The attacks of 9/11 do not seem to be 25 years in the past. Everything remains too vivid to be that long ago, and yet the evidence of the time slipping by is all around me. My sons are now 34 and 30.. They were 9 and 5 when I picked them up from their school, directly across the water from where the towers had stood that morning, but by noon were a billowing maelstrom of flame, ash, and smoke.
It was a day of horror and disbelief, yet also, in the words of the old Paul Simon song, it was a day of “miracle and wonder.” Great New York Boatlift was part of the “miracle and wonder.” The wholly unplanned boatlift was a spontaneous maritime evacuation of an estimated 500,000 people trapped in Lower Manhattan in under 10 hours. The boatlift has been under-reported by the media, 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.
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 sight 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 of 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 that captures a sense of the boatlift. If you have already seen it, it is worth watching again. See also our review of American Dunkirk, The Waterborne Evacuation of Manhattan on 9/11 by James M. Kendra and Tricia Wachtendorf.