WASHINGTON, D.C. - Welles Crowther, the Man in the Red Bandana who is credited with saving as many as 18 souls during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has been officially posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Crowther died at the World Trade Center when the south tower collapsed.
President Donald Trump presented the medal to Alison Crowther of Upper Nyack, mother of Welles, on Sept. 8 at the White House, where Trump was hosting the Tunnel to Towers Foundation's Steel Across America tour, which features a steel beam recovered from the south tower of the World Trade Center site.
In May, Alison Crowther stood on stage with Trump at SUNY Rockland Community College as a Republican president and congressman, U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler,
recounted Crowther's actions on 9/11 that saved lives but cost his own. Trump announced then he would be granting the Medal of Freedom.
A hero calls out: 'Follow me.'
Crowther was a 24-year-old equities trader at Sandler O'Neill & Partners, located on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center's south tower.
He, like his father Jefferson, was a volunteer firefighter at Empire Hose in Upper Nyack. Like his dad, Welles always carried a red bandana (Jeff Crowther's was blue) in his pocket for messy jobs.
As thousands sought to escape the smoking towers after the planes hit, a man with a kerchief tied around his face emerged from the smoke in the Sky Lobby on the 78th floor of the south tower. He told the shocked and injured, "follow me," and they did.
Alison Crowther put together that the man, recounted months later by survivors, was her son.
Legacy embraced worldwide
The legacy of the Man in the Red Bandana has been embraced worldwide. Thousands of students have participated in the Red Bandanna Project, part of the Welles Remy Crowther Family Trust, that cultivates essential skills such as self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, social awareness, and responsible decision-making.
Alison Crowther told USA TODAY Network earlier this year that she is gratified by how so many, from all backgrounds and political stripes, continue to embrace her oldest child.
"His story encompasses the spectrum," she said of Welles' legacy.
"After all these years," she added, "people are still loving him."
Nancy Cutler covers People & Policy. Reach her at ncutler@lohud.com; follow her on X, Bluesky and Instagram at @nancyrockland.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Man in the Red Bandana gets Medal of Freedom from Trump
