Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: It was a regular workday at EPA's Crystal City (Gateway 1) offices. People were working on their computers, others were just arriving to start the day. At 8:50 a.m., I received a call from my sister who informed me that a plane had just crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers in New York. Minutes later she called back to say that another plane had hit the other WTC Tower. I told people in the office and we all gathered around our office television set to watch the news via the local Washington, DC networks. Watching the scenes on TV was horrible, yet still far removed -- it was happening in New York and we were in Crystal City, Virginia. All of sudden, someone came running down the hallway shouting, the Pentagon's been bombed -- smoke is filling the sky -- we're being attacked. We all ran to the windows that face the Pentagon (we're 1/4 mile from the Pentagon)and could see the thick black smoke and debris, pieces of what looked like aluminium foil and paper swirling in the sky right outside our windows. We looked down to the street and saw military personnel who share offices in our complex running over to the Pentagon to assist. Somebody said that they saw a plane flying really low and close to the Pentagon. Then we heard the awful news -- the Pentagon had been hit when a plane deliberately crashed into it. Our offices also border Reagan National Airport, yet we had no idea at that time where the plane had originated. The telephone lines had gone dead by this point, so we didn't wait for the "official" federal government word to leave the building. Senior managers in our office told everyone to get out of the building and go home. Getting out of the building was relatively easy, although traffic was at a gridlock. Knowing shortcuts and "back roads" was helpful as I was able to get over the 14th Street bridge with two of my co-workers without any traffic congestion. The local radio station, WTOP-AM, was reporting that another plane was headed for either the Capitol or the White House, so I had to plan my escape route accordingly. Little did I know that I was committing myself to THREE HOURS of total gridlock on DC streets. The sirens were oppressive and never-ending. No one knew what to do regarding the gridlock on DC streets. The Metropolitan Police Department posted "rookie" officers at intersections and they clearly were out of their league. There was no communication between where one officer was sending traffic to the one at the next intersection sending traffic back where they had just left. Getting out of the City was the WORST nightmare -- even worse than trying to get out of the City in a blizzard. What I went through on September 11, 2001 pales in comparison to those who lost loved ones at either the Pentagon or the World Trade Center Towers. The Nation needs to heal from this "modern-day" Pearl Harbor, and we soon will. 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 story1550.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. 68.48.77.237