26 20 2325 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. It was early in the morning when my mom came running up from down stairs. For some reason she had turned on CNN that morning just in time to see the second tower fall. We sat in font of the T.V. while I ate my breakfast. We did not know if I was going to have school that day so my mom called to check. School was still on. When I got to school nobody knew what to do. We went to our first classes and waited. All classroom activites for some reason did not stop except for one, French, where our teacher had a T.V. with the news. This was very stranged for such a powerful day, I thought. The day went on with one kid saying, "I dont care if a bunch of unimportant building fell down." Others went home early, crying, not knowing if they had lost someome they knew. The day was over for me with cross country practice. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. Somewhat. I have seen how united our country can be, but how foolish we look in the eyes of other countries. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? The victims and the people who fought to save them. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? My mom and I did not fly an American flag after September 11th for not soon after, we had left the country for a year. We went to a country where there was some anti-American sentiment which made us think about how America is viewed in the eyes of other countries. We are often arrogant and wasteful. 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 nmah2078.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.65.168.22 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I witnessed 9/11 after my roommates mom called to tell us to turn on the T.V., New York has been attacked. I live in Southern California and I watched in horror as I saw the second plane hit the tower. I honestly felt like I was watching something that couldn't possibly be happening. I am 26 and have witnessed little besides the Berlin Wall coming down, Desert Storm, the bomb at the WTC in the early 90's, etc. Fear entered my mind, not for me, but for those on the planes, in the buildings, and their loved ones. Fear then turned to shock and amazement at how it was all done and how brilliant a plan the terrorists had come up with. I went thru the day glued to the T.V. trying to absorb the magnitude of this event and to see America rally and unite like I've never seen before. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. I don't do anything different than I had before 9/11, however there is always something in the back of my mind that reminds of this day, especially when I am in Los Angeles, on a plane, and at any major sporting events, concerts, etc. I am definitely more aware that a terrorist attack can occur on our soil, at any time, anywhere, but I will not stop living my life. I go on. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? The selflessness, courage, and heroism of everyone involved in this tragedy. Let us not forget that out of the rubble we must move on; lives were sacrifced to preserve and protect out independence and freedom. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? Yes I did and still do. The flag, for me, has always been a symbol of our independence, our freedoms, of those who gave up their lives for this country since its inception. I just hope that those who bought and put up flags keep them displayed and that it wasn't just a passing act of unity. I think the best way to pay tribute it to always have the flag proudly displayed. 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 nmah4330.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.224.206.218 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. It was a clam day in my small town, like almost any other. i live in a VERY small town, that suppilies Logan airport with many of their workers, and the school day was going on, just like any other clear blue sky days... but then there was an eiree atmosphere going on. i could sense a troubling air when the principal ran into my class to pull the social studies teacher into the hall. my whole class was shocked, other than the occasional trouble maker, we never see the principal in that much of a hurry. a moment later, my old teacher came back into the class, there was a sickened look on his face. he told us that something happened around America, and that he isnt allowed to discuss it. so all in the halls kids were talking... and i didnt believe a single story, i even was like, "there was probably a big bombing somewhere". but it couldnt have been that simple. Finally i got to my last period class, and we had this very striaght foward teacher, he didnt teach science too much, but lifeskills. so he told us a lil more, but didnt include the part on planes or New York. when i finally got ome i walked into my house, there i walked into the family room and saw my oldest sister, 21 at the time, sitting under a down comforter watching the news. i looked at the TV and there right before my eyes were the replay of one of the towers falling. my mom and dad are both psycologists, and my mom has worked for united airlines for about five years now. after this day, i didnt see them for 6 days... NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. i fly frequenly with my family at the airlines. we are DEVOTE united people, and when this happened, i knew my life would never be the same. Everytime i go to the airport to find my mom, the next months after the attacks, i would see military men at the airport. when i would wait near the back room for her to come out, i would be approached and asked what i was doing. as of today, i havent seen one of the officers in a while, but that doesnt mean i have frogotten of the event. every time i go to uniteds offices, i see a picture of Jesus Sanchez, my moms collegue, who died on United flight 175. i look into the photo full of his happy face and i wonder each time i see it, did he know what was going on? i think about all of the people who lost their lives and i feel sick, sick of the whole idea of terrorism. i now see my parents alot more often, but i am alwayus remembered of the days they spent at the airport, helping the others. i cant believe that it took an event like this to remind me how great my parents are. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? we should remember the feelings of unity we had from the aftermaths of this tragady. we should all remember that the world inst soo small especially now in the twenty first century. we MUST all remember that this is commonplace in many places in the world, and that we have only expirenced a taste of the lifestlyes that other third world countries live in. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? yes, my family did fly American Flags outside of house after the event. i can barely think of people that didnt... but the flag does take on special meaning after a catastrophy like this occurs. for me personally, it felt like a chain. one that we all, as Americans wear together. it isnt chains of slavery but one of obligation. Obligation to the country that we all belong to. ALot of us are Americans, whether we choose to accept it or not. Let us have this chain of brotherhood, never be broken... 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 nmah5694.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. 2003-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.128.246.51 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "September 11: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I fell asleep downstairs with the T.V. on, I woke up to see much to my suprise that a plane was crashing into the world trade center. I thought,"What is CNN foing showing a movie?" Then I rolled over on the couch and tried to go back to sleep. But I couldent get out of my mind the realism of this "movie". I then realived It was not and that I needed to wach all of this. Then the second plane hit and I then thought that this was by no means an accidant. I was horrified to realize terrorists had done this. My parents had been waching this in there bedroom on T.V.So when they came down to tell me I was already informed thanks to trhe fact that I had fallen asleep downstairs and had the T.V. tuned to CNN. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. This attack has changed my life becuse now every time I get abord an airplane I wich nothibg wll happed to my family and I. I was supposed to be on a plane that day for my uncles funeral. He had passed away almost two weeks ago. I was really feeling strange becuse for the first little while I thought that we would still go. But when I heard that no planes would be flying that day I had more sorrow added to the much that had already compiled over the last cuple weeks. I was saddend and enraged this day I. Many people died that day, and I never did get to say goodbye to my uncle. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? I think the many brave rescuers who rushed to the attacks should be rememberd. They must have known what would happen but they died and should rememberd for this. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? No, I am canadian but every canadian flag was at hafe mast for almost a month. 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 nmah2966.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-10 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 202.155.42.212 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I rode the PATH into the Trade Center that day, just like I always did. I do rememeber how beautiful of a day it was, it had rained very hard the night before. I worked at the corner of Broadway and Liberty - one block from the WTC. I was on the 8th floor when we heard the loud noise, (it sounded like a big truck going fast through the street), and then another noise, like crumpling aluminum foil and we looked outside. You could see people on the street running, and people pointing to the WTC. Then we looked up, and the beginning of the debris was just starting to fall past our windows. Someone said, "They just bombed the Trade Center" - two of us left the building and ran to the Trade Center to see what was happening. We didn't take anything with us, so I had no wallet or cell phone, we thought we would go look and be back. Of course, we didn't know it was plane, but the smoke was horrible, and there was paper and debris everywhere, we even picked up some of the papers, calendars and CD's, and a computer tray. As we kept walking and stood there looking up at the flames and looking around at the horrific carnage on the ground, another blast happened. I happen to be looking at the tower and saw the impact, then we ran as fast as we could towards the Hudson. I remember having to stop and rest in the middle of the West Side Hwy, and there were so many stopped cars, with the doors open and no-one in them. Some people were saying it was a bomb, other saying it was a plane, others were saying there were helicopters trying to get people off the tops of the buildings. Everyone was in a calm state of panic, some little girl lost her shoe and her mother. I talked to her until her mother came along and found her. There were people of the waterfront trying to get their employees together, some were not having any luck. We stood and watched as people choose to jump to their deaths. How BAD was it, that the better of your choices was to jump out of the building instead of staying in..? We stood there in shock and in fear with a feeling of helplessness. I got on the ferry towards Hoboken and was on the ferry when the first one fell, I was in too much of a state of shock to turn around a look, but you could feel and hear it. I caught a train to Newark Broad street and then a Bus to Newark Penn, and they made us get on any train because they were evacuating the train station. I used someone's phone to make a call to a family memeber to let them know I was OK. We still didn't know what was giong on. I eventually made it to a train station and was picked up by my husband and spent the rest of the week watching too much news... NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. Yes - I think and hope that everyones life has changed since then. I appreciate life more, and think about life more. I respect America and the values and freedoms that we have, so I have changed for the better. But I also have changed in what I notice in life. I can tell you when the sky is the same blue it was on Sept 11th. It hasn't been that color often since then, but I know that color and remember. I think war movies are a little too real for me to watch. And I think children should be children for as long as possible. I think of my life as before and after.... I no longer work in the city,,,,, NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? The heros that worked, both the ones that lived and died. The victims and their innocence and lack of choice in what happened. The way America pulled together. The way we all were affected. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? Yes, I had flags on my car. And yes, I never understood the honor and pride you could take in a symbol. I understand that the Flag is a symbol and I now believe that I have experienced what that Flag means and I appreciate it, and believe that we should all honor the flag. By honoring the flag, we help to rememeber and respect those who protect it. The flag is our freedom and our freedom is what makes us Americans. 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 nmah5340.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. 2002-12-18 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.208.71 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. On September 11 2001 I was working as the black and white printer at the photo agency Magnum and as a freelance photographer. That morning I was late in leaving my apartment in East Williamsburg Brooklyn on arriving at the subway station I could not find my wallet with my metrocard so I walked back to my building retracing my steps in case I had dropped it. It was on returning to my apartment I looked up for a moment and noticed that one of the WTC towers was smoking, it looked like a candle that had just been extinguished with a plume of smoke trailing from the upper floors. I thought that maybe there was a fire in Windows of the World and that it would soon be extinguished. I was more preoccupied with finding my wallet and getting to work than yet another fire in Manhattan even if it was in the WTC. On reaching my apartment I looked again and realised that it was getting worse, I rang my neighbour's bell and told them through the intercom what was happening, they are videographers and I thought they might be interested, I told them that I would get my camera and meet them on the roof. When I joined them they were pale, they informed me that they had just witnessed a plane crash into the other tower. At first I thought that the smoke from the first tower had caused the crash. I shot a couple of frames and left for my apartment where I scrambled manically for my wallet and metrocard, I wanted to go directly to the trade center I needed to see what was going on, I had to document this as a photographer and as a New Yorker of thirteen years, I had to get inside the buildings. I after five minutes of desperate searching I gave up on my wallet and looked for enough change for the subway and grabbed my last four roles of B and W film shoved it in my bag along with my panoramic camera and ran out the door, at first unsure of whether I should drive or run across the williamsburg bridge I finally decided that the subway would be the fastest way to manhattan. Just before reaching the subway station I reached into my bag for the change and found my wallet, the train was at the station when I went through the turnstile and as the door closed behinde me I immediately felt the tension, there was an animated mumble when normally all you here is the metallic sound of the train on a workday morning. I asked the person beside me if she knew what had happened, she told me that TWO planes had crashed into the towers. I didn't know whether to believe her or not. I got to Union Sq and transfered to the 4,5,6 dowtown when it reached 8th St I felt that it was slowing down and that it was not going to get much further. Instead of risking being caught in-between stations I decided to leave and walk the rest of the way. I walked directly to Washington Sq. Park where I knew I could see the towers, suddenly I saw them, and I remembered what the woman on the train said... there was no doubt in my mind that she was right. It was terrible, I suddenly realised for the first time that there must be hundreds of people inside. I lifted my camera shooting a frame at a time, shielding myself emotionally from what was happening and walked toward West Broadway and then down towards the towers. People were in the middle of the street some with their hands over their mouths or on their heads others kept walking to wherever they were going staring as they walked at the towers. Parked cars had their doors open with the radio blaring with the sound of news reports. As I approached Grand St. and W. Bway everyone started to scream I was taking pictures of peoples reactions and quickly turned around to see oone of the towers crumbling. I kept shooting placing my free hand on my forehead and repeating oh my God oh my God. I crossed Canal and walked a few blocks closer knowing that the second tower might fall at any time and then I stopped. There were people all around me some in silently crying others trying to find out more about what was going on. We all new that the second tower was about to fall, the impossible had happenend and would happen again. At first we saw what seemed like debris falling from the remainig tower then people around me started to gasp as they realized that what they were watching was actually people jumping in desperation from the top floors. And then panic... a rumble that slowly increased in volume, screams, people running, others frozen in shock, a cloud of dust funneling rapidly towards us. I felt empty, nothing inside, tears of disbelief. I was still holding my camera to my face trying to shield myself. All the time I had been pressing the redial button on my cellular trying to get through to Magnum, for some reason I needed to let them know why I was going to be late, I finally got through and then proceeded to make my way back. When I finally arrived the I was hit with a wave of emotions that up until that poin I had managed to deflect. I colapsed on the floor and was taken to the back, given a cup of tea and consolled by the editors. My film was taken to the lab and within an hour I was printing what I had just seen, late into the night I was printing the photographs of Magnum's photographers as they came in. Once again I managed to separate myself emotionally from what I was looking at. One of my photographs is to be included in this show I am not sure which, It is hard for me to look at them now, every now and again I do, I think we all should. I have sinced moved to Mexico city. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? 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 nmah381.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. 2002-08-22 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 200.23.107.17 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I was on a walk in my small nieghborhood in North Fla. with my 18 month old in a stroller when a workman told me that a plane flew into one of the twin towers. I remember thinking how could someone make such a mistake? Then about 20 houses later a nieghbor came out and told me that a second plane had flown into the other tower. I even then had trouble beliving that it wasn't some freak accident. I went home and spent the next 2 weeks with the TV on cnn as much as I could. When in the car, I listened to NPR. I went that very afternoon and bought a large flag for our house and many little ones for my 4 children. I am still almost always in tears when I hear stories and patriotic songs.I often find myself unable to express my anguish as well as my patriotism. I don't think that it was really taught to me in school or at home. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. I'm now much more afraid of "things". Following the attacks, someone dropped baby powder in the parking lot of my childrens elemetry school and it had to be tested. CDC, the police dept and the fire dept had to be called and the area taped off, They sent a note home to all the parents I couldn't help wondering what was happening to our nation, to our familys. I look at every lonesome bag in a different way, am worried about going to events that may be big enough to attract attacks NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? ALL the people lost I am so thankful for the firefighters and police men, they truly are heros but all the others were Heros in their own right as well. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? I have flown the flag every day since 9/11 and I will continue to do so. 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 nmah1440.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-06 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.70 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I had just walked into my 6th period class and the teacher heard news about the inccident. everybody was devistated. My first thought was that we had enterd a war and that it was happening on our own soil Nobody could figure out why this was going on, all we could think was why? what for? who did this? I would say that was the most sick thing anyone could ever do to innocent people. All I know is that it has brought everyone together to help stop this hate crime, and it made me think that I'm so thankful that none of my family was there at the Trade Towers, and that I live in a free nation under GOD. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. It just lets me know that anything could happen at any time to anyone. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? The people that were killed for no reason at all. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? Yes, we hung a big American flag off the back porch so that everyone that drove by could see it. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource nmah3724.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.109.3.68 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I was at work in my home town of Tupelo, Mississippi when my husband, Ken, called and ask if we were listening to the radio. He said that a plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York. We turned the radio on thinking that some horrible accident had just occurred. Just a few minutes later the report came in that another plane had hit the second tower, then the pentagon. At that moment the situation took on a whole new meaning. It want from "Oh, no how terrible, those poor people!" to "OH, MY DEAR GOD, NO!!" All work ceased! No one could even think of work. We were all fixed on the words and sounds coming from the radio & the internet. Not long after the full impact of what was occurring began to sink in I called our office in New York, which is at the opposite end of Manhatten. Speaking with fellow coworkers there seemed to pull us more into the terror. I could here the fear in their voices. We keep in touch by phone until the line want down. Then one of the girls from the NY office emailed (email stayed up a little longer than the phone lines) me asking if I could please keep trying to get her mother by phone, since she hadn't been able to reach her. She ask that I let her know that she was safe and at work and would remain there until they figured out where to go. I was able to get through to her mother, who was in a different state. The last email I got though to NY that day was to let her know that I had spoken with her mother. Calling her mother, was a very small task, but at lease I felt like I was doing something. I felt so helpless, I wanted to do something. But what could I do. The only thing that I could do that day was pray. Pray for God to comfort and strengthen those closely involved in this terror. I had never had endure what the people in NY and Washington DC were going though that day, but I did know that God be their source of strength that day. The Lord had proved to me over and over that He could be my comfort and I knew that He was still big enought to see us all thought what ever might come. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. I believe to some degree. I'm more apprehensive. Today as I write this, on Sept. 11, 2002 our world is once again on alert; watching,waiting & worrying about yet another attack on our peace. I'm in my mid 30's. I've never been faced with this type of fear, its new to my world. It was just something that I've read about in history books and seen in the movies. Its never touched my world before and its now getting way to close for comfort. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? America was build on Godly principles and Sept. 11th caused America to once again turn to God. We must continue to make steps back to being One Nation, Under God! If we take the tragedy of Sept. 11th and use it as our conerstone for rebuilding an even stronger America in the image that our founding father envisioned; then we can truly say that we are ONE NATION, UNITED, UNDER GOD... NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? YES! I value it even more. I feel more of a unity among Americans. That I pray continues and grows to make us truly ONE. I'm proud to be an American! I thank God for America! God Bless America! Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource nmah3819.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.207.17.19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "September 11: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I just got to work. Someone said that a plane had hit the WTC. I thought it was an accident. I went to my room. Coworkers had the computer on getting the news. We then heard there was a second plane. We all had our radios on. then it was the Pentagon. someone went home and grabbed a tv. We couldn't believe it. what was happening. I work at Canyon Heights Young Parents High School in kaysville, Ut. Many of our teenage mother's just hugged their babies and din't want to go to class. Many students went home. I wanted to go home and get my kids. But I didn't. I hugged them tight when we returned from work and school. My heart goes out to all of those lost. Good for those on the last plane that didn't reach their destination. They had time to respond and they did. They saved who knows how many people because of their heroic efforts. God bless you all. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. Yes, I cry a lot more. I am more thankful for family and friends. I am more courteous to people. I am trying to be a lot more tolerant of rude people. I think twice about a lot of things. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? That there were a lot of heroes that day. Many in uniform and many not in uniform. We stood tall and didn't stay down when we were first knocked down. We got back up and have gone on. We can be strong and united. Stay the way forever and always. Love the RED, WHITE, and BLUE. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? Yes. I have always liked the stars and stripes. I have always thought about the words....Through the rockets red glare.....etc. Now it means more to me because I have lived in a time when the flag has risen up out of ashes. The flag represents 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 nmah4388.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 208.187.143.54 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. On September 11, I was working at my office. Like new York - I´m living at Dortmund/Germany - it was a very beautiful day. Bautyful until I saw a very small article at my news ticker. i thought an accident has happend. But than..., the second plane hit the WTC. I stopped working. Until 20 h (cet) I tried to watch all news I could receive with a girlfriend and her husband at their house. Unable to speak unable to think clearly. On my way home by subway all the people around me where talking, loughing, or just smiling because they had been shopping or working, not knowing what has happend. I felt that something has happend to the world and my life that hasn´t happend to them. Imagined that it will only take a view minutes until they are at their homes and their lives where changed too, forever. Mightless. Sleepless for many days. All those lost lives, this senseless act. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. The rememberence hurts in my head. It hurts but I hope I won´t lose it for my whole live. I do not want to forget any second of this day, maybe one day I am able to accept the fact that this act of terrorism has really happend but I know even than I will be unable to understand why. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? Everything should be remembered. New York, Washington, the passengers and crew of the Airplanes. every human beeing should remember his/ her feelings of this day. But can you remember how peaceful live was on September 10? Today it seems to be imagination. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? 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 nmah5246.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-10-18 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 217.0.49.77 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I am a high school educator in Houston, Texas at Sam Houston High School. It was during my planning period that I heard a morning radio show vaguely describing the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. At first, I thought they were joking. From their tone, I realized that it was serious. There was no other information at that time and of course I thougt a plane had malfunctioned in some way and caused damage to the building. I immediately went in search of a television and found the news on the the school library. That was when I learned of the malicious intent that was involved in the crash.Today my sincere comprehension is no better than it was at that moment. As I stood trying to absorb what was happening, the 2nd plane hit and I continued to watch as the towers collapsed. As reports came in about the details of the attacks, I began to panic. I don't know how many times that I've been on the phone with my sister on the cellphone and she tells me that the call will drop as she passes the Pentagon. She lives not 5 minutes away. One of my dearest friends works at Capitol Hill and I'd incorrectly heard at that point that it had been attacked. Another friend that is like a sister me is a flight attendant and at that point I had no idea what airlines had been used for the attack. I literally ran to my classroom to contact them all and could only get in touch with me friend, the flight attendant. She wasn't at work that day and flies Continental. Not being able to reach the people that I love in Washington moved me almost to paralysis. At this state, my students were now in class and were becoming frightened by my behavior. I had to get myself together for my kids. Tomorrow, I will have my students share in this experience. I don't really know that they still truly comprehend it, in the same way that as Southern children, they know what snow is but, most have never experienced it. As the months passed I listened to their version of patriotism as the boys vowed to go the Afghanistan themselves to hunt down Bin Laden. As geography teachers, we were charged and committed to make sure that this historical moment did not create a generation of people that hated Arabs and Muslims. We taught the children about the Arab region and about Islam. They were sophisticated enough to discriminate between this horrible act and the people and religion they claim. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. As a person, that studied international politics in college and have beem friends with many from the Arab world, I have spent most of my adult life as less than patriotic. Not until I traveled to France several years ago, did really appreciate being American. France is a beautiful country but, not until then did recognize my American civil liberties that I've taken for granted. I now understand what it is to truly be a part of an American family. I've learned to embrace the wonderfulness of American culture. I've learned that you can't be a part time or lukewarm American. The sisters, mothers, fathers, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, grandfathers and friends that were lost that day could have been my own. I now know with all clarity that when America was attacked; I was attacked. I and America are one and the same. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? I think what should be remembered aboutis that the average American can be heroic. As an educator, we save lives literally and figuratively everyday. People should remember that about themselves. We should remember that September 11th did not create heroes. From the firefighters to police officers to stockbroker to little kids that helped raise money, American heroes were already in place. Another issue of importance is that study and understanding of other cultures and world politics should be paramount in American education. Most of the world knows more about America than the average American and we know very little, to nothing about the rest of the world except Europe. This must change in our education system. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? I had conflicting feelings about flying the flag after 9/11. I felt that I would be hypocritical on a personal level. Plus, I literally couldn't find a flag. I have evolved. My show of patriotism came through placing a red, white and blue bow on the front of my Jeep. One of my friends had to force me to take it off this summer since it was so tattered. Replacing it for me just wouldn't be the same as the first one. I will place another bow on my car this Wednesday as a symbol of solidarity. I will also fly this week to Washington to see my sister. Not so much the flag but, the Pledge of Allegiance brings a new emotion to me. It is no longer just a part of my morning procedure, it is now a daily commitment. 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 nmah1530.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-08 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.64.228.127 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. September 11, 2001, started just like any other weekday in my home, alarm goes off, get the kids up and ready for school, get myself ready and then drive myself to work. I remember that it was another, beautiful sunny morning here in Ocala, Florida. I got to work that morning a little after 8:00 a.m. since it was my job to get the mail in the morning and I remember turning on the radio to listen to some music, because after all why would this day be any differnt than any other day. Boy was I wrong. I remember that I was listening to a song on the radio when the DJ cut in and said that a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers in New York. I immediately ran out of my office and ran into a co-workers office and asked her if she heard what I heard, she said yes. We then went around the office asking the other ladies if they heard it too. During that time the attorney's wife had called in and was confirming what I had heard. I couldn't belive it. I called my parents who live in Miami, Florida and told them what I had heard. I remember that my father immediately turned on the TV and there it was, he started to give me a play by play of what the newscaster was saying. I was in shock, I grew up in New York and had visited the Twin Towers many times during my years of living in the Big Apple. I hung up with my father and told my co-workers that since I lived 5 minutes from the office I would run home and get a T.V. I ran home, picked up a TV and hurried back to work never dreaming that we would witness the second plane crashing into the other tower. I remember that my co-workers and I were having a discussion about whether this was a terrosit attack or not. We were split at that time, and then I turned towards the TV and saw the other plane crash and I remember screaming "Oh my god, another plane just crashed, another plane just crashed into the other tower, what the hell is going on." It got very quiet in the office. I remember looking at my co-worker and both her and I had tears in our eyes. Of course no one worked much the rest of the day, the phones stopped ringing, parents were going to the school across the street from the office and pulling their kids out of school for fear of another attack. We were glued to the TV, no one budged, we were all in shock that this could happen here in the United States of America. Finally around 1:00p.m. the attorney called in and told us to close the office and go home. I remember going home only to turn on the TV and watch the replay of events over and over again and wondering "why". When my children came home that afternoon I tried to explain to them what had happended, but how do you explain something so horrible to a 1st grader and a 4th grader. I remember my youngest daughter asking me why I was crying and I told her mommy grew up in New York and I had visited the twin towers many times and the view from the observatory in the towers was breath taking and that is something that I would never be able to see again. She just looked at me, so I asked her if she would like to see some pictures of the twin towers that her grandpa (my father) had taken when we visited there as children. My daughters and I spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening going through old photo albums and looking at pictures of my old home town of New York City. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. I realized that your life can change in a heartbeat through no fault of your own and that you should live your life to the fullest and cherish your love ones for as long as you can, and alway remember to let them know how much you love them, even if they don't want to hear it sometimes. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? We need to remember all the passengers on those ill fated flight that lost their lifes, the fireman, policemen, policewomen,harbor patrol, civilians, the workers at the towers, the workers at the Pentagon,the volounteers, search and rescue teams, and everyone else that lost their lives or helped in the search and rescue missions that followed September 11. In short we need to remember the American Spirit, and how on that one day America came together and truly became One Nation Under God. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? It took me until September 12, 2001 at 4:45 p.m. to find a store that was not sold out of American flag. Ever since that evening that same flag has flown in my home in Florida and when my husband, children, and I relocated to Georgia, that flag came with us and it flies over my new home proudly today as it will for years to come. As far as my feelings having changed about the American flag, the only thing that has changed is that I will now proudly display the flag on my home, which was something that as a family we never thought of doing and by displaying the American flag we feel that we are showing our support for America. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource nmah6198.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.34.136.233 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. Today was a nice day for me having used a newly minted security pass to enter the WTC and meeting successfully with representatives of the Port Authority of NY & NJ on a very exciting environmental project. I have been a government administrator for 30 years and having reached a significant level of management felt proud as I left the building. The meeting was on the 62nd floor. The day was September 10, 2001. The meeting ended at 5 PM. The next day two of us were on an early train to Newark, NJ for a meeting. As we always did we were watching the construction of the new train station near the Newark Airport. My traveling companion, gazing upward into the very beautiful morning sky said, "Hey look at that cloud above the WTC, it looks like its attached". We saw the first smoke. Moments later an announcement on the train that the PATH was closed....most people mumbled because their transportation to work was going to be interrupted. As we entered the Newark train station people were saying that a plane had struck the WTC...no one gave it much thought thinking that it was an errant pipercub or something. As we walked out of the station to our meeting location still there was no panic. As we entered the office building, all hell broke out ...secretarys were crying...office workers were trying to call out or check the internet for information. The situation was unfolding outside our window but we couldn't see it. After the second plane hit and the buildings crumbled... our Newark building was evacuated. Now the train station and the neighboring bus station were closed...there were no cars to rent in the area. We had environmental chain of command responsibilities but could not reach our liaisons due to cell phone failure. Finally the trains started to move in our direction. When we returned to our home office we were met by state police in roit gear and our building was closed due to a bomb threat. We were able to re-establish our contacts and perform our duties but not without many moments of not being in control. The feeling of being a captain without a ship in a vital situation is devastating. The feeling of helplessness, overwhelming. The high alert we prepared for. The sense of helplessness concerning folks we had met with the day before was wrenching. Fortunately all of them survived the devastation and on this anniversary can still enjoy their families. My heart goes out and my prayers are with to all the people I may have seen on the 10th who did not return home on the 11th. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? Yes and we still fly it daily with a spot light on it at night. 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 nmah1424.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-06 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 208.39.157.226 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I was at work when an employee called me and told me that a plane had just hit the tower. Not having a television, I walked down to a common breakroom. Upon entering the room I saw a dozen or so employees of various companies simply staring at the tv. By this time, the second plane had hit and we all just stared. Without a word, we all knew we were at war. I travel quite a bit for work and had just returned from Washington a few days before. My phone didn't stop ringing, my friends and family concerned that I might be on an airplane. All I could think about was my children, I wanted to be with them, to hold them, to reassure them. The schools were releasing children to their parents, if the parents so desired, I contemplated this but decided they were safer right were they were. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. I think everyones' life has changed, how could it not. Everytime I board an airplane I am much more observant of those boarding with me. As my children would prefer I quit my job rather than board a plane again, I have found that I must constantly remind them that if we change our routine, if we hide in our homes, if we do not continue living, then the terrorists have won. We live in a free country and we must continue to celebrate our freedom. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? September 11, 2001 should never be forgotten. We need to remember that we were attacked, we need to know that we could be attacked again, but I think that what we must remember most is they way this country bonded. The firefighters that rushed into the towers while others were rushing out! That we must never forget. The way our allies mourned with us, that we must never forget. The outpouring of supplies and money, that we must never forget. The overwhelming feeling of love for ones country and its people, that we must NEVER forget. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? I hate to admit this, but I had never flown the flag before September 11, 2001. I'm not sure why, I never really gave it much thought. But when I couldn't find a flag anywhere immediately following the attacks, I was upset, I felt unpatriotic. As soon as I found a flag I began to fly it with pride. I will never again forget what our flag represents, FREEDOM, and I will always fly it with pride. 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 nmah4486.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-12 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.52.59.93 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "September 11: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. My brother ran in my room that morning adn grabbed me into the kitchen where both my parents were sitting there crying, as i turned my head to the tv screen there was the burning tower falling to the ground. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. YEs, life seems more prescious and vonerable then ever. I would always bored as poeple, movies and teachers rambled on about world wars, now it means something a little bit more sense i've basically lived through on. I'v felt the same threat and fear portrayed in movies. It brings us all closer in a good and bad kind of way. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? The inoccent men and women killed out of pure hatred. THe fire fighters and police man who indangered there life and/or maybe even gave there's for another fellow human being in a time of threat. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? Yes i did, and very proudly!NOw and american flag means, patritism and a united counrty that comes together in a time of need, a counrty who will fight to its death for there oppinions so strongly held in there heats they feel taste and espress it every day of there life. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource nmah4339.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 216.26.60.209 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I work for AT&T Government Solutions. I was in my DC office when I heard about the World Trade Center. By now I am sure we all know that surreal feeling that we can't believe what we are seeing. At first we thought it was an accident. Then we heard that the Pentagon had been hit. One of my co-workers said, very quietly, "My wife works there." My sister works one block from the White House. She was forcibly evacuated. Not knowing what was happening, I didn't want to be separated from her. Since the roads were jammed and the Metro frozen, we decided to walk ten miles home to Alexandria. What a beautiful day it was! A golden-blue day more perfect than perfect. We could clearly see the billows of black smoke rising. We walked out amid a stream of people. What impressed me about them was their calm. We didn't know what was happening. We didn't know if there was attack on the United States. Yet everyone was quiet and calm. I live about five miles from the Pentagon. We stood on the verge of 395 on the Pentagon grounds with the news crews and little groups of servicemen and women, watching the Pentagon burn. I will never forget that image as long as I live. The beautiful, sparkling day, the huge shroud of acrid black smoke rising up behind the Pentagon and reaching into the sky, the quiet, calm people with us. All the flags flew in the strong breeze. A line popped into my head "...And our flag was still there." At that moment I realized that nothing would be the same for us, for all of us. That in a moment the whole world had changed. But even more strongly, I was convinced that whatever we faced, we would be all right. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? I have the flag that covered my father's coffin. He was a veteran of WWII, a bombardier with the Fifteenth Air Force, and he was also called up during the Korean War. I unwrapped the flag for the first time and hung it out of the building. I knew what my father would have said, and that he would have approved. I know how my father felt about the flag all his life. He always stood to attention and saluted when it passed, keeping his eyes fixed on it. Patriotism was not something he spoke about. He had fought for it. He had been prepared to die for it. It was how he lived. He had said to us time and time again that we children did not understand how fortunate we were, nor did we understand the responsibility that being American placed upon us. In the past, I thought nothing of it. All that we have enjoyed, I took for granted. We wave our flag now, and we see it prominently displayed and talked of. But I remember my father's eyes when he looked at the flag. I remember his silent commitment, the promise to his country to be there when called, a promise that he kept. 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 nmah87.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. 2002-07-18 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 192.128.166.68 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. I work at for the Law Department at 100 Church St., one block away from WTC. When the tragic happened I was on the train on my way to work. When I got at the train station, they were evacuating. Since 100 Church St. is at the coner of one of the train station exit, they had said they were evacuating the building. So I thought it was on fire. But as people were coming out of the train station they were making comments but would not say what was going on. When I came out I saw one of the twin towers in fire, all of a certain I looked at people taking pictures and video taping. When I looked back to the twin towers I see the other one on fire, too. I thought "When did this happened?" Police Officers were saying that there was bomb threats so everyone must leave the area. When I was at Chambers and Broadway one of the building collapsed and it felt like an earthquake, buildings were shaking and people running and saying that it was another plane. Thanks God my mother lives at Little Italy and I walked to her house and stayed there until my husband got there to pick me up. It took him the whole day get down town. And I also worked at the Pier where they were applying for death certificates for the victims' families. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? Basically everything, I think 9/11 should be like any other holiday. A tribute to the innocent people who died. Like Memorial Day. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? No I didn't fly one but I have a big one at home. I got it at the Pier when I was working there. 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 nmah3810.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 167.153.3.248 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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. My husband, Jason and I were asleep when my mother in Michigan called to ask us how far we lived from the World Trade Center. Jason had a friend, Tom visiting from out of town and had taken the day off of work from the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). They had been out late the night before after the Yankee game had been cancelled due to the thunder storm. When I finally woke up and looked at the television and the smoking towers, I asked Jason what movie was on and why my mother was calling, that was approximately 9:05am. I spent the next couple of minutes trying to grasp what was happening. I immediately called my father's cell phone to make sure he wasn't there for a meeting. When he assured me that he was safe in the Virgin Islands and he knew about the small plane that hit the Tower, I screamed "no, Dad, there were two, we are under attack!" That was the first time any of us had heard the word "attack" and it shocked me just as much as it did my father, Jason, and Tom. After that, we sat down to watch the television. We watched as the first tower fell and then, in my shock, I decided that would be a good time to take a shower in case we had to evacuate our apartment 4 miles away from the devastation. While I was in the shower I heard Jason yell when I asked what happened, he said the other tower fell. I think it was too much for me, it didn't make any sense so I went back to washing my hair. When I finished my shower, something started to sink in, Jason's colleagues were at the towers when they fell. Jason works for the OCME and is part of a team that goes to crime scenes to collect evidence. Jason called his office and discovered that a team was sent to the Towers, and nobody had heard from them since the collapse. The next couple of hours were spent trying to locate family in the city and buying bottled water and canned goods. I could see the smoke outside my windows and allready a reporter was calling from Jason's hometown of Omaha to talk to an Omaha boy in New York City. I still don't think things made sense to me at that point. Slowly my apartment became a resting spot for friends and family that either couldn't get home or didn't want to be alone. When Amtrak trains started running again, Jason took Tom to Penn Station so he could be with his family in Rhode Island. I ventured out into the streets to stock up on cash and coffee. I had to walk twenty minutes in order to find an ATM with cash and even further to find a restaurant that could sell some coffee to me. While I was on my way home with my coffee I realized that it was 4:00pm and there were neither cars nor people on Madison Avenue. I could walk in the middle of the street and there were no cars to honk at me. We found out later that evening that every one of Jason's colleagues made it out alive. A couple were seriously injured, one was hospitalized, but they were all alive. Jason and I woke up early on Wednesday morning because Jason was asked to come in early to start helping with the victim identification process. I can't remember how I spent most of that day, I somehow ended up in our favorite Italian restaurant with my sister, Kelly, who witnessed the second explosion from the street. I remember seeing young Muslim girls walking toward the big Mosque on 96th Street and wondering what they were thinking. We then went to the house of our other sister, Cheryl. Her husband, Jim, had watched the first collapse from Battery Park and his shoes that were covered in dust were sitting by the door. I tried not to think too much about what Jason was doing that day. We had to turn off the air conditioner because the dust was coming into the apartment from outside. We had to hold wet cloths over our noses to breathe because the smoke stung our throats. I will never forget the smell of that smoke and the way my eyes watered for a couple of days. When Jason returned, we could see by his face that he didn't want to discuss his day. We let Jason take his time before he shared his experiences. When he did, it was really hard for me to grasp what he said. I listened and hugged him, but I know I still didn't "get" what happened. The next week went like this: By day I would watch the news, field phone calls from friends and family all over the world who wanted to know what New York was like and how Jason was holding up. It seems like I heard from everyone I knew in my entire lifetime. I made a lot of phone calls looking for ways to volunteer during those days. I couldn't find anything to do, agencies were inundated with volunteers all they needed was money which I didn't have. In the evening Jason would come home with his "morgue clothes" in a plastic bag, I would put on rubber gloves and wash them in bleach. He would then tell me about his day and I would tell him who called. One evening Jason came home and told me that his name had been on the list to go out with the Crime scene team on September 11. I can't describe how I felt when I realized that not one of his colleagues escaped without an injury of varying degrees. I immediately counted our blessings that Tom came to visit and Jason took the day off of work. I was so fed up with not being able to help that Jason contacted the Attorney for the OCME and asked if I could help with anything and put my three years of law school to work. The next day, exactly one week after the disaster, I started volunteering with the OCME. I was issued a badge and immediately given the assignment of researching how a death certificate could legally be issued in the State of New York when there was no proof of death. Since I was now working with Jason, I was able to see first hand the temporary examination tents that were set up on E 30th Street. Even though I was standing right there witnessing examinations, seeing the refrigerated trucks, smelling death, I was still detached emotionally. After the special circumstances death certificate application process was set, applications started coming in by the hundreds to the family center at Pier 92. I then spent a lot of time at the family center collecting applications and then transporting them back to the OCME so the people from FEMA could start entering the names into the databases. Over the next couple of weeks, I became accustomed to the presence of sharp shooters on roof tops, being inspected by soldiers with automatic weapons, having a mask handy because sometimes the smell of death would be too strong, being in the presence of FBI agents, refering to the Salvation Army food trailor as "Cafe Sal", discussions on whether the Salvation Army or the Red Cross has better disaster food, the photographs of the missing posted everywhere I went, and the numb feeling I got whenever I thought about why I was there. It seemed to me that the entire city was one big disaster relief effort. Then I realized that the rest of the city was starting to do normal things again. It was me who was surrounded by disaster relief. How could I deal with what happened when I couldn't get away from it? I spent my days surrounded by the grieving and the dead with people who were spending their days the same way. By the end of October, I decided that it was time to stop volunteering. Jason's job went back to the "normal" rapes and homicides while most of the disaster efforts were now being handled by federal agencies. The holidays came and went, I made my first visit to Ground Zero in January, and in February I cried for the first time over the Disaster. In April I started having the nightmares of running from the falling towers and crashing airplanes. It is a sign to me that the emotional detachment is starting to go away, and I am finally starting to grasp what happened that morning and what I saw the next couple of months. Jason is too, sometimes he listens to me cry and I listen to him. We are dealing with our feelings of anger, confusion, sadness, and fear together. I know we will be fine, just like everyone else, all we need is time. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. I look at what I would have considered inconvenieces in a completely different manner. I also have thought about my views on war and whether or not it could have any postive results. For the first time in my life I have wondered if I will live long enough to experience the joys of children and grandchildren. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? September 11th is an example of what can happen when intolerances are allowed to run unchallenged. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? I did not fly an American flag after September 11th because I found the sight of the flag to be emotionally overwhelming. I appreciated seeing the flag all over the city because it left me with a pure feeling of solidarity. All of the different people of different races, cultures, religions, and backgrounds had similar feelings over what happened and the flag represented those feelings. I truly felt like I was part of a community that was working together. My core beliefs about the flag have not changed, but my reaction to the flag has changed. 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 nmah107.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. 2002-08-02 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 205.188.208.134 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "September 11: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. i was in 2 period at school when my teacher came in and turned the tv on and said that we had been bombed on the twin towers and the pentagon. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. yes,because i think about all the people that lost family and friends NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? that all the firefighters and hopital workers tried their hardest to save as many eople as they could and gave their lives for others NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? yes,i feel that since september 11th that it has brought america closer together and that more people have had more respect for the flag. 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 nmah480.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. 2002-08-29 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 208.191.87.61