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CHAPEL TALKS
The Boatlift of 9/11
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Chapel Talk delivered by Upper School History Teacher Josh Thomas Sept. 10, 2021
As we approach the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, it’s clear that the date marks one of the most tragic and seminal moments in modern American history and our collective memory. For those who lived through it, the events of the day are seared into our minds in a way that very few historical events or experiences ever manage to do. Ask someone old enough to remember the events of that day, and you’ll likely receive a more detailed account of what they did, where they were, whom they spoke to, and what they were feeling than they can provide for almost any other day of their lives.
In part, this is because it was a day of such intense emotions, unbelievable images and fear of the unknowns that surrounded the attacks. The images of planes crashing into buildings, the collapse of those buildings on television for all to see, and a city engulfed in dust, debris and smoke were and remain incredibly powerful. It would be easy for us to allow these images and the emotions they invoke — fear, sorrow and anger — to overwhelm us and dominate our memory of that day. While those images and those emotions are and should make up some part of how we remember the day, I prefer to associate 9/11 with the heroic responses by people from all walks of life. If part of the story is the terror and tragedy that came with these despicable acts, then it must also be part of the story that we remember those who selflessly gave of themselves, at some considerable risk and loss, to help those in need and in danger. If the attacks were driven by hate, then the antidote was never going to be more hate, because as Martin Luther King Jr. noted, “Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
The first responders who rushed into burning buildings in New York and Northern Virginia, the firemen who climbed the stairs of the World Trade Center with nearly 100 pounds of equipment strapped to their backs, the police o cers who put themselves in harm’s way to help others safely evacuate, are whom I choose to remember and honor. The selfless acts of ordinary people like Welles Crowther, an equities trader who went floor to floor rescuing strangers trapped in the South Tower, and Rick Rescorla, who helped evacuate 2,700 people to safety, both gave their lives so that others might live. These folks, and many, many others acted out of love, love for their neighbor, love for something greater than themselves, and their refusal to let fear or hatred define them means we now have a choice in how we remember that day.
In the aftermath of the collapse of the Twin Towers, as panic set in on the island of Manhattan, with trains canceled and bridges closed, one of the most amazing and largely unknown acts of courage and love took place. With hundreds of thousands of people trapped, unsure if the attacks of the day were over, and a dense and impenetrable cloud of dust and smoke covering lower Manhattan, the Coast Guard sent out a call for all available boats willing to help to converge on New York Harbor.
Almost 500,000 people were rescued in nine hours because thousands of ordinary folks chose love. In the face of chaos and fear, created by an attack born of hate, they chose love. They chose to risk everything and headed into the darkness and the unknown. They brought with them the light of hope and love. While we know today that no other planes or attacks were coming, the people who participated in the maritime evacuation of lower Manhattan had no way of knowing that. They selflessly gave of themselves, and while we might think of it as the hard right … it wasn’t a hard decision at all. Many of those who participated in the Boatlift of 9/11 consider it to be one of the greatest things they have ever done. So today and tomorrow, and in the years to come, as you commemorate 9/11 in whatever manner you choose, I hope that you will mourn and honor those we lost, while remembering that in the face of fear, anger and hatred, ordinary people across our country did the extraordinary, guided by their love and commitment to their neighbors and fellow Americans.
