# The Boatlift of 9/11 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** documentary-bio\ **Created:** [September 7, 2025, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boatlift-of-9-11/1022810 "2025-09-07T03:41:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2025, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boatlift-of-9-11/1022810/1 "2025-09-07T03:41:55Z")
A video of the evacuation of Lower Manhattan via ferry, tugboat and private craft. The largest rescue by water in history. Narrated by Tom Hanks. [BOATLIFT - An Untold Tale of 9/11 Resilience (HD Version)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18lsxFcDrjo) ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2025, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boatlift-of-9-11/1022810/2 "2025-09-07T04:58:56Z")
I had no idea. Thank you, that is a really good mini-documentary. And a very belated thanks to all the boats and crews. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2025, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boatlift-of-9-11/1022810/3 "2025-09-07T17:56:37Z")
> [@](#): > > When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping. > > –Fred Rogers ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boatlift-of-9-11/1022810/4 "2025-09-07T17:57:35Z")
> [@EnolaStraight](#): > > A video of the evacuation of Lower Manhattan via ferry, tugboat and private craft. We just saw that this summer at the 9/11 museum at ground zero. I also had no idea. Fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boatlift-of-9-11/1022810/5 "2025-09-07T18:19:47Z")
I don’t know if I’ve seen that documentary, but I did find out about the boat rescue a couple of years ago. For many years I had no idea that it had happened. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boatlift-of-9-11/1022810/6 "2025-09-07T18:23:30Z")
My parents live in Connecticut about seventy miles outside of NYC near I-95. After the attacks, the highway (which is one of the busiest corridors in the country) was closed, in case fire vehicles needed to travel from the suburbs to the city. A cousin was a medical resident in Brooklyn and their hospital initiated the mass casualty protocols, in case of an influx of trauma patients, but there really weren’t any; people were either uninjured or dead. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2025, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boatlift-of-9-11/1022810/7 "2025-09-07T18:36:18Z")
I knew of this, but not all of the details. I cried like a baby as I watched this. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2025, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boatlift-of-9-11/1022810/8 "2025-09-07T18:56:09Z")
It was a horrible day, but there were some amazing stories that came out and the story of the boatlift was one. There was also the story of how the people of Gander, Newfoundland, who hosted _thousands_ of passengers stranded when 38 planes were forced to land there after the closure of the American airspace. This story was dramatized as the musical _[Come From Away](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_from_Away)_. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boatlift-of-9-11/1022810/9 "2025-09-08T12:09:10Z")
[The 9/11 Boat Rescue that Saved Half a Million People | I Was There](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyS-tYoOj6g) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boatlift-of-9-11/1022810/10 "2025-09-08T19:38:12Z")
Thank you for sharing this. I watched it with my husband and we both thought it was beautiful.