86 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: The first thing i hear in the morning is my brother waking me up, telling me that someone crashed into the world trade center. In my waking haze i had thought i had misheard him. To my horror, i found out the truth as i turned on my Television. Not one plane, but two. Only minutes later my mother, brother and myself witnessed the collapse of the North Tower, followed shortly by the collapse of the South Tower. I can remember every thought that went through my head, and the eerie silence i found throughout the house and the entire neighborhood as i stepped outside to have a glance at the skies. Every thought i had was grief, rage, and helplessness as i have never felt before. Here i stood doing nothing more than passively watching the tragedy unfold on TV. I felt the urge to do more but not one thought came to mind. I have never fully trusted many charities for obvious reasons made public by the Red Cross' abuse of funds and blood. The only thing i could do was offer up one brief silent prayer. And believe me, that is saying something. I'm not relegious by nature, but on that day, i don't think there were any Atheist. Everyone belived that there was someone out there taching them. and now, one year later, i send up another prayer to the souls who made the ultimate sacrifice to awaken us from our passive state of sppon fed media induced hypnosis and back into reality. To all those who died, and to all those who have suffered, God bless you all, and Godspeed. 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 story6457.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at my home in Casper Wyoming getting things together to get my husband off to work. The time there was 6:30 A.M. He left to go to work when I turned on the TV. I wasn't paying to much attention to the telivision when i over heard a special report with peter jennings. I turned to the screan and they were taking about the First World Trade Center and it being struck by the plane. I watch in disbelief. I hollered at my mother in the other room and had asked her if she had the tv on. she didnt so i ran to the living room and turned it on. as we sat there and watched not believing what was going on. At that moment the second plain had just hit the second WTC building. I broke down in tears asking my mom if it was a movie. She had said that she didnt think that it was. that it was for real. It hit my heart hard. knowing that there were many people in the building and that they had no chance of making it out. It wasn't like watching the news about an earthquake in california or watching a plane crash or a accident on the tv or radio it was real. it was different. But i knew this, it hurt bad deep in me. my mother left for work in a different town 100 miles from home. as i sat at the house alone, i took the small tv from my room and placed it next to the computer. i watched it while i was online. many people were mad and wanted to kill bin ladin (although in my mind i couldn't say that i wasn't trying to plot something to get back at him myself). I sat there watching things escalate more when they were talking about 2 more unaccounted for plane's. Not knowing what was going to happen i started to wonder what was on these peoples minds. while on the internet chatting with friends from my area a woman from the wyoming area that was living in NYC came in the room looking for someone to talk to. she was upset and distrat that her husband wasnt answering her calls. and that she was trying to find where he was. i thought at first she was just using the oppertunity to get alittle attention. so i privet chatted with her and talked more to her about it. as we went on she asked me if she could call me that she would pay for the call. i agreed seams as how she was pretty upset. i got off the internet and she called me 5 minutes later. having caller id on my phone the number came through as a NY call. i looked it up in my little Area code book that i made and found that in fact she was calling for NYC. My heart sunk knowing that at first i didnt believe her and here she was in person on the phone talking to me crying and upset that her husband wasnt getting back to her. I calmed her down and we started to talk about what she could do to find him and make sure that he was ok. I told her after she did these things that i wanted her to call me back. I wanted to make sure that she found him. i hung up with her after getting her to collect herself. After i hung up i got back online for a few minutes and started chatting back in the origonal chat room i was in and people in there were being mean about the woman i was talking to. i stood up for her and told them to not be so judging. it could be them. then out of the blue while watching the tv at the same they were talking about the unaccounted for plane's. It had happened. It had struck to close to home. I had heard that on of the planes had crashed in somerset pensylvaina. i started to get worried. i pulled up a map and looked at it to see just how close to home it hit. and sure enough it had hit less than a mile from where my best uncle (grew up together like brother and sister) was living and working. i tried to call but couldnt get through. lines were all busy. I called my mother and told her that it struck there in PA and she started to cry over the phone she said for me to keep trying and that she would try to to get ahold of him. (my uncle was my mothers son, my grandmother, she raised me sence i was 2 weeks old so she has the right to be called mom in my book.) i was so upset that i was even afraid to go outside. knowing what was going on and what not i didnt want to go outside. i was to afraid that something might happen to us. thinking about the fact that if they were striking. i was concerned about them next hitting all the missil sites. beings that there is one in cheyenne wyoming. i only live 170 miles or so from there. still tring to call my uncle i got back to chatting and watching tv. when a message came up on my screen. someone was calling me. so i popped off and got the call. it was the gall in NYC. she had found her husband. God must have been with him. as that he was late getting to work at the WTC. and that he was a few blocks away but that he made it out intacted. she was happy. i felt good that he made it out. my heart started to sink more as i heard over the phone the cry of a young child. maybe 4-6 months old. i hung up with her and started thinking how tragic it would be if he had not been late. it hurt so much that i didnt want to think about it anymore. the day had gone by and i had yet to get ahold of my uncle. Crying and sobbing over the whole insadent. my husband came home from work. he had heard everything going on over the radio. we had heard that they were taking a picture with the satelite in space of the USA at 8 pm and that they wanted to have candles lite. (this i heard online) so me and my husband lit two candles and stood in our front yard. I didnt know if my neibors heard about it but as we stood there my neigbors came out for there houses with lit candles. we all stood there in the middle of the road (side roads for a trailer court) huddled with our candles praying for the loved ones that were taken in this tragic insadent. tears of remorse came down our faces. it was so hard for us to take what was going on. we stood there for a few hours with our candles. some of the candles would burn out but there was a neigbor that had extras and he would go around to the ones that were going out and light it the blow out the flame of the one that was almost gone. we didnt know how long we should stand there and not wanting to be the firsts one to leave the group we all stood there praying. (not being the religious type i do attend church at times and i do though on christmas and easter but not regular at anyother times). 3 days went by. Then the phone rang. it was my uncle. he told us how he seen the plane crash and that it wasnt that far from him. we were happy that he was ok but still sad that there were so many other people out there that had lost there loved ones. i didnt want to seam selfish. i was told i wasnt selfish but i felt that when i thought about how my uncle was still alive and with the family that loves him when other peoples uncls brothers sisters mothers fathers, sons and daughts were dead or missing. This tragety is hard for everyone to take. but in the end we will all show how strong we are as a nation and that this may knock us on our asses (excuse the medifor) but that we will get back up stronger than ever and we will fight back. I hate war. I think fighting is wronge but i also think that it is wronge for someone that has taken over 3000 lives should be allowed to run free and not be caught. and that he should be caught, and ran through our justice system. I know they say that he any crimanal should get a fair trial. but i also think that this trial would be as fair as it can be. keeping in mind that there were so many deaths, In my oppinion the man should be allowed to live. In our prison systems. and not in solitary. but out were the general population can get at him. so that he can die an old man knowing that everyone in our country dispies the man. Hates him and that he will die the most painfull death of all. God Bless America Land of the Free. Stand Stronge America!! We will show him. 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 story9019.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. 2003-02-01 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.81.20.157 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 my first day working with a counseling group of women. When one of the women began to speak about the attacks, I thought to myself that she must be dellusional, and that I had my work cut out for me. Before that day, I never would have believed that something like she was describing could have happened in the the United States of 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 story7463.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. 2002-09-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 172.161.225.191 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: On that dark day on Sepember 11, 2001 that changed America forever, I was driving home from bring my son to Pre-School. I turned on my favorite radio station. I heard the radio station 93.3 say that there has been a plane crash into the WTC. I began crying hysterically, because I had just dropped my husband off to fly out that morning. I did not know anything about the flight. I was also 8 months pregnant. I will never forget the feeling I had inside my heart, mind and body that day. I ran home to call my husband employer to find out if he was ok. I could barely speak w/o crying. They told me that they were trying to contact him and find out if he was ok. My husband's co-workers and company were beyond words can describe. They are wonderful people. They were offering me help and anything if I needed it. Thank God I found out about 12 noon that my husband was alive and ok. He was one of the lucky one's that never took that flight. I can't really describe every emotion that I am still feeling like many Americans. I watch and listen to the stories of all the victims families and read the sorrow. I marvel at the emotionless people sometimes. I know that there are so many things that make America great. Everyone has there owm religion and opinions. But some of these women want to act like heros on the TV and in articles. I don't believe that those victims were meant to get killed or meant to be on those planes. It was not there time to die and it was not there calling. Americans died because of a evil, ruthless act of terrorism. We live with fear all around us now. We are angry, and hurt and mourning the lose America suffered. If any body say's that they are not angry even a little bit , they are lying. We are human and we feel many emotions. I think it is wonderful that some of Americans have there faith to help them cope. But I say it again that every one has feelings and everyone mourns and cries. I comend Lisa Beamer for being so brave. I am very strong person. I can just about handle anything that is thrown my way. But there comes a time to stop and realize that we don't always have to be the string one and the hero. It is ok to break down and cry and mourn. This is just my opinion, it does not seem right or normal to get on national TV and take a plane ride a few days after your soul mate and husband is killed and America is mouring such terrible lose that words can not even describe. I still cry when I think about what happened and I cried watching the coverage. America suffered terribly and it will take a while to recover. We will move on and try to rebuild our hearts of America and the hearts of our children and our personal hearts. I know I am lucky and my kids are lucky to have a dad and my husband to hug and kiss every night, to play with and ask for help. I have a wonderful family, and I thank god every day I am blessed with my family and health. Thank You America for being to great, Thank You hero's for saving our lives, Thank You to all of our brave Fire fighters, and Police. Thank You to the Volunteers. Thank You all for being great and for who you all. With the deepest sympathy and thanks Amy Whelan 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 story6852.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. 66.168.40.187 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: Well the day started off when I weas in Langange Arts and the bell had just rung and we had to go to our next class. My next class was next door so i had 4 minutes to go talk to my best friend. Well when those 4 minutes were up I ran into my classroom and the teacher was crying and the tv was turned onto the news and it was saying a bunch of stuff about the twin towers in New York. So then I was really worried about my grandparents and my family because they live there! So I started to cry for the safty of my family. Then the princlable walked in and told our tearcher to turn the news off and continue with our lesson. Of course no one was going to do that because we were all going to talk about it and not pay any attention to the lesson. So what happened was the teacher was very worried about anyones family getting hurt so she asked if anyone wanted to use the phone. I really did because i wanted to talk to me mom and Dad to make sure that they were ok and the rest of my family. So I had to wait in a really long line so the teacher said that the last people could go down to the office. I wanted to go but of course other teachers had done the same and there was like a million kids in the front office. I was waiting and if you know me i am a very impatient girl and really had to use the phone. So i used the phone finally and I called my mom first because I she would probably have the tv on and she would have a chance to call our grandparents and friends. So when i called her she had already called them and asked if everyone was ok. She said that everyone was ok and not hurt. She asked if i was fine and I said yes crying. so once that i knew that my family was ok then i could stop crying and finnaly finish my day. My friends uncle had worked in the trade centers so I was trying to comfort and console her because he had been hurt. When I got home I was really trying not to cry but I turned on the news and watched in fear. My mom was explaning it to me so i would understand it better. It was like one bad thing was happening after another and another. When i heard that a mall in pennslivania was hit with a plane I was scared and so was my mom because my grandparents also live close to Penn. and I was worried so my mom called them again and I talked to them and made sure i was ok. As i went to bed that night I lie awake and cry for the people and firefighters that died to day and i prayed for them. 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 story3518.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. 207.193.126.63 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 had just left my boyfriend's house, and was driving to work. I turned on my regular morning radio station, and heard the DJs from a different station that I also listen to. I wasn't really listening at that point to what they were saying; it sounded like they were talking about some stupid hollywood action movie: buildings blowing up, etc. I switched to the station that they're normally on, and heard the same thing. At this point, I came up to a sign that was usually used for construction messages, you know "exit will be closed 9/23/01" etc. But it said "Airport closed - All flights cancelled". Having been a teenager in the 80's, the first thing that came to my minda was that there was a nuclear bomb coming, or something like that. I actually started listening to the radio at that point, and what I heard was almost as bad. I got out my cell phone and told my boyfriend to turn on the TV, that something bad had happened. I got off the phone after I told him, and called my mom, who said she'd talked to my sisters and neice, and that they were coming over to watch the news. They all stayed home from work that day, glued to the TV. I was glad to know they were all together in one place. They live an hour away with no traffic, so I kept going into work, where my co-workers are my other family. I dragged out a little television that I keep there, and we all watched in miniature the replay of the planes hitting the building over and over, listened to President Bush speak, and watched the changing death toll numbers. Not much work got done that day, but no one wanted to go home and be alone, so most of us stayed late. 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 story2168.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. 66.32.177.19 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 september 11 ,2001 I was a 8th grader at Chestnut Grove Middle School in King. We have teams at our school then and we were watching a movie that day and i had to go up to the main office and they were talking about planes hitting a building, I didn't pay any attention to it until one of my teachers came back into the room and told our class that planes had hit the world trade centers and we all started thinking this couldn't be possible. Some people started crying. We had a early dismassel day and so my last class that day was Band class and we had the option to go into our media center and watch the coverage of what was happening. Whenever i try to finish watching "Chicken Run" i can't because we were watching it when we found out what happened. When i got home that afternoon i called my dad at work and told him i loved him so much and that i would always love him. 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 story10531.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. 2004-04-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 162.40.31.23 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: 9-14-01 The city has emerged from the initial shock and numbness. There is more traffic on the streets now that the bridges have been opened, more people going about their daily routines, but clearly not their "normal" lives. Because of all the bomb threats (90 of them yesterday) people are, understandably, jumpy. The overriding sound in this part of the city is sirens. There are signs posted everywhere. On bus stop shelters, fences that surround parks and playgrounds, lamp posts, bulletin boards, store windows. Some signs ask people to donate blood, others list supplies that are needed downtown, others have a photo and the specifics about a missing loved one. Snatches of conversation on the street are almost always about the attack. I called a collection center yesterday about what things were needed. I brought bags of dry socks, face masks, goggles and work gloves. The center where I brought the items is a big cavernous room. The floor has been divided up into sections with masking tape, so that there is a place to put each item that is required. What looked like substantial bags of goods while walking over, the items, once placed on the floor of the collection center, looked puny and insignificant. This morning, with the rain, they are asking for ponchos, sweatshirts, dry clothing. Signs ask for batteries, flashlights, the list changes daily. Now that the rain has stopped, the needs will change again. The only way to describe the reality here is to say that things that seemed so important and significant three days ago, and still are in many ways, are difficult to focus on. But life must go on and that means doing all the mundane things we all do everyday. Even when it seems odd in the face of this enormous tragedy. I hope everyone is safe. Annie 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 story12.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. 2002-01-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.197.47 Annotation Annotations to this item. Missing Persons Rescue/clean-up workers/volunteers NY:3 Sep 11- Sep 21, 2001 Notes Notes about this item. move to email 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 living in Belize in 2001, where I owned a restaurant. I slept in late that morning because we had worked late the night before. My wife always gets up before me and on this particular morning, she woke me up to say that something strange was happening in the U.S. We lived in a rural area, so we had no TV, only radio and dial up internet. She said the radio stated that all flights into and in the U.S. had been cancelled. I simply did not believe her and assumed she had heard the radio wrong. But as I listened, we realized something serious had happened. As the stroy unfolded, I went into shock. As an ex sailor, I was at Beirut when the Marine Barracks was destroyed, and I had seen my share of destruction. For the first and last time in my life I wept. I knew that this was going to change the world and my country forever, in what way I did not know. But I was afraid it was going to be for the worse. Five years later, my eyes still well when I think of it, and I refuse to watch the endless TV shows reliving the events. I pray my country comes out of this better and stronger. 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 story20384.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 74.225.213.137 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: A gourp of us was in a conference call to Crystal City. We were joking and laughing and waiting for everyone to arrive. We were 15 minutes into the meeting when our boss came in and said a plane hit the World Trade Center. I remembered reading about a plane that flew into the Empire State Building years ago and, though there were some lives lost, it didn't do a lot of damage to the building. Plus we were saying how it survived that huge blast the last bombing so we weren't concerned. The meeting continued when we saw someone enter the meeting room at the other end of the conference, they whispered something and the head of the meeting said that everyone in Crystal City was ordered to evacuate. I was stunned. That's when I heard about the other two planes. I knew immediately it was terrorism. The most frightening thing was when the FAA ordered all the planes to land. Our depot is on a flight path to Harrisburg International Airport. Noone knew that all planes were ordered down so all we heard was plane after plane flying low over us. I remember unconsciously ducking as each plane flew over, not knowing if one was coming down on us. My cubicle mate is a quadriplegic and he left immediately to go home. I hadn't been that frightend since an old bum nearly dragged me off when I was 5 years old. 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 story1089.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-08-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.26.122.12 Annotation Annotations to this item. DOMESTIC Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My husband and I were asleep in bed - I was 5 months pregnant with my twins at the time. My mum had been staying at our place and she listens to the radio all night. It was about 1 or 2am when she came into our room and said "there has been a terrible accident in New York - a plane has accidentally hit a building". We turned on our television just as another plane hit the other tower and we knew then it was not an accident. We watched in horror and absolute disbelief as the towers collapsed one after the other. The people reading the news were crying and it just seemed that everyone was in total shock. It was on every pay and free to air channel with the exception of the kids channels. When the newsreaders started to talk about terrorists all we could think was that there was going to be a war and it would be the end of the world. If they could do this terrible thing, then they could destroy the world. We did not sleep that night at all and it seemed even in our town so far away from New York that people were sad - everyone was solemn and I guess everyone was in shock. It was several hours into the day before we even remembered that my mum's sister and her husband were actually in New York on a study tour. Everyone in the family were madly trying to find out if they were OK and when someone was finally able to talk to them we found out that due to a change in their intinerary, they were in a Taxi on their way to the airport when it happened. Their schedule had been changed the previous day - they were originally supposed to be in the Twin Towers when it happened. They said they saw the fire and smoke from the taxi but did not know until they got to the airport what had happened. The whole event was repeated so many times over the coming weeks on television, that our 18 month old son began to have nightmares about aeroplanes hitting buildings. We had not deliberately let him watch but you could not escape it. It did make us more aware of all the children in New York and how it must be affecting them. We still regulary think about all of those people who lost their lives on 9/11 and the recent London Bombings bought it all back again. We might be 1000's of miles away from New York, but we are all human beings and the effects of this terrible thing will live with us forever. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story11740.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2005-08-18 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 203.208.85.108 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: Heather Caward September 11, 2001 September 11, 2001 will always be remembered as my generation?s ?Day that will live in infamy.? It was the day that our national security blanket was removed and we saw just how vulnerable we all were. I remember the day very clearly. That day I remember that I was going to sleep in and go to an Aerosmith concert in Virginia Beach. I was abruptly awakened by my boyfriend who called me and told me that we were under attack. At first I didn?t believe him, but then I turned on the television to see the images of the former Twin Towers burning. Then came the word that the Pentagon had been bombed, and all I could think about was the fact that it was only two hours away from here. On the bottom of the television screen ran a red crawler with the Civil Defense System instructions saying that roads in the viewing area had been closed due to a terrorist attack. My boyfriend?s cousin actually saw the explosion and the fire from atop his office job in downtown Washington, DC. All I could think was how many people were going to be affected, and that this could lead to a lot worse than what was already happening. It was the first time in my lifetime that I was the witness to a war in my own country, and I have learned to appreciate many of the good things and people in my life. 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 story508.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. 2002-05-04 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.199.163 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: Perhaps before September 11, 2001, Americans? collective sense of safety was larger, as we felt somewhat cocooned by our freedom, good will, and general wealth. As horrific as the terrorist attacks and that which led to them are, there may well be a few good things that result. The tragedy jolted many citizens in this country to realize that we are indeed very connected to the world; that our power is potent enough to create great good, and great disharmony, and that the choice is with us, The People. Some were shocked to discover that there are people who hate us so much that they would kill themselves to harm us. My hope is that, instead of fearing more and using our resources only to protect us from hatred, we also use them to prevent hatred from growing in the first place. I want us to think long-term about whom and how we support, whom we don?t aid, and what the true costs to our policies are ---their affects on the increasingly smaller world stage. And, more locally, more tangibly, I hope that neighbors continue to look one another in the eye, that strangers are prompted to speak to one another in the grocery line, that we teach our children not to hate, that we rekindle the humanity every day that was challenged during the darkest of hours. At 8:56 on September 11, 2001, I was in bed in our small studio apartment in Greenwich Village, in Manhattan. I was awake, but the disrupted sheets showed evidence of sleep and a night punctuated by our 8-month-old son, Kolter. I lay next to him, his eyes still heavy with slumber. My husband, Steve, had left the apartment several minutes earlier, to run an errand for me in Midtown. The unusually loud drone of a plane overhead caused me to sit up, then to get out of bed and reflexively look out the window and into the courtyard, even though I knew I wouldn?t be able to see anything. My view was of other 4-story brick buildings like ours, a sycamore tree whose branches reached to our third-floor windows, and our fire escape. Despite the fact that the sound of engines was now long past, I still looked skyward. Maybe in the small patch of blue above I?d see smoke, buildings toppling, or some other more subtle reason for my discomfort. Seeing nothing and desperate for a mundane reason for the noise, I paused to recall some low-flying military aircraft that once, a long time ago, had been that alarming. But this was different; I don?t know why. I found the remote and flipped on the TV. All that was visible was snow---that flirtatiously jumping static that sometimes even bunny ears won?t fix, though how we try. Every channel but one was indecipherable. We didn?t have cable, so nearly all of our reception was dependent on the antennae atop one of the World Trade Center towers. Something important that I couldn?t see was happening not very far away. The towers were a mere twenty blocks south. I began to move more quickly and turned on the radio in midstream of a commentator stating that a plane had hit one of the towers. It wasn?t known at that point if it had been an accident or not. The half-visible TV channel showed fumbling reporters, uncharacteristically distraught while delivering the news. I called my husband on his cell phone and told him to come back downtown and why. I called a friend of ours who I knew would be leaving New Jersey to commute into the city at about that time. He didn?t know that all bridges and tunnels would be closed. Kolter was now awake and I fed and played with him, caught between our daily routine and a growing sense of dread. The usually unheeded moments of normal, predictable life receded into the magnified attention to everything as it happens, when things take a volatile turn. Kolter?s everyday expressions of hunger, joy, and impatience took on a certain degree of preciousness. When Steve got back we three stood together in the center of our apartment and waited, not knowing what to do. He didn?t describe to me the sight of the burning towers, which he must have watched on his drive downtown; he didn?t say a word. In a few moments there was screaming in the street below us. Steve knew what this meant, but I hadn?t yet put it all together. We raced downstairs and into Sullivan Street, where many people were standing or sitting in their cars, looking southward at what was now only one burning tower. We looked and looked and didn?t believe what we saw. It was impossible that these mammoth icons, part of a landscape I had imprinted behind my eyes since childhood; buildings in which I had recently danced, at Windows on the World; symbols of American ingenuity and dominance, could simply disappear. In grasping for sense, the mind, its fragility now so exposed, searches wildly for something to compare such a vision to and, in my case, only arrives at images created by Hollywood: The Towering Inferno. What seemed like hundreds of dramas played out inside my head like the snapshots of melodramas enacted by stars in blood too red to be real. The mind tries to fathom the actual people inside these buildings, the actual feelings of fear, pain, desperate hope, horror; and the ramifications of what is happening, for those inside, for their families, for we who witness it, for this city, for the world. No, god, no, is all I could think, could say, could cry. Oh my god, no. Small dark objects falling from the tower, too weighted, too resigned to be metal, were visible from where we stood. People dying one way instead of another. The second tower fell in what seemed like slow motion, sinking into its own cloud of dust; a kind of metal cascade, light and heavy at once, quiet. Too quiet for it to contain the loss it buried. Our own paralysis as witnesses felt meaningless, frustrating. How did we let this happen? How can we walk away? How can we move? Why aren?t we all screaming and pulling our hair out and cursing the heavens and the hatred of humans? Steve had taken Kolter out of his stroller and was holding him, shielding him from me and my stricken face. I wanted to hold him tightly, to protect him and to let his not seeing comfort me. Steve nudged me to start walking, and we did, without thinking, walk east toward the apartment of friends of ours. Crossing Broadway we began to see a few dazed people walking northward as if in a trance, covered in gray ash and dust. We observed them silently, reverently, holding them apart from us, as they were in the altered state of those who had been there, had seen death more intimately than we had. We spent the following afternoon and night with our friends, interrupting TV-watching with an occasional meal. Streets were blocked off, sirens whaled, more and more masked and ash-covered people, wordless, moved slowly northward. For two more days we couldn?t leave the city, and we spent almost all of that time with friends, watching TV and eating and walking around with Kolter. A new cohesion had spread as fast as the news; people looked at each other knowingly, made eye contact, told their stories, seemed in touch with everyone?s needs to be dealt with caringly. The city became small and familiar. Kolter was our only light during those days. His smile and laughter and needs always brought us out of our struggling minds and into each physical moment. The sun was bright across a blazing and clear-blue sky in every direction but south, which was hanging in dark soot. The greatness of the damage we had witnessed, this great wound to our city, to our hearts, seemed, as well, to give us back some essential intensity and appreciation for all we have, including the fact that it was shocking and new. For the many exposed to war on a regular basis, it might have seemed less so. We wanted to help and tried to donate blood but were turned away. Our greatest contribution turned out to be Kolter. Tired faces were transformed whenever he came upon the scene. He felt ever more like a gift. Once back in New Jersey, for many weeks following I had trouble being alone. I?d run to the window every time I heard an airplane overhead. If I was alone for more than an hour I?d begin to imagine that I was in danger. Kolter and I spent nights at a friend?s house when my husband was away on business. It wasn?t until mid-December, after no further terrorist attacks had come to fruition, and after I wrote about Ground Zero for a travel guide, that I was able to let the panic submerge back into the depths beneath daily life. Our war on terrorism didn?t reassure me; it only served to further alarm me, as I don?t believe that war is ever a decent solution. It bothered me that all I heard from our leaders was the call for greater patriotism, not what I felt was needed: a closer look at our responsibility to the world. Now, six months later, when at airports guards with semi-automatic weapons, removing one?s shoes, and having all our luggage X-rayed has become routine, I still cannot agree with those whom I?ve heard say that these things make them feel safer. On the contrary, tighter security proves to me that we have let our world become less humane, less safe, more divisive. And though I would never say that terrorism is our own fault, I would venture to guess that we have our part in it. And I have begun to ask, What are we doing? Not so much to protect ourselves from the Evil Other but to understand each other more wholly? Isn?t calling them Evil a cheap way of making us seem more innocent than we are? What would make me feel reassured? Less global poverty, more opportunity for the disenfranchised so that religious fanatics can?t gain a stronghold, real discussions by our politicians about how foreign policy can do the most good for the most people---policy that reflects greater equality, not special interests, not greed. For until we see the great global network less as an opportunity to get richer no matter what its costs to the developing world, there can be no freedom at home. What do I want for our son, when he is our age? For him to feel that the world is a safer, healthier, more abundant place for everyone, not just for him. In the meantime, I continue to regard him with the same sense of renewed wonder, awe, and urgency that began on September 11. Funny how death will sometimes give us the chance, if we take it, for an even greater love of life. 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 story444.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. 2002-04-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.193.138.55 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was at my highschool Wyoming Valley West. I was in 10th grade at the time. I remember walking into my period 4 class and a announcement was being made to turn on the TV becauase there was a terrist attack. As I was watching the TV and the replays of a plane hitting the building I suddenly noticed another one hitting and I yelled to my teacher another one just hit! My teacher started crying, I felt bad for everyone. Then I just remember watching TV thanking GOD that I wasnt there in NY to be having to be in that situation. GOD BLESS the SURVIORS and the ones who almost made it and GOD BLESS the ones who died for something they had no part in. AMEN 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 story11588.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2005-07-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.116.139 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: September 11th 2001. One of those days that you will never forget where you were and what you were doing. It was around 10 in the morning, I was in Madame Walser's Intro to French. The class started like the first few days of class, warm-ups, then my teacher suddenly turned on the tv and the news was on. It was one of the planes hitting one of the World Trade Center. It was unbelieveable! Everyone was in shock and the room was dead silent. Soon people started freaking out and wanted to leave class and talk to their parents. Then the bell rang and I was off to fourth period, Mrs. Khone's science class. The whole time we watched tv and saw the second plane hitting the other tower. Again the class was silent. Could this be happening again? Who is doing this? Why us? No one knew what to do. Soon we learned that the towers collapsed and the Pentagon was hit. That was when it really started to get real. The Pentagon was less than an hour drive from our school and we knew people's parents worked there. Thats when people started to cry hysterically. The kids just wanted to call their parents to see if they were okay. Then one by one people started to leave to go home. The bell rang, and now it was lunch time. I sat with all my friend in the cafeteria, and the event became more and more personal. My friend Tara who I've known since 4th grade was crying non stop. Her mom worked at the Pentagon and she had no way of contacting her. It was really hard for me becuse I knew i couldn't do anything, I was helpless. My next class was history, again we saw the same images of the planes hitting, the collapse of the towers, and the Pentagon burning, we couldn't stop watching. The rest of the day was the same, all eyes on the television, and more and more kids leaving. By the time I got home, my older sister and brothers were there, then I called my parents first thing, and suddenly I felt a lot better. Then my little sister and cousin came home and they had no idea what happened because they were only in elementary and was not informed about the events. So then i turned on the tv and they saw the disturbing images and had no idea what to think. After a few days we lit candles for those who lost their lives that day along with all our neighbors. September 11th is a day of rememberance, not only for those who died but for the many freedoms we must protect. 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 story20427.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2006-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 151.188.16.21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: When I first herd about Septimber 11, I was in my living room with my best frend Mike. We were wating TV, and suddenly all the TV chanals were showing the attack live. Every chanal was showing the attack not jest 3 or 4 all. When Mike and I saw the plans crash in to the Pentagon and Twin towers we were shocked. It dident really change my life becase I dident know enyone that was hert or killed. If I think about it it did change my life A little becuse for the nexed year we talked about it in School so much. If I had To think about somthing people shoud remember about this event, it wouldbe to remember all of the people died that day. People shouid also remember the fiermen who died. That is my Experience, and that is my essay about septimber 11. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story8558.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-10-22 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.60.58.139 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was home and got a phone call from my mother as to what was going on. I turned the news on and could not believe my eyes. It was unreal, and took some time to truly believe what was happening. And the second plane hit! I sat mesmerized...and still can't belive it could of happened. And i still cry when i see the news about it.God Bless those who lost, and the survivors, you will never be forgotten. And the true hero's on the planes and the fire fighters and police men and women.We need to be strong.....M.G. 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 story6855.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: Manhattan is still my spiritual home even after 10 years of living in California,so i was thrilled to be working there in September, always one of the best times to be walking around the city. I was scheduled to be there a few days then fly to Lebanon for a conference. Because i was staying in a tacky, old hotel with vintage wiring (on 14th street), while getting dressed that morning i was almost afraid to plug in the hair drier and turn on the tv at the same time. The phone rang at 9am and my housemate from Berkeley screamed at me, "You aren't flying anywhere--some plane just went into the World Trade Center." Knowing it was 6am for her and that she was prone to getting her information from talk radio,i thought about the King Kong film and said something about a bi-plane and over-reactions. But i did as told and turned on Peter Jennings who i thought had an odd startled look about him. By that time, the fires were evident in the first tower and then the tv screen showed another explosion in the second tower. i can't remember exactly what the newscasters were saying but i remember thinking since when does ABC get its information from people in the street interviews. All of a sudden i felt an urgency to get out of the hotel and get to my office on Broadway and 21st where there were people i knew--some peculiar definition of safety? Walking east on 16th or 17th street, i noticed something very strange for New Yorkers--we were walking more warily instead of pellmell forward and looking each other in the eye. (Normally, New Yorkers won't lock eyes with a stranger as it invites contact which might slow the pace!)Something was very different...and ominous. At 5th avenue i noticed a clot of people, maybe 50-70 standing still and staring south. Noticing a nearby news van with a blaring commentary, i figured here i would get some information and joined them. We watched, some yelling or cursing and some silently, as a huge black cloud buried one of the towers and when it cleared, we could see it wasn't there anymore. At that point, i felt cold fear and headed off again for the office, trying not to be paranoid about the fact that would bring me nearer to the now tallest building in New York, the Empire State Building. Finally reached our small office of four people,where we all compared notes. It was hard to decide whether to scatter to respective homes or stay together where our friends and families could reach us. We opted to stay until the situation became more clear and we had concrete information about what was going on. In addition to the hard information from the radio,internet and Spanish tv (other stations were out from that part of Manhattan)about the plane hitting the Pentagon, the closing of the NYC bridges and tunnels and the national air space, we also heard lots of rumors from the surrounding offices, such as that NYU had been bombed and the Brooklyn Bridge would be next and that the city would be evacuated. We heard there were still 4 planes unaccounted for and no one wanted to go anywhere until we knew where those planes were. However, by 11am or maybe noon, we started hearing regular bulletins from the hero of the day,Mayor Guliani. Nobody knew where Bush was, but we all could see Rudy was in charge and had decided to tell us whatever truths he knew, hour by hour. Finally by day's end, my office workers had heard from their relatives who worked in the World Trade area and we had talked to colleagues who worked in the Pentagon. My Pennsylvania relatives were still bewildered by the plane that had gone down outside Pittsburgh...all of us unable to to put that piece of the puzzle together with the New York and DC events. It was time to disperse and half went to find trains or buses running to Long Island, while my boss and i walked downtown to give blood at St. Vincents. We were still under the illusion there would be huge numbers of injured survivors. The hospital was cordoned off with tons of emergency vehicles, police cars and lots of uniformed people, but we were politely told there were hundreds ahead of us to give blood and it wasn't needed at the moment. We noticed the first of what would soon be dozens of spontaneous gathering spots where people were posting "missing" signs of spouses, relatives and friends. New Yorkers were not panicking, not the ones i saw that day, anyway. They were helping each other onto buses, talking, comparing notes, walking miles home, sharing cell phones if they worked. Witnessing that spirit and knowing Rudy was more than rising to the occasion were the only positive aspects of that day from hell. Back at my funky little hotel, i watched one tv network after another, trying to piece together the day's chronology as it was all mixed up in my mind. On the phone, it was hard for me to curtail comments while my California friends agonized about whether or not to use the Bay or Golden Gate bridges to get home--hadn't they figured out yet they weren't part of this particular scenario? (One of them insisted, "But the planes were originally coming here, that must mean something." yeah, more fuel, fool) Later, after od'ing on the television's repetitive images around midnight, i heard and felt some huge rumblings below me. My California nerves said "earthquake,run" but my New York legs took me to the window. There,lining up for some macabre assignment i didn't even want to imagine, was a maginot line of supersized dump trucks, backed up on 14th street. They were about to embark for what we would soon call "Ground Zero." That was my September 11. For the first time in 25 years of international travel, i did not have the guts to get on a plane, particularly one headed for the Middle East, so never did take that trip to Lebanon. Ultimately, i was glad though to be in and with my city in what seems to have been its darkest 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 story9525.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. 2003-09-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.209.8 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 my name is virginia, I'm 18 years old , I study at fairfax high school in fairfax county in virginia.On september 11th was at home watchng the tv and also I was very sick , that was the reason that I didn't go to school. I woke up at 8:00 am and I turned on the tv , then I saw the news and I was on shock , I couldn't believe what I saw on tv , I would say that I saw eveything , that I was very sad , then I called my mother to tell her about that , and I called her but I couldn't get her , I didn't know what she was at that moment , and then I couldn't get her , after a few minutes later , I called her again , and she answered my call , I was so happy to get her, then she was like a little worried and she told me that she knew about those airplanes , and at that moment she was at the IRS , close to the pentagon , and she was driving , and she heard the crush of the airplane at the pentagon , and she told me that the rest of the cars sttoped including hers , and everybody was very scared , specially a old woman , then people started to evacuating . she told me that she was so scary , and when she knew that it was an airplane she start to cry , and I started to cry too, I always think about that ,I always think about those inocent people, and I feel sorry for them , but I know there is one god above , and he is the only who can decide, but what I would like to say is that I believe in those people who died , and I know that they're happy right now , well , they are in someplace better than this world . 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 story7125.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. 151.188.29.249 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 still remember that day like if it was yesterday. I had bearly arrived to Virginia from a very long drive from Texas a couple of days before the incident, on the 4th to be exact. My husband & I had not seen each other since we got married on July due to the circumstances that he is active duty in the Navy & we were waiting for a home to be available. I remember that weekend we were together in our new home and we were a little sad because on Monday he was going out to sea for 2 weeks. Monday September 11, came around and he had to leave. I didn't knew anyone in Virginia all of my family is in Texas, that morning I went and knocked on my neighbor's door, who happen to move in at the same time we did, to ask her if she would like to have coffee together and when she opened her door she was crying. I didn't know exactly what was going on because I had bearly woke up when the first plane crashed into tower #1. She told me if I knew what was happening and then she pointed at her tv and said look a plane crashed into the world trade center & when she went into her kitchen to answer the phone I saw the second plane hit tower #2 and yelled at her so she could come see what was going on. Immediately after that I ran to my home and grabbed my phone and called to my husband's boat to see if he had been out to sea yet. They didn't allow me to speak with him, that got me even more worried, then like about 30 minutes later he called me and let me know he was going to be sent to New York City and for me not to worry that everything was going to be ok. Then later on that day through the news I heard about the plane hitting the Pentagon and the other plane crashing into land, and my eyes couldn't believe what was going on. Then as I was watching the news on the tv I heard sirens and looked out the window, military security guards were going through the streets in our military housing saying on speakers that we were in code delta, which is the worst, that we were targeted to be attacked due to the other incidents, all military bases were under delta code, and we happen to live next to the Naval Weapon Station Base. I was really scared no one was allowed to leave or come in to our housing community. What happen was debasting and I know we will remember it for ever. we keep all those people who were lost in our prayers. 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 story5378.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. 207.193.249.150