38 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. I'm okay. But it is hell. Kitsy wrote: > > Peter...I'm at work..no tv and can't get any web news. what's going > on...only heard world trade center got nailed by a plane. > need some news...Kitsy He'll get there okay. It's unbelievable what's going on in the streets here. Unbelievable. Jet fighters in the sky. streans of refugees in the streets. PK Kitsy wrote: > > I put doug on a plane to sfo at 730am this morning. k Dear all: Thanks to all who got through on the phone or e-mailed. Very kind and touching of you and I consider you family. Gina is in Springs watching this on tv, and I am in Manhattan living the reality. We are okay. I thought my observations from ground zero in lower Manhattan -- a wonderful place I love so much -- might interest you. The exhilarating crucible of cultures and artistic ferment in these neighborhoods have held my interest for 20 years. Something terrible happened to us today. Our neighborhood is shut down. I have to show an id to get to my place on Prince Street. National Guard troops are in the streets. One of my friends on 13th street was awakened by a plane flying so low over her bedroom, she jumped out of bed. That was the first plane. The most stunning image burned into my brain was standing on our fire escape (Manhattan speak for patio) and seeing: Thousands, upon thousands, of people in business suits carrying briefcases marching north on Lafayette and Broadway. This army of office people was covered with white ash. They walked, and walked, covered with white ash. No one spoke. Total silence. I stared, the only sound was thousands of footsteps. Total silence. Jet fighters swooping over the city. Everyone stares at them, amazed. Marty and Brad on Leonard Street watched people leaping to their death from the World Trade Center. Marty is freaked out. I'm glad I didn't see the bodies falling. I don't want that in my memory bank. I ran into Bruce and Isa outside the Tribeca Film Center, just up from the WTC. They told me they also watched people committing suicide from the Towers -- and then the buildings collapsed infront of us. There was panic on Greenwich Street as cops screamed at us to get away because of a gas leak. We fled and I took them into my place. Looking over my shoulder, I kept staring to the south. No Twin Towers. I can't tell you how strange this is. You see those buildings every day. They're gone, as if teeth were ripped out of your jaw. I went out to get lunch. There was panic buying at our local store. Everybody buying bottled water. Our water was being cut off. I filled the bathtub with water. I bicycled down through West Broadway: crowds of people stared at the billowing clouds and huddled in huge groups around cars that had radios blaring news reports. No one spoke. Except for the radio, there was total silence. I saw some yuppie children crying. Canal Street was empty except for occasional emergency vehicles with screaming sirens. I guess you have to be a New Yorker to understand this -- but the most devastating statistic that really brings everything home to us is the news that almost 300 NY Fire Department guys are dead. That hurts. I'm going to cut a fat check to the FDNY families. If you want to help out, help the FDNY and their families. I'm a cynic, but these guys were true heroes. At St. Vincent's Hospital, a hundred doctors in green scrub suits waited for trauma patients. But only one ambulance pulled up. I took this as a bad sign: there were no more injured -- only the dead were left. Streets are jammed with trailer trucks unloading pallets of medicine, hospital beds, stacks of bedpans. Governor Pataki happened to be there. He walked up, shook hands, talked. A woman ran up to the Governor and hugged him and she started sobbing. He held her in his arms for a long time. There were no tv cameras to record this scene. I'll vote for him for what he did. A guy with a saxophone sat on a stoop and played lonely jazz notes. Hand printed posters pasted all over the city urged blood donations, but so many people showed up, you had to wait 5 hours to give blood. Streets are completely deserted, people walking their dogs in the middle of the street. At the police perimeters, there were crowds staring at the burning rubble some blocks downtown. This is New York where everybody talks. Nobody talked. Total silence. You could hear a pin drop. All the yuppie restaurants and bars are closed. Only the real, old fashioned, neighborhood bars are open. The bartenders didn't charge for drinks as everyone stared at the television. Another bike ride down to what used to be the World Trade Center. Smoke still billowing. Night is falling. The rescue operation is massive and impressive. Amazing organization and co-ordination: Houston Street jammed with dump trucks, blocks filled with flatbed trucks carrying scaffolding, Salvation Army trucks with of bottled water, two miles of cranes and bulldozers on West End Avenue, two blocks of mysterious FBI white crime scene vans on Carmine Street, a massive section with generator trucks, another section with arc lights, a Con Ed staging area, another street filled with a line of ambulances a mile long. All this equipment included units from Upstate New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, even Ohio. Then, I turn the corner and see two blocks of filled with police vans with cages: German shepherds pacing. Cadaver dogs. Thousands of bodies are just ten blocks south from here. But never before have I been so proud of being a New Yorker. PK All: Thanks for the replies. Everybody is shaky and weepy and in a daze. Some of you wanted another dispatch. Some of this may sound bizarre, but it's all true. The sun cast a yellow glow through the smoke today. Yesterday the wind was blowing directly into Brooklyn, but now the foul smell of burning plastic was in the air. I closed the windows and turned on the air conditioner. The police have now closed everything south of 14th Street. No buses, no subway service, no stores open, no offices open. You have to show id with an address to get into the zone. It's odd when you realize you're living in a crime scene. Outside, the streets are free of vehicles and tourists so the locals talk in clumps in the middle of Prince street. The Mekong opened its doors and locals wandered in. Brian let everyone help themselves at the bar and we watched tv reports. The hook and ladder fire station right around the corner had 8 firefighters killed. Everyone in the neighborhood is going over to talk to the men and leave flowers and notes and food. Many of us are going to give them money for the kids. I bike down to West End Avenue. A two mile line of dump trucks, cranes, bulldozers from all around the country move toward the WTC. Massive dump trucks going the other way, coming out of the zone, hint at the destruction: a completely twisted, crushed ambulance; huge pieces of crushed generators. A big crowd lines the avenue. They loudly applaud and cheer every passing rescue worker. Many hold up handlettered signs: "Thank You". This being New York, James Gandolfini peddles up next to me. "Hey, it's Tony Soprano! Hi, Tony Soprano!" the soldiers and cops call out. He smiles and waves and peddles on. Above 14th street, Manhattan almost looks normal. Stores are open. Taxis are out again, the subways are running. I found a rare copy of the Post. No one can find a Times. Over on First Avenue, a small group is gathered at the entrance to New York Hospital. Two men sit at a table answering questions. People are giving names and the guys at the table check lists of identified dead and wounded. "You got two John Does that just came in?" asks a guy wearing a gas mask. "No. All the John Does are up at Bellevue," reports the man at the table. Next in line, a young woman gives a name, and the list is checked. Behind them is a wall plastered with dozens and dozens of color or black & white xeroxed notices. Each has a homey snapshot or two of a person: a tall guy with his arm around a girl, a young woman holding a baby, a man sitting at a desk. Some are hand lettered, some were done on computer: "Missing. Female, 5'5", 120 pounds, mole on right shoulder. Worked in World Trade Center #7. Last heard from before the collapse. Anyone with information, please call...." One of the notices has a picture of an older man, smiling: "Missing. Harry Abramowitz. Worked on the 102nd floor. Last heard from at 9:30 am. He said the office was being evacuated, but he was staying behind to help a co-worker who is a quadraplegic. Anyone with information, please call...." As I write they are waiting for Liberty Plaza and the Millenium Hotel to fall. They are both 50 storey buildings. And Rudy just ordered 6,000 body bags from the federal government. PK 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 nmah5291.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. 2002-11-21 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.161.89.206 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "September 11: 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 junior in high school in class when the first bits of news that a plane had flown into the world trade center. I had heard it from a teacher who had read it from a posted email on the network from school. At first I just thought to myself of a small single engine aircraft had crash by accident. About an hour later I had been told that a large commercial airliner had flown into the WTC. This is when the Television set was brought out and the entire class watched as one of the buildings burned. While changing classes another plane had flown into the other building. I was shocked by the images. The news station had repeated shots of camera footage of a plane going into the building. The image I usually bring up is that the plane had flown into the building before it blew up in a ball of flames. When I got home did I learn that the towers had collapsed. It wasn't till the next day dad I hear the estimated dead. How many of them were rescuers than just workers. I also learned that a plane had hit the Pentagon, and another crashed somewhere else. Sept. 11 is a day Ill never forget. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. -Life has changed since 9-11-02 I mean if I had not changed the surroundings had certainly changed. Everything had become uptight and secure, or at least people tried to make it that way. People were insecure all around me. It is ironic because when the people are buzzing around trying to tighten the loose ends was when they really knew how insecure they were and they felt it. My life did change however; it led me to believe that I wasn't as safe as I thought I was. I mean the nation was hit straight into the heart. Its one thing for a skirmish to happen across seas, but its another to fell the causalities and be touched by the flames itself here at home. We were hit off guard, no one was ever ready. Sure many of us could see a hijacking of a plane, or a car bomb. But who could of thought of a own planes flying into commercial buildings. My life has changed to that of which I have open my eyes to life not being so secure and safe as I once thought; all round me there is something that is sitting, waiting for another right moment to strike. Knowing that it will happen again some day later in my life and not know when or how is disturbing. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? What should be remembered was a nation united. Everyone, everyone was patriotic the day after. The people who lost their lives while working both the WTC workers and the rescuers should be remembered and honored for their bravery. Those in the planes should be remembered as well because they did not know what was going on, they thought it was a hijacking, not a kamikaze mission. The entire day and the way it made us feel should be remember so that another day won't pass us by that we will ever forget how vulnerable we really are. 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 nmah4483.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. 144.223.80.150 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 remember receiving a phone call from my friend interupting my regular morning routine. It was a simple question. "Do you have the TV on?" In fact, I did not. Not knowing that turning the TV on would only bring about more questions than answers, I quickly flicked it on just in time to see the second tower being hit. Glued to the television, I watched as first tower came tumbling down. From my sofa in central Minnesota, looking at my small screen, it seemed more like I was watching some movie than real life. "This can't be real." This was no longer an average day, I knew that. I also "knew" that it was happening far enough away that I still needed to go to work--teaching at a local college. However, on the half-hour drive in to school, the second tower fell, and it started dawning on me that maybe all this wasn't too far away. My ears were keenly listening to the local radio station. I had more questions than answers. "How could this happen?" "What is going on?" and "Why?" Everything was leading to the belief that the morning's events were not an accident. On the radio and in the school halls, rumors started flying which brought about even more questions. Planes were "falling from the skies" "What other targets were going to be hit?" "Was this the start of WW III?" I remember feeling helpless and scared and so very mournful of all those who died and of those who lived. It was not an average day, I could not conduct an average class. I tried talking about what was happening with my students. As an instructor we're supposed to know the answers. I did not. I still don't. 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 nmah2908.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. 134.29.213.149 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 teach sixth grade in a suburb about 40 miles east of NYC. My students were in Art class, so I had stopped in the main office, where everyone was huddled around a radio. We heard the scrambled first reports,and we were told not to say anything to the students. I went back to my class absolutely numb. When the children returned, I had to act as though nothing had happened, but on my desk, I had my monitor turned away from the class, and I periodically checked the events on CNN.com. Another plane hit. One tower falls. The other tower falls. The Pentagon gets hit. Another plane goes down. The whole time, I'm just smiling at the children and teaching them their lessons. Being so close to NYC I really felt all day that I would be called on to keep these children safe, and I fully realized the enormity of the responsibility I had. When I got into my car to go home, I discovered I had scratched a spot on the back of my hand until it bled. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. I feel that Americans received a big wake-up call. Instead of worrying about the latest tabloid scandal, I feel we are directing our energies in better directions. We were reminded of what matters. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? We need to remember that those underpaid civil servants died for others. Their sacrifice must always be remembered. I'll never forget the people coming down the stairs in the Twin Towers describing the firefighters going up. That says it 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? I definitely have more flags around, and I surely feel more strongly about the symbol of our country. 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 nmah699.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. 2002-08-30 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 was on the way to school with my Dad when we herd what happened. Our first initial thought was some idiot flew into the buildning. But soon after i found out in my art class that another plane flew into the second building then my thoughts got serious and i was thinkin about all the people who were in and around the buildings. just hopeing that no bad would come of it. This was something that i will never ever forget because it affected me like it did everyone else in this country. And i want to thank those courageous men and women who save all those lives. Thank you and God bless you 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 nmah6848.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-10-06 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.166.15.140 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 didn't see the first plane hit the Trade Center. I was sitting in my office, running late for a Management Retreat for our company, when my sister (who works with me) ran into my office and said, "I know you're really busy and you're running late, but I think you might want to see this." I didn't get out of my chair...I continued working for a few minutes until one of my co-workers yelled, "Mary, I really think you want to see this." I was immediately alarmed. I ran from my office to the conference room and I stood in amazement as the commentator repeated "again, the World Trade Center has been hit, which appears to be an accident", and with that, I watched a plane plummet into the Second Tower. I couldn't peel my eyes away from the television. I remember other televisions getting turned on throughout the office and radios were on different stations...but the message was the same. While I was watching after the Second Tower was hit, the picture broke over to the Pentagon. Chills ran through my body. I knew we were at war. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. The question asked: Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? My life, so-to-speak, has not changed, however my outlook on many factors that effect my life have changed. I stop more often and thank God that I'm an American. I thank God America is as strong as we are. I thank God for those men & women who dedicate their lives to nurture our sense of peace, freedom, and security. When I see an American Flag waving gracefully in the wind, I don't just see it, I feel it. When I see a fellow American displaying any symbol that represents America, I feel united. I feel that we are all together and together we will not fall. When I hear my children sing the Lee Greenwood song, "Proud to be an American", not a time goes by that I don't think of that September Day and all of the people affected by the tragic events. Everytime I hear my children sing, see them smile, listen to them laugh, watch them run, dance or play, I am thankful that the hope of a peaceful future exists for them. Although my children understand what has happened, they too, are still PROUD and know that AMERICA WILL STAND STRONG! Overall, if I were to say what HAS changed about ME, I do not take the morning of tomorrow for granted when I lay my head to sleep at night. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? The people who were lost, those who risked their life, and all of America who have perservered! The government's response to terrorism and those who condone terrorism will always be remembered. President's Bush's speech regarding America's response to the attack and the harboring of those "people" responsible will forever ring in our ears. 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 nmah3850.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-09-11 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 12.87.70.6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "September 11: 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 with a friend having my sons car fixed , When we heard of the plane crash we climbed the stairs of a near by building to see. I realized at once it was an attack. My mind began to wonder back to the first attack, I was working that day in a nearby hospital on my side job. Latter that night I would be working my regular job with the NYFD. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. My life will never be the same, A large part of my heart was taken away , My brother Donald Regan with Rescue Co # 3 of the New York City Fire Dept. was killed at the World Trade Center along with all those on duty in his Fire House and many many more Fireman and good people alike. I also lost over 30 close friends that I worked with from the lower east side of Manhattan. Never does a day pass that I do not think of my brother Donny. I will also remember digging on my hands and knees, for a couple of weeks at the World Trade Center. finding things that will always be in my mind.I worked along side many others that for all time they will never forget what they saw and felt for their fallen friends. Life will never be perfect again. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? I believe everything about this day ,should be remembered. I don't believe we should leave out any facts no matter how big or small. I believe our children and our childrens children , should always be reminded of what can happen when we do not stay on our guard. 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 fly the flag, I have always had a flag at my home. I loved our flag before September 11, and I love it today even more. 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 nmah5523.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. 2003-05-15 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.193.222.120 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 and I both worked as Airport Limo drivers, and were in and out of Logan airport almost daily. I worked nights, he worked days. The summer had been slow, and money was tight. September 11th marked the beginning of the first really busy week the company had seen since before summer began, and we were looking forward to catching up financially before the long winter. I was sleeping after having gotten in late the night before, and the phone ringing persistantly woke me up. I was really upset and answered the phone only to hear my husband's crying voice on the other end of the phone. I had trouble understanding what he was saying. I could hear a lot of yelling and sirens and horns in the backround, and feared he had been involved in some type of accident. He told me he could not talk long, to turn on the TV, and that he had to leave the airport immeadiately. It would be almost four hours before I talked to him again! I turned on the TV, just as the second plane hit the World Trade Center. I have never in my life known fear like I did that day. I am originally from New York, and spent a lot of time with my Aunt as a kid during the summer at her job in the World Trade Center. It took my husband four hours to get home that day, and we held on to each other like we would never let go, grateful that we were safe, together, but also tremendously sadden by all those who had lost loved ones that day. I knew that day, our lives would never be the same. He had dropped his passenger off at the American terminal that morning and hour before these horrible day. It would be weeks before we knew whether or not the the man was a passenger on flight 11. He was not. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. Yes. Because my husband and I both worked in the Limo business, we were both out of a job alnost instantly. Since the company we work for does contractual work, we were considered self employed, and did not qualify for unemployment. We lost all our credit, had our phone, cable, and gas service shut off, because we could not pay the bills, but we were able to keep the electricity on. We owed almost 3 thousand dollars in back rent, and were facing eviction. We relied on food pantires for food, borrowed money from friends and family when we could, but barely scraped by. Sadly, we were not alone. We watched many of our aquintances, and friends, lose their jobs, and many businesses go under, all after affects of that horrible day. Many of these people were worse off than us. Some lost everything they owned, including their homes. We at least were able to hang on to ours. Work here is hard to come by, and my husband eventually went back to driving a cab, and I finally landed a retail job in November. Neither job payed well, but kept us going. We borrowed and saved enough to pay the back rent, and was able to save our home. It would be almost a full year before all our utilities were back on. Three years later, we are still struggling to pay off bills, I got laid off from my job, and again work for the Limo Company, but this time as a Dispatcher. I went back to driving for a breif time, but was no longer comfortable going in and out of Logan. My husband again works as a Limo Driver, but he too has reservations about his job. Tragically, that same year, our son and daughter in law lost their son in the 7th month of her pregnancy, but in May of 2003 gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. My grandson is the best thing to happen to me since the birth of my own twin sons, but I worry about the kind of world he will be growing up in. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? First and foremost, that it happened! I do not belive that any of us will ever forget what happened, nor should we. Not just because there were so many that lost their lives that day, but also so that we are all vigilant enough in our daily lives to be aware of our surroundings, and take steps to report suspisous activity. I realize that we will never be completely safe from terrorism, but we must all do our part to protect our way of life and make the future safer for our children and grandchildren. We must never let our guard down. 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. It was only a small one, but no one had any large ones in stock. I also put flag stickers in out car window, and a printed paper flag from our local newspaper in the window. Our flag was stolen a couple of weeks later, we have not yet replaced it. No I can't say my feelings about the flag have really changed. I have always had tremendous respect for the flag, always careful never to let it touch the ground, taking it in when the weather was bad, and when it became worm out and tattered, burying it, as opposed to throwing it away. It upsets me to see someone burn, wear, or allow a flag to touch the ground, for I see this a tremendous sign of disrespect for our national symbol. 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 nmah6549.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2004-06-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 68.162.255.151 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 5:55am PST and I had turned on the television to what I thought was a very scary movie preview. Only it was not a movie, it was the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. I just sat on my bed and starred at the television. For the next few moments I was in complete disbelief, I called my husband and asked him if this was really happening and he confirmed that it was all over the radio. I had to get my girls ready for the day but did this with out removing my eyes from the television. My mind immediately went to a few people that I had known years ago that worked in the twin towers. Were they inside? Are they ok? What the hell is going on? After I got my girls to daycare I had to get in to work, during this time the second tower was hit. I drove in to work with my radio on the entire time listening in disbelief. I was glued to the television night and day. And then came the tears. The steady stream did not stop for me for the entire week and I still have not been able to handle this as well as I wish that I could. My feelings about this tradgedy consist of extreme sadness, concern, depletion, and anger. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. It has made me a bit more catious of others and not so thrilled about travel, unfortunateley. On the flip side I have made a big effort to extend kindness to others. I have worried about the future for my children, like I never have before. My husband has become quite cynical and I think that this is a shame. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? I think that the victims and their families should be remembered and revered. I think that we should remember the bravery that arose from the ashes, occured in the air and was displayed in the halls of the towers prior to their complete distruction. The tireless efforts post disaster. The sense of unity that welled up within us all, and the saddness. I also think that we should remember the strength of our country and how we all came together to get through this tradgedy and support the victims. I would like Sept. 11th to become a nationally recognized holiday. I would also like the world to never forget the EVIL that exists in this world and to demand for an end to this madness. 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 flew an American flag prior to the 11th. My pride in the flag since the tradgedy has only increased as has my love of my country. 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 nmah4101.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. 208.164.121.60 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 the day of September 11th, I had just started my freshman year in High Point Regional High School. I was in gym class when the event actually took place, but I first found out about it during science class. A random student had come in and told the teacher to turn the TV on to channel 15, CNN. My class and I watched as the plane crashed into the one tower. We were all astonished, and had no clue what was going on. Every single period, we watched and were all confused about what had happened, if it were an accident, or if it was just plain stupidity of the pilot. Then an announcement came on over the intercom, and all of the teachers were told to shut off the television, because of the horror, and all of the people committing suicide. Those people must have been so scared, and believing in themselves, that they knew they would never get out of there alive. I was so scared because of everything that was going on and I wanted everything to just be ok and I wished so hard, and I knew that time was not going to turn back. That night I went home, and couldn't even eat my dinner I was so upset. Everything on the television was New York, and nothing was worse than watching the replays of the tragedy. I saw the videos of people on the ground who survived and I was so terrified just watching them run and scream. I never knew how those people felt, and I saw their faces. Their faces were full of grieving, and horror, and they all knew that they would have to run or hide in a corner shop, if they wanted to ever see their families again. Life was a mess for everyone that had seen the tragedy, and for those who lived over on the other side of the world because they knew that the United States of America would never let this go. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. My life has changed dramatically because of September 11th. Everything in my perspective has been looked at differently since then. Things like just looking at the American Flag have had a different outlook on my life. Things changed and will still change, but no one can really tell everything that has changed. I really can't put my finger on it but I know that either way, my life has changed. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? Everything. I think that all of the people who died should have a wall with their names engraved so everyone knows that they were there. They should have not been there to have their lives taken from them. I personally think that anyone and everyone should remember everything from 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? Of Course I did. Yes my feelings have changed. I look at the American Flag so much more proudly than I did before the event. It shows that our country is proud to be who we are and that we are also not afraid of whatever may come our way in the future. I still look at the flag the same, but then I think about all of the people who died and all of the innocent people who were harmed and I thanked God that I was not one of those people, because I would never be able to deal with the pain of losing a loved one at 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 nmah1835.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. 2002-09-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.99.16.132 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 Reading, my first period class, when the act of terrorism occured. All day at school, we watched the footage of the twin towers on the teachers' televisions. By the end of the day, most of us where crying in disbelief. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. Yes, my life has definatively been changed because of September 11, 2001. I now appreciate each day that I get to live in this country which reacted so courageously to that unforgetable day. I have so much more respect for our country's leaders, such as the firefighters and armed forces, who make this country safer for all of us to live in. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? I think everyone should remember how America became even more united, although the terrorists tried to tear us apart. 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 now realized what the American flag represents. It is not the flag that bonds us; the flag represents our bonds. It stands for all the people who died, all the pain our nation has suffered, and how heroically we responded to the mayhem. 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 nmah575.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 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 driving my car from work when I heard the news on the radio. An airplane hit one of the Twin Towers. You start thinking what could have happened there. It felt like a few minutes later the second plane hit the Twin Towers. A kind of panic came over Me. I had the feeling that I had to go home as fast as I good. Protect my wife and children. I am living in Holland but ride away the impact of this news even without seeing the horrible pictures or knowing the truth about this disaster was enormous. I want to tell the victims who are now in heaven that we miss them sadly. But one day we will be together again. And my hart is whit al the people that lost a beautiful human being in this disaster NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. Terrorist were always far away from Holland. Sinds September 11 this changed. The are close now to close. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? What should be remembered is that we are all one big family. The feeling of being all united together was very strong just after the attacks. Dont forget this feeling. 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 dont have an Amarican flag in Holland 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 nmah3046.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. 213.218.76.160 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 finished breakfast at the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees meeting in Fort Myers, Florida. We were getting ready to head home. We passed the hotel's business center and heard someone say that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center. Back at our room I turned the television to see the second plane crash into the other tower. My brother worked at the World Financial Center several days a week, acessing his transportation through the WTC. All I could think about was where he was, and was he safe. We reached home by cell phone, and found out he was not in New York that day. However, we were now stuck in Florida, our school age children and their grandparents at home in New Jersey. We were able to keep our rental car, and made arrangements to drive home from Florida. The interstate highway in front of Disney World was deserted, with the big signs reading "Theme Parks closed today". We arrived home the next day. As a former New Yorker and daily subscriber to the NY Times, I still cannot pull myself away from the stories of the event, and its victims. No one that I knew personally perished that day, but a waiter at our local diner lost his sister. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. Somewhat. I do not take anything mundane for granted, and am much more aware of the world around me. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? It should be remembered that in spite of what happened, and that there will always be evil in this world, our freedoms and liberty should not be taken for granted. We should remember the good in most people, the kind and heroic things people did for one another that day and since. We should better prepare ourselves for dealing with those who wish to abridge those freedoms. But we should always be mindful of the protections our Constitution provides. 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 had a flag up every day for some time before the 11th. No, my feelings have not changed. I have always been proud to be an American, the second generation to be born here in my family. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource nmah5109.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. 2002-09-18 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 207.224.91.228 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 remember when I was sitting in my desk last year, when my teacher came in the room and said, "Planes have hit the twin towers, and the Pentagon as well". At that time I had not heard much about the twin towers, and at first I didn't know what they were! NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. I feel farther from this world and closer to God, closer to Jesus who saves me. I can now see how fragile this world is. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? I think all the great stories of God's grace and Him working in this tragedy should be rememberd over the to the Afgan people, because never solved anythng. 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 did fly a flag, and it means the same that it always has. 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 nmah1781.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. 2002-09-09 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.80.90.71 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. I witnessed History on September 11th by being woken up by the phone ringing. I answered the phone to hear my Dad. He sounded pretty shaken up. I asked him what was wrong and he told me to go into his room with my Mom and turn on the news. " You guys are going to witness History in the making " he said. When I walked in the room I saw my Mom crying while watching the Tv. I asked her what was going on and she told me to watch the tv. When I looked at the Tv all I saw was smoke and fire. I thought it was just another forest fire. Then I heard the tv announcer say " Terrorist attacks on the world trade center " I did't really comprehend what happened until later that morning when I got to school and all my teachers had their tvs on and told us to just sit and watch. I did't really understand what happened until a few days later after watching the reruns of the tragedy. So many people lost their family and friends. Thats really heartbreaking. I don't understand how some one could hurt people the way those people did. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. My life hasn't changed at all since September 11, 2001. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? I think what should be remembered is how many people died, how many families lost their kids, their fathers, their mothers, ect. Also all the heroic people that helped to save others lives while also putting their own lives in danger. Everyone should remember that revenge isn't the best thing to do to get even. They may have killed thousands of our people, but that doesn't mean we have to hurt innocent people too. 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 put the flag in the window. It's still there actually. And we also stood outside with our candels with our neighbors. Actually yes, my feelings have changed about the flag since the September 11. Before I thought that the flag was just kinda there as a sign of our country, but now I feel the flag is a sign of how strong we are and how strong we always will be. The attacks brought our country together, it shouldn't have to take something like that to bring us all together. 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 nmah2464.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. 209.79.72.212 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. My day was full of curiosity; like what was going on and i didnt know the whole story to what hapened. I couldnt think of anything else that day and the next day of school everyone was talking about the tradgedy. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. Well, it has its taught me to be more patriotic and to admire what great discoveries and things Americans have done in the last 221 years of the U.S. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? I think we should all remember and try not to forget about these evenets and the brave people who saved lives. Also i think America shouldn't ever have our gaurd down on a threatening country because who knows it could happen again without warning. 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 didnt raise a flag, but i prayed for those losses that people had to go through. 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 nmah1077.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. 2002-09-05 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 198.237.72.252 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. Watching ABC's GMA at 0845 a.m. As a Para-medic, I was at the WTC that evening and devasted by what I saw. I was at a burial ground for 2800+. 104 floors now into 7 and I knew then there would be no survi-vors. I was there a total of 8 days in a two week period and will never, ever for-get the devastion to those who died and those who lived. How America came together pouring out their hearts to those of us working at Ground Zero. Bless America. We are strong, we are mighty, we are resilient and we are together. I was quite ill (chemical pneumonitis)for 3 months but the honor of being their was worth it. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. Regrets I couldn't do more. Regrets so much of America is devasted. Thankful for our now awareness, thankful to have been a part of it, thankful to see America stand together, thankful to be an American. Very emotional over everything that is a tribute to the WTC., events that play the National Anthem, etc. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? How Americans came together and that we are so resilient we will always be able to stay together, stand up for what is right and there was no color. Everyone worked together regardless of race, color or creed. We were truly one. I only wish it was like this all the time. 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 I still do fly the flag. I've always been very patriotic and I just love this country. My license plate is: USA A1 and I've had this plate 11 years. I have flag memoribilia in/outside my home. When I returned from the WTC I got an American Flag tatoo, as a symbol of my love for this country. 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 nmah5413.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. 2003-01-20 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 64.12.96.39 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. A day I will never forget...sitting behind a computer at a training session, my cell phone rang. I knew something was wrong. I ran out of the room to take the call. My mother was to fly out to California for vacation that day and should have taken off already. I was hoping everything was alright and had no idea what horror lay ahead. My mother told me that the first plane hit. I couldn't believe it. She told me that she was stuck in the airport and everything was shut down. I went back to the classroom, there were about 15 others in the room. I interrupted the class and told them all what had happend. The instructor took a break. We all logged on the the CNN website and watched events unfold on a webcam, it was surreal. The instructor continued on after a while but his voice fell on deaf ears. I was numb. Corresponding by email to my co-workers I was told that the petagon had been hit and watched on the webcame as the twin towers disappeared. I interrupted class again. I don't think the instructor actually beleived what I was saying. "The petagon was hit too!" I left, went over to my office but kept thinking about my mom and all of the people on the airplanes, in the towers and the pentagon. I drove home, a police cruiser at every intersection on the highway. I'd never seen anything like it. I stayed glued to the television feeling helpless. "Dig them out!" I kept screaming. Someone has to do something. I felt like getting in my car and driving to New York to help. I prayed. I prayed to GOD asking him to help those who needed him in this darkest hour. My husband arrived home, we embraced each other and cried. We cried for those who were killed or injured and even for those who were responsible for inflicting such evil and hatred. We cried for our country. The days that followed were such a blur. Three days of no air traffic. You never realize how much you are use to hearing the sound of jet engines in the sky until they are removed from it. I remember calling my father everyday as he made his way back from Washington state via rental car, running in to others along the way who couldn't wait to get back home to loved ones. I talked to him and kept him awake as he drove cross-country day and night.He was home in two days. My grandmother was gravely ill in the hospital, we went to her funeral on September 17. I'm grateful she never knew the evil that attacked our country. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. My life has changed since September 11, 2001 and will never be the same. As a result I am much more humbled by day-to-day life that is often taken for granted. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? September 11 was a great tragedy and I believe that those innoccent people who lost their lives should always be remembered, especially the heros of flight 94 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? When my grandmother passed away my husband dug up the flag pole in her yard and transplanted it to our yard. If we move, it will go with us. We have always been patriotic. My husband served in the Army during the Gulf War and now we hang a flag for those lives lost for our country and the service men and women who protect us. 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 nmah5482.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-04-07 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 24.56.192.211 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 sixth grade social studies teacher in Bergenfield, NJ which is only a few miles northwest of Manhattan. Second period was in progress when a colleague summoned the teachers into the hallway. She proceeded to tell us that a plane had just hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center and it hadn't been determined if it was an accident or not. The language teacher had a brother who worked in the towers and had survived the 1993 bombing. It seemed as if she lost the strength in her legs as she clasped her hands over her mouth to cover her gasp. Immediately we told her to leave as we obtained coverage for her from the main office. She hurriedly left to track down her brother. As we returned to our classrooms it seemed so surreal. I never felt so alone in a room of 29 people before in my life. All I wanted to do was to reach out to these children to let them know it was going to be okay but I couldn't -- firstly, because at that moment, they knew nothing about the tragedy. Secondly, because I knew deep down inside that nothing about what had just happened was 'o.k.' My worst fears were further confirmed -- without even having access to a news flash -- when I could feel the school building rumble from the wake of fighter jets. At that moment I could feel the water welling up in my eyes and the fear settle in below my breast bone. The children stopped for a moment, curiously looking out the window, but thankfully the building blocked the view of the planes heading southeast. As children so often do, they quickly forgot the distraction. Most students resumed their activities without the blink of an eye. There were two or three astute children who I could tell were filing this experience away because they knew something was "not right." The next thing I can remember was seeing the buildings on fire on the news during my prep period in the gym office. There were about five horrified teachers gathered watching the unthinkable. The vice-principal was enacting a "lockdown" and all I could think about was getting out of the building to get better reception on my cell phone so I could reach my husband to be sure he and my daughter were safe. It was next to impossible to get through to him considering the volume of cell phone calls that were being made at the same time. Nevertheless, I did reach him. He and my daughter were fine. The phone went dead and I couldn't make another call from my cell for the remainder of the day. I felt helpless and when I feel helpless, the only way I know how to cope is to help. I ran to the main office and asked if there was anything I could do. No plans had been laid out for, "terrorist attack," so no one knew what to tell me to do. Phone calls were coming in one after the other, from parents asking if their children were safe. Shortly thereafter, parents started rushing through the office doors to take their children home to safety. The ironic part of it all was that no one really knew where "safe" was. By this time, many students were eating lunch in the cafeteria where the noise muffles any announcements made. I figured out what I could do. I began to take the names of students whose parents had come to take them home. If the student was eating lunch, I ran down the flight of stairs that led to the cafeteria to find them, and calmly tell them that their parents were here to take them home. I must have sprinted up and down those steps 25 times before I had to ask someone else to take over. What a relief to have been able to work through my fear and vent it through physical activity. Once another teacher had taken over the job of "runner" I began to look up student's schedules and buzz their classrooms for their teachers to dismiss them to the office. As I saw children rush into their parent's arms as they walked through the office doors,I wanted desperately to go home. I had a nine-month old baby girl who I had just left for the first time to go back to work the week before. I knew though that my civic duty as a public servant required me to stay at school to help. I knew MY baby was safe with my mother but I also knew that other people's babies didn't know if their parents were alright or not and I knew that they were frightened. My decision to stay at that point didn't seem so difficult. Once the principal had ascertained enough information about what was happening, he made an announcement. Factual and to the point. He asked us to be strong as a school and to help one another out. He told the students that the bridges and tunnels were closed and that if anyone had parents who worked in the city, they may not be able to get home quickly. He asked that the students not panic. He asked if there were children who needed someplace to stay after school and if so, that they should make the main office aware of it. He told them that the school would see to it that they were not locked out with nowhere to go. Arrangements were being made at the high school for district students to stay there into the night if they needed to. The innocence of the post Viet Nam generations was lost that day. Myself being born in 1970, I didn't personally experience the impact of that war. Falkland Islands??? Where were they? Iran Contra Scandal??? What was that? Desert Storm - a "surgical" operation portrayed in the media as such. Just air strikes. Strategically dropped bombs. No American blood shed. September 11th - American Blood Shed. We had been involuntarily dragged into the world of terrorism. A world that previously only existed "elsewhere" for many of us. A world that we as Americans are still deperatly trying to make sense of today. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. I have a bit of anxiety when I travel over bridges and through the tunnels to Manhattan, but I don't let that stop me. I've thought about moving away from this overpopulated Northeast but who's to say other places are any safer than here where my life is anyway. My ideals and principals are pushing me harder now than ever before to make a positive impact on others. I want to be a better mother, daughter, wife, teacher...person. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? Life. Peace. Hope. Heroism. 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 fly a flag after September 11th. I grew up with the American flag that draped my father's casket, folded neatly in a plastic case on a chair displayed in my living room. My father fought in the Korean War. He was a kind, tolerant, and peaceful man who was tortured all his life by the atrocities he saw take place there. He died when I was eleven, but I knew that when he was younger, he fought for my freedom. My feelings about the flag have not changed. I have always had a deep love and respect for it that I inherited from him. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource nmah476.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. 2002-08-28 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 152.163.188.163 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "September 11: 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. The September 11th attacks have affected each and every one of us in some way or another. It has been the most hideous crime to have ever taken place since I've been born. My heart and prayers continue to go out to the people who have lost their Angels, and also to my country that one day we may all be able to unify and live in harmony. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. Not drastically, but it has made me appreciate life more, that event went to show how precious life is and how fastly it can be taken away. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? The couragous works of our Fire and Policemen who put their heart on their sleeves everyday for us. 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. It makes me even more proud to be a citizen of the United States. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource nmah931.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. 2002-09-04 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 65.240.65.201