ATIVE

NARRICTION
NONF n that uses

E
tio s

U
nonfic y technique
a r

C
li t e r

RES The story

of the September 11 attacks

E
As You Read Look for examples of courage and hope.

leven-year-old Thomas Panevino

couldn’t believe his eyes. He stared
in shock at the New York City skyline.
Only a few hours earlier, the city’s two
tallest buildings—the Twin Towers—
had stretched toward the sky. In their place Courtesy of Reinauer Crew (boats); Shutterstock.com (background)

now was a huge dark cloud, like a monster

looming over the city.
It was September 11, 2001. Two planes had
crashed into the towers on purpose, causing
them to collapse. Thomas and his dad were on
a small police boat heading across the Hudson
River toward New Jersey. All around them,

4 Scholastic Scope • September 2021

 Nonfiction

T E R ’ S E D G E
AT TH E W A
e in history
gest boat rescu
r
and the la

By Allison Friedm
an

dozens of other boats were also carrying

frightened people away from the scene of
the attacks in lower Manhattan.
Thomas clutched a cage holding Eddie,
the family’s miniature poodle. Suddenly,
he heard someone cry out, “The boat is
sinking!” Thomas saw the back of the boat
dipping under the surface of the water.
Passengers squeezed toward the front of the
boat as the engine began to cough and spit.
Tugboats racing to
They were only about halfway across the
lower Manhattan to
river. Thomas gripped Eddie’s cage and fixed help rescue people on
September 11, 2001
his eyes on the dock ahead.
Would they make it?

scope.scholastic.com • September 2021 5
 Earlier that morning, Thomas vroooooom startled the class. got coffee with friends in the World
had walked by the Twin Towers Thomas and his classmates Trade Center. But the call wouldn’t
on the way to his second day whipped their faces toward the go through. Thousands of other
of seventh grade. He and his windows—just in time to see a people across the city were also
mom had passed the two giant silver airplane shoot across the trying to reach loved ones. Cell
skyscrapers as they headed sky and crash into one of the Twin phone towers were overloaded.
from their apartment in lower Towers. Thick black smoke poured Thomas and his dad decided to
Manhattan to Thomas’s middle from a gash in the building and head home to see if Judi was there.
school 10 minutes away. The billowed up into the picture-perfect
Twin Towers were part of a large blue sky. Under Attack
complex called the World Trade Jorge got everyone into a line, Five miles southwest of
Center. At 110 stories tall, they and the class began to evacuate Manhattan, at the Coast Guard
could be seen for miles around. to the cafeteria. They had barely station on Staten Island, officer
“If you get lost, look for the made it into the hallway when Carlos Perez was midway through
World Trade Center,” his mom, Thomas saw his dad, Vincent, his morning routine when an alarm
Judi, had been telling Thomas rushing toward him. Vincent had went off. The Coast Guard is the
since he was a child. “You’ll always been about to leave for work when branch of the U.S. military that helps
find your way home.” he heard the explosion and ran to protect seas, lakes, and rivers. As an
That day, Thomas had Spanish the school. officer in New York City, Perez was
first period. His teacher, Jorge, As the two hurried outside, part of a team that protected the
was teaching the students a Vincent called Thomas’s mom. city’s busy harbor.
song when, at 8:46 a.m., a loud Every morning before work, Judi That morning, as on every

The Towers
The World Trade Center’s Twin Towers (left) were two of the tallest, most
recognizable buildings in the world. About 35,000 people worked in the towers.
An additional 70,000 people visited or passed through each day.

New York City 2001

LOWER
MANHATTAN
NEW JERSEY North Tower NEW YORK
South Tower
r
Hudson Rive

World Trade
Man

Center
Jim McMahon/Mapman® (map); Shutterstock.com (background, Twin Towers)
hat
Br

tan
oo

LIBERTY
kly

Br
nB

STATE PARK
idge
rid
ge
r
ve
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ELLIS
Brook

BROOKLYN
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ISLAND
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lyn–B
atter

New York
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BRONX
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MANHATTAN
Statue of Liberty QUEENS
Area of
GOVERNORS map
ISLAND
BROOKLYN
STATEN
ISLAND
ATLANTIC
0 1/2 MI OCEAN
6 Scholastic Scope • September 2021
 The Rescue
More than 150 boats of all shapes and sizes raced toward Manhattan to
evacuate people after the attacks. Inset: This is a Coast Guard boat like the
one that Carlos Perez used to evacuate people from lower Manhattan.
Below: Perez (right) receives a medal for his heroic actions on September 11.

morning, ferry boats carried more he was in charge of his own boat
than 90,000 people to work in on a search-and-rescue mission.
Manhattan—the long, thin island Around 9 a.m., Perez and
at the heart of New York City. his crew made their way to the
Tugboats pushed huge ships piled southern tip of Manhattan. They
high with cargo. Tour boats filled up noticed a plane flying too low.
with tourists getting ready to snap The plane flew out of sight for a
pictures of the Statue of Liberty. moment—only to reappear in
Sailboats moved gracefully through front of their boat. The plane was
the water. It was Perez’s job to make heading straight toward the World group called Al Qaeda. The group
Courtesy Carlos Perez (Carlos Perez); New York City Police Department (rescue boats); New York Council of the Navy League (boat)

sure every boat followed maritime Trade Center. was based in Afghanistan, a country
laws and made it through the harbor The team watched in stunned in Asia. It was led by a man named
safely. silence as the plane slammed into Osama bin Laden.
At first, Perez didn’t take the the South Tower. A giant fireball Bin Laden and his supporters
alarm seriously. Lately, it had not exploded from where the plane were opposed to the influence that
been working properly. Still, he hit the building. Now both towers Western countries had in the world.
stepped outside the station to be were spewing out thick, dark And the U.S. had become their
sure. That’s when he saw flames plumes of smoke, like two giant main target. Al Qaeda had begun
and smoke curling up from the top chimneys rising up from the city. planning the September 11 attacks
of the North Tower. A plane has This is no accident, Perez years earlier. The group targeted
crashed into the tower by accident, realized. We’re under attack. buildings that symbolized the
he thought. American military and government
Within minutes, he and his Acts of Terror as well as American business and
team were speeding toward lower Perez and the rest of the world culture.
Manhattan in their boat. At 23 years would soon find out that the That morning, 19 members of
old, Perez was somewhat new to the attacks on the World Trade Center Al Qaeda took control of
Coast Guard. This was the first time had been carried out by a terrorist four airplanes and turned 

scope.scholastic.com • September 2021 7

 white,” he says.
“We couldn’t see
anything out there.”
Less than half an
hour later, another
loud rumbling
began. It was
followed by the
boom-boom-boom

Courtesy of Thomas Panevino (Thomas Panevino); Matt Moyer/Corbis via Getty Images (rescuers)
of floors thudding
into each other.
The North Tower
s
The Evacuee
was collapsing. It
released another
Left: This photo of Thomas and his dog was taken at the World Trade Center two days
before the attacks. Right: New York City police officers help people onto a rescue boat. monstrous wave of dust over lower
Manhattan and the waterfront.
them into flying bombs. One hit ‘OK, what do I do here?’” he says. When the dust cleared, Perez
the Pentagon, the headquarters of “You don’t train for planes hitting saw thousands of panicked people
the U.S. military, near Washington, buildings.” That’s when, around jamming together along the water’s
D.C. Another crashed into a field in 10 a.m., a loud rumbling filled edge. Covered in a thick coating of
Pennsylvania. Many believe it was the air. gray ash, they looked like ghosts
headed for the White House or the BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. floating through a ruined land.
Capitol. The other two planes were Floor by floor, the South Tower
flown into the Twin Towers, in the was collapsing. The heat from the
heart of New York City’s financial fire had melted the steel frame. In
district. just 10 seconds, the building was
reduced to a pile of rubble.
Avalanche of Dust Perez watched in horror as an
When Thomas and his dad avalanche of dust spilled from the
arrived at their apartment, there tower’s ruins and began barreling
was no sign of Judi. Thomas put through the city. It wrapped
Eddie into his carrier while Vincent around building after building.
left a note: “I have Thomas. He’s It raced out over the water—and
OK, and we have the dog. See you right toward the boat. The crew
soon.” Then they stepped back slammed on the throttle and shot
outside into the unfolding chaos. away in the opposite direction.
A police officer told them to head But the cloud was moving too
downtown to the waterfront, away quickly. It swallowed them up in
from the smoking towers. seconds.
Out on the water, Perez was Perez felt as if he were caught
trying to shake off his shock. in the middle of a furious blizzard.
“I remember thinking to myself, “Everything around me was just

8 Scholastic Scope • September 2021

 Now Perez’s mission was clear: Meanwhile, Perez and his team Thomas remembers seeing
Rescue as many as possible. were picking up people as fast as them from the waterfront.
they could. They were carrying “Anyone who had a boat brought
The Only Way them to temporary hospitals their boat to the shore to take
Thomas and his dad were being set up in nearby New Jersey, people,” he says. “Literally
among the group of frightened Brooklyn, and Staten Island. They anything that could float.”
people at the waterfront. As the sailed back and forth many times.
towers fell, they had become part But no matter how many people “All Available Boats!”
of a growing crowd fleeing toward they evacuated, the crowd at the Soon, hundreds of captains and
the southern tip of Manhattan. seawall seemed to grow larger crews joined Perez and his team.
The city’s bridges, tunnels, and and larger. Perez began to feel But as the crowd of people at the
Shutterstock.com (background); Beth A. Keiser/AFP via Getty Images (first responders)

trains had been shut down for overwhelmed. seawall continued to grow, it was
security. The roads were packed Then he looked out over the clear they needed even more help.
with traffic. water. And that’s when he saw the The Coast Guard put out a call over
For the first time, many New boats. There were dozens of boats marine radios: “All available boats!
Yorkers became very aware of of all shapes and sizes: bright- Anyone wanting to help with the
something they didn’t often think orange ferries, hardy little tugboats, evacuation of lower Manhattan.”
about: Manhattan is an island. And double-decker party boats, fancy More mariners answered the
now, the water was their only way yachts, inflatable rafts. They were call. The waterfront was packed
off. Thomas felt like he was waiting all speeding to the seawall. with so many boats that you
desperately for a lifeboat on board “All these boats just converged could step easily from one to
the sinking Titanic. on lower Manhattan,” he recalls. the other. Now, in addition to
rescuing people himself, Perez
th
The Afterma
was helping coordinate the larger
evacuation. He directed boats
Hundreds of firefighters, police officers, and
other first responders rushed to the scene of to spots where they could dock
the attacks. In the months that followed, crews safely. He also made sure they
worked tirelessly to clear the rubble.
were not dangerously overloaded
with people. Still, boats were being
packed with far more passengers
than they usually carried. Rescuers
wanted to help as many people as
possible.
That’s what happened with the
police boat Thomas and his dad
were on. The boat was built for 10
passengers, but it was filled with
three times that many. Shortly after
setting off, the boat began to sink.
Luckily, they made it to the
dock in New Jersey just in
time. After climbing safely 

scope.scholastic.com • September 2021 9

 rance
The Rememb
Each year on the
anniversary of the
September 11 attacks,
two lights are beamed
into the night sky
from lower Manhattan.
Nearby, the National
September 11 Memorial
& Museum offers a
place to reflect and
to remember and pay
tribute to those who
lost their lives.

onto land, Thomas and his dad fought to weaken Al Qaeda and also unforgettable are the bravery,
sat at the dock for hours. They replace the Taliban with a more selflessness, and humanity of the
hoped Judi would get off one democratic government. mariners who helped rescue his
of the boats. But she never did. It would be nearly 10 years family and so many others. “The
Eventually, they went to stay with before the U.S. military found and fact that they rushed toward the
a friend who lived nearby. killed bin Laden. And it would be scene of something so scary shows
another decade before the war who they are,” he says. “They saved
The Long War in Afghanistan officially ended. our lives.”
The attacks shocked and President Joe Biden has pledged In just nine hours, mariners
horrified the world. Nearly 3,000 that the last troops will leave by the like Perez evacuated nearly half a
people were killed. More than 20th anniversary of the attacks, on million people. It was the largest
400 of them were firefighters and September 11, 2021. maritime evacuation in history.
police officers who rushed into the And even after everyone at the
burning towers to save people. An Unforgettable Rescue waterfront was taken to safety, the
In the days that followed, Early on September 12, mariners kept going. They brought
the U.S. became determined to Vincent’s phone rang. He wept food and supplies to rescue
find the leader of the attacks: with relief when he saw it was Judi. workers, carried first responders
Osama bin Laden. But he and She explained that after the first from surrounding areas, and
other members of Al Qaeda were tower was hit, police had directed hauled away rubble.
protected by the Taliban. The her uptown. She spent the night Perez still gets emotional when
Taliban is an extremist group there at her sister’s apartment. he thinks of the moment he looked
that controlled Afghanistan’s Thomas and his dad reunited with up and saw a sea of boats rushing
government. her later that day. She wrapped toward the waterfront. “Everyone
And so less than a month after Thomas in a never-ending hug. sprang into action to help,” he
the attacks, the U.S. went to war Now 31, Thomas says he says. “They put their lives on the
with Afghanistan. In the following will never forget the terror and line to save fellow New Yorkers.
years, a coalition of 42 countries darkness of September 11. But And that was pretty remarkable.” •
Writing Contest
Shutterstock.com (all images)

Consider the following claim: In times of tragedy, glimpses of courage, hope, and heroism can still
be found. How does “Rescue at the Water’s Edge” support this claim? Use text evidence. Send Get this
your response to Boat Rescue Contest. Three winners will each get Ground Zero by Alan Gratz. activity
online.
Entries must be submitted by a legal resident of the U.S. age 18 and older, who is the teacher, parent, or guardian of the student. See page 2 for details.
—

10 Scholastic Scope • September 2021