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.) I walked into my house after dropping off my children at school and going to the grocery store and turned on the TV. The news was on and I saw that a plane had hit the World Trade Center, but no one was sure what was happening at the moment; no one knew the enormity yet of what was occurring. Then the second plane hit. I have family in New York and Boston and immediately tried to call them. I couldn't get through to New York, but reached my sister in Boston. Then I finally reached my parents in New York. As I was talking to my mother, I suddenly looked at the TV and saw only one tower was standing. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I spent the rest of the day in front of the TV in tears. When I picked up my children at school, they didn't know what had happened, except that all the parents were crying. On the way home, I explained to them what had happened and they watched the horrific events with me over and over. LC Story: Memory What is your strongest memory of that day? My strongest memory is just feeling like it was unreal, that we were under siege as I first watched what happened in New York, then Washington, DC and then that field in Pennsylvania. The feeling of how could this possibly be happening here and why so many innocent lives had to be taken. The grief is the strongest emotional memory I have of that day. LC Story: Affects How do you perceive that the events of September 11, 2001 have affected this country and/or you personally? About a month later I wrote this poem which appeared in poeticvoices.com: 9-1-1 c 2001 Nancy Rechtman On the last day of life as we knew it Madness rained down from the sky Horror took over our lives The heavens let out a great cry. In one moment of terrible evil The earth shattered, blow after blow Now a skeleton teeters above The abyss gapes madly below. Mountains of glass and of metal Once towered so proudly, so grand Collapsed in a fiery inferno Entombed thousands with hatred's hand. Paeans to hopes and to dreams Lie mangled, so brutally lost Shrouded in blankets of ashes and dust At such an unbearable cost. Our hearts are burning and tortured Our souls fill with torment so cruel The ache is so vast and unyielding A kingdom where only anguish can rule. Life upon life upon life now gone So savagely sudden, no more. We cry out in anger in fear and in rage Our beings shake to the core. Our tears flow freely in torrents Transform into rivers of pain Wash over our land in the knowledge That what was will never be again. But we see the heroes among us Who emerge from the darkness so bleak They light the way towards healing And offer the pride that we seek. For we are the steel Though twisted and bent And smoldering in the ruins Our wills are of iron Our souls writhe with pain No bandage can cover the wounds. But breath shall once again lift us Like the Phoenix, we, too, shall rise As we grasp onto those precious memories Of our dear ones and silent good-byes. Let our spirits rise up now in chorus Let our eyes seek the heavens above We are truly one nation united Instead of breaking, we will heal now through love. 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_story75.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. 2003-12-16 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.24.51.89