# John Marschhauser oral history interview conducted by Christine Collins, July 12, 2010

John, a police sergeant for Nassau County, was working at the Far Rockaway Marina on September 11th. After hearing about the attacks he knew it was terrorism; two planes is no accident. Not knowing what to expect, he quickly organized crews to supply and board four police boats. They left the respirators behind. John says that if he could have seen into the future he would have grabbed them. Around noon, they docked at North Cove Marina which pulls up just next to the World Trade Center. Vehicles had limited access because of the amount of debris. The boats had an advantage. For three days they transported injured people and fatigued workers to be triaged across the river in New Jersey. From New Jersey they picked up supplies and brought it back to Manhattan. They collected phone numbers and names of those they were transporting to quickly call their families and let them know their loved ones are okay. On breaks they either napped or worked on the bucket brigade. John kept himself motivated by hoping every day they would save someone from the wreckage. He would wake up and tell himself "today's the day I am going to pull someone out," but this never happened. Since 9/11, John's health has worsened. He is winded after getting up to answer the phone. If this happened again, physically, he would not be able to do it but he would find some other way to help. John wants people to remember that those who responded were selfless. He also wants people to remember the patriotism…

- Kind: Interview
- Year: 2010
- Runtime: 35 min
- By: Collins, Christine
- Genres: History
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2015048_018/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/afc2015048_018?play=1)