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<item xmlns="http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5" itemId="19290" public="1" featured="0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5 http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5/omeka-xml-5-0.xsd" uri="https://www.911digitalarchive.org/items/show/19290?output=omeka-xml" accessDate="2026-04-21T21:58:26-04:00">
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      <elementSet elementSetId="1">
        <name>Dublin Core</name>
        <description>The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.</description>
        <elementContainer>
          <element elementId="50">
            <name>Title</name>
            <description>A name given to the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="54151">
                <text>September 11 Digital Archive Stories</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="41">
            <name>Description</name>
            <description>An account of the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="54152">
                <text>This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. </text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
        </elementContainer>
      </elementSet>
    </elementSetContainer>
  </collection>
  <itemType itemTypeId="25">
    <name>911DA Story</name>
    <description/>
    <elementContainer>
      <element elementId="98">
        <name>911DA Story: Story</name>
        <description>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:</description>
        <elementTextContainer>
          <elementText elementTextId="244210">
            <text>I am a medical secretary at a rehab hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 90 miles from New York City.  I was sitting at my desk and thought I'd listen to the 9 AM news.  When I turned on the radio, I heard that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.  I thought how could anyone hit a tower with a plane.  The pilot must have had a heart attack.  

Just a few seconds later, it was announced that a second plane had hit the second tower.  Immediately I realized that this could not be a coincidence.  I ran through the hallway of the hospital.  Everyone else was sitting at their desks, working calmly.  I was the only one on my floor that knew about what was going on.  I quickly found a doctor working at a computer and told him what had happened.  He looked up at me and said one word, "terrorists".  

I quickly ran back to my desk and called my daughter in California, leaving a message for her as she was still sleeping.  Her husband is in the Navy and they are on a naval base, so I was very concerned for them.  Then I called my son to make sure he was okay.  Then I spoke with my mother.  She was concerned that everyone in the family was okay.  We assured each other that everyone in my family was safe.  I thought about my Dad, who had passed away several years before.  He was a Patriot, he loved his country. He fought in the 2nd world war and taught his children duty, honor, country. What would he think about the events of 9/11?  I felt relieved that he was not here to witness the tragedy, that ripped all of our hearts open wide.  It would have upset him so much.

I will never forget that moment in my life. Quickly the word began to spread throughout the hospital and we all gathered in front of the TV to watch in horror.  As I look back on that day, I know that none of us really comprehended what was actually taking place in front of our eyes.

I drove home quickly that afternoon, went into my garage, and searching, found a small American flag that was there on the shelf, along with all the other junk in the garage.  I took that flag and marched down my driveway and shoved it into the ground in front of the mailbox with great force, cursing the terrorists. I still was not really sure of what had happened, I just felt that I had to put the flag out.  Mine was the first house in the neighborhood to have the flag flying.  I am proud of my flag.

Thank you for giving me this chance to relate my tiny little insignificant story.  This event has truly changed me and the way I look at things.  I mourn every one who died that day, the children, the mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, loved ones.  I especially mourn the injury to my country.  How could anyone ever hurt my country, the country that I love so much.  Lastly, I want to say, 

I AM AN AMERICAN... GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY.</text>
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    <elementSet elementSetId="1">
      <name>Dublin Core</name>
      <description>The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.</description>
      <elementContainer>
        <element elementId="50">
          <name>Title</name>
          <description>A name given to the resource</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="244211">
              <text>story5771.xml</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
      </elementContainer>
    </elementSet>
    <elementSet elementSetId="4">
      <name>911DA Item</name>
      <description>Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item.</description>
      <elementContainer>
        <element elementId="52">
          <name>Status</name>
          <description>The process status of this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="244212">
              <text>approved</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="53">
          <name>Consent</name>
          <description>Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="244213">
              <text>full</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="54">
          <name>Posting</name>
          <description>Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="244214">
              <text>yes</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="55">
          <name>Copyright</name>
          <description>Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="244215">
              <text>yes</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="56">
          <name>Source</name>
          <description>The source of this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="244216">
              <text>born-digital</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="57">
          <name>Media Type</name>
          <description>The media type of this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="244217">
              <text>story</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="59">
          <name>Created by Author</name>
          <description>Whether the author created this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="244218">
              <text>yes</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="60">
          <name>Described by Author</name>
          <description>Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="244219">
              <text>no</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="61">
          <name>Date Entered</name>
          <description>The date this item was entered into the archive.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="244220">
              <text>2002-09-12</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="62">
          <name>IP Address</name>
          <description>The IP address of the device used to submit the item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="244221">
              <text>205.188.209.38</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
      </elementContainer>
    </elementSet>
  </elementSetContainer>
</item>
