts can be seen amid the heap of rubble and twisted tall steel. Huge eerily-looking skeleton-like beams of twisted steel hang at a dangerous angle nearly 12 stories in the air; and wedged firmly amid the deadly site. An enormous glass and steel globe that once crowned the top of a nearby sky-scraper dangles vicariously wedged between ruins of devastated twisted remains of once tall buildings. The only buildings that remain, are charred black and nearly windowless. There is darkness and fire and water everywhere. There is so much smoke and dust and debris in the air, that the smell of smoke or sense of smell is nearly non-existent. BRAVE Fire Fighters, and BRAVE Rescue Workers work feverishly trying to find victims under the debris. Just looking at the site tells an entirely different story, though. As I evaluate the situation, in an effort to be prepared for the inevitable, My mind thinks: ?Who could possibly have survived this?? ?I?m looking at steel and concrete burning.? I hear the Engineers telling the Fire Chief, standing next to me, that the temperature of the initial explosions was at least 2,500 degrees and the temperatures below are still rising. Fire Fighters and Rescue Workers still work feverishly, believing that they WILL save their buddies, brothers, fathers, co-workers, Superiors, sisters, mothers, etc. amid the burning rubble. There is such a feeling of Complete Contrast here! As you enter the site of ?Ground Zero? the eyes see such a dark, dark, coldness, and devastation. Yet, at the same time, there is an unbelievable feeling of nearly invisible White Glow and warmth. There is an unusual Spirit of Love, especially in the heart of all of this. It gives you chills of warmth to continue to go on. It feels like you are being hugged from up above. You can almost here angel-like singing or humming thru the loud sounds of the concrete blasters and excavating equipment. And when you look up.....You can?t help but see the white glow coming from the site, and going directly straight up to the Heavens. Working directly at the site and being directly below all of this light, especially on the 12:00 midnite shift... you get to see, feel, and hear so much around you. I see the glowing white feet of the two huge angels standing erect (as if at attention) in full-length with pure white gowns. They are standing in place of the two (2) destroyed WTC Towers. The Arch Angels are so huge and tall, their heads touch the clouds in the sky above. I wonder, how I can see the clouds above at this hour. It?s nearly 2:00 pm. Yet, the Angel?s heads light up the sky directly above. I CAN see the SKY ABOVE ad the WHITE BILLOWY CLOUDS! This is truly amazing. God?s Love is Breathtaking. I am sure that the victims are all fine and in God?s Hands. The Angels are standing Guard as we prepare the Holy Ground, from whence they came. There is such a peaceful silence through the horrific loud noises of the excavating, dumping, and welding equipment. There is such a holiness overshadowing the extremely horrific disastrous site. In your heart, you KNOW that all of these victims truly went immediately straight up to the Heavens to meet with their Maker?s Glorious Love. Two extremes are seen and felt everywhere, right now. Dear God... Sunday September 16, 2001 Just about every other day, I have been taking the 4 hour round trip jaunt to New York to assist in counseling the survivors of the WTC disaster. The trips have been very fulfilling. The stories by the survivors have been very uplifting. The experience of being a part of this rescue mission can not be described in mere words. This has been good therapy for myself, as well. At least I can do something with all of the experience I have learned from my own personal horrors. I can readily detect someone looking like they are in a daze, and going too within themselves; one of the first signs of post-traumatic stress. I can hear the survivors tell me that they are fine, as I listen intently to their hearts saying just the opposite; at times. I can offer so much moral support and good positive advice for therapeutically dealing with this major tragedy. I can finally understand why my God allowed me to go through the horrendous perils that were put before me; in order to be so useful today. As I peer out into the near distance of the burning twisted structures, my mind equates the feelings and emotions I get as my minds? files refresh flashbacks of myself being locked behind bars, knocked off flights of stairs, driven into dark woods...etc.. I feel the fear. I feel the peril. I feel the not knowing how to understand the violence. I feel the familiar and deep sadness welling deep in my heart. I feel and hear the confusion whirring and buzzing all around me. I see something so familiar, yet so meaningless and sad. I finally feel, once again, the All Familiar Feeling of my Father?s Love Hug me from deep inside; while a sturdy hand pats? me on the shoulder as chilling whisper in the air says ?Get In There....You know what to do.? I feel my Father with me and know He is definitely with them too. My feelings of confusion and terror slowly subside, as a subtle peacefulness hovers over me. An older short male Fire Chief from out-of-state looks over to me beneath a heavy looking fire helmet and special heavy yellow and orange rubber suiting. His glazed and squinted eyes try giving me a slight smile, as I read a gentle man with a crying heart. We exchange hellos and I ask if any of his crew were hurt or missing in this rescue? As he looks way down to the ground, he struggles with a muffled ?yes, ma?am?. He adds, ?too many to mention?. I ask if he is okay; to which I receive the common ?oh, yes.. I?m okay?. But his eyes tell me, please stay and talk to me. His eyes drift back away and off into deep sad silence, again. I proceed to tell him that ?God picks His Angels, you know?. I continue, ?And when He wants them with Him, there?s just no stopping that?. The fireman slowly gets attentive, again, and he looks up at me as I continued. ?I?m sure your friends are looking down at us right now.? ?They?re probably saying, ?Why are they so sad and angry down there? Don?t they know that we?re happy and finally with our Father? We feel bad for them. They?re the ones that are left down there to clean up all of that mess.? There is a long silent and sad pause....The fire-fighter finally looks up with a smile, now. He answers, ?Yes, that?s true. You know, you?re right.? I answered with, ?God allows things to happen for a reason.? ?Someday we?ll understand.? ?I?m glad to have been able to have met you, sir.? He smiles again. He then begins with, ?You know, you really made me feel so much better. I really appreciate you taking the time to stay and talk to me. You really made me feel much better.? I smile and feel like hugging him. He is such a sweet and humble man. Instead, I offer my hand and give him a very warm handshake, as I pat him on the back with my free hand. I thank him for coming out and taking the time to help his brothers. Before leaving, I add, ?Just remember, now you have a lot of guardian angels up there that you know personally by name. Don?t forget to talk to them, once in a while; especially if you need them.? The fire-fighter?s face instantly brightens and this sign tells me to move on to the next survivor. There has been such a touch of love from everyone, there are really no words that can adequately and accurately describe the current surroundings. I am truly blessed to be here. I have, personally, met so many beautiful people with so overflowing God-filled spirit and faith.. However, through this part of Heaven on Earth, there exists such a great sorrow and pain that fills the air with such immense tears of sadness to all who are around for miles of the site. Tears can be felt and heard, here, world wide. There are truly two (2) extremely visible contrasts present all around me. There is an extremely visible heartache, shock, and fear...side-by-side along with an extremely visible love, help, and hope. It is such a shame. As I enter the Port Authority Command Post, I see the many pictures of all the fallen comrades posted just outside the Control Center. There are approximately 30 to 40 faces strategically placed, amid enormous and beautiful bouquets of flowers and about 25 scented lit candles; making the shrine and faces all aglow. The faces...... The men and women in uniform... All seem to have one thing in common. Their eyes are all facing forward and direct, with a clarity and sharpness exhibited on professionals who are just a ?cut above?. They all were, indeed, above and beyond your average officer or individual. As I look closer to each individuals? photo, I further notice that each one of them appear to have been such a character in some way. They look playful and yet so sincere. I think back to how many times I have heard it said, over and over again by their fellow officers.... ?if you only knew him?.... ?he was exceptional?... ?they were so special?.... ?they were like no one you?ve ever met?..... yet I do know. I do understand. I can see it in the photos. I can feel them in my heart. I pray to God and to the deceased officers to please help me say the right words of comfort to their fellow officers and friends who have survived. Friday 10:00 am September 21, 2001 My friend Ernest Terry from Radio Station WTMR call to say hello. He asks what I am up to, and I inform him of my Counseling Job at ?Ground Zero? in NY. Ernest explains that the reason that he is calling me, is that he has been playing my song ?I?ll Climb The Highest Stairs...to You, Lord? on the air...and he has been thinking about me. I am surprised to hear Ernest say that, I inform him that the song he is referring to was written, ironically, in September of 1990. That was exactly 11 years ago. Not only that, but I discussed the conversation I had with him at that time... about the origin of that song. Ernest replied, ?I know? ?I know? ?And that?s why I?m calling you!? ?I remember you telling me that you had a vision of a pilot of a plane singing this song to God, as he saw his plane crashing into these tall skyscrapers....as he began to sing: ?I?ll climb the Highest Stairs to You Lord.... This Day of Warring....I Never had Enough Time to Say Goodbye... To All of the Ones....Who Loved Me....? Saturday September 22, 2001 Typical 12-Hour Shift from the WTC Command Post: 12 Midnight - 12 Noon Shift at the World Trade Center Site (WTC) in New York with the N.J./C.I.S.M. (Critical Incident Stress Management) Team. Met and Counseled Port Authority Police at C Base (Command Underground at Journal Square). The P.A. Police lost quite a few of their men in the line of duty at W.T.C. assigned posts above and below ground at Towers #1, #2, and #5. 1ST Post: Ground ?O? Warner Command. Temp. Base at St. Aloyisius? School Gym. 2ND Post: W.T.C. site of disaster. Recovered two more bodies from beneath all of the twisted steel,concrete, flames and dust. Supposedly, bodies were that of two more Port Authority Police. Supplied hands-on counseling and support to those still yet in shock. 3RD Post: M.A.S.H. Unit/Hospital and Body Parts Stations and crews on duty. Special Police, Rescue Workers and Sanitation Crews from all over the United States working in the Hi-Stress Venture. 4TH Post: Morgue. Priests and ministers are already in position upon arrival. Officers on duty carry that same blank stare and look of ?serious business?. Touched base with the human side of them, before leaving. Left with smiles, at least; and firm handshakes accompanied by statements of support. 5TH Post: Ground Zero. Attempting to extricate remains of a Fire Chief and possibly a Fire Captain, beneath large Red-White-Blue American Flags marking destinations and possible bodies. Huge cranes are fiercely scooping up remains of twisted steel, pieces of tan burnt office carpet accompanied with huge chunks of concrete, pieces of clothing, (appears to have been pieces of a man?s business suits, greyish white dirty sleeved button down shirts, parts of T-shirts stuck in trees and bushes along with all other debris for blocks around). Stood by many groups of fire fighters on site helping in the recovery assignment. Fire fighters lay on the ground (from Washington, DC) after working steadily all night, putting out reoccurring fires during the dig. I met with fire fighters from Miami and as far away as Los Angeles. Spoke with L.A. staff from F.E.M.A; who came equipped with their own support staff (including Chaplains) like NJ CISM. I thank them for coming out and assisting us at this time of need. 6TH Post: Recovery Mounds in progress at Site #1. Body Bags being handed out and rescue workers rush out with us in a group, armed with heavy rubber gloves and thick white rubber work buckets. Investigators from Sanitation Departments and DNA as well as several FBI investigators surround this area. The Fire Chiefs and Commanders remain focused with their feelings intact. Their prime concern, it seems, is for the many lives and safety of the rescue workers who are presently working now. Another big dump truck is filled to the top with debris. The next empty vehicle backs in to take his place. Again, the crew rummages through the next pile of debris before this, too, gets swiftly discarded. The look of hurt, pride, love, hopelessness, sadness, and unity is just overwhelming. It?s hard to imagine that so much sadness can be converted to so much beauty by the Grace of God. 7TH Post: Ground ?0? Warner Command Back to St. Aloyisius School Gym. Workers are everywhere. Some are asleep on cots. Some are in long lines waiting for clothing, supplies, equipment, etc. Salvation Army and local Restaurateurs are dishing out food and drinks for all rescuers. Fire Fighters and Rescue Squads from all over the USA are in Blue or Yellow Uniforms wearing Bold Letters or Numbers (advertising their precincts or Townships) Proudly on their sleeves or backs. Ladder Companies seem to be from everywhere; Dallas, Florida, Texas, California, Delaware, Ohio, Chicago, Trenton, Pennsylvania, Atlantic City, Newark, Oklahoma, Detroit, Mississippi, Tennessee, England, etc. (along with some of their Rescue and Police Units). I shuffle off to a back corner, behind a Temporary Wa-Wa Stand. I see a group of Out-of-state Fire Fighters huddled on unmatched metal tan and grey folding chairs. A tall wooden blackboard is set up with a few chalk diagrams behind them. I recognize the layout of the Ground Zero site on the blackboard, along with the many falling buildings around it. I notice the huge X above each underground staircase that the firefighters have been working on feverishly. My eyes scan the many sweaty and dirty-exhausted faces of this crew. I focus my attention on the middle-aged firefighter holding his face in both hands. As I near this fatigued rescuer, I touch his shoulder and hear him sobbing in a corner to himself. I sit beside him and tell him ?It?s okay? ?I know how you feel...This is absolutely terrible.? I continue, ?I?ve been through a lot of things and have seen a lot while working as an Officer in a Prison; but this is the worst things my eyes and my heart have ever endured? The gentleman tilts his head to the left, toward me, as he begins to look up. He asks, ?You worked in a prison?? ?You sure don?t look like you worked in a prison.? A few seconds go by. He asks, ?You mean a woman?s prison, right?? I smile, as I pat him on the back; and answer: ?No...an Adult Male Medium Security Prison... like in Camden New Jersey.? The Fireman now shakes his head in almost disbelief. We both smile. Then I proceed to ask him some essential questions. I find a common ground with him, now, and get him to talk. He has such a good heart. Apparently, he recognized a part of some Fire Fighting equipment which belonged to one of his long lost buddies that he used to know here (in New York) and was sad when he was the one to have found the piece of equipment which finally identified the name for the body count. (Inside, I felt like crying for him. I could feel his sadness.) He began to talk aimlessly on about his buddy. To tell you the truth, I felt his buddy right there with us as he continued to ramble on. When he was through with his story. I DID mention this to him. He said, ?You know, I didn?t want to sound weird or anything, but I actually feel like he is RIGHT HERE ALONG SIDE OF US, RIGHT NOW, TOO?! I replied, ?I know....So I guess you?ll be all right, now?? He nodded, fervently as we both smiled and waved goodbye. I said a silent prayer for the men....the Living and the Dead. I remembered the words ?He shall come to Judge the Living and the Dead?. ?Maybe He?s doing that right now?, I think to myself..again. ?Dear God, I ask you again...Please give me the words, and send me to the people that need us the most. Thank you!? Sunday 4:00 pm September 23, 2001 Upon completing, yet another day at ?Ground Hero?, I arrive at W.T.M.R. Radio Station in time to sit and chat with my dear friend, Ernest Terry. We have a very long chat and Ernest decides to continue our chat ?LIVE? on the Air. We talk about our friendship, my recent activities of support in New York, and finally we talk about my music. We begin discussing one song in particular: ?I?ll Climb The Highest Stairs? which I had written way back in September of 1990. It was recorded in Philadelphia with The Philadelphia Boys Choir. I then tell the story about this particular song as I first wrote it; again, to Ernest. It was early September of 1990 when I was deciding to finally get out of the music business, as I was very unenthused nor did I have any positive incentives to be around. I was primarily interested in sharing with the public a God-given talent I had; which was singing, playing piano, and writing songs. However, for the time being, I truly did not fit in with the current program which was being followed by the business. Also, I had bills to pay and a home to go home to. Not only did I have a good head on my shoulders, but my daddy didn?t raise no coward. I had the guts to stick it out, but I wasn?t about to lose house and home in order to be ?famous?. I knew I would always have a ?gift? as I would have dear loving friends and family. Nothing else, much mattered. Though I did know I would miss the adventure. Anyway, on one of my last trips to New York City, I was sitting on a subway train in Philadelphia, PA when I began having a private conversation with God. It went something like this: ?Dear God, why did you give me this talent? This talent amazes me and fills me with so much sunshine and light, yet the industry makes directs me to hide it under a bushel.? ?Why does it always end up like this?? ?I don?t care if I?m famous.? ?I just want to share this talent and my love, in return for the love that I feel that you give me.? ?That?s all....? ?You should have never given me this talent.? ?New York was right; when the N.Y./A.G.A.C. Guild members said that a God-given talent is a ?curse? and it?s a ?blessing?. ?And now I know it sure is.? ?Lord, you can help me.? ?Please help me.? ?And by the way, are you really singing these songs with these words and music to me?? ?Please give me an answer.? ?I?m baffled by it all.? ?I just want to make an honest living, Lord.... and maybe travel around to see the rest of your beautiful world that you created... and all the beautiful people I have yet to meet.? ?That?s all.? ?Lord, I don?t even know why I?m even on this train to New York City, again.? ?I?m just going to hear the same compliments, but nothing substantial, definite, honest, or businesslike ever comes out of it.? ?It?s all the same, Lord.? ?This is a waste of my time.? ?Yet, I forget.. when you sometimes show me reasons why; when I least expect it.? ?Sorry, Lord; if I?m nagging you again.? ?I?m only human, you know.? ?It?s your fault, that I am even like this.? ?You made me this way.? I laugh to myself, as the passenger sitting next to me sort of gives me a funny look. I can?t really tell anyone what I?m smiling about to myself. People would think I?m crazy. Oh well, what else is new? That never stopped me from being me. Boy am I tired, I think to myself. I?m at 30th Street Station, when I hear the conductor announce the stop. It won?t be too long until I arrive at the World Trade Center and meet my friend (Vanguard Financial Consultant) Michael Agnessini. I close my eyes and try to take a short nap. All this praying to God from way down to my soul has tired me out a little. With closed eyes, just as we pull away from the 30th Street Station, I am hit with a sudden image of a man with dark hair in his late 30s, early 40s, with a desperate look on his face with so much perspiration dripping from his dark close-cut hair to the back of his neck. As I sit quietly with eyes open, now, I see his face with very dark eyes of terror and love within a profusely sweating face. His skin is very smooth and almost shiny. His uniform is that of a pilot. It look like an airline pilot. As he speaks to me, now, he is saying to ?please just tell them I?m okay? ?just tell them I still feel them and will always feel them inside my heart? and that this feeling will never go away. He frantically says over and over again, ?Just tell them? ?Don?t forget to tell them" ...and finally, ?I?m going to be okay?. During this striking vision, there is such melodic music and distinctly different choirs of music all around me. The music is so loud. As the pilot speaks to me, the singing all around us entertwines with the words he speaks, and the words coming from my God who gives me the songs. We are speaking to the same one; the same father. The song is engrained in my head. It doesn?t go away. The choir looks and sounds like a boys? choir, in parts. It is not a girls choir, or a mass choir, or a mens choir. Yet at certain times, all of the choirs in the universe come together. The words begin to ring in my ears...?I?ll Climb the Highest Stairs... to You, Lord? This Day of Warring...... I never had enough time to say Goodbye..... To all of the ones, who loved me..... But I still have a feeling.... Deep inside.... Of Me....... These words can?t be right, I tell myself, as I write down this new song. This song is coming from this pilot. It should be ?I?ll Fly the Highest Skies........ to You, Lord? not ?I?ll Climb the Highest Stairs?. What does Highest Stairs have to do with it? This doesn?t even make sense. As I continue to write the song, I keep going back to adjust the words in the beginning. It is to no avail. Every time I try to change them, I hear angel voices and this pilot (I don?t even know? keep singing loudly ?I?ll Climb the Highest Stairs?..... I say to myself, ?well excuse me?. By the time I arrive at the World Trade Center Station, the song is written and completed and the chords are figured in; along with the choir parts. ?Boy?, I think, ?this is a new one.? ?Even the choir parts are written in.? Thinking nothing of it, I pack it away and exit the train to greet my friend Michael who has been patiently waiting for me. We have a scheduled appointment to meet Reverend Al Sharpton, regarding my latest song ?We?ve Got the Power?, which I wrote in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. The message in the song is to promote non-violence and non-discrimination, as well as remembering the Lord up above. It was an interesting meeting at the most famous French Restaurant in all of New York City, and then some. One thing I did notice, was that Rev. Al Sharpton?s fingernails were much longer than mine. It seemed very odd to me. Other than that, he was your typical well-polished businessman and/or politician. He seemed pleasant, but not entirely focused on business at this time. I remember driving all around New York City in Michael Agnessini?s limousine, sightseeing, and then grabbing a few drinks at a corner pub with a loud juke box playing a lot of Beatles and Rolling Stone music. After singing along with 20 or so songs, Michael and I said our goodbyes and I left for New Jersey. It is now, Sunday, September 23, 2001. I get a chill through my spine. I remember telling God ?Oh well, someday I?ll be singing this song and it?s going to mean something to someone probably on the other side of this earth?. I reminisce about the days that have just gone by. I remember, VIVIDLY, the sound of that man?s voice in the vision; telling me to ?just et them know that I love them... that I have this feeling.... that feeling of love....that I always had for them... and that I will always have for them... and that this feeling will always be with me....I think to myself, ?who would?ve known?? ?God was right, again.? ?This is amazing.? ?Lord, guide me now.? ?I know now what you were trying to tell me before.? ?Please help me to find the purposes.? ?Thank you, Lord.? I think back to how many times, when I told this story to people in the industry, they must have thought I was crazy. I told Joe Fitspatrick, Director of the Philadelphia Boys Choir. I told Alonzo Jones and Ernest Terry at WTMR Radio Station. I told Charles Webb, head Planner and Developer of Southeastern Transportation Department of Philadelphia (SEPTA). I bet they don?t think It's so crazy, now. I laugh to myself, again. ?Boy, does God have a sense of humor some times.? ?Who would?ve thought?? At least one thing is for sure. All of those victims surely became instant angels, and I know this in my heart. God Showed Me.. I heard them singing, long ago. Love is infinite. God is Love. Yet I still can?t explain it. Oh, well. I guess it?s not important. Some things are better left unsaid. Some things are better when they are left a mystery or a miracle. That?s when you know just how Awesome God Is! I wish I had a penny every time I heard a survivor tell me that they weren?t supposed to be off from work that day, or they were unusually late. I usually would smile and say, ?God knew?. ?God picks His angels.? ?It wasn?t your time to go.? ?You still have much more work to do down here with us.? Usually, the response and realistic advice is well taken. However, I did run across a few angry survivors who wished they were there instead of their dear friends. To that, I advise them to stop being so selfish; and to be thankful that they at least had the chance of having crossed paths with these special individuals in their lifetime. At least they know some of these guardian angels by name, whereas, others like myself would have wished to have known them. If that doesn?t get through, I usually add ?I haven?t met anyone who wanted to live down here forever... have you?? That usually gets a laugh, as they answer with a resounding ?NO?. It?s funny, through the course of my years as an Officer and Counselor; I have met many individuals who have tried repeatedly to take their own lives several times. And there were extreme cases. For example anywhere from ingesting up to 80 barbiturates at one time to repeatedly slicing their wrists (with the vein); and have astonishingly survived; only to repeat this performance again and again. Ironically, though, God decides when it?s time for you to come home. I have been a witness to this on numerous occasions. Noone decides how long they will live on this earth; only God makes that decision, when He feels you?re ready to come home. And that I can say with great conviction. Thank God that the disaster happened the way it did. The way I was told by surviving Officers, Experienced Fire Fighters and Building Experts at the site; it is common knowledge that the force of the airplanes colliding into the buildings caused such intense heat within the sky scrapers, that the victims didn?t have enough time to realize what hit them when they met their Maker and Father. The victims that perished from the mighty collapses, were instantly knocked unconscious as entire ceilings collapsed down upon them. The victims in the highest floors of WTC Building #1 were overcome by extreme smoke inhalation when the air tight building was spewing heavy smoke from below into the elevator shafts and staircases leading up to the highest floors. It also was good to know that they all made peace with their Maker; calmly phoned their families to say ?I just called to say I Love You... I don?t know what?s going to happen... but it?ll be okay... Remember I Love You?. The few people who were spotted jumping from the buildings, I am told by medical experts, either passed on from severe shock or painlessly passed on when their hearts stopped beating before they even hit the ground below (since our bodies are not designed to be built like superman or superhuman). To all of this I would add: ?If your friends could physically talk to you now, I?m sure they would be saying?... ?What?s all this crying about?? ?We?re happy!? ?It?s the people in the world that we feel sorry for...Don?t feel bad for us, because we?re with our Maker.? To this, surprisingly, I received quite a few ?Amens? from surviving comrades. (At this point, I would just say silently, ?Thanks again, Lord Jesus. Let?s mend the next broken heart.? c/o 10-01-01 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 story1632.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. 2002-09-01 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.195 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: On that day, I turned on the TV when I came down to make coffee as usual. It was approximately 8:05. I knew instantly that something was wrong. I sat down and saw the second plane fly into the building. At first I thought it was an accident, that something was wrong with the plane, but it wasn't long before the details became clear. I started crying and couldn't stop. I thought it was only the beginning of many more attacks and I didn't know where to go. I called my brother who is a retired army pilot and he talked to me to assure me that I was not in danger at that time. I avoid going downtown Chicago and I have not been so worried about our country since President Kennedy was assinated. 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 story3591.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. 152.163.188.6 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: Although I am in the UK I still feel the pain of Americans who didnt loose anyone close. I was at work and has just returned from lunch, my friend said," A plane has crashed into the world trade center" this was at 8:55 US time. Within minutes call after call was coming through. They started as people just wanting to find a number or the dialling code. After the second plane hit the calls changed. People were crying and screaming at me down the phone "Why cant I get through" from that to "My daughter works on the 83rd floor,please help me" If people in America felt helpless then there was also alot of people across the Atlantic who felt even more helpless. I stayed at work for 13 hours, I didnt have to but I felt that I had to do something, as little as it was. On an average day we take about 13,000 calls on September 11th we took 81,000 calls. I am no brave fireman or medic, I am an operator who tried all she could to help. This year on the Anniversary I couldnt face work. I stayed at home praying for all the friends and families that lost loved ones and I vowed to put the nightmares I have had since behind me. God bless all who died and their families God Bless America Love Helen Spall 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 story7629.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. 2002-09-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 62.254.0.10 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 at schoo ,iwas 8 years old an my teacher stop the class an turnd on the radio after she got a call from another teacher. I was scard i thought that every body was about to die I nver thought some thing like this would happen to America . Now that am old I can really think about the lives that was lost . Now that happend I really don't feel safe in 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 story20566.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. 68.186.239.238 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: On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was teaching science to my 5th graders when a knock came at the classroom door. One of the secretaries told me about the first plane hitting the World Trade Center tower, but don't say anything to the children. A few moments later, she knocked again with the news about the second attack. It was impossible to believe, but even more impossible that I couldn't even let on that something horrible was happening in our nation. The last and final knock told of the Pentagon and the closing of the airports across the nation. It was too much to digest and still we couldn't let the students know due to the possibilty of family involved in the attacks. At lunch, our principal told the students of the terrorist attcks against our country. The teachers sat around the only radio and listened, in horror and silence, during the short lunch break. When we returned to our classroom, my fourth grade students had many questions and I just didn't have any answers. The one question that finally pushed me over the edge was, "...but I thought this kind of thing didn't happen in America. I thought we were safe." Oh, how I wish that child was right! 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 story4062.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. 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 was sitting in front of my tv with my 2 year old Raven and 3 year old Justin when it first came across the tv. I was in disbelief that a plane hit the WTC. I thought it was just a normal plane crash. But later to find out it wasn't. I began to cry because i knew we was going to war and i didn't want my children to grow up with a life like that. I remember the stories from my grandma about world world 2 and the depression and i didnt want to go through anything like that. I held my children tight in my arm hoping and pray for it all to end. I think i was extra fearful because i live so close to a nuclar power plant{3 mile island}thinking the teorrist would attack that next. Still to this day 1 year later to be exact we are still feeling the pain from what happened. I never thought i would ever live through something like this. I have learned how ever that it is possible for complete strangers to pull together and make anything possible. Thats why I love this country so and its because we all want the same thing FREEDOM. 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 story4538.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. 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: my husband and i were at the doctors office when the first plane strucj at the world trade center and were in shock and cried and especially the second one. it was horrible and people in some buildings where we were had friends there and were crying and some even drove there. then i am usually on call at my job to run the switchboard because there was no relief and the others were tired from all the calls coming in because we had also set up a blood bank there at childrens specialized hospital in mountainside new jersey and the calls were coming in like crazy and we did get some people in for trauma. that day was also something different because the people and some friends of mine were at the port in elizabeth new jersey could see the towers coming down and it was dramatic. there will always be a scar of what happened and at times i still cry because it was so heartbreaking and should of never happened. this is really a day to remember. never forget our fallen angels 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 story4725.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: JAMES & KATHLEEN (A 9/11 STORY) By James Kazalis The atmosphere was the clearest I could recollect in my personal history. No small or distant detail could go unnoticed that day. I arrived at Hoboken train terminal and without hesitation chose the ferry instead of the PATH train to cross the Hudson River. While crossing the river my eyes drew towards the early morning sun reflecting off the immigration center on Ellis Island. I thought of my grandparents arriving there 100 years earlier from Lithuania. This early morning thought was broken as my ferry entered the looming shadow of the North tower of the World Trade Center. Once the ferry docked at the World Financial Center, I walked briskly with the other commuters towards the Winter Garden. No other labor force could have walked with such early morning vigor and determination as a Wall Street commuter. It was this hurried pace that was a warm-up for the tempo of just another workday in lower Manhattan. I went inside the Winter Garden. I walked past the tall elegant palm trees. These trees channeled me to the concentric marble staircase leading upward to the pedestrian bridge. This bridge would carry me over West Street to the World Trade Center. Having crossed the bridge, I went outside again. I was now on the World Trade Center property. I passed within a few feet of the North side of the North tower and entered Austin Tobin Plaza. On my left was the raised black marble fountain with Koenig's sphere as it's centerpiece and to my right was the outdoor elevated metallic stage where music concerts were held during the summer. I noticed the how precise the alignment was of all the white folding chairs in front of the stage. They appeared ready for the next audience. I entered the South tower. I was at work early that day. I started my computer and began attacking the pile of paperwork on my desk. At about 3/4 of an hour into the workday, I heard a muffled explosion. I stood up and peered over the top of my cubicle partition, saw nothing, sat down and went back to work. About one minute later I heard the hysterical cries of a secretary. This time when I looked outside, I saw white paper, almost identical to what was in my own hand at that time, encircling the outside of my building at the 67th floor level. All I knew was that an office above me opened up to the outside. I hit Ctrl+Alt+Del on my computer to lock it. I put on my jacket, grabbed my briefcase and went to the nearest stairwell. The stairwell had many people descending from the upper floors. However it was not choked nor was there panic. It was a steady stream of many people walking down in pairs. When I reached the 44th floor sky lobby, I noticed many people milling around and wondering. The wall-mounted flat screen television above the entrance to the cafeteria was displaying a business news station. I could see the electronic ticker tape moving from right to left on the bottom of the TV monitor. A rumor in the lobby was circulating that a single engine plane or a helicopter had hit the North tower. Events were downplayed frequently that day. An announcement came across the public address system. "An airplane had hit One World Trade but the integrity of Two World Trade was okay". This message was repeated once more. I heard two young men say they were going return to work as they headed towards their elevator. As I took a few steps towards someone I recognized, some great force struck my building. It felt like the floor was being violently pushed under my feet. While falling to the floor, the steady repeating rhythm of time suddenly stopped. I instantly developed tunnel vision and my depth perception did not extend beyond twenty feet. My eyes focused on a nearby out-of-service elevator. The impact had created a shock wave through the entire building that forced dust at a high velocity from all four sides of the elevator doors to the inside of the lobby. I was now prone on the floor. Pandemonium erupted and filled the sky lobby. I picked myself up. I noticed that my monthly rail pass popped out of my briefcase and was lying on the floor. Even though it was only a few feet away, I would have to go against the grain of the moving crowd, as they were all heading toward the exit. But I needed the rail pass to get home. I never understood why anyone did not collide or brush into me. I retrieved it uneventfully. I turned around and began to proceed down the stairwell again. Kathleen worked directly across the World Trade Center in Jersey City. Her building was located behind the Colgate clock. A co-worker told Kathleen that one of the twin towers was on fire. All went outside to the parking garage to observe. As she looked across the Hudson River she saw a commercial Jetliner enter her panorama from her right. It seemed to come from just in front of the Statue of Liberty. She could not understand why this airplane was maneuvering so low at such a high rate of speed. She did not associate this plane and the World Trade Center fire as being connected. At the moment the plane struck the South tower James's name was embedded in her primal scream. She had hoped he escaped unharmed but if he did not she hoped he died instantly. Kathleen was assisted back to her desk, where for two and a half hours she waited with her left hand clamped to the telephone receiver waiting for his call. I descended a story or two from the sky lobby then all downward movement halted. Stopping and waiting were never in any prior drills and for that reason tension began to build. People whom worked on the lower floors beneath the sky lobby now began the evacuation process and entered the stairwell all at once. One young man a few rows behind me started to push the woman in front of him. I and a few others turned around and gave him an unfavorable glance. That was all that was needed. Within a minute or two, which seemed a lot longer, the procession down renewed. There were two more delays encountered. After the second delay it got increasingly warm. The amount of people, combined with no air conditioning in the stairwells made this happen. Once I descended to around the twentieth floor, the pace began to pick up and the procession seemed to spread out but never disappear. The lower floors now appeared vacant. I could now descend at a quicker pace. Finally the last exit door opened and I had reached the mezzanine level. The mezzanine was one floor above the lobby level but was at the same level as the outside Plaza. I was being directed by a security guard to descend to the lobby level via the escalator. The escalator power was turned off. There was a delay here because of the amount of people at this level were from multiple stairwells. While I was waiting for my turn, I looked outside in the Plaza. This was the same area I had walked through moments earlier on my way to work. I could not recognize anything. Everything was charred, smoldering or on fire. Debris was everywhere. At that exact moment I saw an outside support beam about 20 to 30 feet long, hit the ground. Each end of the polished steel beam alternately hit the ground until it stopped. Both ends of that steel support were on fire. My rational mind had a very difficult time understanding what I was seeing and what made this happen. God had spared me from identifying the details of the charred items in the Plaza. Later I learned that I was looking at human remains. As I descended the escalator to the lobby area, I saw a team of about six firemen. A port authority maintenance worker was trying unsuccessfully to fully open a revolving door to aid them in entering the South tower. The firemen were carrying equipment and apparatus to combat the fire. The tallest of the firemen and the leader yelled loudly and intensely. He could not tolerate this delay. He had to get himself and his men inside. The revolving door then opened and all six men went in. I exited though one of the other doors. I was out of the South tower and in the concourse. The first thing I noticed was all the retail stores were closed. I have never seen that on a weekday. Then a female port authority police officer shouted and directed me to move towards her quickly and to exit at Five World Trade. When I looked to my left I saw all one dozen descending escalators to the PATH with their power off and vacant. I went past J. Crew, by Ecce Panis bakery and finally I was waiting in line next to Tourneau jewelers at the base of the ascending escalator in Five World Trade Center. At the exact moment I exited Five World Trade Center, plainclothes policemen were just outside the door shouting instructions. "Keep walking quickly, do not turn around and do not look up", was repeatedly barked. Proceeding east, on my left were a few EMT people tending to prone victims. To my right I saw what looked like a professional photographer capturing images above. I crossed Church Street and proceeded on the sidewalk up Fulton Street along with others. Still looking forward I could see crowds of people on Broadway looking high up over my head with horrified and anguished expressions on their faces. As I got closer to them, I could now hear their gasps and cries. I decided it was time for me to look. I stopped, sidestepped left, turned around and braced myself with my right hand grasped around the ancient iron fence surrounding Saint Paul's church. I inhaled deeply. Both towers were on fire. The tower I worked in had more flames. I saw huge holes in both buildings about 3/4 of the way up. I had recently read a book on the construction of The World Trade Center and I knew the outside walls structurally supported it. I did not feel comfortable where I was. My thoughts now turned to Kathleen. I had to find a telephone. I started walking north up Broadway. People were in the street, on the sidewalk, everywhere. All eyes focused high above and in the opposite direction I was walking. The first public phones near City Hall Park had lengthy human lines. The people on the phones were not brief. They wanted to tell as many people as possible that they were safe. Some callers started making second and even third phone calls. Those waiting in line objected loudly. I continued walking north. Coffee shops, restaurants and fast food establishments all were closed or in the process of closing. When I got near Canal Street I heard a loud noise that was a combination of a roar and rumble. That noise was instantly overrode with the cries and screams of people in the street near me. The South Tower had come down. I did not turn around. I had not felt this kind of deliberate devastation since I was in South Vietnam 34 years earlier. I wondered who lived. I wondered who died. I knew that Kathleen did not know I was still alive. My paced picked up. My strategy was that I should still head north but not on Broadway. My chances of finding a public phone should improve. My destination was the Port Authority Bus Station. I had just approached Union Square Park when I heard the same cries as before. The North Tower was gone. I turned around to look at the giant cloud of dust and saw the void where two tall modern structures to human civilization, peace and trade once stood. I was on Fifth Avenue. I was still looking for a public phone but the lines of people were even longer. I reached 34th Street. Suddenly a chill went through my body. I recognized the base of the building I was standing next to. I looked up. I was at the bottom of the Empire State Building. How careless I was to place myself next to the now tallest building in New York City and a possible target. I picked up my pace even more. Adrenaline was at record levels in my body. Finally I reached the bus station and found it closed. I thought of the familiar banks and banks of telephones inside going unused. In what seemed like my continued effort not to stay in one place, I decided to head west on 42nd Street to the Hudson River. I passed a parked police car that just arrived from lower Manhattan. It was covered in ash and dust. All of the windows in the car were gone. Just a few blocks from the river I saw somebody step out of a restaurant. I was shocked that a restaurant was still open. I went inside and found a public phone on the wall and nobody using it. I thought it must be broken. I picked up the receiver and heard a dial tone. I felt so relieved to have that power and potential of communicating with the outside world. Kathleen's work phone number was normally located in the easy recall section of my brain. But the events of that morning altered my normal thought process. I could not consciously remember her phone number. After a few frustrating seconds, I just went ahead and dialed. I hoped somehow my finger knew her number. The telephone barely started to ring when Kathleen picked up the receiver. It was the most emotional exchange ever in our combined lives. We both started to speak over each other's words. She was emotionally thrilled to hear my voice. I said "it's me, I'm ok, and I love you". The words really had no meaning, but the life emitting them did. The phone call did not last more than a minute or two. The time was 11:20 AM. I told her I would get home but did not know how or when. Once I hung up the receiver, I took a deep unencumbered breath. I was not far from the midtown ferry docks. Once I got to the docking area, I found huge lines. It was difficult to determine where the lines began, where they ended and or even how wide they were. There was little supervision with the exception of a few NY Waterway employees trying to maintain some order. Considering the size of the crowds, which looked like it was in the tens of thousands, it was amazing the calmness that existed. There was an African- American uniformed employee whom had a beaming smile on her face. I could not remember the exact reassuring words she chose but it did not matter. Whatever those specific words were, it made everyone within the sound of her voice feel a whole lot better. It was the first ordinary, overt, positive gesture made by one human being to another since the tragedy began. West Street had no traffic on it with the exception of an occasional emergency vehicle. When a vehicle did drive by there were no sirens or horns. There was no one else on the road. They all headed south to the giant smoke and dust cloud in lower Manhattan. Then I noticed something really unusual. A young couple was roller-blading south on West Street. They seemed to either ignore or did not see the Dunkirk size lines less than ten feet from them. They also did not notice the smoke rising from ground zero. They just continued to skate like nothing was out of place. I could not discern whether they were very athletically disciplined or just the most oblivious idiots on earth that day. While there was some chatter in line, it was for such a huge crowd quiet. Because no one definitely knew what had happened, no one felt compelled to talk. America was stunned. I turned on my radio that was is in my briefcase to a local AM station. I heard of a plane hitting the Pentagon and another going down in Western Pennsylvania. The word terrorists was used a lot. Someone in line whom knew something about piloting aircraft said it must have been teams of multiple hijackers and not individuals acting alone. After a few minutes I realized that the radio newscasters were doing nothing more than speculating and rehashing. I turned off my radio and no one in line objected. I realized how empty and quiet the sky was. There were no sounds of propellers, jet engines or helicopters. If thoughts contained any sound at all, that day they could be heard. Additional ferries were being pressed into service and the line instead of getting longer began to shorten and move in a serpentine fashion towards the docks. I was not concerned about the particular destination of the ferry. As long as it crossed the Hudson River and put me a step closer to home. After about thirty minutes I finally boarded a ferry that would bring me back to Hoboken Station. The ferry pushed across the calm Hudson. I welcomed the noise of the ferry's engines. I looked at lower Manhattan and saw the smoke drifting upward. Perhaps the smoke would carry the unfortunate souls of those lost that day to a better world. My thoughts then concentrated on a specific group of people. How helpless, angry and silent all people serving in uniform must have felt. Their job was designed to protect ordinary citizens but instead found themselves as nothing more than remote television viewers observing this horrific attack. When the ferry finally docked I noticed a significant number of official personnel waiting. As I stepped off the ferry they repeatedly asked if anyone worked in the World Trade Center. I was directed to my right just outside the terminal. I thought perhaps they wanted an eyewitness accounting of the tragedy, but instead I found myself waiting in a line to be decontaminated. In front of me was a man in a pure white decontamination suit, respirator and holding a fire hose over his shoulder. I made a mild attempt of protest indicating I had no dust or any contaminants on me. Many people evacuating the World Trade Center had prescience of mind to leave the downtown area. After all, once out of the building, we knew we would not return to work that day. But I was wise enough to know that protesting made little difference. I was going to get hosed. I lifted my arms up from my side until they were parallel to the ground. My briefcase was in my left hand. As the hose dispensed a fine spray I slowly turned in a 360 degree arc. It took no more than a few seconds. They handed me a white towel and directed me to a triage area where medical personnel examined me. They asked me several times if I was okay. Finally they released me and I left with the white towel around my neck as a souvenir. I walked into the train station looking for the boarding schedule. The station was packed with people wanting to get home. I saw that in about 45 minutes a train would depart to my home destination. I boarded the train, found a seat and waited. In about ten minutes both the conductor and engineer came into my passenger car. They began to argue about whether the train should leave on schedule or to wait and fill the train with passengers and then leave. Based on their conflicting viewpoints it appeared that nothing was going to happen. In a few minutes I heard what either was a bullhorn or a faint public address announcement. I could not hear exactly what was broadcast. Within a few seconds and while looking out the train window, I saw about 40 to 60 commuters streaming out of the terminal in a dead run. I never saw so many people in such a condensed formation, sprinting at such a remarkably fast pace. They had left the terminal because of a rumor that someone had discovered a bomb. People in my passenger car began to exit the train and terminal. I was unsure of what was happening. Considering all I had already experienced, I made a decision to remain composed. Just outside the terminal the sprinting commuters finally stopped and assembled. This group seemingly could not or would not separate. It was a peculiar site. The same New Jersey Transit official with the bullhorn that started the stampede, tried to tell this frightened group that it was a false alarm. They did not believe him. They did not move, separate or re-enter the terminal for some time. Trying to rid myself from this transportation nightmare, I now looked for a different train to get home. On the schedule board I saw a train due to leave in fifteen minutes that would take me to the town adjacent to my hometown. I boarded it and the train left the station. As my train traversed the meadowlands the feathery plumes of tall reeds moved past my window. Any other day going home and this procession of nature could invoke a light thought or two. That day they just moved endlessly past my window. The first train stop was mine. I got off the train, found a phone and called Kathleen whom was now home. I needed to make a deliberate gesture to put my life back on the same emotional track as I started the day with. There was a pastry shop next to the train station. I was seated on an outdoor bench eating a lemon ice when Kathleen's car arrived. We greeted one another affectionately, calmly and went home together. THE END 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 story9393.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. 2003-07-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 151.198.162.142 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 sitting in Air Force R.O.T.C at Kathleen High School and we were just about to go out for "inspection" when all of a sudden we were told to stand at attention and watch the television. W e turned the t.v on just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower. As me and my flight watched in aww we were shoked at the sight of the destruction these two plane had caused.That moment i realized that this was no a dream, that i was awake andthis going to be something that would never go away. I then knew how much our families relationships are taken fo granted and i then immediatly called my father to tell him i loved him. My heart goes otu to all of the victims and the victims families who lost some one on that sunny, unforgetable day in history, September 11, 2001 Sincerely Jessica Davis 15 years old Lakeland Florida 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 story5243.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. 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 had just gotten to my office located in the top of the tallest building in Nashville, the BellSouth tower. I had gotten a cup of coffee and started back to my office. I work with a large group of marketing executives who are in the 22-35 year old range. I am their parents age. I heard someone yell out--"you are not going to believe what has happened, some idiot has flown into a building in New York". Like so many peope, we felt that it was a small plane, either someone lost or taking their own life. Our monitors usually are on an intercompany feed, but can be switched to live broadcasts. We stood there, together, not speaking but holding on to each other. We didn't know what to do--pray, cry, fall to our knees--we just stood and watched. After the second plane hit--my thoughts were where are they going to hit next. I immediately thought of my daughter and her family in the surburbs outside DC. I just knew that was going to be the next target. My son in law works between the Pentagon and Dulles Airport. My daughter was at work near the airfield in Mannassas Virginia. My heart stopped with the news of the Pentagon. My daughter was on her cell phone crying asking me what to do. I had no answers--she said she was going to pick up my grandaughter and go home to wait for my grandson to come home from school. Much later in the day, we found out my son in law was safe, he wasn't at the Pentagon. But, my daughter told me--there is another plane and fighter jets were chasing it. My youngest daughter possibly had the hardest job. She is a pre-school through K inclusion co-ordinator in special education. She was with a class of pre-schoolers. They were kept at the school here in Nashville until they could get them all home. My husband is in the military and I knew not to call him, because our lives had changed in the few minutes those planes were flying toward their targets. I went back to my desk and prayed for my family, the families of those on board the planes and the people in the buildings. Then came the news of the crash in Pennsylvania. We were told the targets seem to be tall buildings in major cities. Our building is in the center of the city, across the river from an NFL football field and within a few minutes of the airport. We were told to begin to evacuate our building--emergency personnel were everywhere, but no one really knew what they wanted to do. I was blessed that day, we were safe, our friends and families were safe--everyone made it home that day. Of course, my husband has been on alert since then and will probably remain that way the rest of his life. Since that day we have re-evaulated our lives--what is important and what doesn't matter. I love my country and even though I feel such pride when I see our flag, it is no more pride than I felt when I would see it fly over the JUSMAG compound in Bangkok Thailand many years ago. My family (including my 83 year old mother) has flown across this glorious nation, two children have flown to Europe and we have gone on a cruise. One that we had posponed--but not ever again. Our lives changed that day. My faith has grown stronger, family ties have tightened, I appreciate my friends even more. I am still very angry and haven't reached the point of asking God to forgive them. I have wished warts on the nose of the woman that they kept showing on the news making the babbling sound--celebrating the death of so many people. I didn't wish her dead--just to be ugly and miserable. I do hope God grants me that wish. I pray also that God will bring peace to all of those who have suffered so much--and thanks that there are men and women who care enough to rise up and join in helping all of their brothers and sisters in our country. 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 story8031.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. 2002-09-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.214.125.14 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 had just gotton into work and I remember my co workers coming in a saying a plane has hit the WTC. I thought aloud "I knew this would happen some day those buildings are to tall". Within 20 minutes the second plane had hit and I thought this is no error we are in some serious trouble. I tried to call my family as I live in South Jersey and commute everyday to NYC. The phone lines were jammed and I could not get through for a while. when I did reach them I told them I was okay. I decided to leave with a co-worker of mine who lives in Staten Island. He said if we could make it to Brooklyn by train he had people thta could pick us up and take us to his house where he would drive me home. The Port Authority had shut down making it immpossible toget home via bus. We went out to 42nd street whre they have the jumbo TV monitor and watched in horror as the first tower fell. I started to freak out.... What was happening to all those people who work in there? I work in the travel industry and know people in Top of The World and the Observation deck. We then heard that all trains has ceased operation the city was in alock down. I decided to go back to my job it was the only "SAFE" place I knew. my co-worker decided he was going to try and walk somewhere. We said our goodbyes. I went back to my office and called some familty members. My sister told me to go stay with my niece who had just moved to the upper east side that weekend she was scared and my sister wanted me to be with her. I went to her house and turned the TV on to see what was going on. It was HORRIBLE!!!!! The next day I went to my office and called some people that I commute with and arranged to meet them and take NJ transit to Trenton NJ where my husband would pick us up. When I got to Tranton I was so thankful. I got home and picked my than infant daughter up from school and just hugged her. To think of all the children that wuld never see their parent again. I did not go into work again until Friday. I just Thank God that I was able to get back to my family. I feel terrible for those who will never see there loved ones again. May all those who perished REST IN PEACE! 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 story6161.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. 68.44.83.84 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 morning of September 11th started out like every other weekday morning...I took my son to school, dropped my daughter off at the sitter's and went to work. Shortly after I got to work my boss came in and said a bomb had gone off in the World Trade Center. We turned on the radio and went on-line to find out what we could. The information that followed was horrifying. My boss went home and brought up a small television so that we could see what was happening. I sat at my desk and alternated between crying and praying. The news kept getting worse, and worse. People kept calling, asking if I had heard. At this point, I believed the whole world knew. For the weeks and days that followed, the news replayed the Towers collapse frequently. My son, Steven, would see it, and believing that it was happening again, would run to me crying. We were virually untouched by the terrorist attacks. None of our friends or family perished. We knew no one that died. We knew no one that knew someone that died. We have mourned, we have cried, we have prayed, we will survive. Our prayers and thoughts will be for those who lived and for those who were left behind. May God Bless You. 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 story3059.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. 64.185.18.179 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: It is hard to remember the way things were before September 11th 2001. That day has completely changed the way we live, the way we act, and the way we think. The strange thing is, I can remember exactly what I was doing that entire day. September 11th started out like any other school day. I went to English first block; we were starting the background information for The Crucible. It seemed like the period was never going to end because that is the way English class normally is for me. Once the bell rang at 9:08 I went to my locker and then went to visit with some of my friends during break while trying to cram as much studying as I could for my next class. As the bell rang for second block to begin I strolled into business law and said ?hi? to my teacher as I did everyday. Still everything seemed normal, except for the fact that I was dreading our first exam of the school year. A little after class started a student walked in tardy and told us to turn the TV. on because a plane had crashed into the world trade center. As my teacher turned on the television to CNN I was astonished by what was on the screen. I could not believe my eyes, and at first I did not understand what was happening. The teacher ended up postponing our test and we watched CNN in amazement. Right when I thought things were ok and we were going to begin doing some work we witnessed the plane crash into the pentagon. At that moment it really hit home what was happening. A lot of my friends had parents who worked at the pentagon and one of my softball coaches who I had become very close to lived a few minutes from the pentagon. All of the sudden two of the girls in my class burst into tears and asked to leave so she could call to see if her father was alright. I just wanted to do something or comfort her but there was nothing I really could do. Near the end of that period our principal came on the loudspeaker and told everyone what had happened. He also decided to change one of our rules about the use of cell phones and said it was all right if we called our parents to check on them. After that period ended I had lunch. I remember walking to the cafeteria seeing so many other students in tears. I felt lucky in a way that I knew nothing had happened to my family. At the same time I felt very sad for those of them who still did not know if things were all right. The whole lunch period all we talked about at my table was what had been on the news. We also predicted that something was going to happen the middle- eastern students in the school because there were a bunch of angry Americans walking around the halls. When I got home I was relieved to see both of my parents at home and my mom had told me that she called my brother at college and everything was ok up there too. I remember watching the news the rest of the night and on to the next day. We had the next day off from school and it was weird looking out the window and seeing the smoke that had been blown over from the fire at the pentagon. Since that day things have changed tremendously for me. Over the summer when I went to my softball tournaments there was a lot more airport security. My mom was actually frisked both times we went to the airport this past summer. The country has also shown a lot more pride in America and we have all come together over the past year. It is good to see that now, after the one-year anniversary we still are Proud to be an American! 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 story6687.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. 65.90.111.48 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: When we were attacked on September 11, 01 I was in school doing a bus evacuation. The bus drivers radio turned on. The radio said that there was a terrorist attack going on. I was confused when the bus driver told us a little about it and said that it wasn't anything big so it made me wonder. One hour later, my mom dismissed me from school. I went home, watched television and found out what realy happened when two planes flew into the two World Trade Centers and killed alot of people. My life has changed sice Septeber 11, 01. My life has changed by making me feel bad about what happened to all of those people. Also it made me feel bad about Afganistans. Also, it made me think that there are a lot of terrorists in the country, and that another attack might happen. I think that we should remember what has happened. Also, we should remember the fire fighters who went in the burning buildings and risked their lives. We should make September 11 a holiday, so we can remember all the people who died that day and what happened. 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 story8464.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. 2002-10-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.60.58.139 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 morning had begun just like any other, nothing much to worry about. When my store first got word of the first plane hitting the towers, there was concern, but most thought that it was just an accident. Perhaps a small plane with an untrained pilot, but that's all. Being in a mall, I walked down to the local electronics store to see what the news had about the accident, when I saw the second one hit. I was stunned. I found myself wondering if what I had just saw was real. I could hear the excitement and confusion in the reporters voices and the stunned looks on the faces of those who had joined me in the store and then I realized that it was real. Everyone stood quietly, watching the tvs, wondering what would happen next. I ran back to my store and told everyone what had happened. Everyone stood in disbelief. We turned on the news channel on our store radio and listened in amazement. Then we heard about the Pentagon. Worry then set firmly into my mind. What was next? Then we knew. The first tower had fallen. I couldn't believe what I had heard. My mind flashed back to only a few years earlier when I had the chance to visit the towers. To see thier immense size, even being able to look down from the 78th floor. Which was pretty high by my standards. I ran back to the electronics store and noticed the crowd had grown. It was then I saw the replay of the first collapse. Everything went numb. Friends of mine who live in NY had always joked after the 1993 bombing what would happen if the towers ever fell. Unbelievably, we were now witnesses to the horrible answer. Everyone around me spoke of hope that everyone got out. Some prayed. Most stared at the TV in disbelief. Then the second tower fell. Everything went silent. Suddenly for everyone, it was real. Information about the Pentagon, NY and a plane in Pennsylvania, all began to sink in. Word came over of flights being grounded. Businesses closing. Schools being let out. I then ran down the mall to tell everyone in the store to go home. I relayed as much information as I could as everyone grabed thier things and shuffled out. The mall was empty, not a single person could be seen. As I raced home on Interstate 95, a section that is usually heavy with traffic, there was barely a car on the road. Signs were posted that the New Jersey turnpike was backed up for miles, New York (only just over 2 hours away) was virtually closed. As I listened to the radio, who was using the Emergency Broadcast signal (something I thought I would never hear used in my lifetime) I glanced into the sky and got chills as I noticed how empty it was. A section normally heavy with flights going to Philadelphia, was now empty. As I got to my home, I turned on the TV and watched the horror over and over again. Absolutely horrorified at what I was seeing. I prayed for those lost and for those who were going to help and I wondered how we could ever get past such a terrible event. I watched the news long into the early morning hours, wondering how life would be the next day. How I could return to work with the images of the towers so vivid in my mind. As I returned to work in my mall, I was walking back to my store from the mall's coffee shop when, since there was virtually no one in the mall at the time, I heard the mall's radio system playing Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind." Suddenly it was all put in perspective. I paused for a moment, said a little prayer and went back to my store and proudly displayed our American flag over our front dry erase board which read: "We pray for those we have lost in the tragedy of September 11th and those who are risking thier lives to help. 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 story5834.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. 67.208.176.141 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: Where shall I begin. The morning of September 11,2001 Was one that I don't think myself, or anyone else will ever forget. I was working in my office in Tarrytown New York when I heard something on the radio stating there was an accident with one of the Twin Towers. A small plane had hit one of them. It really didn't sink in. I proceeded to go to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee. Walking into the cafeteria, there were people swarmed all over the television. I could barely believe my eyes. Seeing a plane coming from the right side of the T.V. screen and smashing into the other tower. My brain didn't really register what was happening. People were screaming and crying. There were people jumping out of the Towers. I ran into my office to tell everyone what was going on. My sister who works with me and my other co-workers went back to watch the horrific scene unfolding before our eyes. After about 2 hours everyone decided to take the rest of the day off and make sure all of our loved ones were safe. I felt so helpless. I wanted to do something, anything but didn't even know how. I live in yonkers New York which is only 15 minutes from the city. My sister and I went to her house. I could normally see the city skyline from one of the roads close by. Smoke was all that I or anyone else could see that day and many days after. There are no words to describe the pain felt for the victims and their families. Someone very close to me lost her fiancee. My heart goes out to her and his family and all the thousands of other victims and families. New York and the rest of the country has come together like never before. The tears will never stop when I think of September 11,2001. The pain and anger will never subside but the love and memories of all the victims will bring peace in our hearts and strength to a country that will shine of freedom and liberty. I am proud to be an American. I will hold my flag high and never forget. God Bless America and God Bless the victims and there families of September 11,2001. 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 story3198.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. 205.188.209.38