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 Stories Description An account of the resource This collection is the bulk of the archive, representing the reactions and experiences of thousands of individuals beginning in 2002. 911DA Story 911DA Story: Story 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: We were going to my Dad?s WWII reunion in San Diego. My father, mother and sister and I live in Alexandria, Va., just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. We selected a flight on American West Airlines scheduled to leave Washington?s National Airport at 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, September 11. Early that morning, Dad, Mom, sister Rebecca and I took a taxi to the airport. Everything seemed remarkably peaceful. But the most notable thing that morning was the entrance of the first of our autumn air. After weeks of unbearable, sweltering summer humidity, right up through September 10, the morning of September 11 was absolutely gorgeous!! It was beautiful, spectacular sunshine, and the clearest, most refreshing air. The sunshine and autumn air put us in a good mood. Our plane was scheduled to depart at 9:00 a.m. They started boarding us about 8:20. We sat on the tarmac in a long line of waiting-to-depart airplanes awaiting our turn to take off. About 9:30 a.m., our plane finally lifted off towards the west, giving us a spectacular view of Washington. Mom and I were on the right side of the airplane, looking over the monuments gleaming in the morning sunshine. Dad and Rebecca were across the aisle from us on the left side of the aircraft. With their direct view of the Pentagon, Rebecca was pointing out to Dad the construction of a new bus platform at the Pentagon. As we flew over Dulles Airport to the west I remarked to my mother how it looked like it was closed -- actually looked somewhat like a ghost town. I could not see an airplane on the ground anywhere near the buildings and the hangars. I kept thinking I just wasn?t seeing things correctly. I kept looking and looking and never could figure out why I couldn?t see any airplanes. Soon we were over the mountains and on our way. About 45 minutes later the pilot came on the intercom to announce that the FAA had just grounded all domestic flights across the U.S. He noted that apparently there had been some suspected terrorist activity on the East Coast. He said our closest airport was Indianapolis and we would be landing there shortly. So -- just when has the FAA ever grounded all flights across the country? Simply unheard of! What on earth could lead to this extreme measure, I mulled over and over. Certainly this would all be resolved shortly. After we landed in Indy, Dad asked me on our way to the terminal how long I thought we would be there. We both agreed, no more than two hours, max. As we entered the terminal, all of the TV monitors had on CNN. We could tell that some part of Manhattan was on fire (we weren?t sure where and we had no idea why). Rebecca?s daughter Christine and Christine?s husband Jason, worked in mid-town Manhattan. Rebecca headed for the nearby phone bank and eventually heard from our sisters back home that Christine and Jason were OK and that they were on the train going north to Sleepy Hollow -- their home. At this time, we still did not know what had really happened. None of the passengers seemed to know the full story, despite the fact they were all on their cell phones. It really wasn?t until we got to our rooms in the Holiday Inn that we were able to concentrate on the news. I?ll never forget us sitting on the beds, watching CNN and the World Trade Towers collapse (over and over again). The sight of it was simply incomprehensible. I kept thinking we were watching a movie. It wasn?t until later they mentioned the plane hitting the Pentagon -- it hit at 9:40 a.m., just 10 minutes after we flew over! What a complete shock!! The news of the morning was just too difficult to absorb at once. We spent the next few hours touching base with family and friends. I called neighbor Kay to let her know we were not on the plane that hit the Pentagon and that yes, we would be back to take care of the cats. Our neighbor Martha left her job in Maryland to return home that morning and discovered many of our main roads were closed, incl. GW Parkway and I-395. She threaded her way home through back roads. Interesting in terms of reactions, Kay, Martha and my brother-in-law John, who also was sent home from work that morning, reported being physically nauseous, literally sick to their stomachs by the whole series of events. The ?war stories? continued for weeks afterwards from neighbors and co-workers who were forced to walk home that morning from the District when the subway and bus system were shut down. Dad and Rebecca must have been two of the last people in the world to see the Pentagon in one piece. I found out later from a news broadcast that indeed, Dulles Airport air traffic controllers had brought in all the planes off the tarmac while they were dealing with their runaway airplane - the American Airlines jet that left Dulles at 8:10 that morning, initially on its way to Los Angeles. The Dulles air traffic controllers were trying to deal with their airplane that was heading back east at the same time we were heading west. Thankfully, at that time we were completely unaware of all of the activity that was happening that morning. I was glad to be away from the East Coast and in the heartland. I would lay on my bed in the Holiday Inn and marvel at how our family had been whisked away at literally the last moment. So glad was I to be away from the East Coast at this time I was sure everyone in Indianapolis felt the same way. But Indianapolis rallied and responded to the crisis immediately. They sent police and fire fighters (by bus) to New York, and immediately started holding various charity drives and prayer services. This went on for days and probably weeks. I was so impressed. We were at the Holiday Inn for two nights and nearly three days (the airline put us up). There was nothing to do except visit the new CVS drug store next door. The America West passengers would cruise the aisles all day long. The hotel took good care of us. We were on our own for lunch but they provided breakfast and dinner. We spent a lot of time on the phone and watching CNN. Of the 54 airplanes that had been grounded and were still on the tarmac at the Indianapolis Airport, only one was an America West jet -- ours. Three days later from the time we arrived, we were back on that jet--one of the first planes out of there. Just before we took off, the Captain said we had to undergo a test -- we all had to sing ?God Bless America,? and those that didn?t know the words had to get off. We sang the song and had a good laugh. No one got off. After a plane change in Phoenix, we finally arrived in San Diego about 10:00 p.m., Thursday night, September 13. We had a wonderful time in San Diego. Dad got to his reunion and we enjoyed our time with him there. Only half of the expected attendees made it due to grounded flights all over the country. We did a lot of sightseeing, the highlight being a day trip to Coronado. What a spectacular place! Of course, the weather was perfect. The Coronado Hotel has a big ballroom where Dad said he and his buddies would dance on Saturday evenings when they were stationed at the San Diego Naval Station during WWII. This trip, the only disappointment for Dad and his squadron of Marine Corps pilots and crews was the cancellation of their scheduled return visit to the Naval Station and Miramar. Because of the terrorist situation, most military bases across the country were now closed to visitors. The following Monday it was time for Rebecca and I to negotiate the trip home. Mom and Dad were staying another week. Our intended destination airport, Washington National, was closed because of the terrorist events. America West found us a flight to Baltimore?s airport, called Baltimore-Washington Airport. We had never been there and didn?t know how we would get back to Washington on arrival, late Monday evening. Somehow, Rebecca found us a way home from the airport via train, subway and taxi. The taxi passed by the Pentagon and the gaping hole. We gasped at the dramatic site which news photos had not been able to convey. The construction lights blinded us as we came over the 14th Street Bridge. We arrived home (less than two miles directly south of the Pentagon), to the disconcerting drone of F-16 fighter jets flying overhead, nonstop to this day. I found it hard to sleep that night and many nights thereafter. A week later the extended family got together to share our stories. How wonderful to be all together again! ### 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 story316.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. 2002-03-25 IP Address The IP address of the device used to submit the item. 67.202.238.73 Annotation Annotations to this item. Airline Personnel Firefighters Military Patriotism Police Officers Premonitions/Coincidence/Fate Rebuilding Struggle to get home Terrorism DC:2 Feature