The original 'Dunkirk Miracle' involved the evacuation of 338,000 British and French soldiers from the beaches of northern France and was accomplished by more than 800 civilian boats and 220 navy vessels. It took ten days from May 26 - June 4, 1940 to accomplish this feat.
Sixty one years later, the New York Harbor maritime community evacuated over 500,000 workers and residents from Manhattan Island in the chaotic twelve hours immediately following the September 11th surprise attack on the World Trade Center.
In contrast with England, where to this day the gallant service of those involved in the original Dunkirk evacuation is commemorated annually, America's own Dunkirk passed unnoticed and unreported (with a few notable exceptions.) Currently, there is a very real risk that this maritime rescue operation of unprecedented scale, and the lessons it can teach future generations, will fade from memory and not find its rightful place in the historical record.
HarborHeroes.org intends to change this.
If you were one of the hundreds of thousands of people evacuated by boat from Manhattan on September 11 or you've been moved by this account, we invite you to visit the retired FDNY fireboat the John J. Harvey and consider contributing to its restoration. Starting September 11 and for four straight days afterwards, the all-volunteer crew of the Harvey pumped much needed water from the Hudson River to help firefighters deal with the immediate aftermath of the attack.