There is a line from a Paul Simon song, “these are the days of miracle and wonder.” One might not think to apply that lyric to the events of 9/11, fifteen years ago today, and yet for at least part of that strange and horrible day, they fit. The great New York boatlift was part of the “miracle and wonder.” The wholly unplanned, boatlift was the spontaneous maritime evacution of over 300,000 people trapped in Lower Manhattan in less than 10 hours. Like many stories of 9/11, the boatlift has been under-reported by the media, which still seems more interested in the bodies falling than in the rescues, which is all the more reason to remember the mariners of New York who stepped up to perform what has been called the largest sea rescue in history.
To me, the attacks of 9/11 do not seem to be 15 years in the past. Everything remains too vivid to be that long ago, and yet the evidence of the time slipping by is in front of me. I am spending the 15th anniversary weekend of 9/11 with my 24 year old son. He was 9 when I picked him and his 5 year old brother up from their school, directly across the water from where the towers had stood that morning, but by noon were a towering maelstrom of flame, ash and smoke.
I recall vividly the phone call from my wife, telling me something terrible had happened at the World Trade Center. She had been on the mezzanine level when the first plane hit. I went outside, stepping into that beautiful September morning, and turned the corner of my block, to see from across the river, the incongruous site of a black gash in the upper floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center The gash was rimmed with orange flames and a long gray-black plume of smoke streamed out on the Northwesterly breeze. Minutes later I saw a huge orange blossom flame erupt from the South Tower as the second plane hit.
My wife made it safely to her office, only to be trapped by the dust, debris, ash and smoke that filled the streets when the buildings came down. Then several hours later she heard that boats were running on the East River. She and her colleagues wrapped towels around their faces and walked down Wall Street to the river, where boats waited to take her home. I will always be deeply grateful for everyone involved in the amazing boatlift.
Here is a wonderful short documentary which captures a sense of the boatlift. If you have already seen it, it is worth watching again. See also our recent review of American Dunkirk, The Waterborne Evacuation of Manhattan on 9/11 by James M. Kendra and Tricia Wachtendorf.
The video, which is also on gCaptain, is amazing. Where I live on an island off the coast of Massachusetts, it was a gorgeous, clear, sunny day and our boatyard was starting to plan fall and winter projects. We heard, on the radio, of what was happening with amazement and shock. We wondered about customers, friends, family who worked and/or lived in lower Manhattan. Later, hearing about the boats mobilizing at the tip of Manhattan to evacuate about 500,000 people (that is from the video — 300,000 more than were evacuated from Dunkirk — although at Dunkirk, the evacuation was undertaken in battle conditions) and then seeing the video, we were all glued to the news. Looking out at our own waterfront — with the ferries and barges, charter boats and sailboats we could only image the enormity of what was happening in New York.
With apologies for the typo, the evacuation of lower Manhattan on 11 September, 2001 while 500,000 were rescued in June of 1940 from the beaches of Dunkirk where it took place under fire as the Battle for France raged on the land, in the air and at sea. Both were absolutely extraordinary rescues undertaken and organized by, essentially, volunteers. Shortly after the retreat from Dunkirk, Winston Churchill made his “This was their finest hour” speech, 70 odd years later, the same words apply.
Dunkirk boatlift took 9 days. 9/11 evacuation took hours, and there was no advance warning that an evacuation would be needed.
Thanks for presenting the best memory of that terrible day!