Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 11 Digital Archive Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story Tell us about what you did, saw, or heard on September 11th. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Tell us your story: I do not think about the events that occurred on September 11, 2001 as much as I used to. I do not cry for what happened anymore. I do however remember the day?s events vividly, and I am more than positive that it was a day I will never forget, nor was it one that I could or would ever try to forget. A student at Virginia Commonwealth University, I was in class when the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center. When the professor allowed us to leave early, no one did, we all huddled around televisions, and watched the plane crash into the building, over, and over, and over again. The magnitude of what was occurring not even beginning to sink in. Of course it was an accident, of course everything would be ok, it would be just another news event, nothing to worry about. My family would be okay in Virginia, I would be okay in Virginia, my friends would be okay in Virginia, and everything would be just fine. Back in my dormitory there were large signs posted everywhere. Information, counseling sessions, phone banks to call loved ones; the Governor would be visiting campus, classes were to be forgiven. How could this affect us in Virginia? It couldn?t, no way. It did. Without a television in my room, I found a radio, and used the Internet to gather information. The Pentagon was next. It had come to us. My mother worked at Quantico Marine Base, no answer on the other end of the phone. It kept ringing, ringing, ringing. Was she in danger? Of course I would believe so until I heard her voice, which would not come to me until much later in the evening. A frantic call from my stepmother put my mind at ease, my family just outside of D.C. was all right. My sister called from work to get the latest news, what could I tell her? Only rumors, bombs in the White House, President in danger, all high rises evacuated, we?re at war? I did not know if any of it was correct, all hearsay, and passed on information. There was a gathering at the student commons, I watched reports on CNN about a terrorist attack on the United States, and this was what they were calling the events by then. They didn?t know the predator, but we all felt like prey, even in Virginia, where it could not have possibly reached us, but did. I watched both planes crash into the towers, a crash site somewhere in Pennsylvania, saw the Pentagon in flames, a place I had driven by so many times, having grown up just outside Washington, D.C. The nation?s capital was being attacked. What was going to happen to our country? A die-hard Democrat, I had loathed George W. Bush, but my friends and I gathered around a television set and watched our President speak, anyway. His speech brought me to tears, and comforted me in a way no one else?s words could have. In this time of crisis, our leader was behind us, and not backing down. We would be okay, they had found us, but we would be okay, our nation would survive, even if thousands had not. After the attacks we signed up to donate blood, food, anything. My mother volunteered her services the day of the attacks at the Pentagon; saw firsthand what these terrorists had done to our nation?s capital, her hometown, and our country. A month after the attacks my mother drove me by the Pentagon, she told me to look at what they had done to us, to never forget, to be proud of our country, to thank God for our lives, and to pray for those lost. I watched the building in the rearview mirror, and felt a sense of closure, we had been injured, but the country would move on, together. Even now, six months later, I feel the effects of September 11th. The memories tug at my heart and sometimes I want to cry from the articles I read, the pictures I see, pictures of babies who will never meet their fathers. I want to cry for weddings that never took place, for lives not finished. I look at the world through different eyes; I look at our nation with a newfound pride. I believe in America now, I know what she can do, and what she can allow all of us to accomplish. We are a strong nation, and I know this now because of what we have survived, what we have lost, what we will become. 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 story503.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. 2002-05-03 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 128.172.205.13