1 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: Our family had two near misses that day. 1. My wife works for WorldCom in Pentagon City, across from Fashion City. She felt the explosion when the plane hit the Pentagon. (The plane's flight path went just to the north of her building.) She and two of her co-workers rushed outside. When they realized what had happened, her two co-workers, who were ex-EMTs, rushed to the Pentagon. When she got the OK to go home around 10:00 AM, it took her 7 hours to get home. It took her 5 hours to get out of the area. All the streets were closed. She and her vehicle were "commandeered" by a fireman to take him to a local apartment fire. He had no way to get there nor any equipment as all the fire trucks were at the Pentagon. 2. A relative, who was 8 months pregnant, works in the American Express building in NYC, next to the World Trade Center. When the first building was struck, she headed to her building's garage to get her car and leave. She was told, while enroute to the garage, by building personnel that everything was "under control". She wisely ignored the horrible advice. As she was leaving the building, she saw the second plane hit. Fortunately, for us and our family, we have only "near-miss" stories. We are very thankful for that. GMU student, Junior, 2001. Paul Franklin Stevenson 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 story1.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. 2002-01-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 209.244.84.142 Annotation Annotations to this item. Firefighters Personal connection to someone at site Rescue/clean-up workers/volunteers Struggle to get home DC:3 January-March, 2002 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 finished teaching my 7:30 a.m. English 302 (Advanced Composition) class and was at my desk for Tuesday office hours. Colleagues at NCC came into 416 Enterprise (we academic advisors call our office space the "bull pen" because 7 of us have office cubicles crammed into this room), announcing that the first World Trade tower had been struck by a plane. Very soon most of the NCC office staff/faculty were gathered around the TV in the computer lab on this floor. We watched, stunned, while a plane hit the second tower. Then more news about the Pentagon, possible strikes on other buildings in D.C. Faculty/staff came and went, returning to their desks to call spouses, friends, relatives who might have been involved. I remember thinking "Is this the beginning of the end?" I wanted to see my two daughters, both in high school at Woodson, in Fairfax, VA, just 5 minutes from my office, but I was scheduled to teach a class for NCC at noon. Still in a state of shock, my team-teacher and I walked over to our classroom to announce that class was cancelled. In subsequent days, I feared coming to my desk, thinking that universities would be a target for follow-up terrorist attacks. I still live with a fear, kept just below the surface, of living so close to the nation's capital. 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 story10.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. 129.174.49.20 Annotation Annotations to this item. Rumors Students/Teachers Television Coverage DC:3 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 because I had a late class tha t day and the phone rung at about 7am so that would have been 9am Eastern Time. It was a friend of mine telling me to turn on the TV. I asked what channel and she said that it didn't matter. That should have been my first clue that something wasn't right but nothing prepared me for what I saw. I turned it on just as the 2nd plane hit. It took a minute to realize that it wasn't a horrible dream. I just sad watching CNN for what felt like an eternity. I don't remember what time it was but when there was a report that the State Department had been bombed that is when I literally thought the world was coming to an end. I am a journalism major so for the first 3 days I thought of this as a news story. Maybe it was because I didn't want to let it in. I remember that Friday is when it hit me. I literally just broke down and started crying. It was just the saddest thing that I had ever felt. I mean I used to live in the NY metro area so I saw those buildings all the time and to picture the city without them I just can't do it. I remember seeing the people standing in lines with pictures of their loved ones, many hoping for a miracle that never came. Still to this day I tear up everytime I think about it. Not about the towers themselves but the people. The people who got up one morning like it was any other day and for those family members and friends who never got to say one more "I love you" or one last hug and to think that they would give anything for that just breaks your heart and will for a long time if not forever. Years from now this will become one of those days in history that you read about like November 22, 1963 or December 7, 1941. People will remember what happened but those of us who were alive at the time will remember the faces and the images and not the words on the pages of a history book. 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 story1000.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. 2002-08-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.0.36.248 Annotation Annotations to this item. Missing Persons 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 office was in Tower One... As Information System Audit Project Leader and acting head of the department, I arrived at work as usual around 6:30 a.m., sipped tea as I read and answered my e-mail, reviewed my meeting schedule and prepared other work. Around 8:20 a.m., I called a prespecitve IS Auditor candidate to discuss our company's continued interest in him; around 8:27 a.m. we hung up. Our Financial Management Network (FMN) coordinator came to my office door to ask if I was going to attend the FMN session, I said, "yes". As our video and discussion sessions started at 8:45 a.m., I went to our 29th floor NE conference room around 8:42 a.m. I was handed a sign-in sheet and the FMN coordinator left the room to see if others were going to attend the session. Around 8:44 a.m. I heard what sounded like the whine of an incoming missile (I thought "are we under attack?" and tried to imagine from where a missile could possibly have been launched.)I heard a thunderous BOOM; the building shook violently and the floor (each floor was approximately one acre in size) did a rolling wave; I saw debris falling past the windows. I left the conference room and saw a co-worker standing spread eagle. He said he thought it was an earthquake, I told him something big had hit the building as there was debris falling from higher up and raining past the windows. I asked him if he had heard the incoming sound but apparently he had not. I went to my office to get my purse. I hesitated as to whether I should pick up my briefcase and my walking shoes but as I looked out my door, I our departmental Vice President and her assistant running out. I heard our disaster floor monitor say "everyone out". I headed to the exit door without my bag and shoes. As I exited, someone said he was going to the elevator, I shouted "use the stairs". I entered the stairwell with other co-workers; we started walking down in an orderly and quiet fashion. One guy said it felt just like an earthquake and I said it didn't feel like any earthquake I had ever experienced in Los Angeles from Sylmar to Northridge including the Loma Prieta. We continued to descend from the 29th floor. Around the 25th floor, there were 2 people wetting down a man who was having an asthma attack. We encountered the first of a steady line of fire fighters who looked winded and extremely hot and tired. They were fully outfitted in their fire fighting gear plus carrying extra fire hoses, air tanks, face masks, and cutting equipment. The asthmatic sat down on the right side (my left side) of the stairwell in the oncoming path of the fire fighters. As I recall, one firefighter attempted to assist the asthmatic man down the stairs because the asthmatic had fallen over and was blocking the path up the stairwell. I continued down the stairs. I lost sight of my co-workers who had passed me on the steps; I found myself with people from the 31st floor. I looked at the firefighters and noted their age as being between mid-twenties and mid-thirties with the exception of a few "seasoned" individuals. I wanted to say something to them to encourage them as they seemed out on their feet. I put my hand on the shoulder of one of the firefighters and said, "you guys have got a lot of heart". He smiled and said "thank you". I thought I saw the others straighten up a little and walk with a little more purpose. During the descent, we had no idea about what could have happended. A man behind me said he got a message from his wife on his message pager that said a plane had hit the building. We wondered if it was an accident. Somewhere around floor 20 or 19, the stairwell shook. The man with the message pager got another message from his wife that a second plane had struck Tower II. We then knew it was deliberate and put some pep in our step. I now was with some people from the 51st floor as someone asked what floor they were from. At floor 9, the overhead sprinklers were on all the way to floor 1. Around floor 3, structural damage could be seen; the same at 2. When we emerged from the stairwell at 1, the marble-lined lobby was in shambles. The lobby looked as though a bomb had gone off and the elevator wells imploded. The sprinklers were still on but the smell of jet fuel and the dust and smoke was not as bad there. Port Authority police directed us to the escalator just past the Tourneau watch shop. We ascended the escalator to the lobby of WTC5 and out the door next to Borders book store. More Port Authority police were outside to direct us away from the building. The police officers were saying, "away from the building, away from the building, don't look up, don't look back, keep moving, keep moving, keep moving, don't use your cell phones, keep moving". I walked across the street and up Fulton. Some people told me they waw the second plane circle around and fly into the second tower. About halfway up the block, I saw a large puddle of something red. It had the consistency of catsup but was bright red. I saw a pair of cork-soled platform black wedgies next to the puddle and a white towel partially saoked in the blood. A guy I didn't know came up to me and told me I didn't want to know what had been there. I said I did. He said someone's head had landed there and squashed on impact but it had been taken away. He said they couldn't find the body. I observed people just standing around; some dazed, some in hysterics, some trying to use their cell phones. Others just milling around. I continued down Fulton chatting with the stranger who told me he worked for the Fulton Fish Market. I turned to look at the buildings. They were both ablaze. I would see thick black smoke, flames, debris falling and people jumping. As we neared the South Street Seaport, the stranger met some friends and stopped to chat. All taxis were full, I saw no municipal buses. A red/white/blue Waterway ferry bus came along and I flagged it. The driver asked me where I was going , I said "NJ". He motioned to come aboard. I talked to the other passengers and listened to their stories, except for one rather nervous woman who wanted to go to Weehawken. We zig-zagged our way cross town to the 34th Street pier. At the pier, there was a crowd of people numbering around 1500. We quickly saw there was only one ferry running. I saw a woman walking along and spoke to her. She said it was such a strange day. As the crowd moved forward, after standing in line about 5 minutes, some new comers said the towers had collapsed. From our location, we could only see the black smoke despite the sky being clear. No one wanted to believe the towers were gone. The ferry arrived. I stayed near the open end so I could look out at NYC as we left for NJ. There were only a few puffy clouds in the sky and the vapor trail of a very high flying plane (probably military) and the thick black smoke. Upon docking at Weehawken (NJ), we disembarked and assembled in queues by destination and waited for the shuttle buses to arrive. After waiting 10-15 minutes, another red/white/blue Waterway bus arrived to take us to Hoboken terminal. The ride took about 15 minutes because the driver was letting people off at the regularly scheduled stops. When we arrived at Hoboken terminal, we were let off about 2 blocks away and walked in. The police had completely cordoned off the perimeter and no one really knew how we were to gain access to the station. One police officer had the presence of mind to raise the yellow tape and let us go to the station. Once in the station, I checked the board to see what time the Bayhead train was scheduled to depart (2:12 p.m.) and it was only a little before noon. I went to the ticket window to see which train I could take to Newark. I was told to go to Customer Service which was set-up as an emergency command center. They told me to take the Gladstone train to the Newark Broad Street station. I asked a conductor where to catch that train, he said track 17. I went to track 17, boarded the train and sat down wet and dusty. No tickets were checked. When we arrived at Newark and descended the steps, there was a NJ transit bus waiting to take us to Newark Penn Station. The bus let us off 2 blocks away and we walked in. I walked to the station checked the board to see what track I needed to go to. I went to track 3. There was an Amtrak train waiting to leave but couldn't because it couldn't close its doors. They said they were waiting for the delivery of a cable that would allow them to close the doors and leave. They expected there to be a 10-15 minute wait. I went inside the waiting room to use the pay phone. There were 2 women taking turns using the phone. Finally one finished and told me a call would go through faster if I called collect. I tried to use my phone card but it didn't work, so I used collect. My cousin answered at home and I told her to tell my Mom I was all right, at Newark Penn station, and on my way home and hung up. Upon going back to track 3, the Amtrak train's doors were closed and it left about 5 minutes later. We could see the NJ Transit train waiting to advance to the platform. We boarded, the train left the station. At least 1/2 of the people in our car had been at or near the World Trade Center (WTC) and were wet like me or sooty. We discussed facts about the WTC and our individual experiences that day. One pregnant woman had trekked to the ferry from the WTC on foot carrying a laptop and her purse. She got off at Matawan. I arrived in Red Bank around 3:08 p.m., still damp, wrinkled and a little sooty. I arrived home in Fair Haven around 3:15 p.m. I sat in the same spot almost constantly for two days watching TV following September 11, 2001. I had no bad dreams nor do I have any today. I have seen occurrences of the 1960's; having lived in Boston and LA, I saw the earthquakes, wild fires, civil disobedience, and day-to-day violence coupled with what we see at the movies and on TV and I realize I have been left a little numb. Not that I'm not concerned for those who were injured (physically and mentally) and for those who lost their lives, being there and seeing it up close, there was a disconnect from the reality of it all. 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 story1001.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. 2002-08-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.5.154.160 Annotation Annotations to this item. Firefighters Struggle to get home Telephones and Cell Phones Victims WTC, attack WTC, worked in (ever) NY:1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: We?re All The Same ?You are in line to fill out your paperwork to donate blood,? boomed the small, bearded gentleman using the black electric megaphone. ?From this point in line, it will take you between an hour and fifteen minutes and an hour and a half to get to the counter to get your paperwork for giving blood. The good news is, it only takes about 5 minutes to fill out the paperwork and the bad news is, there?s about a 5 hour wait before you are able to donate blood,? he bellowed. ?Man!? I thought to myself, ?that?s a sure way to clear out this line.? To my surprise, no one moved. Instead, they just seemed to listen more intently to this Red Cross volunteer bark out instructions to the line. I suppose I wouldn?t have been surprised if I was observing this scene in some third world country that had just been devastated by a natural disaster such as a flood or earthquake, but this scenario was about as far from the Third World as one could get. I am sitting in the parking lot of the Fountain Valley American Red Cross building in the heart of Orange County, California where the upscale population won?t wait 60 seconds at the drive-through window at McDonald?s without demanding a coupon for a free Big Mac for their inconvenience. This crowd of people didn?t even flinch at the news they would have to wait six and a half hours to let a stressed, overworked Red Cross nurse stick them with a 2? needle and drain them of quick pint of blood. Today is September 11, 2001, and the smoke, dust and debris still hangs in an ominous cloud over the spot where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once proudly stood. As I watch this crowd of hundreds of people waiting to play some small part in the healing and recovery that must follow and event like this, I am sure this scene is being played out in thousands of other locations throughout America. These are Americans, the ones my dad told me about after he survived the attack at Pearl Harbor. I never really got it when I heard my dad tell the stories of sacrifice and commitment and how America was united, until now. As I listen to what?s going on around me, I?m even more amazed. I can only understand about half the conversations; the others are in Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Korean and many others I can?t speak or recognize. ?We appreciate you all showing up to give blood and I hope you?ll bear with us as we try to move everyone through as quickly as possible?, screeched the megaphone man again. ?We only have 7 beds and it takes about 15 minutes per person to give blood so we can take care of about 28 people per hour.? I was sure this announcement would weed out the faint of heart, but I was wrong. No one moaned or complained, or even shook their head in disgust at this news. I expected to see a barrage of cell phones being whipped out so they could call their attorney or congressman or someone to help intercede and speed them through this process. After all, we are Orange County citizens and how dare you make us wait or inconvenience us in any way. ?Free snacks,? squeaked a tiny little voice shaking me from place of deep thought. I was staring in the face of a blonde, pony-tailed 6-year old as she thrust a box of cookies, chips and granola bars into my face. ?Thank you?, I replied while grabbing a small bag of cheese nips. I watched this little American for the next few minutes weave her way through the crowd of the hundreds of us who had already filled out our paperwork and were now, just waiting for the time to do our part. ?You must be at least 18 years old and weigh more than 110 pounds; and if you have given blood in the last 60 days, you will not be able to donate blood today,? bellowed the fellow with the megaphone. Finally the crowd reacts. A 12-year old, freckled faced boy complains, ?It?s not fair, my mom said it?s OK?. Two pretty and very thin young girls drop their heads and slowly leave the group of friends they had been traveling in line with. A frail looking older Vietnamese lady slowly walked out of line toward the command center table set up by the Red Cross in the parking lot. As I followed her movement through the crowd, I noticed a group of college-aged boys dressed in the same type athletic wear. As one of them turned around, I could read Orange Coast College Baseball on the back of his shirt. It looks like the entire baseball team had decided to skip practice to do their part. In the crowd, there was an atmosphere of charged excitement subdued by genuine reverence for the situation we were facing. There were many animated conversations taking place but there were no outbursts of laughter or expressions of joviality. This crowd was energized with the resolve to do something that would benefit those impacted the most by this terrible tragedy inflicted upon the people of the United States. ?Cold drinks; does anyone want a cold drink? Dad, do you want some cold water,? came a voice I recognized immediately. It was my 21 year-old daughter who had asked me to bring her to give blood today, and was now making her way through the crowd of Americans with both arms full of the official Orange County Drink, bottled water. Following along behind her, pushing a shopping cart FULL of cases of bottled water, was the old, (not so frail after all) Vietnamese woman. She was leaning all of her less than 110 pounds of weight against the shopping cart as she maneuvered it through the crowd. I felt a surge of emotion as I rapidly blinked back the tears that were trying to force their way out. I remember watching dad do the same thing every time he told the story of America?s reaction to Pearl Harbor. ?Thanks Noelle,? I said, reaching for the bottle of Crystal Geyser. As I slowly drank the cold water, I surveyed the entire crowd once again. Everyone was so completely different, but exactly the same. From the Paul Mitchell hair stylist students who were barely 18 years old, to the hunched-over brown robed, Vietnamese monks to the tall, beautiful African American mom holding the hand of her 5-year-old daughter, we all were the same? Americans. Jim Blankenship September 11, 2001 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story10013.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. 2003-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 129.174.27.206 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: Dear Diana, On September 10, 2001, you were six months old. The next day the world around you changed as it rarely ever does - with violence, stunning in its cruelty; with mind-numbing speed; and with a decisiveness almost unheard of in human history. I bear witness to what happened because we were very close to the epicenter of this world-shattering earthquake. At 8:48 in the morning that day, we were in our apartment in lower Manhattan, one third of a mile north from what was the World Trade Center complex. You and your mother were in the living room, and I was still in bed. I was awakened by a loud screaming outside that sounded like a plane or missile, then I heard a huge explosion coming from the direction of the World Trade Center. Your mom thought it was a sonic boom. I thought it might be what it turned out to be. I put my head out the window and saw the gash, fire, and smoke in the side of the north tower of the Trade Center. I knew it wasn't an accident. Not long after, while I was holding you, the second plane came screaming in followed by the explosion. In my remembering, you could tell that the engines were being revved up to full throttle as the planes came boring in for the kill. Your mom and I decided that I should go down to the scene to see if I could help. There were not very many people coming up the street as I was going down. The people were being evacuated to the east, south, and west. When I got to Vesey (the street bordering the complex on the north), I saw emergency vehicles off to my right, to the west, on West St., toward the Hudson River, and fire trucks to my left on Vesey itself. I went under the overpass that connected the main complex with 7 WTC. There was a lot of activity in the truck bays there, with people coming and going. I had worked for more than ten years for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The captain of the regional office's police detail came by heading into the building. He told me that the Pentagon had been hit. I was considering where to go and what to do when I heard a third screaming that sounded to me like another plane or some kind of missile coming in. I dove to the curb and pressed up against a concrete barrier waiting for some kind of impact - and, it crossed my mind, my death. No shock came. I got up and moved toward the river, to West St., where scores of emergency vehicles and personnel were deployed, and where people from the Trade Center and other offices were escaping to the north. The screaming I'd heard wasn't another jet or a missile. It was the sonic wave from the south tower collapsing, something I had no idea had happened. Suddenly a huge black-gray cloud with the debris and dust from the collapse of the south tower came roaring up the street, people running for their lives before it. I managed to outrun it and got home a few minutes later. My ignorance about the collapse of the south tower was bliss for me but unfortunately your poor mother had been watching this all on television. She had no idea where I was. She was quite terrified when the south tower went in and very happy to see me when I came through the door. We grabbed some things for you, put you in the carriage, and left. As we were heading up our street, your mom could see that the second tower was coming down. I couldn't bear to look. The three of us headed to your Aunt Nina's apartment on 12th St. in the East Village. On the way, there were thousands of people in the street, most of whom were going north, away from the disaster. On Fifth Ave., we saw a man being comforted by strangers. He was saying that his fiancee worked in the towers. Then we went into your mom's church, the First Presbyterian Church (where we were married and you were baptized) and we prayed. I prayed to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for the souls of the innocent dead and the dark souls of the terrorists. Then I took a Bible seeking the 23rd Psalm, tried to read it, and broke down. We went to Aunt Nina's where your grandmother, who'd come into town from New Jersey for a doctor's appointment, and your Uncle Roger, who worked downtown, eventually joined us. We watched the television for news. Later, I walked back downtown to the apartment to close the windows and to fetch a few items back. Then I walked back uptown. At six, we went for services at the church, had dinner at the apartment, then your mother, you and I went to our friends' place, farther west and uptown, where we went over everything. We exchanged solace and support with Uncle Charles and Aunt Stephanie. You gave us all wonderful hope, Diana. Believe it or not, you were completely good throughout all of the worst moments of the nightmare. I woke up at 3:00 a.m. that first night with a raging neckache, found some ibuprofen, then went back to sleep at 5:00, and stayed asleep, thankfully, until 11. The previous day had been more emotionally, psychically, and spiritually taxing than any I'd had in a very long time, and more than I ever want to have again. The same can be said, I am very sure, for scores of thousands of New Yorkers, Washingtonians, and others who were directly involved. That day, I walked back downtown to check on the apartment, to get some more things, and to see about volunteering. I was able to get downtown to the apartment with a photo ID. I took a hard hat from the apartment and managed to navigate police lines to get to where 7 WTC had collapsed onto Greenwich St. It was truly unbelievable, surreal, with fires still burning in the wreckage and being drenched by the Fire Department from an extended tower. There was an eerie quiet and a pall of dust and fine mist from the fire hose while I talked to a City truck driver who, it turned out, was studying structural engineering. We talked about how the planes had come in almost fully loaded with fuel and that the heat from the fires they had ignited was what doomed the towers. He was called to back his truck in to get debris out and I moved over to West St. to see what was happening there. There was lots of heavy equipment lined up. There was dust everywhere and office papers. I surveyed the scene from farther west, then moved back east and went down Church St. to Vesey. The block west of Church, where I'd seen the fire trucks deployed the day before, was a sea of crushed vehicles and debris. The spot where I'd been standing the day before when the south tower collapsed was underneath four stories or more of steaming rubble. I walked south, looking up and questioning the integrity of the tall and thin Millennium Hilton. Where the Trade Center plaza had been was a mountain of rubble continuing to Liberty St. There were lines of workers handing out small pieces of debris, one by one, or in buckets. Firemen, emergency service workers, cops, medical personnel - by the hundreds - were concentrating their efforts near the center of the mountain. Ruined vehicles were being cleared by heavy equipment and tow trucks. I can tell you that what you've seen and read about this is not an illusion and not a lie. It was much more real than you can imagine. There was a violence in the destruction that was without any light at all. After surveying the scene for a while, I simply gave up trying to grasp the scope of it. There was a volunteer hauling food and drink to the workers on the rubble pile from the makeshift canteen in the ruined Burger King at the southeast corner of Church and Liberty streets. There was a small first aid center there too, with medics treating workers for dust in their eyes and blisters on their feet. That people's injuries on Wednesday were no worse than this was both a blessing and a kind of bitter irony. I grabbed a milk crate and filled it with sandwiches and drinks and took them around to the workers outside. There were hundreds of NY firemen and cops, construction workers, and police and firefighters from around the NYC metropolitan area. There were National Guardsmen scattered around, and medical personnel, both hospital workers and EMT's. The work was not really dangerous, it seemed to me, nor requiring a world of skill, but it was tedious, working the bucket brigades. I took some drinks over to ten or so iron workers cutting beams with torches and I noticed a strange sight on the ground: ears of corn and other fruits and vegetables smashed into the plaza - these were the remains of the previous day's Greenmarket; the same one to which you and your mother had gone many times that summer. The other arresting human face of the debris was the scattering, absolutely everywhere, of office papers. Mixed in with the gray dust of the buildings was almost thirty years of paper representing some of the work of tens of thousands of people. Of course - and it was too horrible to really grasp at the time, although I understood it on a visceral level - the dust was also composed of the bodies of - what we thought at the time - was close to six thousand people. (That number, thankfully, turned out to be twice as many as really died.) When we ran out of drinks at the canteen on Liberty, I went around the corner to find more. There was another makeshift canteen a block south and a block west, at Cedar St. and Greenwich. I was loading up, when the firemen inside there saw people running outside, presumably because of another imminent building collapse. One of the firemen said "Let's get the fuck out of here," and everyone bailed. Lesson One at disaster scenes: When a firefighter starts running, just go! We got down Greenwich a few blocks then stopped. The building in question, about ten stories, brick, seemed okay after all. Thinking though that I should check in with your mother, I found, miraculously, a working pay phone. I got Uncle Charles on the line and told him what I had been doing and that I was going to work a few more hours. The point, certainly, was not that I was doing anything particularly important myself but that I was there and I was helping in my small way. I, like thousands of others who came in from all over the country, needed to be there. I went back to where there was another cache of food and drink and started to load up again. It wasn't long, however, before another stampede of emergency workers came tearing down from the east toward Greenwich and then poured south. I asked no questions and lit out. This time they were talking about One Liberty Plaza, an enormous big black office building occupying a whole block just east and up a rise from where the hundreds of workers were concentrated. The firefighters were quite serious about thinking it might go. As it turned out, this building was never at real risk of going, but that wasn't properly determined until the next day. In any event, with you and your mother in mind, I figured it was time for me to leave. I headed toward the Hudson River, came across West St., moved up past the shattered facades of the World Financial Center, where I got stopped and questioned by a National Guardsman, then I made it over to the yacht basin, where there were a number of fireboats and other work boats docked. The work boats were positioned at several spots along the bulkhead. The esplanade area along the river was part of the running route that I used when I went south from our apartment and where you, your mother, and I would go for long walks. At the north end of Rockefeller Park, there was a helipad on the lawn where people would normally be sunbathing on a beautiful day like it was that Wednesday and the kids from Stuyvesant High School would be hanging out. The high school was a major staging area and rest center for the workers. I had learned earlier in the day that a former colleague of mine at DEC who had been working for the Port Authority had gotten out okay. I talked to him on Friday and learned that when the first plane came in, only 20 or so stories above him in the north tower, the building swayed and he and others thought it was going to topple, before it righted itself. His floor was evacuated. A few floors down the stairway, he remembered that he'd left his wallet behind. He didn't think twice about getting it, but a colleague of his did, and my friend thought that the man who went back was probably caught in the explosion and shattered windows from when the second plane went into the south tower. In any event, the colleague didn't make it out. One former coworker of ours at DEC who also worked at the Port Authority died. The only other connection I had to a casualty was the brother of some teammates of mine from the White Plains Rugby Football Club. Your mom and I have heard about many more people who died, though, who were friends, family, and colleagues of our friends and family. My friend at the Port Authority said that in 1993, when the first attack on the World Trade Center took place, there was no emergency lighting in the stairs. I knew from talking to people back then that the evacuation from the towers took many hours. I certainly had this in mind on September 11th when I was thinking of the probable death toll. When told later in the day that many, many thousands had gotten out in the hour before the south tower collapsed and the hour and a half before the north tower went, I thought it nearly a miracle. The lights in the stairs made a big, big difference. I was also told of the firemen who were going up as my friend and the others were going down. One heard this story over and over from the other evacuees. These heroes didn't make it out. The firefighters and emergency medical technicians, and NY City and Port Authority police who went into those buildings were responsible for saving many more hundreds of lives than would have been saved had they not facilitated the evacuation. Almost four hundred of these truly incredible heroes died. A very close friend - and the man who introduced your mom to me - worked on the 32nd floor of the south tower. As soon as he and his co-workers heard the explosion from the first plane, they were told to leave. We all came home on Friday evening, after I'd scouted the neighborhood and after we'd bought a cell phone. The main consideration was air quality, so that you wouldn't be in any danger at all. There was a big storm on Thursday night and that helped, and the wind direction seemed to be only occasionally blowing to the north. The fires in the ruins of 7 WTC went on for weeks, though, and sometimes we did have to close all the windows. Although we had power, we didn't have phone service for weeks afterward. I had and have my opinions and my views about why this all happened and what I think should happen and what I think will happen. As you grow older and get to understand me better and understand history, you and I will share our thoughts. One thing I have to say now: As I heard that first plane going in, I pretty much intuited what was happening and why. The night we came home, I was on the cell phone with your Aunt Hannah. She was describing the coverage of the moments of silence and other ceremonies that happened in Europe that Friday, three days after the attacks. What she told me was all deeply moving, climaxing in the story of the woman in front of Notre Dame de Paris who said that she thought: "We are all a little American today." Aunt Hannah encouraged me to try to get our TV to work by trying to set up some sort of an antenna hookup. (The cable television line was out.) I did, and it worked, and your mom and I were able to see the stories on the news. We were both crying because of the tremendous feeling of relief that we were not alone in this, that the Europeans knew that we Americans needed their support after the horrific attack and they were opening their hearts to us. They also realized what we now knew: that there was a terrible depth of violence and hatred, ignorance and corruption at work in the world that had to be confronted. We would all have to get better at understanding and working to alleviate the conditions that bred the terrible, cancerous political movements that fostered such viciousness. This was one of the lessons from the Second World War which some people learned but which was forgotten in too many other places by far too many others. We may yet learn how to treat ourselves and our children with love and respect. We may yet learn how to live with some peace, prosperity, and harmony. I, for my part, am not going to wait for your generation to grow into adulthood to see if it happens. I will be trying harder than I ever have to help bring the world to a better way of living. I think that on September 11, 2001, many millions of people in the world made the same decision. Love Always, Dad 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 story10016.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. 2003-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.161.201.185 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 arrived at work at 8:30 am on September 11th. My office is on the 20th floor-Bdwy-Times Square. My sister phoned me at approximately 8:50am to tell me that a plane crashed into the WTC. She was extremely upset..she had just watched the live feed on Channel 4 from WTC showing the plane as it crashed into Tower 1. She insisted I leave my office immediately! At first, I couldn't believe this was happening...my co-workers and I tried to get an image on our computers, but our computers had gone down. Everyone started receiving phone calls from family & friends...telling us what was happening and to evacuate our buiding. My sister called again - screaming and begging me to leave -- another plane has just hit Tower 2 -- we were under attack! My coworkers and I did leave then and ran outside to look downtown - it was surreal - a mushroom cloud of black smoke covered the downtown sky. Hundreds of people were walking uptown -- everyone was walking uptown. I was concerned for my family, my friends, but we could not call them...phone service had gone out. We walked up to 63rd Street to get to my sisters apartment..all bridges & tunnels were closed. It was so strange..the streets were so quiet..everyone looked resolved...calm...probably in shock. We saw a crowd in front of someone's apartment window in the 50's -- a television had been placed there..we finally saw the horror...the building had just fallen down!!! I felt the way I did when I heard JFK had been shot...complete shock,horror. The beautiful blue sky was filled with smoke and ashes. We looked downtown from Madison Avenue and we saw what looked like Hiroshima. I realized then that people I knew that worked in the WTC may not have made it out. Three of them did not. 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 story1002.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. 2002-08-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 156.146.109.103 Annotation Annotations to this item. Personal connection to someone at site NY:3 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 work in my office, just another normal day at work. I think it was around 9:15 or so when I was walking to an adjacent office to use the fax machine. I saw my boss standing there talking to a fellow co-worker, telling him that he just heard that 2 planes had crashed into the World Trade Center. I briefly joined the conversation asking what happened. No one knew anything more at the time. My first thoughts were that the planes were of a small Piper Cub-type, the type you see at smaller airports. I don't know why that came to mind. I think it may have had something to do with the fact that I remember hearing that along time ago, a small plane had crashed into the Empire State building due to fog or bad weather. After sending out my fax, I walked back to my office. As I was walking back I started to think more about the planes ...and what were the chances of 2 planes crashing in such a short amount of time. Wanting to know more details, I quickly went onto AOL which I have on my computer at work. Soon I learned all the details . I then turned on my radio to see if I could get some live reports. A local Danbury AM radio station was actually transmitting live, the feed fom CNN, and I remember hearing Aaron Brown talking about the events as they unfolded. I sat at my desk stunned and in total disbelief as I listened to what was going on, and much of this live as it was actually happening. The crash of the plane at the Pentagon,the plane crashing in Pennsylvania, Aaron Brown breaking in to describe the South tower as it collapsed, then a short time later the North Tower. I was going back and forth between my radio and the computer to get the latest news. I recall Aaron saying somewhere that "one of the towers is completely gone". and at some point as I was looking at pictures that were finally starting to come up on the computer, there I saw...with my own eyes..one tower standing..one tower left amid a huge plume of smoke created when the first tower collapsed. It had not sunk in to my head yet that one of the towers had completely collapsed until I saw that image of the one tower left. By now, perhaps an hour had gone by, I could not work.The phones had stopped ringing as I'm sure most people were doing the same thing I was doing listening or watching. My wife who had just taken a job with a new company was out of town that day for training. and of all days, unavailable because she was in a classroom. I tried her on her cell phone but she had it turned off. She was only 30 minutes away,but I just wanted to hear her voice. I wouldn't end up talking to her until almost 11:00 AM By then her company, like many other companies were sending people home for fear that this might be a much larger attack. The schools were also letting out...Kids were were being picked up by their parents. My three kids were all in school that day (2 in 6th grade, 1 in 2nd grade) My wife after leaving work went to pick them up from school. I told her to just get home with the kids as quickly as possible..I just wanted everyone to be at home. I guess by noon time, It appeared that there were no more hikacked planes in the air. I could do little more that day than to talk to my wife and kids after they got home. I felt very very sad that day. It was such an extraordinary day weather wise too. To think that this could happen to us. and where Danbury is...just 60 miles north of New York City As I was driving home that afternoon after work. I felt like a robot just putting my car into drive and going home. I remember looking around at the other drivers on the highway with me, their expressions spoke volumes..I saw many weeping as they were driving. When I finally got home, I gave my wife and kids a long,very satisfying hug. It had been a brutal 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 story1004.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. 2002-08-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.206.199 Annotation Annotations to this item. Internet Television Coverage 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: i watched in horror in my home that terrible day as thousands of innocent people lost their lives .i watched in horror as the first plane hit thinking i hope this is video then the second devastating plane crash was less than 10 minutes later from sept 11 on i got a great since of unity from our country it was sop beautiful to see that fabulous flag at every turn.and i hope we can still keeep it flying till the day comes we wil no longer live in fear of a terrorist threat GOD BLESS US ALL.... 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 story1005.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. 2002-08-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 192.251.125.46 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: When I woke up on September 11, 2001 I felt great. It was a beautiful day in Chicago. I was traveling to Manhattan for a wedding later that week. I commute to work by train. I heard people talking about planes hitting the tower. I thought they were talking about the air traffic control tower at O'Hare airport. The people lost radio contact so they quick talking. Once I got off my train and walked to work. When I entered my office it was very quiet. I went into the back and someone said your sister is on the phone. I took the call and she told me that planes were crashing into the World Trade Center Towers. She told me to get home. Someone from my office came running down the hall and said downtown Chicago is being evacuated. He also said that a plane is headed for the Sears Tower. Which proved to be false. As we headed home my fiance and I looked up into the sky and there were no planes. It was one of the bluest skies we've had, and it was empty only holding only the clouds and birds. That is when I felt the terror rip through me. Everything was out of my control. When we got home we watched the news endlessly for all the information we could take in. I cried a lot that week. Trying to understand why this would happen, and why are people so hateful of others. When I went to bed that night I was so scared. I had to slip with the light on for weeks. I've never been that scared before. I was afraid I wasn't going to wake up the next day. As time has passed I am better, but living in the city still makes me nervous. I have to keep having faith that one day we all will find peace with each other. I hope before anything like this happens again. God Bless the innocent people whose lives were lost on September 11, 2001. My heart and thoughts go out to you and your 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 story1006.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. 2002-08-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.209.172.26 Annotation Annotations to this item. Rumors 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: I want to say that I will remeber that day for ever. I was at work when I hear that A Plane Crashed in to the Twin Towers. I want to say that I have various American Family Members and that it could have been them in those buildings or even on those planes. so i want to tell all those who have lost Iam sorry and Lets hope nothing like that ever happens again. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource story10065.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. 2003-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.161.104.66 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 in sales for a relocation company, and was pulling up to a potential customers home when the reports of the firt plane were comming on the radio. Like many people I had an inmage in my head of a little prop plane bouncing off of the building and the sad notion that a few people may have been killed. Little did I know...I entered Julie's home to go on with my day, and saw the live footage on the today show. This was worse than I had pictured, and this woman I have never met was standing there with tears in her eyes telling me her brother worked in the adjacent building. I didnt ever pay any attention to the WTC so I had almost forgot there were two towers.....Thats when the 2nd plane streaked across the screen. I remember standing there stunned for what felt like hours, realizing this woman may be watching her brother die on live television, feeling out of place in her home, figuring out that this was no accident, and wanting to call my wife and new baby to ensure their safety all at once. She was in a similar frame of mind I am sure, so we did the only thing that came naturally, embraced and cried. I spent 4 hours at her home that morning. We are friends today, brought together by a horrible moment. She says I kept her sane through the worst moment of her life, but I think it may have been the other way around. Her brother got out in time by the way, and has since moved back to Boston. 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 story1007.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. 2002-08-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.153.80.10 Annotation Annotations to this item. Personal connection to someone at site DOMESTIC Feature Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It's 8a.m. here on that bright Tuesday morning. I look after my grandkids while my daughter works: one was 12, the other 4. They're both yapping away like kids do. I had stayed overnight, so I'm just on my first cup of coffee and not really awake yet. My daughter suddenly says "Shhh!". Next thing I know she's heading for the living room, to watch TV. Shortly thereafter she comes back to the kitchen where I'm on my 2nd cup of coffee, still in a fog, and tells me a plane has crashed into the world trade center. I'm like "No way!" She goes back to the TV, and again comes back: "Another plane has crashed into the other tower at the world trade center. Dear God in heaven, what is going on?! Then, a plane has crashed into the Pentagon, and another in a field in Pennsylvania? Now I'm awake, and I'm closely watching developments on TV. My daughter goes to work, and I send my granddaughter out to play, but my mind is on all the people who were trapped in those towers. I've never been in the army, but the school I had attended as a kid had made us march and stand like soldiers. At 11 am I'm on my feet in front of the TV, at ease, military style, my head bowed. And like so many others, nothing is getting done, because this has more priority than anything else. It's two years since that hellish day, and whenever a plane flies overhead here, as they've been doing for years, I look up, and watch it carefully. Will it happen here? Terrorists can strike anywhere. They'd have no problem with causing a distraction, while pulling off something big elsewhere. I watched the multifaith conference that was held in memorium after, and grieved along with those whose lives were so cruelly disrupted. My heart is still with 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 story10079.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. 2003-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.78.161.78 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 arrived at work to find our store t.v. on. I had been listening to my CD player in my car, and was unaware that anything had happened. I sat down and my jaw dropped to the floor. My first instinct was to call my family that lived in Potomac, MD. Just to make sure no one was traveling near the Pentagon that morning. Luckily no one was travelling that day. Our family business is wholesale novelty, carnival and party supplies. We could not believe the amount of phone calls we received for patriotic merchandise since September 11. We have always carried American Flags and other items, but the response to show patriotism was overwhelming, here in St. Louis. We supplied the Baseball Cardinals with 50,000 American Flags that were given out at an evening game. Subsequently, other teams called our store asking for flags as well. Unfortunately we were out of stock and frantically looking for vendors who had them in stock! Ever since that time, our store has kept a patriotic section out all year long. It's just our way of showing our support and a reminder of what a great country we have and how strong our Nation still is! 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 story1008.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. 2002-08-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 66.106.104.66 Annotation Annotations to this item. Economic effects Flags Patriotism DOMESTIC Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: To my unborn children, I wish there was something I could say that would make it easier. Something that would make it easier for you to understand why we as humans do the things we do to one another. Believe it or not, your father was once young and ignorant in the ways of the world.. I was a Senior in High School. I wasn't even old enough to vote yet. For some reason or another, I had walked out of class and headed up to the office. The reason, to this day, I am unable to remember. I remember watching the television as I waited for the secretary to finish with me - one of the Towers had been struck by a plane. The news reporters were speculating, "Possibly the instruments on the plane malfunctioned and they veered off-course, it's simply too early to tell.." Then, less than a minute later - the world stood still. We watched in horror as the second plane turned directly into the second Tower. I felt my eyes begin to water, because at that moment I knew that our world would never be the same. Our country would never be the same. And most of all, our lives, would never be the same. For the next week our eyes were glued to the television. CNN, MSNBC, FOX, all of them had cancelled programming in order to mourn the losses of those people. And while I was so far away - I felt so close at the sametime. On September 12th, your father, Jared Daniel Smith - woke up and drove to school. On my way to school, I saw something that would have an impact on my life forever. It wasn't a huge banner or the words of a saddened President or political leader - it was a small boy holding a sign that said, "We Will Remember." Always remember, my children. Do not ever forget the victims and the heroes of September 11, 2001. For they are the shoulders we as a country stand-on today. They are the memories of who we really are. Always remember the fire-fighters and public servants that gave their lives for people they had never met before. They were our soldiers on the front-lines. Always remember that everytime you pledge to the flag of the United States of America, and everytime you do a civic duty, and everytime you help out a fellow American - that you are honoring the memories of those people who died on September 11th. Always Remember. 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 story10083.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. 2003-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.30.46.47 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: My name is Keri and i was at home asleep when my mother called and screamed in the phone "turn on the T.v news". She said "the twin towers has been hit!!!" To be honest i had never heard of the twin towers so i was like what?? After watching the news and actually watching the second plane hit i was numb with fear and sadness. Questioning Why us? I just don't understand war and terroism. We were glued to our t.v and internet for the whole day literally. All we could talk about was the twin towers. I felt so helpless and was scared they might do something in all the states. 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 story10088.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. 2003-09-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.168.247.33 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 for a Brazilian Firefighter. I?m a firefighter and I love my job, I work in a small town in Brazil. I get emotional and thrilled when we cross the roads, avenues, mountains and rivers to help, rescue, save and to protect the lives and property of people in distress. It is dangerous, sometimes sad, but I believe it is a privilege. I have done this kind of work for 15 years and it makes me feel fulfilled as a professional and as a human being. Edward Crocker, former Chief of the New York Fire Department, wrote in 1936 : ? For us, there is no greater ambition in the world than to be a firefighter.? I believe and agree with this very thing. I cannot remember who or how many persons I have helped, but I know each time I did it my heart beat happier and all effort was worthwhile when we could see a smile in the middle of pain and suffering, or fears of death being relieved because of our presence and prayerful support . I always wished to know the USA and USA firefighters . We have them as a model , we follow the techniques, tactics and technology from our North American counterparts in the US. In August 2001, I received an invitation from a friend who lives in Oregon , to visit USA. So I made the trip I always dreamt about. It was fantastic . Each city on the trip he showed me the fire departments and when I could hear a siren or see a fire car running it really thrilled me. In the end of August we went to the Washington, DC area, which was very special to me. We met firefighters from the Virginia Fire Department, visited the White House , Washington Monument, National Air and Space Museum, the Pentagon, and more. From there we went to New York City. I marveled at the beauty of the Statue of Liberty, and the architectural magnificence of the World Trade Center, never imagining that this would be my last opportunity to see it intact From NY we flew to London and then on to France. Our trip back to NY was planned for September 12 . When we were in Bordeaux, France on September 11, we received the shocking news : America under attack; World Trade Center and Pentagon targeted by airplanes! We were in a tour group of about 40 people, mostly Americans, but also several from other countries, including myself. Everyone was visibly shaken. My tears, prayers, doubts and questions were many: Who and why ? How many casualties? My friend wept and prayed at the same time. He had worked for the US Army in the Pentagon, in exactly the section that was burning after the plane crash. Places we had visited a couple of weeks before were now like scenes from a war . We saw the pictures on TV. I saw the firefighters' efforts trying to reach the twin towers to rescue survivors , going to face possible death themselves-- the firefighter's duty . I heard that almost 300 firefighters were missing. Thousands of persons perished. For me it was impossible to believe . It isn?t true! It is a bad dream! said the Americans that were with us. We needed go back to the US; we wanted to go, but some persons were afraid. Some advised us to return directly to Oregon, and not spend several days visiting NYC, as we had planned; or for me to return directly to Brazil. But we wanted to go. We had no fears. I wished to meet the heroic firefighters that were working there , and if I could help as a volunteer I wanted to do so . Our flight on American Airlines was not allowed to leave London , Heathrow Airport , until September 14, when US air space was reopened . The six-hour flight was sad and somber. When we left the plane the pilot and crew had tears in their eyes, instead of the usual smile, for good-bye . We were crying too. Not just tears from our eyes, but the heart was crying bitter tears . The memory of the black cloud of smoke over the city was printed indelibly in our minds. Three days after the tragedy there still were smoldering fires at Ground Zero, and the firefighters were working day and night trying to find survivors . We visited the place on Sunday, September 16. We talked with firefighters and showed our support, love, gratitude and admiration. They were proving the universal truth that "With God all things are possible." In Brazil we firefighters have a motto: "Para o Bombeiro o imposs?vel quem determina ? Deus." Roughly translated, it means that the only impossible things for a firefighter are the things that are impossible to God. And because we know that all things are possible to God, we never give up hope, even though others may say that a difficult rescue is not possible. Once, while working in my city in Brazil, I lost a co-worker, who perished when he was trying to rescue a 60-year-old man who had fallen into a dry well filled with gas fumes. It was the saddest day in our Fire department. Now, in NYC, I was with the firefighters that I always saw in movies, magazines and TV . The heroic NY firefighters . They were sad, having lost 300 colleagues but they were working night and day . The pain I felt in my heart was thick like the black smoke that covered the city . I wished to help. I wished to support them. I wished to do something--to volunteer to join them. (They were not accepting any more volunteers.) The people of New York and the entire USA, and a great part of the world felt the same . And the solidarity and support shown by everyone brought tears to my eyes--another lesson I will never forget. That day changed my life. I learned to know a country , to know my fellow firefighters , to know the American people in one of the worst moments of their history. I believe it is true that "Those who smile together become friends, but those who cry together become brothers and sisters." I cried with Americans, with my friend, with people on the streets, with the firefighters that I admire. Now we are a family and I?m proud about it. Wilson Soares Melo Corpo de Bombeiros Militar Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil I am the friend mentioned by Wilson Melo in his article above. When I invited him to join me for a vacation in Washington, DC, New York City, and several countries in Europe, I never imagined that this would turn out to be one of the most emotional experiences of my life, but also an experience where a seeming tragedy becomes a blessing in an unusual way. On September 11, we were traveling in our tour bus heading for Bordeaux, France. At noon, when we stopped for a lunch break, our driver reported that he had just received a call on his cell phone, from his wife in Belgium, telling him that "America is under attack: New York and Washington, DC!" No further explanation at that time. Having worked in the Pentagon during the Cold War with the former USSR, my first reaction was to imagine that our worst nightmares of that era had become a reality somehow. I had visions of nuclear bombs and things like that. It was difficult to clear my thought enough to pray, knowing the truth that God is in control, and that his spiritual creation is always intact. We were not able to get any new information until we arrived at our hotel that evening, and could see the news on CNN. It was not a pretty picture! I was relieved, in a sense, to know that it was not a nuclear attack, but the impact was still devastating, and there was immediate need for prayer. I could not help shedding tears, but when I felt God's love surrounding all of us, including those directly affected by the attacks, I knew that in His kingdom, all was well, and harmony reigned, though it might not be apparent to mortal thought at the time. When I witnessed the true love and compassion expressed by the French people at the hotel, something changed inside me. For years I had always felt that the French people, in general, did not like Americans. Now I realized that this was a false sense, because I could feel their love. When I felt the hugs and tearful sentiments from members of our tour group from Australia and the Philippines, I sensed, once more, the brotherhood of man. When I saw the British flags at half-mast, upon our return to London, I knew full-well that most of the world was united with America in our hour of need. When I saw the selfless, brave acts of the firefighters in New York City, and the sincere desire of my friend from Brazil to be of help, to show his support and care, I felt deep pride for the privilege of being a "brother" to such true heroes. My life was changed! Ever since September 11, 2001, I have felt more certain than ever before, that all mankind are united in one grand brotherhood, with God, Love, as our Heavenly Father. wilsonmelo@yahoo.com.br wilsonsoaresmelo@yahoo.de 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 story10089.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. 2003-09-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 200.179.176.35 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: That morning my boyfriend, a NYPD officer, dropped me off at work at P.S.11, where I was an asst. teacher. Shortly after my students got to their classroom, while I left to retrieve something from another floor, another staff member told me a plane crashed. On my way up, someone said "you need to see turn on the T.V."I heard someone else say "the WTC is gone." I went upstairs and shared the news with the other teachers in my room. I left the room again to call my boyfriend since no one's cell phones were working. He was awaiting my call desperately, he was being called in to duty. He told me we were in a state of emergency, and that I should try to make it to my mother's place in Spanish Harlem and not come home. He promised to call me. I told him I was to remain at school till all the parents came and that my kids were still unware of the news. Parents began streaming in, tears falling from their eyes as the tightly hugged their small children and took them home. The children in my special education class, sensed our anxiety and sadness and began to ply us with questions. What was happening? Why were the parents coming so early? Was it a half-day? I simply said the train was out of service, which was true because I didn't want to frighten the kids. We took small lunch breaks and as I and another female co-worker walked through the streets we were overwhelmed by the eerie sight of no cars, not a single one on the street, people running, the radios blarring very war-like minute by minute news. "A plane hit the Pentagon." "The Pentagon has been struck." Acrid smoke and dust filled the air. It was terrifying, someone had attacked us. After work, when all the children had been picked up. My co-workers and I departed, trying to figure out the best route to our homes when the trains and the buses weren't running. On a Manhattan street not one car, nevertheless a taxi was too be found. Sirens filled the air. Signs posted everywhere begged us to come donate blood. I walked down 23rd Street, heading East. All the pedestrians at the corner of the Flatiron building stood gawking South, one said "That's where the WTC USED to be." I felt a raw gush of emotion. A couple of blocks down, soldiers wearing camouflage stood in the middle of the strees holding the biggest guns I have ever seen in my life. What were they missile launchers? They had legs, these guns like a tripod for a camera. I stood transfixed our worlds had been turned upside down. My pager went off, my sister was calling me. I stood on line to use the nearest phone. Strangers were hugging each other, others were taking pictures of the armed soldiers. I finally caught a bus going uptown. The ride from 23rd St. to 122nd St. took over three hours. A lady on the bus told me I had beautiful eyelashes, were they real? I thought it such an odd comment/compliment but weirdly it made me feel good, as if everything was normal. At mother's place I began to worry. I had not heard from my boyfriend for a couple of hours. I was already on the phone to the Red Cross when he called on the other line, he was at Ground Zero. He was running when the last building fell. He was okay. He would call me back. At two a.m. he was relieved of duty, He came to my mother's home to get me. We drove down deserted streets, we were allowed to leave the borough when he flashed his badge. At home, our machine was filled with messages, from family members, ex-girlfriends, concerned friends. The next day school was closed. I was glued to the T.V., I watched news all day long. It was a day I will never forget, ever. The memories are as singed into my head as the remnants of what used to be a symbol of the grandeur of NY are now. 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 story1009.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. 2002-08-13 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 164.57.254.209 Annotation Annotations to this item. Police Officers Radio Coverage Struggle to get home Students/Teachers NY:3 Feature Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was asleep in my bed when my dad came into the room, telling me a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. Now at the time, I wasn't really thinking anything of it, just that it might have been a little cesna that lost control and crashed. The last thing that went through my mind was an airliner, so I went back to bed. Then my dad came back in the room a few minutes later saying another plane just crashed into the Pentagon. At that point, I just jumped out of bed, and ran in to see the TV, because right when he said that I knew our country was under attack. So I continued to watch the TV when I saw the other plane hit the towers, and I was just i shock. My jaw just dropped, and I didn't know what to say or do. My sister who is flight attendent for United called up crying in hysterics because she flies all the East coast routes especially out of New York and Boston. That easily could have been her on the flight. But luckily at that point she hadn't flown in a while. I remember that I continued to watch the television and the next thing I saw was the first tower beginning to fall. I screamed for my to come in the room, but all we could do was watch with tears in ours eyes. For me, that was the worst thing to this point in my life I had ever seen and experienced. 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 story10093.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. 2003-09-14 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.49.170.116 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I was on my apt sleeping when my husband wake me up with the television all loud and screaming his lungs out the towers went down. Next thing that he said is they going to call you for duty.He was right same day department of homeless services call me for duty. I work at 30 st and first avenue at bellevue shelter as an officer. when I arrive it was caos due to fact that ambulance was bringing the injured patients to NYU hospital. The entrance by the mortgage was under construction improvising to received the dead bodies from WTC. We reaceived ordesr by our captain to take over the traffic and help with search trucks or anything suspicius. By the way we are Peace officers that just beeing train for arrest and search. so fro us sverything was new but believe me we was acting in the middle of the crisis like we knew waht we was doing. let me tell you nobody was ready for what we see.the was so many people injured. But the major pain was seeing so many death bodies. all kind of trucks, fish trucks. ups,meats trucks any truck that have a refrigerator was good to help. Day by day it was the same view the black bags beeing drop by all kind of trucks. You know what impress me a lot we the womans cried for everything but when you see an officer or firefighter crying in fornt of those bags knowing that is one of them is impresing seeing those tears coming out free eventhough that they are training for this job. We have the major office at 33 beaver street.The day before of the tragedy my husband was discharged from Lincoln Hospital fro minor hearth attact. The 13 I was assigned to 33 Beaver st.I wait until I was there and at lunch time I told my husband he was petrified but I stay.The owner from the cafeteria in the corner from 33 Beaver st. Offer us food and coffe to keep us awake. we appreciated what she did for us. I was posted at the entrance of the bulding when I see the same lady running down the corner I asked her wahat is going on she told me is a escape of gas. I look up the street and all kind o workers included others officers running down to water street.I advice the others workers in the building and we all run to water street. I also call my Capt. Benjamin Rodriguez and he rush to pick up the officers. I was so scared but I knew that it was going to be another explosion I was going to died fast and no suffer.but I was lucky thank God nad went back to 30 St. to the traffic. Two hours later they send me back to 33 Beaver st. same post until 12:00 midnight. For many people it is over finding bodies but for me until they day that I become disable on march 3, 2002 I was seeing the bodies and the sound of the trade transporting them to the DNA side at NYU to find out who police offircer is this one, or who firefighter is this one, or who's son is without mami or who's mami is without a son or where is my daddy. Until this day I cry when I remenber all those dead bodies. To end the sory I was in the corner of 29 st. and first and I see this man come with his littlte son look like 5 years old and he asked me where they have the list for the people that are missing I give him directions how to get there and the little kid stated I am looking for my mami. It let me in shock. God Bless those people that went to earn the day salary and died at the WTC. 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 story10097.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. 2003-09-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.87.212.14