The man in the red bandana who saved lives in the South Tower
In short: On September 11, 2001, equities trader Welles Crowther entered the smoke-filled South Tower of the World Trade Center. Using a red bandana to protect himself, he guided survivors through stairwells and carried the injured to safety, potentially saving as many as 18 people before the building collapsed.
Welles Remy Crowther was an American equities trader working on the 104th floor of the South Tower when United Airlines Flight 175 struck the building at 9:03 a.m. on September 11, 2001. After a brief phone call to his mother at 9:12 a.m. to say he was okay, Crowther began a desperate rescue mission. He was seen by survivors, such as Ling Young and Judy Wein, helping to administer first aid and directing people toward working stairways.
Crowther's actions were marked by a signature red bandana, a gift from his father when Welles was six years old. Witnesses recalled him carrying a woman on his back down 17 floors to safety before returning to the upper floors to assist others.
His final recorded sighting involved helping FDNY personnel prior to the South Tower's 9:59 a.m. collapse. His body was discovered in March 2002 in the South Tower lobby, found intact with no signs of burns, leading authorities to speculate he was aiding rescue efforts as a civilian. His legacy has inspired significant tributes. In 2006, he was posthumously named an Honorary FDNY firefighter. His family established the Red Bandana Project to foster character development in youth. Today, his story is memorialized at the National September 11 Memorial on Panel S-50 and through various tributes, including a 2017 documentary narrated by Gwyneth Paltrow and a 2024 memorial statue in Aspire Park, Tennessee.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Welles Crowther
- Also: Wikidata — Welles Crowther · CC0
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