b'FOGHORN FOCUSThe Day Which Changed AmericaDAVE ANDERSONGENERAL MANAGER OF FIRE ISLAND FERRIESS ept.11,2001;9/11;andgroundzeroallreferencethat horrific day. Al-Qaida hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the U.S. Two of the planeswereflownintothetwintowersoftheWorldTrade Center in New York City; a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C.; and the fourth plane crashed in a field inShanksville, Pa. Almost 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 attacks and over 6,000 were injured triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defining the presidency of George W. Bush.Fast forward to the Boatlift collaboration effort. Any available vessel operating in New York Harbor began responding to Lower ManhattantoevacuatepeoplefromtheFinancialDistrict, includingthosewhowereabletoescapethecollapseofthe north and south towers. All bets were off when it came to vessel capacities. Ships of all categories showed up at ground zero and began evacuating people with no other way off Lower Manhattan thanbythewaterfront.Tugboats,fishingboats,excursion boats, pilot boats, and ferries reacted without pause. Take as many as you can to get people out of that horrific zone was the mentality. These vessels evacuated over 500,000 people. This was an effort and movement reminiscent of a wartime evacuation and transported more people than the Dunkirk Evacuation of 1940.Fire Island Ferries quickly readied our fleet to aid in the Boatlift collaboration.Wewantedtohelpandwerereadytodoso. However, New York Harbor was locked down to all incoming and out-going vessel traffic. Nonetheless, our crews were readyto respond.Photo by Julien DI MAJO on UnsplashFOGHORN FOCUS: TECHNOLOGY 20 FOGHORN'