WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump held a White House ceremony Tuesday honoring 9/11 first responders and officials and posthumously presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the family of Welles Remy Crowther, the Upper Nyack native known as the “Man in the Red Bandana.”
Crowther, a 24-year-old equities trader and volunteer firefighter, died while helping people escape the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Survivors later credited him with helping save at least 18 people.
Crowther used his trademark red bandana to protect himself from smoke as he helped lead people to safety from the 78th-floor sky lobby. He repeatedly returned to help others before the South Tower collapsed.
“On September 11, 2001, when terror struck our nation, Welles Remy Crowther did what he was raised to do: he ran toward danger and answered the call,” said Rep. Michael Lawler (R, NY-17), who attended the cerremony. “Wearing his trademark red bandana, he saved upwards of 18 lives that day and inspired millions of Americans with his courage.”
Lawler said the medal was a recognition of Crowther as well as the firefighters, police officers, EMTs and other first responders who responded to the attacks.
“Many never came home, and thousands more have lived with the physical and emotional consequences of their service ever since,” Lawler said.
The ceremony came as the nation approaches the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Crowther was raised in Upper Nyack and served as a volunteer firefighter. His actions inside the South Tower have made him a nationally recognized symbol of the courage and sacrifice displayed by first responders and civilians on Sept. 11.
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