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 Library of Congress Stories Description An account of the resource A collection of more than 200 user-submitted stories gathered from the Library of Congress's "Witness and Response" exhibition staged in 2002. LC Story LC Story: Story Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? (Please share your experience of learning of the events and what you did afterwards.) My wife and I were at our home in Gaithersburg, MD, getting ready to go to Bethesda Hospital for a post-pregnancy check-up when a friend of mine in Massachusetts called and said "turn on the TV." The images we saw were of the WTC's north tower smoking and obviously on fire. Not clear what had happened, other than the building was on fire. Shortly after, the second plane hit the south tower and we both knew an attack was occurring (both my wife and I are military--US Army). As we were departing for the hospital, the report came (over the radio) that the Pentagon had been struck by a plane and that there could be several other planes ready to hit the Capitol building or other targets. We also got the report that Bethesda had been closed (as had Walter Reed) to prepare for casualties from the Pentagon. We had to divert to a civilian hospital. As we were checking in, I called my unit at Ft. Meade, MD, to let them know I was ok and not at the Pentagon (I was outprocessing and had been assigned to one of the Army offices in the Pentagon). Also called the Army Operations Center, in the Pentagon, as my wife was assigned there to let them know she was ok. As I was calling (outside the hospital), two Air Force F-16 jets streaked down towards DC. Several more jets could be heard as well. Once we came home, her parents were visiting and taking care of our son, we received over 15 phone calls from friends and family attempting to see if we were ok and/or had we been in the Pentagon during the attack as well as numerous emails. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? Thinking back, I believe my strongest memory of the day was twofold: that the US was underattack and there was nothing I could do to help. Also, if our son hadn't been born 3 weeks before, ensuring both of us were on leave, and there hadn't been complications requiring my wife go to the hospital on 9/11, my wife and I probably would have been in the Pentagon during the attack. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? At the grass roots level, there is alot of patriotism and coming together of Americans. Much pride over our civil servants (police, firefighters) and our military. At our country's leadership level, there is too much emphasis on "going it alone." A British Officer summed this up during a professional development seminar I attended in the Pentagon a few months later. Seminar was on post-Cold War NATO and the British officer noted (paraphrase) "when I heard about the attack on the US, I gathered my kit bag (his equipment) and waited by the phone for a call from the US to come help......it never came." We need to get our allies back together, apologize, and move forward with a united West, not the fragmented one we have now. 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 lc_story269.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. 2004-01-21 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 144.170.81.9