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: Bearing Witness to History" Stories Submitted Online Description An account of the resource Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's, "Bearing Witness to History" online exhibition submitted these reflections beginning in 2002. NMAH Story NMAH Story: Story How did you witness history on September 11th? Share your experience. Second MOD (in my case the class was Spanish II) had just begun, and we were starting to work on our verb warm-up, when our teacher was handed a note by a hall monitor. She read it, and immediately her face turned a ghostly white. She told us something awful had happened, but that she wasn't allowed to say anything until our principal made an announcement. Shortly thereafter our principal came on the loudspeaker and announced that two airplanes had crashed into the World Trade Center towers. Initially I thought it had to be some sort of freak accident. It couldn't be terrorism. America had always been safe from things like that. We turned on the radio, and the first thing we heard was that the Pentagon had been hit. It felt like the end of the world. Recognizing the panic that was sweeping over us, our teacher turned the radio off, and forced us to continue taking verb notes. Finally the MOD ended, and I had to get to the first Student Senate meeting of the school year. Once I got to the auditorium, where the meeting was being held, I heard several of my friends talking about the attacks. Apparently during the MOD, the first World Trade Center tower had collapsed. Our principal came in, and led us through a tender recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Then, the Student Senate advisor told us to go back to our third MOD class, which in my case, was Government. When I got up to my classroom, I immediately saw footage of the WTC in flames, and then the first tower collapsing. Soon after I arrived, the second tower collapsed. My Government teacher told us that these attacks would likely be the defining moment of our generation, as the assasination of President Kennedy had been for her, and Pearl Harbor had been for our grandparents. Lunch came, and I couldn't eat a thing. I literally felt like I was going to spew my guts out. My knees were shaking and I was braking out in a cold sweat. I went back to Government class, and we were told to evacuate the building, because there were fears that a plane was heading for Camp David, some 30 miles to the west of us. When I got home, I realized that since I had left the house, the innocence of my generation had died with the collapse of the World Trade Center. NMAH Story: Life Changed Has your life changed because of September 11, 2001? If so, tell us how. I've always been apprehensive about flying, and the terror attacks of 9/11 only amplified my fears. Since the attacks, I have flown only twice, to go to and from Wisconsin for my grandmother's funeral, which occurred three months after the attacks. NMAH Story: Remembered What do you think should be remembered about September 11th? September 11th should always be known as our nation's greatest tragedy, and our finest hour. NMAH Story: Flag Did you fly an American flag after the events of September 11th? Have your feelings about the American flag changed as a result of September 11th? 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 nmah6361.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. 2003-11-17 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 63.64.215.112