14 20 271 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 10th Anniversary Collection Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. How has your life changed because of what happened on September 11, 2001? form question profound effect. i made a film. http://abledanger.de/ Referred to by Where did you hear about the website? News media 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 10th Anniversary Collection Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. How has your life changed because of what happened on September 11, 2001? form question To my Children, On Spet. 11th, at 7:30 A.M. I brought Dalton who had just turned one on the 6th downstairs. We had a morning routine. I changed his diaper, and set him up into his highchair for breakfast. I remember it being beautifully sunny that day. As I cut up bananas and got him some Cheerios, and a glass of milk, I turned on the TV to the Good Morning America show. I sat down to watch when, all of the sudden they were showing footage of an explosion LIVE on the world trade center. As they and I were trying to make sense of what was going on, I watched in absoulte terror and horror as the second plane hit the other tower. I sat in disbelief, and immediately called your grandma ( my mom) who lived about an 1/8 of a mile to our north. We were in the middle of Nebraska, but only 80 miles from Omaha, which houses Offut Military Base. I began to panic as I thought what a huge target this could be. When I called your grandma, I told her to turn on the TV, she asked, " Why?" I told her, " They're bombing us!" She asked, " who?", I finally screamed at her to, " Turn on the Da*& TV." We sat in silence on the phone wondering what would happen..Your Uncle Matt had returned from military training not more than a couple months if I remember correctly..it may have been weeks. I sat in stunned silence as I watched the whole thing unfold through out the day. Dalton its the one day I can say I held you all day and cried..I cried because the great world into which you were born, was destroyed. I cried because of I knew how many childrens lives had just been shattered as they lost loved ones. I cried not knowing if Uncle Matt would have to go to a war I was sure was coming. As the later part of the day approached, I heard a VERY LOUD roar...my first thought was OMG, they're going after Offut! I scooped you up and ran outside looked up to the sky to see a huge jet liner flying low enough I could make out the words on the side it said AIR FORCE ONE. It was the president on his way to Omaha to Offut. At that moment, I knew we were Ok. They wouldn't take the president to Offut if they thought it was going to be a target. As I sat down on our front steps with you in my arms..I started crying all over again for the umteenth time. I was never more proud to be in America, I was never so scared to be in America. Theres something you have to understand.....September 11th, forged our world into the one you are now accustomed too. It did NOT exsist the day before....before Sept. 11 you didn't have terror alerts, our military wasn't at war, Terrorists were something that happened in other countries. Its very surreal to think about it. Dalton, Cody, Allie, the world I wanted to bring you into died that day. We now have worries that didn't exsist before that day. It is a day the world literally changed. I will tell I have NEVER been so proud as I was the weeks after of being American. In a very twisted way, the attacks made us all realize that it wasn't anout me me me or this group and that group..It was about US as a country! How will you remember the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks? form question Every year on Sept. 11 I think about the day it happened and how uncanny it was that it was so sunny and warm...almost too perfect of a day. This year I plan to have a moment of silence to remember the victims, their families and millions of others who were affected.... Referred to by Where did you hear about the website? Facebook, Twitter, other social networks 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 10th Anniversary Collection Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. How has your life changed because of what happened on September 11, 2001? form question The Iraq War and invasion of Afghanistan caused a big influx of money to "terminate" terrorists, and destroyed our economy and our debt caused the indirect effects of the paycuts/freezes for my family. How will you remember the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks? form question Hope that nothing bad will happen! Referred to by Where did you hear about the website? Smithsonian website 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 10th Anniversary Collection Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. How has your life changed because of what happened on September 11, 2001? form question After 9/11, I left the financial services industry and returned to my first love, teaching. Since then, I've worked as an educator and instructional technology specialist in the New York City Dept of Education. I think it's important that we give back to our community and relish every day. I am much more focused on experiencing life on a daily basis, treasuring the time with my children and family, developing special moments with my friends and living in the moment. We never know how long our lives will be. Cease the day! FNL How will you remember the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks? form question I was at home on 9/11, doing laundry. My kids were at school and it was the start of an ordinary, normal day. Suddenly, my mother appeared at the laundry room, out of breath. “A plane has hit the World Trade Center!”, she said. We raced back upstairs to the 15th floor and stared in disbelief at the images on television. Looking out my bedroom window, we saw the twin towers in the distance burning like smoke stacks! That’s when the tv images became real for us. Panic set in. My kids were both in Manhattan! I will never forget the power of that urge to get to my kids. It was visceral. The only other time I’d felt something remotely similar was when I gave birth to my daughter, and demanded to see her so I could count her fingers and toes. At that moment, I needed to touch my children to make sure they were alright. I called a dear friend, also a mother with two kids in Manhattan, and we set out to get them. We drove from Riverdale to the Broadway Bridge, and had to abandon the car when we learned that all bridges had been closed. We walked over the Broadway Bridge and found one of the last running subways that took us closer to the kids’ schools. At Central Park West, we walked to three schools – two on the west-side and one on the east to collect our kids. I found both of mine, safely huddled with their wonderful teachers in the school’s church. I counted their fingers and toes when I saw them. I swear I must have touched them everywhere. I needed to make sure they were alright. The relief in their eyes at seeing their mom was probably the most wonderful feeling I’ve ever had. Their mom was there and everything was going to be okay. The six of us then took the subway back north, walked over the Broadway Bridge and finally got home about five hours later. I remember seeing a Stealth bomber flying over Central Park when we walked through it. The sky was empty, but the bomber flew. Cut off from the media for so long, we had no idea of the scope of what had happened. Seeing the bomber told us that this event was monumental. Safe at home with my kids in tow, I sat at my window watching the World Trade Center in the distance. I saw the smoke billowing over Brooklyn, watched every broadcast, answered emails from European friends, and eventually shut down. It was too overwhelming to process. I don’t remember if I ever collected that laundry. It all had started out as a normal, beautiful fall day. Frances Newsom-Lang Referred to by Where did you hear about the website? Smithsonian website https://www.911digitalarchive.org/files/original/2abc0c7c1fe46f89d9908c08619a0cfa.jpg 94cf2529e9a3ddb76a10a62351938b60 Omeka Image File The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files. Bit Depth 8 Channels 3 Height 453 Width 604 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 10th Anniversary Collection Still Image A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. How has your life changed because of what happened on September 11, 2001? form question I was beginning my freshmen year of high school when 9/11 occurred and I remember sitting in a classroom at school consoling a friend who had a relative inside one of the towers. That was not the job of a 14 year old on 9/10... I view life differently, value it more and realize the power of empathy. How will you remember the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks? form question On 9/11/2002, my high school had a memorial for the victims of the attacks and I chose to honor a man named Edgar Emery. On each anniversary I wake up early, listen for his name to be read off during the ceremony and say a prayer. I will be continuing with my tradition this year. Referred to by Where did you hear about the website? News media 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/. Description An account of the resource In July of 2009 I visited relatives in Shanksville, PA and found myself driving by the crash site of UA Flight 93 every day of my visit. With each passing, I grew more and more grateful for the heroes who were onboard the flight. This photo was taken facing the field, an American flag marking the area of impact. Looking back at my camera are freedom angels, each representing a hero from the flight. 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 10th Anniversary Collection Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. How has your life changed because of what happened on September 11, 2001? form question I lived in Chicago. I had an appointment on 9/11/01 at 5pm to see a doctor about going on antidepressants. I'd never been on any prescription drugs for mental health issues before, and I didn't want to start. However after the 4 planes crashed and the buildings collapsed, I decided I was certainly going to need drugs to get through what lay ahead for all of us. I've been on & off meds ever since. I made some good decisions, and some bad ones too. The evening of that day I decided i had to reach out to everyone I knew. I called family that I rarely talked to, former coworkers, far-away friends. I decided to stop putting energy into despising my friend's insensitive husband--his birthday is 9/11 and now there'll always be a pall over that day. Sketches I made from that time are of small, tidy, cozy, thick-walled round adobe dwellings in rural settings: Security and order. I drew a giant striding over poor desert people distributing fresh foods from a colossal cornucopia. I drew myself heroically holding up one of the towers while people escaped. Somehow these irrational images helped me, because of what happened seemed so monumentally irrational. I tried to re-examine my life, and changed some habits. I figured if there were tens of thousands trying to heal from losing a loved one in this madness I certainly can be truer to myself and stop living from my suddenly insignificant petty fears. I realize only now how many feelings i have about this are disguised as anger, hate and cynicism. I must rededicate myself to the earliest of impulses; to reach out over barriers and affirm relationships. How will you remember the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks? form question I'm in a federal program who's primary mission is to fight poverty in America. One of the strongest ways to do that is by building up local communities who will then help themselves. We're creating several tribute projects in our city, all have elements of community building: Writing letters to servicemen & -women who don't usually get any mail, goodie packages, social events for military families, safety workshops, playground rehab, helping disabled veterans... Today I played BINGO with residents of a VA medical facility. I enjoyed it and they were very appreciative. Referred to by Where did you hear about the website? News media 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 10th Anniversary Collection Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. How has your life changed because of what happened on September 11, 2001? form question 9/11 really breaks my heart all year around, but this year it's just really overwhelming. 10 years and I remember where I was and what I was doing to the detail. So many tears our country has wept. I believe all Americans grew closer and have only overcome the tragedy that was 9/11. It's really hitting my heart now that I am older. When I was 9 I didn't understand... But just going over that day in my head I just feel for all the lives lost, families damaged, and great American heroes who risked their lives for America. All we can do is learn from the past and make sure this will never happen to our country again. How will you remember the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks? form question Ft. Bliss/ El Paso, Texas is having a ceremony and My husband and I will be attending. Referred to by Where did you hear about the website? Facebook, Twitter, other social networks 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 10th Anniversary Collection Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. How has your life changed because of what happened on September 11, 2001? form question I was 13 years old when the events of Semptember 11th, 2001 unfolded. I was a middle schooler at the time. While walking out of my 1st period French class, I heard bits and pieces of different conversations from other students. The only things I could pick up were that a plane had hit The Pentagon, and The Twin Towers. I exchanged my books at my locker and then proceeded to my 2nd period math class. From this point on, everything is blurry, every detail runs together, and it is from this point on that I begin to lose understanding. I took my seat in math, and there, our teacher told us what she knew, which was very little. The only thing I remember is her saying there were pictures of smoke coming from The Pentagon, but they didn't what exactly had caused it.We proceeded to have class as normal, and as that period ended, another began. This, I remember, was the only part of the day that would shed any clarification. This was the only class that actually let us see what was happening, and it was only for five minutes. I can't remember if I saw the 2nd tower fall live, or if what I saw was a replay.To this day, I still don't know. it was after that the tv was shut off and we proceeded on with class. I remember being so angry at not being let see what was happening to our country, happening to our other fellow Americans. I wanted to understand, I wanted to process what was happening, but I wasn't allowed. I was supposed to carry on as if it were a "normal day." That is how the school decided to handle it. Treat it as a normal day. We all knew it wasn't a normal day, so why treat it as one! I am angry at that still. The day proceeded on. I can't remember much of it. I can't remember what classes we spoke of the day's tragedies, or who I personally spoke of them to. The next bit of the day that I can clearly see is coming home from school, and sitting in front of the tv. A plane flew over our house producing sonic booms. Me and my sister dove behind the couch, cluthcing eachother in fear. We thought we were being bombed. I only remember bits and pieces of most the days to follow that day. I remember feeling scared to death and confused. I remember watching the tv coverage for 3 plus days more before we finally had the courage to change the channel. And I remember how wrong we felt when we did. I remember how from that day forward America united together, and showed the terrorists that they could not break us. That day, and the days to follow, every American became bound to one another, forever sharing a bond. And that's how we showed them they could not, nor would they EVER break us. Millions of people, strangers, people I will never even know exsisted, every single one of us are tethered. We are bound forever, and remain stronger forever. How will you remember the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks? form question I am 23 years old now. To this day, I still am not fully able to grasp the events that took place that day, and even the days, months, and rest of 2001 that followed. To this day, I still don't understand everything that happened, and I am afraid I never will. I watch documentries, read stories, and anything else I can to try to process it. I remember I had set my VCR to record a show of mine that day, and it instead recorded footage. I have watched some, but for some reason, have never been able to finish it. Maybe some day I will. I still have anger at my middle school for not allowing us to watch and absorb what happened. I think if we had been allowed to I might have a clearer understanding of that day, and maybe a better memory. But I dont know. Maybe some day I won't have anger anymore for something I can never change. Now, ten years later, I can try to bring myself to grasp ahold of that day. I will honor those who sacraficed their lives to save someone else, and honor those innocents who had their lives ripped away from them much too early. I will pray for their families, and for those who survived. Those who relive it every day of their life. Now, ten years later, I will remember everything I can from that day, and never forget it. Maybe some day I will understand it, and maybe I won't, but remembering is the best step I can take towards understanding. Referred to by Where did you hear about the website? Facebook, Twitter, other social networks 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 10th Anniversary Collection Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. How has your life changed because of what happened on September 11, 2001? form question On 9/11, I was living at a Tokyo university as an American exchange student. It was night there when the planes hit, and when dormmates screamed for me to come look at the TV because the World Trade Center was burning, I came and spent the next few hours watching the destruction with growing horror and grief. For me, the attacks were especially close to home because my home university was in Washington DC and my hometown is Pittsburgh. I grieved for those killed and those who lost loved ones. My heart broke at the hatred directed at my country and my fellow Americans, as though we were considered somehow less than human. I felt fear, helplessness and guilt that I couldn’t protect the country I loved. I felt confused: I considered no one my enemy and didn’t understand why someone considered me theirs, or why they felt violence was the only way problems could be solved. I felt very frustrated and helpless because I was so far away when it happened. I wanted so badly to be back in America, to be there to try to comfort people and to try to help in whatever way I could. I wondered what I could possibly do to help from so far away, and the feeling of uselessness made me incredibly sad. Still, I prayed and asked God to use me to do whatever good I could do from there, however small. And then, I got the idea to hold what came to be called the “Peace Vigil” at my Japanese university. It was designed as an opportunity for people to come together to remember the victims, to be in solidarity with them and each other and to comfort each other, to pray, and to discuss what we could do to build a more peaceful world. I had never organized something like this before, I had arrived at the university as a foreign student only ten days earlier and my Japanese skills were still limited, and I had no idea what kind of response I would get. Would people understand or even care? And yet, the response was overwhelmingly positive and touching. People, many of whom I had never met, American, Japanese, and others, volunteered to help plan and participate in the vigil. On the night of the vigil, about 60 people came, from at least 12 different countries, students, teachers, administrators, and others. It was a response beyond what I had ever imagined. We sang songs, shared prayers, poems, and letters, and had open time to share our feelings and discuss what we could do for peace. In this, and in the people who told me afterwards that they had felt comforted by the vigil, I felt comforted too. And the vigil inspired further action for peace. A group of us started a peace “club”, collected signatures for a letter to Pres. Bush asking for a peaceful response to the tragedy, held a fundraiser for the victims in America and later Afghanistan, sent messages of encouragement to the New York City firefighters, and made origami cranes as a traditional Japanese symbol of peace. The paper cranes of all different colors and sizes joined together to form a work of beauty and a message of hope and peace seemed to be a symbol that people of all different backgrounds and walks of life can join together to build a world of peace and love. 9/11 changed the direction of my life. I had always been interested in international affairs and service but unsure how to channel this. After 9/11 I felt a strong calling to devote my life to working for greater peace in the world, and in particular to work for relations of greater friendship and peace between America and the Muslim world, so that we could collaboratively and constructively address issues that cause tensions in relations, harm all of us, and are exploited or used as justification by terrorists for violence and hatred. When I returned to America, I began to study Middle Eastern studies and Arabic, and decided to enter the field of conflict resolution. I am now a conflict resolution specialist and trainer, and have worked for the past five years at an NGO in Washington DC that does conflict resolution work focused on the role of religion in peacebuilding. My main work has focused on working with Islamic teachers in Pakistan. I also joined the Soliya Connect Program as a facilitator of American-Muslim world and have been involved in cultural exchange, interfaith, educational, and peacebuilding initiatives in countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, the Palestinian territories, Israel, Indonesia, and the United States. In addition, I founded the American-Islamic Friendship Project (http://american-islamicfriendshipproject.blogspot.com/), which collects messages of peace and friendship from Americans to people in the Muslim world and from people in the Muslim world to Americans, to eventually be published in a book aimed building greater understanding and friendship between our countries by allowing the voices of “ordinary” people to be heard, dispelling the perception that Americans and people in the Muslim world are hostile to each other, and connecting Americans and people from diverse Muslim countries in promoting our common desire for a more peaceful world. Reflecting on 9/11 ten years later, while the pain and trauma of that day have never gone away, and terror attacks and violence continue to be an unfortunate reality in many parts of the world, I am also inspired by how many people, both in America and around the world, used that tragedy as an inspiration to make the world a better place in some way. In America there was an outpouring of solidarity with one's community, compassion toward one's neighbor, and service to one's society. While there were some Americans who responded by blaming or attacking Muslims, there were even more who stood guard outside Islamic centers to protect them from backlash, accompanied Muslims to school or prayers to ensure they wouldn't be harassed, or got involved in interfaith initiatives. Despite all of the conflict we’ve seen in the last decade, in the aftermath of 9/11, people in Muslim-majority countries gathered outside US embassies to express their solidarity with the victims. In America, families of those killed in the attacks formed groups like September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows to promote alternatives to violence and aid victims of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. There has been a flourishing of dialogue and initiatives like the UN Alliance of Civilizations, the Saudi interfaith summit, the outreach of peace through the "Common Word" letter from Muslim world leaders to Christian world leaders, and their enthusiastic response, "Loving God and Neighbor Together". The annual 9/11 Unity Walk in America commemorates the anniversary of 9/11 with a gathering of people from different faiths who pray together at various houses of worship to demonstrate solidarity against violence and unity as one human family. President Obama designated 11 September as the National Day of Service and Remembrance, so that the memory of that day might inspire people to recommit themselves to service to their communities. It’s things like that that remind me that no matter how horrible a tragedy, with faith, love, and the will to try, something good can be brought out of it, and that love will in the end triumph over hatred. The desire of people around the world to live together in peace will, I believe, someday overcome the hatred and violence of those who wish to drive us apart. And as Americans, I believe the greatest protection we can offer our country is to strive to do our best to live up to the values it was founded to embody—such as faith, service, God-given human rights, embrace of diversity, and respect and protection for each person no matter their ethnicity, religion, or history. If we live these values, the terrorists will never be able to destroy our country. And as citizens of the world, we can work together and each do our part to make the world a better place. We are never too far away to do something to make a difference. How will you remember the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks? form question I will participate in the Day of Service by volunteering at a school in DC, and in the national interfaith service and Unity Walk in DC. Referred to by Where did you hear about the website? News media 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 10th Anniversary Collection Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. How has your life changed because of what happened on September 11, 2001? form question It was a beautiful september morning in wisconsin. I was working and had just stepped into the second building where the tv was located when I noticed everyone watching the television. Normaly I wouldnt think much of it but they looked like they were watching an action movie however all their faces were grim and one woman had tears streaming down her face. Just as I was about to speak I realized this was a special news event. They showed the first tower and kept saying that a small plane had hit the tower. I am an airplane buff and from the hole I saw I knew that this was no small plane. As I gazed in disbelief the second plane hit. At that very moment time stopped for me and everything seemed to go into slow motion. At that very moment I realized that nothing was ever going to be the same and the loss of life was horrendous. I knew that our economy would eventually employd and that we were in a state of war. I was 46 years old and still remember my 2 year engagement in the army during vietnam. I thought of all the live's that were going to be lost in the future and the blood that would be shed to keep our freedom's intact. I still cannot watch 9/11 footage without tears in my eyes. 10 years later does not diminish the anger I have and no amount of time ever will. My prayer is that I am long gone when the next world changing event occurs. 9/11 changed me from a happy go lucky guy that frivolously ran thru life into an introspective,faith based,and cautious person. I matured more that day, in those moments more than any other event in my life. I still beleive that this is the greatest nation on earth , but our greatness is in our diversity. We are strong because of our differences. 9/11 has made me a better human being and thats what all the lives lost have done for me. Their sacrifices have lifted us higher. My hope is that the rest of my life will reflect what their sacrifce gave to me How will you remember the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks? form question quit meditation, prayer and many tears for all those who have left us long before they were ment to. Referred to by Where did you hear about the website? News media https://www.911digitalarchive.org/files/original/ac4ade59b92c93bbbd5124f4aa7e5f88.jpg d79e3ddcc5805e5c1af8f9e2fdfc765a Omeka Image File The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files. Bit Depth 8 Channels 3 Height 617 Width 500 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 10th Anniversary Collection Still Image A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. How has your life changed because of what happened on September 11, 2001? form question The human spirit was validated for me. It was alive through recognizing the 100's of selfless volunteers that poured onto the World Trade Center and Pentagon sites. I was proud to see this nation could still come together during time of need. And I am honored to be a part of their recognition as heroes. Referred to by Where did you hear about the website? Facebook, Twitter, other social networks 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/. Description An account of the resource Photo of award used nationally by American Red Cross Chapters to recognize 9-11 volunteers and Red Cross donors. Designed by Lyn Franklin Hoyt of Berkeley Tandem, Inc. in Nashville, TN. When Lyn got the call from ARC NHQ to design this special award appropriate photography was not available yet. This image was digitally created from photos in the Red Cross photo archive to depict a moment that might have happened at Ground Zero. Later awards did show actual pictures from the disaster sites. But, this award and photo captured the moment and stood to represent the heroes and the visual story that unfolded that day on 9-11-01. The inscription reads: "to VOLUNTEER Thank you for your generosity and support during this nations' time of need." Other text was then added to the certificate to personalize the inscription further.