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 Emails Description An account of the resource This collection contains emails which were sent or received on or around September 11, 2001. As of this writing individuals have submitted more than 1,500 correspondences. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. > That's what the Big Apple has become. > > I am writing this email to let those who I have yet to > verbally contact: I am alive, and well (other than a > slight cough). As for the others in my midst: > > Those who are definitely safe: > Allen Luu > Chuck Nwoke > Minna Kao > Robert McKeithen > Carolyn Quintana and Jon (her beau) > > Those that I'm not yet sure of: > Erik Hsu > Lisa Lin > **If anyone has heard from these two, please let me > know. > > My cellular phone was barely of use before the one > decent cell tower toppled to the Manhattan street-top > (it sat upon the World Trade Center Tower 1, the first > to be hit, second to fall), now it has become a > paperweight. So, many of you have yet to speak with > me. I'm writing an email instead. > > I was nowhere near the towers as they were attacked. > I just finished up my packing, preparing to catch my > noon flight out of La Guardia Airport. I was making > myself a nice, health-free egg, cheese, and raspberry > jam sandwich as the news was announced. > > For those of you unfamiliar with where I've been > staying: Greenpoint, Brooklyn (Northern Brooklyn). > Greenpoint is too far from the Financial District of > Manhattan for me to hear any of the explosions. I > watched the live film of the first hit: Tower 1 was > on fire, when another plane appeared out of the corner > of the screen. The newscasters became hysteric, and I > had the misfortune of viewing the second hit on live > TV. "Surreal" is a useless word to describe how it > felt to watch that. Confused, shocked, confused, > distressed, confused, angry, confused, doubting, > confused as hell. While "WHAT THE FUCK??!!!" is not a > proper, or acceptable way to describe a feeling, it > fits best. > > >From there I ran outside to the Pulaski Bridge (a > bridge between Northern Brooklyn and Queens, just > across the east river from midtown Manhattan) to see > if this was really happening. > > The view was fabulous. What I was viewing was not. > > The smoke from the fires stretched for miles. The > bridge was packed with honking cars, and cursing or > crying people. Strangers were hugging and praying, if > they weren't too busy listening to radios. > > After a few minutes, the mood of the crowd seemed to > be turning a bit nasty. The traffic was thick, > cellular phones weren't working, news was coming in > that other strategic locations were under siege... it > was an emotional pressure cooker. On top of all that, > there were very few police on the bridge. It felt > like the beginning of Bedlam. I left out of > discomfort. > > As soon as I returned to the house, reports came in > that a third plane was in route for another Manhattan > landing. I ran like hell back to the bridge to see if > this was true. I don't know if another plane was > indeed on its way, but upon reaching my viewing spot, > there was a muffled BOOM and Tower 2 crumbled to the > ground like a kicked sand castle. People began > crying, praying, screaming, grabbing the chain-link > fence that lined the bridge, and running around like > lunatics. Cars were flying down the only open lane on > the three lane bridge, honking and careening as if > suicidal. The sound of sirens, in every direction. > > About 15 minutes after that, Tower 1 dropped in much > the same manner as its "twin". Most of us just sat > there, staring at rising clouds of dust which > ruthlessly pushed north from ground zero. The > insanity ended. Everyone tried to comprehend that the > World Trade Center had instantly become nothing but a > memory, right in front of our eyes. The only noise > was the continued sound of sirens. Everyone slowly > dispersed. I walked home, looking only at the ground. > I didn't want to cry. I didn't want to see anyone > else cry. > > We don't have cable, so we only watch the local CBS > station. They constantly talk about how well the city > is pulling together to get through this. They aren't > kidding. Based on my previous experiences here, that > bridge should have erupted in raw violence. Instead, > everyone prayed for each other's loved ones, asked > where they could go to donate blood, and discussed the > ramifications this event will have on US relations, > worldwide. For once, I was impressed with the > intellectual side, and capacity for compassion shown > by New Yorkers. > > The Polish inhabitants of my neighborhood are in "WAR > MODE". The neighborhood is pitch-black. Not a single > light was on after 9:30pm. Quiet... Our neighborhood > is playing nightime hide-and-go-seek with terrorists, > holding our breath and remaining perfectly still, so > as to not give away our position. I suppose they are > worried about another air attack. I don't blame them. > But I'm more worried about the potential for certain > elements in this city to take advantage of the fact > that most authorities have their attentions on > Manhattan, leaving the outer borroughs vulnerable. > This city was built, maintained, and will proceed > through the acts of opportunists. > > If Brooklyn survives itself the next two nights, along > with the possibility of subsequent attacks, I'll be > thoroughly impressed by the strength of those living > in New York on September 11, 2001. > > The only memories of this that I would like to purge > are those of the desperate souls who found it more > fitting to plummet 100 stories to the pavement rather > than succumb to the inferno. It was reported that > some were jumping in pairs, man and woman, holding > hands, all the way down. I hope CNN chose to leave > that footage out of their reports. It will visit me > in my dreams, to be sure. > > I'll be back in Austin, soon. I'm just glad I booked > a flight for noon out of La Guardia today, instead of > earlier out of Newark. > > Craig > > ===== > "It's not WHAT happens to you, but HOW you deal with it." > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! > Messenger > http://im.yahoo.com September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2001 2:34 AM September 11 Email: To The email addresses, and optionally names of the message's recipients September 11 Email: From The email address, and optionally the name of the author. September 11 Email: CC The email addresses of those who received the message addressed primarily to another. September 11 Email: Subject A brief summary of the topic of the message. Subject: Frozen 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 email369.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. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. unknown Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. yes Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-08-19 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 204.64.223.35