NEW YORK – A camera in Brooklyn points through a chain-link fence at black smoke pouring from one skyscraper, while a plane pierces another. Papers fly through the sky; some of them end up in the filmmakers’ hands.

That evening — Sept. 11, 2001 — another camera finds firefighters trudging through dust-caked streets, carrying their helmets or a spare pair of shoes. The spindly facade of the World Trade Center is before them.

The views of the terrorist attacks — one of the most recorded events of all time — are among hundreds of hours of amateur videos, images and stories gathered by the foundation building the memorial. The National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum launched a Web site Thursday — at http://makehistory.national911memorial.org— with its collection of citizen journalism of the tragedy and is appealing for more 9/11 stories from all over the world.

“They say that 9/11 was the most digitally documented event of all time,” said Alice Greenwald, director of the planned museum. “We’re asking people everywhere to help us tell the story.”

Visitors will be warned about graphic images — people jumping, human remains, planes piercing the towers — and will have a choice of whether to view them.

Organizers say one of the most difficult tasks they’ve faced is how to present the most sensitive material. Some of it, with the warnings, will be available online and at the museum, which is scheduled to open in three years.

One victim’s family member said such images wouldn’t keep him away.

Charles Wolf was in his Greenwich Village apartment when he saw an American Airlines jetliner pass overhead, then crash into the trade center — and his wife’s office.

“I and many family members don’t want revisionist history, and we don’t want this sanitized,” Wolf said. “It is very important that people remember what happened that day: This was civilization, people merely at work, caught up in religious fanaticism.”

Construction of the museum is moving forward rapidly, said Joseph Daniels, president of the 9/11 Memorial Foundation. The museum and memorial will cover 8 acres, at the street level and underground, graced by 400 oak trees.

The last column pulled out from the rubble has been returned to bedrock. It will serve as a focal point, along with the so-called Survivors’ Stairs used by people fleeing the towers.

The foundation has acquired 500 hours of video archives assembled by CameraPlanet, a private team of filmmakers who collected professional and amateur videos from the day and its aftermath.

They include a five-minute video shot in the streets of lower Manhattan on the evening of the attacks, with office stairwells filled with reams of paper and half-open offices with family pictures still inside.

A dust-covered Brooks Brothers logo is in one frame under shattered windows. What appears to be an airliner seat is strewn in the street. “God Bless America! Unity!” is scrawled in the dust of one window.

“Got that?” one videographer asks on the video showing the explosion of the second tower when it’s hit by the jetliner.

“What kind of crazy person would …. kill themselves?” another asks as the camera points at the two towers.

Source: Yahoo news

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Sep 10, ’10 I’ll always remember September 11, 2001 the way many people probably do. They remember exactly what they were doing on that day. It started out as a typical day of the week for me. I had just put my son on the school bus, and I started to walk back to my house. I usually watch the news in the morning. It was either CNN or FOX news. They were covering a story of what seemed like a plane that had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers, but at the time, it just looked like an accident. I thought they’ll just put out the fire. The smoke coming from the building was very black and thick. I called my friend, Joan, who lives near me to watch this with me. I believe the second plane hit the other building by then. We just watched the black smoke surround the two buildings in silence. All at once, we were not able to see one of the buildings at all. “What happened?”, I asked Joan. “The building collapsed”, she said.

delete reply jadedruid wrote on Sep 10, ’10 I was working in the synagogue getting security, parking and transportation ready for Rosh Hashanah. I ended up at the Maryland Emergency Management Agency for a FEMA/Homeland Defence Initiative command center that evening

delete reply esoterika713 wrote on Sep 10, ’10, edited on Sep 10, ’10 I will always remember 911 and where I was on that day. I was up in the sky in a sky scraper. Very scary. I also did a 911 prophecy painting. I will post it tomorrow. I did this painting two days before September 11th. 2001. You will see for yourself.

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Sep 10, ’10 I had a job interview the year before in Tower I. I’m glad I didn’t take the job.

delete reply jadedruid wrote on Sep 10, ’10 Here’s some pictures of the quieter site of 9/11. A field in Pennsylvania. It isn’t glitzy or controversial. It’s just a solemn grave site of vicitms of the day http://jadedruid.multiply.com/photos/album/195/Flight_93_Memorial_-_Photo_Update

delete reply drfreakenz wrote on Sep 10, ’10 I was having a great day . I was listening to music and doing some chores before my afternoon shift at the factory in Lamar Missouri . There was a knock on the door and my ride to work was there very early . I let him in joking around with him and he asked me if I needed to get anything from Wal-Mart . I could see he was upset but hadn’t heard a thing about 9/11 yet . He filled me in and I turned on the Tv and watched . I still don’t know why people thought we needed to stock up on food and supplies or why the gas stations were full of lines at the pumps with people filling up as if we had been invaded . It was a panic even in the middle of the U.S.A. where there were no targets except maybe the Wal-Mart . It was over for hours by then when I went to work at 3pm standard time . The over-reaction fueled 2 wars and brought America near economic collapse . It was a horrible event but just one more in a world where somethings going on all the time , but the closest thing to it until then was the Oklahoma City bombing by an American terrorist .

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Sep 10, ’10 I was on the phone with my friend and we watched the whole thing together in silience.

delete reply tesstruhartz wrote on Sep 10, ’10 I was at work taking care of elderly people that could still stay in their home. I got off work at about noon and went to PT. The PT guy asked what I thought of what was happening. I could not believe what he told me. I got in my car and drove home in a strange eerie silence. not airplanes coming and going at the airport, but while I was driving the 25 miles home there was one low flying small plane flying. my heart stood still, thinking now what. It felt like the world had stopped turning. I didn’t know anyone in either tower but it felt like they were family. Hard to explain.

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Sep 11, ’10 I was glued to CNN in shock constantly for about a year.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Sep 11, ’10 We were at Camp Darby for 2 days then went on to Provence and Carcasson–we were just getting ready to sit and eat our sandwirches when on CNN it happened and I first thought some small plane had gone the wrong direction but as we all know sigh sad 🙂

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Sep 11, ’10 starfishred said I first thought some small plane had gone the wrong direction but as we all know sigh sad 🙂 I thought the same thing! That it was just some small plane that lost its way.

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Sep 11, ’10, edited on Sep 11, ’10 Watching CNN, what could have been a terrible accident turned instantly into a terrible act of violence as the second plane hit the second tower, in minutes saw a plane and then the smoke from Pentagon area. I was working at the Navy Yard on that day.Like everyone wanted family more than anything, wanted to find my son and husband and the phones were just not working….

delete reply perfumeandpharmacy wrote on Sep 11, ’10

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Sep 11, ’10 pestep55 said Watching CNN, what could have been a terrible accident turned instantly into a terrible act of violence as the second plane hit the second tower, in minutes saw a plane and then the smoke from Pentagon area. I was working at the Navy Yard on that day.Like everyone wanted family more than anything, wanted to find my son and husband and the phones were just not working…. When the second plane hit, everyone then realized it was not an accident.