280 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: It was early in the morning on the West Coast when the tragedies struck New York and Washington, DC. I was in the shower, when my husband Mike came in to tell me that planes had struck both the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I threw on a robe, and sat tearfully transfixed as the horrors of that day unfolded on television. Our youngest son Mark, in the sixth grade, asked to stay home from school that morning because, he said, "This will be a time I will remember for the rest of my life." It was a day filled with heart-wringing tears, long hugs and loving calls--paired with fear, helplessness and enormous anger. The nightmarish visions of people jumping from burning buildings, of the gaping hole in the Pentagon, of the smoking twin towers and their horrific crumbling--and of the remnants of a heroic crash in the Pennsylvania countryside--haunt us all to this day. Today, I openly pray for the souls of those innocents and heroes killed September 11 and quietly pray that the angry souls still on this earth can find their way to 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 story2548.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. 209.244.70.175 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 at 8:46 I was looking out our window watching deer in our back yard and thinking what a beautiful world God has given us. Many may not believe this but suddenly the deer jumped and ran. They could not see me and I did not see anything moving that could have scared them. A few minutes later the phone rang and my husband said "you will not believe what I am looking at." "You won't believe the buck that was in our backyard," I said. "You better turn on the TV to CNN he told me." There it was, the carnage that wouldn't seem to stop from one crash report to another, finally to the towers falling. My children and I had spent 2 horrible years in Pakistan when my first husband had slipped them out of daycare while I was at work and taken them to his home country. I was allowed to be with them if I lived and acted as a muslim. After 2 years and my parents mortgaging their just paid for home (after 30 years of waiting), we came home in 1991. By 1:00 p.m. I couldn't stop shaking. I walked outside into that sunny autum sky and thought how can such beauty and such ugliness be under the same sky. I called my dad and thanked him for bringing us home. I was angry at what the terrorists had done but remembering the oppresion we had lived under, ironically I DID NOT FEEL TERRORIZED. Without a doubt I felt anger, but I remembered that my boys and I were living FREE. You see when you are in a fundamentalist country the people suffer terror regularly, but they are not free to act as we can. Americans are people from childhood who want to take action. We have blood drives, collect money, volunteer to clean up, comfort, ANYTHING, but we NEED to take action. Sitting still and suffering silently is NOT the American way. That is hard to understand by others who have lived oppressed all their lives, JUST as it is hard for us to understand their apparent complacency. I wept with my father. I wept with my children. I wept with God. Yes, I believe that His was the first heart to break. But He IS our help. Our country was built on the idea that GOD CREATED, NOT God destroyed. It is important to remember that He is NOT the destroyer but the Creater and our help is in Him. So with gratitude for all the men and women who have fought for our freedom and with incredible bravery, and with awe that that spirit has somehow lived in every American more than 200 years after that initial step toward freedom, I thank the Lord. And to our God, I bow my head in thanks and pray America will continue as it was envisioned by our founding fathers, strong, brave, and FREE. WE LOVE YOU AMERICA! The Daniel Schilling family. 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 story5056.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.247.165.63 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 taking my children to school that fateful morning. I heard the announcement on the radio. I stayed glued to the television all day. I felt so sorry for the survivors and the famiies of September 11,2001. I wondered what would be attacked next. I wondered if my college class would be cancelled. I worried about my husband because he was at work. 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 story2653.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. 64.12.96.135 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 WOKEN BY A PHINE CALL FROM MY DAUDHTER WHOSE IS A LONGSHORE PERSON .SHE HAD JUST GOTTEN OF THE 3RD SHIFT AND HEARD WHAT HAD HAPPENED AROUND 7AM. SHE IS 23 YEARS OLD ON THE PHONE TELLING MOM TURN ON THE T.V. WHAT IS GOING ON. I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS IT AN ACCIDENT OR WAS IS DONE ON PURPOSE. WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO US? WHERE ARE MY SISTERS? IS EVERYONE GOING TO BE OK? ALL THESE QUESTIONS FROM MY DAUGHTER AND I HAD NO ANSWERS. FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A MOTHER I COULD NOT ANSWER HER QUESTIONS.MI FELT HELPLESS AND WORRIED FROM ALL THE PEOPLE I LOVED AND AROUND THE WORLD. IS THIS THE END OF LIFE AS WE KNOW IT? IS THIS THE END OF OUR LIVES? WILL SOMEONE USE THE UNSPOKENABOUT NUCULER BOMB THE TALK ABOUT TO SOFTLY? ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS HOLD MY BABIES OF 26, 23, AND 20 AND MY HUSBAND, WELL I SEE MY MOM AGAIN? WHO LIVES IN SAN PEDRO ACROSS THE BRIDGE IN WHICH I TRAVEL EVERYDAY. AND NOW I AM SCARED TO DEATH TO TRAVEL ACROSS....WHAT ABOUT ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LOST MOM? CAN THEY FIND THEM? WILL THEY ALL DIE? WHAT ABOUT THEIR PARENTS AND CHILDREN? THE QUESTIONS THEY NEVER STOPPED FOR DAYS. ALL WE DID WAS SIT TOGETHER AND WATCH THE TV HOPING THEY WOULD FIND SOME PEOPLE ALIVE AS IF SOME WAS THERE THAT WAS APART OF OUR FAMILY. WE JUST COULD HELP BUT TO FEEL THESE ARE OUR FAMILY MEMBERS THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE UP THE FAMILY OF AMERICA. AND SOMEONE FROME SOME PLACE TOKE THEM AWAY FROM OUR FAMILY. WHY? WHAT WILL WE DO NOW? WILL THEY DO IT AGAIN? QUESTIONS STILL I CAN'T ANSWER. THIS TO ME WAS A DAY WHEN I FELT TOTALLY HELPLESS EVEN TO MY OWN DAUGHTERS. A MOTHER WITH NO ANSWER FOR HER CHILDERN. CAN THAT BE? I FELT THAT THEY MADE SUCH CHANGES TO US EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL EVERYTIME TIME I SEE AND AIRPLANE FLYING LOW A HELICOPTER GOING IN CIRCLES MY INSIDES SHAKE, MY MIND STARTS ASKING ME QUESTIONS. AND I WONDER WILL I HAVE THE ANSWERS THIS TIME........TO ALL OF THOSE WHO HAVE LOST LOVED ONES I WILL ALWAYS FEEL AS THOUGH THEY WERE APART OF MY FAMILY ALSO.AND THINK ABOUT HOW MANY QUESTIONS YOU HAD TO ANSWER FOR YOUR CHILDREN TOO. SO MANY I KNOW THAT YOU HAD NO ANSWERS TOO.....I LOVE YOU AND MAY PEACE ALWAYS BE WITH YOU..........LINDA PEDROZA LONG BEACH CA. 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 story2980.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: hi - i hear you're collecting material for archives at cuny relating to 911. below is testimony i presented to a congressional panel in washington on the travails of stuyvesant high school where my son had been a student. since the testimony was for a citizens' forum on the epa ombudsman whom christy todd whitman had effectively fired when he criticized her conflict of interest in lower manhattan, the emphasis is on that office. however the testimony gives an overview of the experience of stuyvesant and residents downtown. Testimony of Jenna Orkin, Ground Zero Parent Ombudsman Panel, January 14, 2003 Stuyvesant High School, Toxic Site I am the mother of a 17-year-old boy who was a student at Stuyvesant High School four blocks north of Ground Zero on September 11. The experience of Stuyvesant may serve as a microcosm for that of Lower Manhattan as a whole. In a statement that will undoubtedly resonate for years to come, on September 13, Christy Todd Whitman declared the air downtown to be safe. Thus on October 9, four weeks after the WTC attack and after government agencies assured us the building had had a thorough cleanup, Stuyvesant reopened to cries of, "Get back to normal!" and, "Show the terrorists!" Wall Street was up and running again so all was right with the world. Unbeknownst to us at the time, the week that Stuyvesant returned to its building was the week that Dr. Thomas Cahill of U.C. Davis conducted studies a mile north of Ground Zero which revealed levels of very- and ultra-fine particulates that were higher than at the Kuwaiti oil fields. For the next eight months, Stuyvesant got a double whammy of toxic waste: Not only did they have the WTC site to the south, they also had it on their north doorstep where the waste transfer barge stayed while being loaded with the debris that was to be carted away to Staten Island. This placement was in violation of state and federal laws, but in the so-called "emergency" that prevailed for the eight months of the cleanup (and what sort of emergency was it, exactly, after the first few weeks when it was clear no one else would have survived? A real estate emergency? An economic emergency?) environmental laws were thrown to the four toxin-laden winds. The barge operation was host to diesel cranes and idling diesel trucks that worked 'round the clock seven days a week. Only now are the carcinogenic and toxic properties of diesel being more fully recognized. How was Stuyvesant equipped to handle this onslaught? The school's filtration system was about 10% effective until the end of January when, at the insistence of the 6000 member Parents' Association, it was upgraded to 40% effectiveness. Although we had been told the school's cleanup had included the ventilation system, we later learned that in fact the ventilation system had not been cleaned. For half the days until February, Particulate Matter 2.5 - dust that is small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and not come out again - was above EPA regulatory levels. Often it was higher at Stuyvesant than at Ground Zero. Because of its relatively large surface area to volume ratio, P.M. 2.5 also adsorbed onto its surface whatever toxic chemicals were in the debris. Isocyanates and tetrachloroethane also exceeded EPA limits when they were measured but, after the troubling results, they weren't measured again. High levels of lead were found in the gym where the lead could be inhaled deeply and in the cafeteria where it could settle on students' food. In response to these findings a representative from the Board of Education which, due to EPA's being missing in action, was in charge of cleaning up the schools wrote, "While lead can cause several adverse health effects, these are usually from prolonged exposure to the dust from the metal or when children consume lead-based paint." Apparently he didn't realize that lead sprinkled on pizza will be consumed. The synergistic effect of all these contaminants is only imperfectly understood. However Dr. Steven Levin of Mt. Sinai has pointed out that if you're an asbestos worker and a smoker, for instance, the effect is not simply twice as bad as being one or the other: it's eighty or ninety times as bad. To our knowledge, other synergies have not been so thoroughly studied. In spite of the fact that FEMA had allocated 20 million dollars to clean the Ground Zero schools, the Board of Education refused to clean the ventilation system of Stuyvesant or even to do wipe tests. Finally parents, using the pro bono services of attorney Richard Ben-Veniste of Watergate fame, threatened to sue. The BOE capitulated and performed the wipe tests but held onto the results for six weeks. We threatened to sue again. They released the results which showed thirty times the level of lead which one might expect to find on the floor. (There are no standards for lead in ventilation systems.) After more threats of lawsuits the BOE agreed to clean the ventilation system over the summer. During that cleanup they removed the auditorium carpet explaining they were doing so for 'aesthetic reasons.' A group of parents known as Concerned Stuyvesant Community had two segments of the carpet tested for asbestos using an EPA test known as ultrasonication. One of the samples came back with a reading of 2.4 million structures per sq cm. Several experts whom we have consulted believe this represents 250 times normal background levels. But all agree it is a level which calls for remediation. The carpet was replaced, the BOE still citing 'aesthetic reasons.' However the BOE, which had since renamed itself the Department of Education, refused to perform ultrasonication or another approved test, American Standard Testing and Methodology microvac, on the auditorium seats. They claimed that these two tests were controversial. Instead they performed a test of their own devising which involved beating the seats with sticks and testing the air. This test has not been subject to peer review much less received the imprimatur of a body such as EPA or ASTM. Nor was it performed under anyone's oversight. We don't know what air volume or flow was used, where the monitors were placed nor how hard the seats were beaten. It is ironic that the DOE rejected two established tests on the grounds that they're insufficiently understood, opting instead to perform a test which isn't understood at all. Not surprisingly, however, the seats came up with a clean bill of health. In an analogous situation in Brookfield, Connecticut where asbestos was also found, the school system was closed down until a level of 5000 structures of asbestos per sq. cm. (a relatively low level) was achieved. In at least one school the auditorium seats were replaced and ceiling tiles wet-wiped and hepa-vacuumed. This took place in EPA Region 2. We would like the same treatment in EPA Region 1. However, of the 20 million dollars which the DOE received from FEMA to clean the Ground Zero schools, at last count they had used only ten. While we wish they had used all twenty, we do not even know what they did with the ten million dollars they spent. Perhaps it is some of that money that was used to lure students at the High School for Leadership and Public Service back to school when they complained last year how upsetting it was to watch body parts being carried past their door. The school handed out fifty dollars worth of gift certificates to bookstores and Modell's Sporting Goods to students who achieved a certain level of attendance; one hundred dollars worth for perfect attendance. Resident Remove Tons Of Toxic Debris From Apartments Meanwhile Lower Manhattan residents were no better off. In the days immediately following 9/11, the EPA bequeathed responsibility for indoor air to city agencies. Rising to the challenge the NYC Department of Health recommended that to clean up the dust in their apartments, people use a wet rag. Ever willing to lend a helping hand, the Red Cross gave out buckets to assist in what was being portrayed as nothing more than a piece of heavy-duty housecleaning. Where the dust was really bad, the DOH recommended that residents wear long pants. Armed with this advice, residents such as Michael Cook threw out furniture and over 150 twenty gallon bags of contaminated debris. Not surprisingly, many residents soon suffered rashes and respiratory symptoms such as chronic and/or the newly coined "chemical" bronchitis. Those who could afford to moved out of New York. Others moved to hotels temporarily. A third group manifested a burgeoning distrust of government agencies by hiring independent contractors to test their apartments. Some of these tests revealed high levels of cadmium, lead and mercury in the ventilation system. One woman, Nina Lavin, who had shut off her ventilation system on September 11 in anticipation of environmental havoc, nonetheless had twelve times normal background levels of asbestos across the room from the window. She is now in limbo, living in a hotel. Illness Spreads At Stuyvesant also, a Health Hazard Evaluation performed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that 60% of the staff had had respiratory and other symptoms which they attributed to their exposure to the air at school. No such study was conducted among students. However parents reported that their children had been diagnosed with new-onset asthma that could last the rest of their lives; chronic sinusitis entailing heavy doses of steroids and antibiotics and chemical bronchitis. One girl had her first asthmatic episode in seven years - an attack that landed her in the Emergency Ward - after swimming in the Stuyvesant pool which had not been cleaned. The Deputy Chancellor of Schools complained that parents' reports of illnesses were "anecdotal." This is true. In the absence of a scientific study, all we had to go on was anecdotal reports. He also said, "we believe the events of September 11 and its emotional aftermath have contributed to a number of these incidents." In other words, the illnesses were at least partly psychosomatic. The Deputy Chancellor did not elaborate on whom he meant by "we." Ombudsman Arrives After several months of attending hearings and talking to scientists, by February, 2002, I had amassed enough evidence to convince my ex-husband that our son should not be in the Stuyvesant building. Crucial among the pieces of evidence I'd acquired was a letter from the EPA Ombudsman, Robert Martin, saying that the Stuyvesant building was not fit for habitation. This letter was unique in its status as an advisory from a governmental authority and critical in tipping the balance in my exhusband's thinking. Ombudsman Martin and his Chief Investigator Hugh Kaufman also held two hearings which provided a turning point in the struggle of Lower Manhattan. While the State Assembly and City Council had held several hearings each, these ultimately resulted in little discernible change. They seemed designed to do exactly what the term said: to hear. A roster of officials heard, shook their heads in wonder and pity but in the end, were unable to do anything. In some ways those hearings may even have done more harm than good. For the arrangements of the local hearings were always the same: Agency representatives spoke for the first three hours while the news media were in attendance. Invariably they presented a rosy picture of how hard they were working and the pleasing results. At noon, the media rushed out to edit their stories regardless of the fact that they'd only heard half. In the afternoon we, the hangers-on, the dregs of the hearing, got to say our piece to a room vacated by all but the most zealous advocates of our cause. By that time even most of the panel had fled leaving a token member who would nod sympathetically in between taking calls on his cellphone. The Ombudsman hearings were the opposite of this sorry picture. The first witness was Dr. Cahill of U.C. Davis who revealed for the first time the news about ultrafine particulates a mile from Ground Zero. Other representatives of our side of the story followed him, interspersed with Agency reps. Ombudsman Martin and Chief Investigator Kaufman asked knowledgeable questions, having done a great deal of legwork and homework. Agency reps didn't get off lightly. Nor did we. The hearings went on until 11 p.m. But there is no place we would rather have been. With the Ombudsman hearings we felt a change of direction; in every sense of the phrase, a breath of fresh air. EPA Agrees To Clean Apartments As a result of pressure from the Ombudsman and his Chief Investigator as well as Congressman Nadler and other elected officials, on May 8, 2002 the EPA announced it would clean apartments in Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street or test them for asbestos. Not workplaces or schools; just apartments because, they said, they had to start somewhere. When asked if they would consider expanding their cleanup above the arbitrary boundary of Canal Street or into Brooklyn where NASA photographs show the plume went on September 11 itself when 95% of the airborne debris from the disaster fell, the EPA said they were looking into it. With this they opened a hotline and waited for the phone to ring. Over the next seven and a half months it rang about six thousand times, for approximately one out of five residences. The problem was EPA's outreach. They sent out only one flier that we know of and many residents didn't receive it. In addition, EPA's ads never mentioned cancer or the other ills that might ensue from living in contaminated apartments. Indeed, EPA said they did not expect serious long-term effects from the toxic substances that remained in people's apartments. Instead, they maintained that the cleanup was merely to 'assuage residents' concerns.' And since the EPA was telling them they had no reason to be concerned, most people didn't bother to call. Besides, about a quarter of the residents in Lower Manhattan are new to the area, having been lured by liberty bonds worth up to $14,000 and have no idea they could have moved into a toxic zone. Cleanup Plan Is A Farce The cleanup itself was also flawed although most people did not realize that. Common areas and ventilation systems were largely ignored. This meant that apartments which were cleaned might be recontaminated as soon as residents turned on the air conditioning or even opened the door. And because cleanup was voluntary, apartments could also be recontaminated by neighboring apartments that opted not to get cleaned. Finally, because small businesses were not included in the plan, they could recontaminate apartments that shared their buildings. Contrary to what certain government agencies have said, dust does not stay put. Although the cleanup plan did not include workplaces, EPA did perform a pilot test of a small business cleanup at a restaurant at 112 Liberty Street. The contractors removed half the ceiling and left the contaminated other half. They did not lock the restaurant when they left so that during the night it was robbed. They lost the owner's keys. Perhaps by not receiving an EPA cleanup, small businesses in fact got the better deal. While the response to the cleanup was lackadaisical, an even smaller number of people opted for the testing only option. Of those, about two percent were found to have apartments contaminated with asbestos. Extrapolating from this, City Councilman Alan Gerson has pointed out there may well be six hundred apartments downtown that are contaminated with asbestos, most of which have not been tested, let alone cleaned. And this does not take into account the hundreds of other contaminants that were released from the collapse of the towers and subsequent fires. EPA's testing plan omitted them all. The testing only option was troubling for other reasons as well. In its hunt for asbestos the EPA was performing only air tests. However, at the Toxicological Excellence in Risk Assessment conference in October several scientists agreed that testing of hard and porous surfaces should be investigated and used more extensively. And there were problems with the way the air tests were conducted. In its counting of asbestos fibers, EPA omitted fibers smaller than five microns on the theory that they would be handled by the body's immune system. However, scientists do not agree that this is so. At the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry conference which also took place in October there was discussion about the likelihood that length of fiber might not be so important as an aspect ratio of greater than 3:1. The Ombudsman Resigns In the mean time the Ombudsman had been relocated to the Inspector General's office and Robert Martin resigned in protest. We have read that the IG is now in charge of the World Trade Center case. This is news to us. We have not seen or spoken to her nor to anyone from her office. By contrast former Ombudsman Martin and Chief Investigator Kaufman continue to take an active interest in us and we hear from them regularly. They send us articles and give advice when we ask for it. On December 28, following a media spree in which the EPA released studies which supposedly supported the Good News that the air downtown was less toxic than everyone feared, the EPA hotline closed. The EPA had never said what levels of contamination they found after all the looking they did at data from above Canal Street or in Brooklyn but whatever those data were apparently did not call for cleaning. I question these results because I live in downtown Brooklyn and out of curiosity I had ultrasonication performed on my carpet. The reading came back 79,333 structures of asbestos per sq cm, a level of concern. I had an asbestos abatement which involved four contractors working twenty hours on a two-room apartment. The phase-contrast microscopy test that was subsequently performed showed that my apartment passed its Ahera test but still contained asbestos which might pose a one in three hundred cancer risk. This is much higher than the results EPA has reported for Lower Manhattan. This year the travails of Lower Manhattan continue. We hear of new-onset asthma in Chinatown as well as a case in a girl who has homeroom in the Stuyvesant auditorium; a girl developing pressure in her spinal fluid requiring a spinal tap, possibly, her doctors say, the first of many; a high number of flus and a particularly virulent stomach virus; the return of respiratory symptoms which had diminished over the summer; a teacher with pneumonia. When Christy Todd Whitman declared the air in Lower Manhattan to be safe to breathe she set in motion a chain of events that many of us believe will prove the undoing of thousands. Already Ground Zero workers are suing the city for their exposure to toxic substances during the recovery operation. Many rescue dogs are sick and at least one, "Bear," has died. We fear that their fate is a harbinger of that of residents, workers, our children and ourselves. Need For Ombudsman The foxes are in charge of the chicken coop. Having made initial mistakes they are in the position of having to defend those mistakes by compounding them. Clearly, there are not enough checks and balances in place. Not enough watchdogs to guard against the foxes nor enough penalties to make those in charge think twice about lying and compounding the lie. The penalties for compounding lies should increase exponentially over time to prevent the paramount ethic at work from being, "Cover your tracks at all costs." To correct this abysmal situation, the Ombudsman must be restored and given full independence. His office provided checks and balances. As a watchdog he was the people's best friend. It is surely suspicious that as soon as his investigation of the WTC case got going, he was moved to the IG's office, "for his own good." If the move was truly in response to his request for greater independence, why did EPA not honor his request to leave him where he was? The office of the Ombudsman must be reopened for business and on the Ombudsman's terms. 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 story9389.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. 2003-07-25 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 146.96.207.50 Annotation Annotations to this item. da Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I am a New York City Firefighter. On Sept. 11, 2001 I, like all other able New York City Fireman, was at the World Trade Center. I was not present when the collapses occurred, but arrived shortly there after. To this day I still find it impossible to describe to others the complete and utter destruction that had taken place. Upon arriving at the site, two things stood out, the absolute quiet, and thickness of the air. It was as if you walked through a door and into a completely different dimension. There were no sirens, no horns, no screaming, no one talking, it really was a very thick quiet, that's the best way I can describe it. Amazingly, the first emotions that I felt were not of anger, that came later. My first emotions were of sadness, because I could see right away that there were going to be hundreds of people that had died. Our job is to save people, to help them, and I knew that we were to late. The rest of the day physically was exhausting, we searched and dug through the night, emotionally it was just as exhausting. When you saw someone you knew you'd shake their hand and give them a hug, just glad to know their alive. But on the other hand you knew of whole company's, places where other friends worked, were missing. I had to go to Cornell Medical center later that day to have my eyes flushed out. All the lye and dust from the glass and concrete had turned my eyes cherry red and they burned like hell. The following day, when I woke up, I went downstairs to see my kids, I started to cry like a baby, I just broke down. I remember my wife holding me like she holds our son when he cries. My wife has been my rock. Without her this whole past year would have been impossible to handle. In this past year I've come to realize how very much I love my family, and the men I work with. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to describe what I saw and how I felt on that day. 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 story7030.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.189.33.113 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 drove our children to school. After I dropped them off I began listening to the radio. The announcement was made that a plane had hit one of the Trade Center towers. By the time I drove back home and turned the T.V. on the second tower had been hit. I knew the United States has under attack. Shorty after that the Pentagon had been it also. I'm 38 years of age. This was the first time I ever had fear for my life living in the United States. I LOVE THE UNITED STATES and living in Alabama gives me great comfort. GOD has blessed us with the freedom to live in a great country. As an American I look at September 11th as a reminder to love family, friends and life one day at a time. I pray each day for our country to continue to be known as the land of the free. Thank God For America Rhonda A. Barksdale Red Bay, Alabama 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 story5265.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. 216.180.65.134 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: Hello, This is Mary Beth again and i would like to offer a follow-up to what i wrote yesturday on 9/13/02. First of all i would like to say that my heart go's out the families of the victim's of 9/11 with deep sorrow and love. About two or three days after the attack on 9/11/01 President Bush went on TV and expressed his sorrow & he vowed to track down terrorests everywhere and bring the people who are responsible for this terrible tragedy to justice. 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 story7344.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. 2002-09-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 204.214.214.44 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: Hi my name is Nicole I am 15 yrs. old and I live in Roundrock Tx. It is shocking on how many people we lost on Sep 11th. So many people lost their lives over cruel terrorism.I can recall that day that I found out about it. It started out as a normal day of getting ready for school. Once I got to school I found out about it when the teacher allowed us to watch it on t.v. it was the scariest thing I had ever seen. At first I was confused and didn't know what was going on until my teacher explained it to me. While she was tellin me this my first thought was "Who ? and why would anybody wanna do this?"That day I was really sad and mad. I didnt know why anybody would wanna hurt so many people. The whole day I thought about all those peope in New York and about my family. I couldnt wait to get home to see them. When I got home my parents explained more to me about what happened.It amazes me sooo much that at our deepest time of need America pulled together as a nation and supported New York. Sep. 11th has brought our nation closer and forever we will stay that way. Today i pay my respect to all those out there who had a family friend or a loved one in Sep. 11th. and out to anyone who had a help in supporting our nation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story5467.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. 12.64.198.184 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was sleeping in my tiny dorm room with my roommate in her bed when my mother called. I remember thinking to myself "who the hell is calling us this early in the morning I dont have class till 9:30!" When my roommate looked at me and said "Its your mom, something doesn't sound right." I answered the phone half asleep still laying in bed and when she said "We are being attacked, turn on the tv! NOW!" I sat bolt up right and hollard at my roommate to turn the tv on. Next, I asked my mom "What channel?" she told me "ANY! THEY ALL HAVE IT ON!" My roommate and I turned on the tv and began watching, we tuned in just in time to watch the plane hit the second tower. I was away at my first semester of college, and I had never been apart from any member of my family for an extended period of time. I hadn't gone home yet since the semester started and wasn't planning on going home any time soon. But, by the time the day was over I was in terrible need to be around family. The main thing I remember about that day is my teachers cancelling class and the entire school comming together as friends and mourner's for what had happened. My school has a large engineer program and many many middle easterner's attend for this and other programs. But, back to where I was going with this. I also remember driving the 105 miles to my parents house and the sugar cane feilds being the empty. I felt totally alone on the road, I didn't pass many cars, or see many people outside. It seemed that everyone was inside glued to their television. I listened to several different radio stations on the way home and just remember thinking back to being in New York and D.C. in June. I am fortunate enough to have a wonerful mother who is like a friend. She and I took off to D.C. for my senior trip to walk in the Race for the Cure, then hopped a train to NYC for a week. During my week in NYC I was able to walk out on the Brooklyn bridge and capture some wonderful images of the skyline and WTC. When I finally got to my parents house, my dad and brother had returned home from work and were sitting in the living room with my mom glued to the tv. When I walked in they all three got up and we had a family hug and then sat down to talk about the day. 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 story10549.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. 2004-04-22 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.1.76.173 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 11, 2001, started off as most school days do for me. I am a teacher, and had arrived at school early to complete some paperwork. I have no radio or television in my classroom, so I am pretty much isolated from the outside world. It was only when a teacher who had arrived to school later had informed me that a plane had just struck the world trade center that I found out what had happened. At first I did not grasp the enormity of the situation. It seemed like a pretty horrific accident, but I had no idea of the political ramifications at the time. It wasn't until I heard about the second plane that I was thinking anyone could have possibly done this on purpose. As detailed become increasingly available I grew increasingly apprehensive. I teach 10 year olds, so I wasn't sure just what or anything to tell them. My peers and I discussed our fears with our principal. We even wondered if school would or should remain open. Ultimately it was decided that school would remain open, and that we should each explain to our children as much as we thought they were capable of understanding. It was very difficult, for even we, as adults, were not sure what had happened at this time. We did, however, do our best to try and not frighten the children. As I drove home that day after school I remember listening to the details on the radio. As I listened I remembered my feelings changing from sorrow to anger. How dare someone do this to the United States of America? How dare they kill all those innocent people to promote their "cause"? I thought of my own children. How were they feeling? Were they scared? What will I tell them? My own children are older, so I needed a different way of talking to them then to my students. I thought toward the future. What is going to happen to us? Will will now be at war? And if so, with whom? Overall, I guess the day was filled with a huge variety of feelings including anger, sorrow, concern, and confusion. 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 story826.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. 2002-06-25 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.105.64.92 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My wife and I are from Anahuac, Texas. We were taking a driving vaction in September of 2001. After spending a few days with my mother-in-law in Olney, Illinois, we headed east toward Virginia. We were in a rental car and when Patricia (my wife) was changing music CD's in the radio we heard the horrible news. I stopped at the first gas station (a large truck stop) that we can to and called our parents to let them know we were safe - shaken but safe. It was about two hours after the first attacks on the Trade Center, but the horrible reality of the event came through to me in that truck stop. As I was calling my parents back in Texas to let them know we were safe, a truck driver on the phone next to me was sobbing and almost in hysterics. I found out that his father and brother worked in a building directly across from the trade center. I have no idea if they were found safe or if their names are on the list of dead and missing. Patricia and I had a difficult time deciding if we should continue our road trip or head on home. After praying for the families of the dead and reflecting on the situation, we elected to continue our vacation. Some say that was a cold hearted thing to do, but our reasoning was this. If we had gone home in panic with our tails tucked between our legs, the terrorists would have won. That was not an acceptable option. We wound up about 35 miles from the site of the plane crash in Philidelphia. We had planeed on going to DC, but we stayed out of that area. The last thing those folks needed was tourists in the way while they dealt with a national tragedy. We headed south. We visited a few Civil War battle sites and other historical landmarks. We saw where G. Washington defeated Cornwallis. But the thing I will never forget was our visit to Colonial Williamsburg. We were there the day President Bush asked the nation to spend some time in prayer at noon for our country and for those who had suffered such tragic loss. We gathered with two or three hundred other folks as Old Glory was brought out on the old courthouse steps between drummers and fifers. We listened to ministers of different faiths speak of love, perserverance and determination to do the right thing. As the last prayer was said, a beautiful thing happened. Men, women and children began to reach out to the person next to them and take them by the hand. No one prompted us to do so. As hands were being grasped, hundreds of voices began singing God Bless America. There was not a dry eye to be found. Where was I on September 11, 2001? I was visiting my country and learning how deeply in love I am with it. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story2190.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. 52.128.30.14 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 know that my submission is a little late, but my story is still in the making. Here it is. I was in first block, like every other day. When I got to seconed block, my sister came to me crying. I thought someone had been picking on her again. She told me that terrist had attacked the WTC. I couldnt belive her. I turned on the TV and saw our buildings on fire. I saw firefighters racing toward the center of the attacks. Our class did nothing but watched CNN. I thought of my father who was a vol. firefighter. I thought of my-self, a firefighter to be. I watched the first tower collapse and burts into tears. I couldnt hold back. Those people where my brothers, my fellow Americans and my family. This was all i remeber till i got home. I walked into my home in my sisters arms and saw my Father on his knees crying. We cryed for almost 3 hours. Our fellow firefighters(friends) gave their lives because some coward dosnt like our country. I saw the President talk that night. I cryed one last time. My brother enlisted to the Army the next day, and joined the fire dept. one week later(6 months early). I refuse to sit on my butt and cry if anything like this ever happens again. I am now getting ready to graduate high school, and go full-time firefighter. Thank you for reading my story. 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 story9205.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. 2003-04-22 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.12.49.198 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: September 11, 2001 - I had taken at the time my 5 year old little girl to school and then I took my son who was 3 at the time with me to the Dollar General Store to buy some things as we were walking down one of the aisle the radio was on 95.1 WRNS and it came up that a plane had just went through the first WTC. I then took my son and went back to my vehicle and went home. As we got into our home I turned the television on channel WNCT-TV 9 and thats when the second plane went into the second WTC. I could not speak all that I could do was cry. Then the Pentagon was hit. I can not understand how anyone in their right minds could do such horrific things to others and take their lives like that and leave so many people behind to even try to understand. All I can say is that God is with each and every person and when the time comes those responsible for this horrific and total disaster will be punished. That time will come I am most assure of. Today September 11, 2002 is the first year anniversary of such total disaster and it was such a remembrance. What has come out of all of this is the fact that all Americans have band together as one. 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 story5872.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. 66.119.33.167 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 ssitting aroound watching t.v. and all of a sudden this special alert flashed across the t.v. I couldn't believe what had happen. My heart seemed to have stopped beating and it ached at the same time. It felt heavy and shattered. My eyes just started getting watery. All of a sudden my heart came back to life and I took a deep breath and felt all the pain that all those families felt when the news came out annoucing the tradegy of the twin towers. I imagined how they must of felt when they realized their loved ones were there. They were in danger. I don't know what I would of ddone. What could anybody really do? I prayed that everyone would be able to get out of there before anything else happen. Then the towers collapsed. I said "O noooo! That couldn't be happening. All those innocent people just disappeared like that The brave firemen that were still in there had no chance in escaping it. My prayers go out to all the families that lost their loved one in that tradegy. As the day was approaching, Sept 11th. I felt myself getting down. So very sad. It felt like it was just yesturday and not a year ago today. And my heart goes out to all them families. My prayers are with you all too. Today at work I lit a candle and took a moment to say a prayer. I send my love and God be with you all... I'll never forget Sept 11, 2001. Virginia 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 story5824.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. 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: The first thing I could remember about my day on September 11th was what I saw on T.V. I was walking to homeroom and the t.v.'s were on like usual. Except that day i saw the World Trade Center with a plane stuck in it the teachers didn't make much of a big deal of it. I didn't think much of it at the time. After the normal announcements I went to my first class which happened to be Physical Education. It was a very ugly rainy day outside and the power happened to go out for about 20 minutes. Kids were laughing and messing around, few were nervous or scared. After two hours of just sitting down waiting for directions on what to do they finally tell us to go to our 3rd period class. 3rd period I had english and she had on the news and it was informing us about the towers. After only a few minutes of watching "CNN" the dean comes around to all of the classes and tells the teachers to turn off the t.v.s. I guess the dean didnt want us to know what was going on because some students might start freaking out. After I went to lunch a teacher tells me to go to the office for check out. A lot of kids left early that day because of the situation of things. I can't remember much of the rest of the day except my father telling me.."well don't worry about football practice tommorow, that's for sure" 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 story9229.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. 2003-04-26 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.242.177.205 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: The tragic events of September 11th by Nancy Sanders I am writing this one month to the day after the tragic events unfolded on September 11, 2001 and changed our world forever. It was one of those days that you can never forget, and will always know where you were and what you were doing when it happened. This is my story. I had driven up to my parents house to see my grandmother, who was visiting from Massachusetts. We were sitting on the couch chatting and had the news on. We were planning a day of shopping and lunch. All of a sudden, the station cut to breaking news from New York. We watched the burning building in horror as they explained that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers in New York City. Our reasoning told us that it was some kind of terrible fluke, an accident. We were glued to the television and watched in complete disbelief as another plane struck the second tower. It was then that we realized that it was a deliberate act. They soon announced that a plane had just struck the Pentagon, and another crashed in Pennsylvania. The realization the plane crashed into the Pentagon rattled me so much because it really meant that somebody was seriously attacking our country. This was no mistake. When I heard about the Pennsylvania crash, I remember telling my grandmother that I just knew that we would be hearing stories of heroism, for there is no way that plane was meant to simply crash in a corn field. The whole time these events were transpiring, I could not stop thinking about all of the people that are desperately trying to evacuate those buildings, and all who had perished. I thought about the poor people on the planes who must have known what was happening. I then witnessed the most heartbreaking, horrible, unthinkable event I had ever seen. The first and second towers collapsed within minutes of eachother. As the first tower came down, I became completely hysterical. I was crying for those who had died that very moment. All of the rescue workers that had gone into the building, all of the people trying to evacuate, anyone on the ground underneath the toppling buildings. Anyone watching that helplessly watched knowing their family member was inside or in the area. I was crying for our nation's safety. I cried for the bravery and horror that took place simultaneously. I had never imagined I would witness such terrible events in my lifetime. From that point on, it was as if time stood still. We were riveted to the TV and couldn't leave the house. We were so afraid for our safety and didn't know what was coming next. The days and weeks after this event were filled with enormous sorrow, uncertainty, worry, and pride. The effect it has had on our nation as a whole has been staggering. Our skies were empty, as the President had shut down all air traffic. I told my children to go outside and look at the clear contrail-free sky, for I hoped it would be the only time in their lifetime they would ever have to see it. Hope has turned to despair as time wore on and there were no survivors pulled from the wreckage. Today, the recovery workers are still trying to dig out remains of victims, and for their families there has been no closure. The economy suffered terribly, layoffs abound. The stock marked plunged and surged out of control. There have been scares of germ warfare with an Anthrax outbreak in Florida. There is still uncertainty as we began the bombing of Afghanistan just a few days ago. We are at war with a stealthy and sneaky enemy. One who has no regard for life, who hates America and all we stand for. Didn't he know who he was dealing with? This will make our nation stronger. I also witnessed the most amazing thing. Americans standing up for our country, pitching in where needed, collecting funds, and displaying our patriotism, standing shoulder to shoulder with pride. People have the American flag everywhere, on their car windows, on their car antennas, on their homes. Red, white and blue ribbons everywhere. People wearing flag, and patriotic shirts. I am proud to be an American! This is truly an AWESOME country, and God Bless the men and women and children that have died in it's name, whether as a warrior in battle or a brave victim. And may God bring comfort to their loved ones. 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 story9730.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. 2003-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.136.181.93 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: How I Remember 9-11-01 By Marilyn Albright The day started off as a typical day at the place I work, The Salvation Army Service Center in Somerset, PA at 8:30 am. We had a coffee house ministry in back with a big screen TV. Two of the teachers from the Technology Center were here getting ready for their classes. They taught G.E.D. classes to local adults. A normal day I open the incoming mail, then make plans for future collections and distributions like the ?Back to School? program where we just gave out $13,000 dollars in school supplies and $50 vouchers to Kmart for new school clothes for school aged kids. Then we were about to start the planning stages for our Community Thanksgiving dinner. Everyday we have at least 3 or 4 individuals who come in for assistance with food, emergency energy assistance or eviction prevention. Sometimes they need help with medical problems. I made coffee, was wiping down the counter top when Esther Landis came running in to tell me that a plane went down out near Lambertsville Road. Esther has a scanner. I thought she was talking about a small plane. I didn't pay very much attention to what she was saying because that news didn't effect me. About that time, Bertha Anderson, (Salvation Army Human Services Secretary, employee at our office) came running in telling us to turn on the TV that two planes have crashed. She sounded very serious, so I did turn on the TV. We were all watching over and over how the plane crashed into the World Trade Center. Then somewhere between 9 and 9:15 a second plane crashed into the other Twin Tower. Then about the same time another plane had crashed into the Pentagon. When they said the Pentagon????.that is when it hit me! All of a sudden I felt a cold chill with goosebump (a mock terrorist attack on a mall) back a couple of months ago at Greengate Mall in Greensburg, PA. There must have been 400 people there. I just was paired up with one of the leaders in training so that I could learn from his actions. It was kind of an ?on the job training exercise. He had been at disasters many times before but never as the person in charge. I learned quickly that you have to just root your way up to the command post or you will never get in to do your job. The main goal is to find out how many people will be working in the area and for how long. Then get that communication back to the outside folks who can arrange to get the food. I was in disbelief. It felt like it was not true, it felt like a movie. I just couldn't peel myself away from the TV. Like everyone else I began to get scared we were at war. I received a phone call from our Divisional Head Quarters Emergency Disaster Services, Bob Meyers. He wanted me to verify that it was a commercial airline that went down in Shanksville, PA. I was in shock again. I told him I would call the state troopers to verify then call him right back. I hung up the phone, then tried to call the state trooper, but I had no dial tone! That was really starting to scare me more. Then I received another phone call from Fran Brace, from DHQ telling me that Chris Crow, Salvation Army Senior Field Rep would be on his way out to pick me up to go out there. I told her I couldn't make calls out for her to call Bob Meyers to let him know I couldn't verify the plane crash. I then went to my car to get my cell phone. Again I tried to call the state trooper, no luck. We could receive calls but couldn't call out. I tried calling home but couldn?t. That was totally scaring me, I kept trying. I called my daughter in St.Louis. It worked! I woke her up, there is an hour time change, she works late so she was still in bed. I was calling her to let her know that I loved her and that I was all right. With the way the news was, I thought for some reason, I would be out of communications for a while and I just wanted to tell her to call my son and let him know that I love him and that I am ok. My Field Representative, Chris Crow came about that time, somewhere around 9:15 or 9:20 am, picked me up and the way we went out to Shanksville. He told me that it was a commercial airline. On the way out there I told him I just attended an all day training. That was totally scaring me, I kept trying. I called my daughter in St.Louis. It worked! I woke her up, there is an hour time change, she works late so she was still in bed. I was calling her to let her know that I loved her and that I was all right. With the way the news was, I thought for some reason, I would be out of communications for a while and I just wanted to tell her to call my son and let him know that I love him and that I am ok. While we were talking about that we arrived at Shanksville. We pulled up to an open field. It was Diamond T Coal Mine. We pulled over to the side of the gravel road and parked the car and got out. The state trooper wouldn?t let us go any further. I noticed there was probably only about 7 or 8 people there total. I noticed a priest with camouflage pants and combat boots on. I also noticed all of us were standing there looking at the puff of smoke up over the hill behind us. The state trooper wouldn?t let us go any further. It is a crime scene. We were looking at the planes circling the area. There was a helicopter circling then left the area. Rumors were that they might have recovered a survivor flying them to a hospital. Found out later, no survivors. Chris Crow asked me, ?So what did you learn at the training that we can use today? ? I said, ? we need to get down in further, all the way to Command Post. We have to introduce yourself as being the Salvation Army and need to know just how many people there will be here working and how long it will take so that we can start planning how to provide nourishment for the recovery workers.? Chris Crow got the state trooper to take him down there to the crash site to talk to who ever were in charge at the time. I am not sure if it was the Director of the Emergency Management Agency or someone else at the time. It was still very early. By this time the people were just multiplying. I was looking for a place to go to the restroom. There was a cornfield nearby that looked pretty good except everyone watched as you entered it and came back out. I looked around for a house; there was a nearby house. There were vans with satellite dishes lining up in a row. At that time there were probably 4 TV stations there with news crews. I wanted to hurry because I was afraid I would miss Chris when he came back and he might not be able to find me in the crowd of people that was starting to form. I walked down the long gravel driveway to the house looking for a bathroom but no luck. I rang the doorbell, no answer. Then on the way back, I found a port-a-potty they had already brought. I guess by that time there were probably close to 150 people. This is when my memory is kind of fuzzy but I think by now a Salvation Army Canteen from Uniontown came. They had some supplies in stock, but they were not prepared for something of this magnitude. I wasn?t even thinking about being hungry at this point, but was concerned about getting some food for the 150 ? 200 people that would soon be hungry. Chris Crow did come back to tell us that there would be at least 150 people down there in the hole and it would probably be from 2 to 4 weeks. Then Esther and I walked over to one of the news men and asked if we could do a on the air plea for some sandwiches and bottled water & pop. Then within a half an hour we started getting buried with truckloads of soda, water and sandwiches. We stacked it into the Canteen until it was running over, so we had to try to stack it outside. Dew was setting in. We knew we had to get the food in coolers. We needed ice. A gentleman from Camp Allegheny ?Stoystown came by to ask if we needed help. I said yes, we need ice, we also need trash bags as well as someone to take the trash. He did. I went back into town to try to order breakfast for the next day from Burger King. That didn?t work, they couldn?t handle the volume. He said they didn?t even have that much in the freezer. So I went to McDonalds. Luckily there were two in town so they worked together. They came up with 300 breakfast sandwiches for 7 am. They said they would accept a Salvation Army voucher. Then I went back to the crash site. It was getting late, sometime after 12 midnight. Chris Crow told me I should just go on home. He said he would stay there all night. I said maybe I could get him what ever he needed, he had contacts in his eyes, I could go to Wal-Mart and get him some contact solution and a case. So I did, I also got him a clean change of clothes. Then I took it back out to him, then went home. I went home to get some sleep, came back at 6 am. I picked up the food at McDonalds and took it out to the site. That morning more people were there. The amount of people must have doubled. There was media crawling all over the place. There were newspaper people from Ireland, New York, Canada, PA, all over. There were people taking pictures of us with big cameras, video cameras. I heard we were on the news again and again. Also during the night, another canteen came relieving the one from Uniontown. Then another one came. There were two Salvation Army canteens there facing each other. Sandwiches were pouring in. I was worried that the sandwiches were getting smashed. But we managed to keep them out of the sun. The Johnstown Salvation Army Corp offered to bring breakfast the next day, since McDonald?s couldn?t do that many sandwiches again that quickly. I was suppose to try to figure out how to feed 400 people three times a day. I went back into Somerset to get a phone book and try to call some places to get some food catered in. Major Carney of Johnstown Salvation Army suggested that I call the Meals on Wheels program. That was a stroke of genius. That worked out very well. I called Art DiLoretto, Director of the Area Agency on Aging about breakfast for 400 Seven days a week for at least the next three weeks. He said yes without batting an eye. I was sooooo grateful. Now, to work on lunch and supper. During all this walking around, trying to get the cell phone to work, I saw three phone companies there installing telephone poles and satellite dishes. I saw the AT&T man pull up in his van. When he got out of the van, I asked him if he could loan us about 10 phones and service so that we could talk to each other, (meaning the 6 different canteens in the recovery efforts here). He said he would have to call his supervisor. He did, and it was moments later, he said he would bring them in the morning. So by day three we had phones to communicate with each other. I felt that was a major accomplishment because we were running back and forth trying to see what each other had and need so that we can continue to feed enough people. By day three the Calvary showed up, The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Crew from Pittsburgh and from Ohio. They were tied up with the New York efforts. They came to help us get better organized and give us a couple of days off. At that point we needed a break. They said that we were doing a very good job, but?.. we could clean the place up and get better organized. They were professionals at disaster work. They knew that the food had to be institutionalized. By that I mean it has to be catered in and put in bulk containers so that we can keep the hot food hot and the cold food cold. Food Safety was of utmost importance. They stressed the importance of not letting the FBI get food poisoning by all the well-meaning churches who kept bringing in all the pasta, chicken and sandwiches with mayo. The Emergency Disaster Services, Western PA?s Director, Robert Meyers told me I would be in charge of the food. That scared me, I was really afraid and dreading to plan the Thanksgiving Dinner and that was only for 175 people and it is only one meal. The meals here are for 400 people three times a day?.. AND for at least 3 more weeks!!!! Then he looked at Chris Crow and told him he would be in charge of the volunteers to man the Canteens. They would have to serve 12-hour shifts from 10am to 10pm. Then the next shift would be 10 pm to 10 am. They also brought a trailer to set up at what was called the staging area. Then there was another area called the Command Post. There was a third area called the Decon area, (Decontamination area), the fourth area was the Morgue, then there was the canteen who rode the perimeter, they were the Ligonier Canteen. I was putting in 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. After a while, people found out what my phone number was so my little cell phone was ringing and ringing. I was receiving calls from churches, businesses, the fire hall, all wanting to donate food. They all had times and amounts they were going to deliver. I had to try to coordinate big tubs of food. I remember some lady calling me wanting to donate fried chicken. I tried to explain that we were going to have to order the food catered in because of safety reasons. She cried, telling me she just wanted to help her country. I told her I needed 400 pieces. I told her I also needed mashed potatoes too and a roll. She said she would do her best. She tried and tried, she only could come up with 260 pieces bless her heart. She really had to struggle to find that many pieces. The food was late getting to us. I was getting heat from the bosses above. I didn?t have dinner by 4 pm. It was gong on 5:30 when she finally brought it. I had to meet her at the Shanksville Fire Hall because the State Troopers wouldn?t let her in. I had people calling me telling me they had Olive Garden donating 60 dinners, Sub Shops donating 300 sub sandwiches on Tuesday of next week. I had a lot of confusion. My brain was going to mush. I did notice that The Salvation Army had a refrigerator tractor and trailer finally for all the stuff that needed it. That was a blessing. I am so grateful for Annie Daniels at the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Hall, for coordinating the non-perishable food donations. She was filtering a lot of the hot food to us. There were so many local people who came forward to bring us literally anything we asked for. I remember the local fuel company filling a big tank so that we could fill up our little off road vehicles. I remember the local Harley Davidson Dealer loaning us a 4 wheeler for us to haul stuff to each of the canteens. Mark Tsantes of Emergency Disaster Services of Western PA Salvation Army was on the phone with Eat ?N Park corporate office. They were negotiating a deal with the meals every day for lunch and dinner. I was hoping it would start soon. It was really hard for me to get a definite answer out of people who would donate only part of the food, and not deliver, and?? on a day that I already had something else coming in. I remember people walking up to me asking to volunteer. I would give them Chris Crow?s phone number because sometimes he wouldn?t be in the same area I was. I want to recognize as many of the folks who helped that I can remember. I apologize if I left any out, or they gave but wasn?t affiliated with me. Here are the ones I was aware of: Chuck Wagner, Annie Daniels, Art DiLoretto, Pam Kalish, Laura Taragawa, Carol Gary & Daughter, Nina Lensbouer, AT&T, Keystone Coca Cola, Snyder?s of Berlin, Highland Harley Davidson, Promistar Bank, Ice Factory, Dunkin Donuts, DugOut Pizzaria, Kutos, Starbucks Coffee, Walmart, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Italian Oven, Kings, Wendy?s, RJ Farmers Market, Ryan?s, Blacklick Fire Dept., Area Agency on Aging, Chuckwagon Caterers, Shanksville Lutheran Church, Holly House, St. Paul?s Lutheran Church-Buckstown, Stoystown,PA, Sue Livingston-Home Bakery, Church of the Nazarene, Laurel Trinity Church, Dana Johnson, Black Lick Fire Auxillary-Indiana Co., Star Fund Raising, Ken Burkett, Meyersdale Medical Centre, Scheffel Equipment, the Youth Group with Ben Lowry, Joe Knee, John Dick, Jessica Butala, Sam Elayazra, Janet Fuoss & Cheryl Sechrist, St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Jack and Helen Haugle, Lynette L. Ely, Emily Jane Hickson, Woman?s Christian Service, Council of United Church of God, U.M. Mathews, Emily Cupp, Carol E. Troutman, Patricia L. Weir, Vivian Ohrs, Rockwood Rotary Club, Caroline & Andrew Sheeler, William Mignona, Demis Deist, Glenda Bittner, Linda Troll-North Star Education, First Christ Church, Mennonite Church Sunday School, Brownie Troop # 449, Springs Folk Festival, Gertrude and Bill Hanes, Robert Brant, Keim?s Sales and Service, Bonnie Peterson, Mosholder Insurance Agency, Margaret Mimmick, Women?s Civic Club- Confluence, Pastor Geo VanRiper and wife Nadine, Kathleen Goughmour-Bever Falls, PA, Gregory Hoffmans Construction Co., Mr. & Mrs. Durst, Messiah Lutheran Church, St. Paul?s United Church of Christ, Fleetwood Trailer Employees, Mr. & Mrs. Edward Burnsworth, Soloman Run Ladies Auxillary, Ann Bender, Theodore Stoner, Cotter & son Milk Transport, Jane Baldwin, Debbie Barron, Becky Leasure, Carolyn Nicholson, Colleen Caffrey, Swieckly Apa, Tim Nanoca, M. J. Gary, Tina Reczek, Daniel Winters, Bonnie Crosby, Esther Landis, Melanie Heiple, wm McGinley, Cathy Lambertus, Machelle Aurandt, Susan Courtney, Mike Bowser, Penny Mason, Berdette Stutzman, Donna Flickinger, Bill Mapgly, Robin Marsh, Pam Bodziak, Rob Heinrich, Esther Pitt, Ken Burkett, ********************************************************** I am running out of steam, its late, I have a busy day tomorrow. I want to just sum this writing up with this: Over 22,850 meals served to disaster workers and volunteers later, The Salvation Army truly considers it a privilege to assist others during crisis. We believe that this is our role: to provide physical, emotional, and spiritual support to those in need, whether during a national crisis or in the lives of those facing personal crisis. We assigned 7 Canteens, 6 support units and 3 operational trailers. We gave out 1,000 Bibles to media, families of the victims, and volunteers. I am going to just share part of a letter I wrote as a letter to the editor right after the recovery efforts: The whole experience during the disaster recovery has significantly moved me. I witnessed uncommon gallantry and spirit from this community -- people offered literally anything we asked for. We all had a role in the recovery and each person made the difference in how smoothly the operation went. This community revealed values and character traits that I really admire. We pulled skills from within that we didn?t even know we had. I feel strength knowing that there are probably people like us all over this great nation. I have more faith now than ever, that we will overcome this tragedy. I feel tired physically and emotionally- and in my thoughts about the country, I feel wounded. But I feel healing going on knowing that together we can accomplish a lot more than we ever dreamed. I want to thank the surrounding six Salvation Army Corps for lending its time, talents, volunteers, and resources. It truly does take an army of people who care. After seeing firsthand what we can do when we work together as a nation, I feel proud to live in Pennsylvania and proud to be an American. Thank God for all of you. Marilyn Albright, Service Center Director The Salvation Army 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 story687.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. 2002-05-29 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 129.174.27.190 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 work when I heard the news of this devastation. My first reaction was one of disbelief. I borrowed a TV from one of my tenants, I manage a commercial real estate property, and turned to the news. My emotions quickly changed to angry and outrage. As I sat there glued to the station, I cried for the lost of life, I actually felt as if I had lost personal loves ones in the tragity. I say personal love ones, because although I did not lose any relatives or close friends, I felt a kinship to the ones that were hurt and dying. The rage was overwhelming. In the months that have followed this tragity, I have not lost much of my outrage nor my anger, but I am gradually learning to live with the aftermath. I pray every day for peace yet I anticipate doom around every corner. I wish with all my heart that we could turn back time to pre-9-11-01. 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 story4410.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. 63.42.204.51 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: The world stood in disbelief as the unthinkable unfolded right before our very eyes. It seemed as if the whole world was literally crumbling before us. Within a matter of minutes the lives of every American changed forever. No longer will we take for granted the reality of just how vulnerable we really are. The very labels we assign to one another was that which bound us together, that dreadful day we all forgot that we were African or Irish American, the fact of the matter was that we were all American. I remember sitting on the ?L? train when the second plan hit and still I had no idea of the magnitude of what really occurred. I was on my way to work and someone casually pointed out that the towers were on fire. I and so many other commuters on that train simply assumed that shortly the fire would be put out. How could we have imagined that we would be under attack? As I exited the subway on 34th street, I barely had time to enter the office; hysterical co-workers greeted me. I must have sat down for what seemed to be eternity trying to grasp what was really happening. It is then; you see where your true loyalties lie. I called my little sister?s school, my older sister?s job and a long list of other people. I sat in disbelief as the minutes turned into hours, subways were shut, bridges were closed and a state of emergency was declared. The empire state building was announced to be a possible terrorist target. All hell broke lose. Nowhere was safe, up until that point we had all huddled in a supervisor?s office listening to the radio. I remember thinking this could not be happening. Everyone frantically called his or her loved ones in search of false assurance that the other was o.k. As we waited for the subways to reopen, patience and fear quickly turned into frustration and anger. Minutes quickly crept into hours and some subway services had resumed on a Sunday schedule. Fortunate for me, the trains I needed to get home were among the lucky ones. I rushed home and got my little sister from school. We sat glued in front of the tube for hours. It seemed information was not forth coming soon enough. I waited and waited until my mother got home. It seemed a lifetime before she walked through the door. I must have thanked GOD a thousand times for sparing her life. I stayed awake for at least 48 hours watching the news. Every television and radio was on for fear that some vital information would come and we need to make a means of escape. Escape to where? Any information was information no matter the validity. As we watch the towers crumbled over and over again on TV, every one called on his and her GOD pleading for the lives of those trapped. As we waited to count our losses with every other American, it seemed we died every time the death toll got higher and the notch for survivors decreased. Survivors were not forthcoming and our very heroes became victims. Solace was no where to be found, comfort was comfort less and well wishing was dried up. Tears flowed relentless. I couldn?t explain what was happening. I couldn?t speak; words escaped every emotion I felt. I wanted to, no, I needed to reach out and comfort in order to be comforted. I gave blood; I donated blankets, socks and food. I hugged random people, I had this need to touch and feel if this hurt other people as much as it did me. Somehow, the need to be there for someone else made this feel more real and made me all the more stronger. Ground Zero became synonymous with Ground Hero. The story that remained etched in my mind forever is Cantor Fitzgerald?s. With that story came a new wave of tears couple with the weight of guilt for having had survived when so many others did not. His very experience spoke to every survivor. That horrible day it hurt be an American but it proved that a country as large as the US could pull together and be a community. Geraldine Jupiter New York, NY 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 story215.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.11.21.254 Annotation Annotations to this item. Memorials/Vigils (location or person) Religion Rescue/clean-up workers/volunteers Television Coverage NY:3