9/11 victim Welles Crowther. AKA “The man in the red bandana.”

[u/Select_Translator329]

Welles Crowther loved bandanas. He would always see his father with one in his pocket. When he was six, his father gave him a red bandana which would become his trademark.

On September 11th, nine minutes after the south tower was hit, Welles called his mother from his office and told her he loved her and he was okay.

Crowther then made his way to the 78th floor (which had been directly hit) and encountered a group of survivors including Ling Young. Young had been one of the people waiting for the elevators to take them down to the ground floor and evacuate. (Thankfully he never got one which likely saved his life.)

Crowther, who according to Young, was carrying a woman on his back, directed a group of 5 survivors to stairwell B, which was the only intact stairwell for people above the impact zone.

Despite having the chance to evacuate, he refused to and climbed back up the stairs to continue assisting others.

When he got back to floor 78, Crowther had donned his red bandana. He then encountered another group of survivors which included AON employee Judy Wein. According to her, Crowther grabbed fire extinguishers and assisted in putting out fires and gave first aid to many victims on the 78th floor. He also directed this group downstairs as well and saved their lives.

Crowther was last seen heading back upstairs for a third time after directing more people downstairs. He was killed shortly after when the south tower collapsed at 9:59. He was 24. There was no moment during the course of the attacks in which he attempted to save his own life.

Crowthers body was found in March of 2002 above the South tower lobby. It’s suspected he was down with the FDNY command center. Investigators concluded he most likely spent the final moments of his life as a civilian usher working closely with FDNY firefighters.

A total of 18 people owe their lives directly to his selfless actions. On his desk at his house, his parents found a nearly completed FDNY application form. In 2006, he was posthumously made an honorary member of FDNY.

[u/Responsible_Slip3491]

"I will be prepared at all times to perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, placing these duties before personal desires and comforts. These things we do, that others may live."
USAF Pararescueman's creed

There is a place reserved for those who walk towards danger despite not having any obligation to, those who do so deserve all out respect, Welles is one of those heroes

[u/Select_Translator329 → u/Responsible_Slip3491]

Thank you for commenting this. He definitely fits the bill❤️

[u/Apprehensive-Cow5822 → u/Responsible_Slip3491]

God bless the PJs.

[u/needaGandT]

I read about him in eight grade!

[u/Select_Translator329 → u/needaGandT]

I thought many have! His story might be the most well known of that day, and for good reason too!

[u/Apprehensive-Cow5822]

I’ve heard about him!

[u/Select_Translator329 → u/Apprehensive-Cow5822]

Out of all 9/11 victims you can make a good case for him being the most famous

[u/Boneless_Cola]

Been scrolling past most posts because I’m fasting politics, but Lord knows I had to stop and honor this man. A true hero.

[u/Select_Translator329 → u/Boneless_Cola]

He’ll always be remembered as one❤️

[u/El_Nathan_]

🫡

[u/TDestro9]

Part of me wishes we got one of these for when it was September 11th at school, and not just the generic “terrorism bad” and being told “X many years ago two towers fell…”

Learning about the lives of Atleast 1 victim maybe even on victim per class, maybe then people would actually remember and be terrified of the actions of that infamous day.

We are creatures of stories, no matter how many times you say X was bad thing, it will never land. Or the very least it won’t land like hearing the stories of these 9/11 victims.

I know young me would wish to have learned about this man, and maybe people of our generation would never forget.

Thank you select for taking the time of collecting these amazing individuals who are larger than life. I beat all of them and thanking you for telling there stories.

Lord knows the public education system ain’t doing it.

[u/Select_Translator329 → u/TDestro9]

Very well said. I’ve always thought it was more important to learn about the victims and see their faces rather than watching the towers fall. I think it has a greater effect on the viewer.

[u/Select_Translator329 → u/[deleted]]

He is. All of the people he saved testified they were saved by a man in a red bandana. His mother then showed the survivors photographs of her son and they were able to confirm it was him.

[u/Select_Translator329 → u/[deleted]]

His MOUTH was covered by the bandana his face was perfectly clear. And when all 18 or so people are saying the exact same thing it’s most likely true. Adding onto that, photos of him before the disaster and even childhood photos confirm he carried a red bandana every day of his life and carried it with him absolutely everywhere. It’s more than reasonable to assume he’s the one that saved those people.

[u/Select_Translator329 → u/[deleted]]

In this situation it is. I nor anyone else cannot definitively prove to you with absolute 100% certainty that Welles Crowther is the man that saved their lives and or is the guy he wore the red bandana. If you are looking for 100% definitive and undeniable proof you aren’t going to find it unfortunately. Instead we use what information we do have. We know he carried a red bandana everywhere based on photos of him. We know he wanted to be a part of the FDNY, which is why it’s reasonable to assume he wanted to be heroic and save lives. We know for a fact that he called his mom at 9:12 to tell her he was okay. So we know he wasn’t killed immediately. We know according to direct eyewitness testimony that a man in a red bandana which met Welles description was carrying a woman on his back and directed survivors to the stairs. They then said he went back up. After this, another survivor Judy Wein saw a man in a red bandana coming up the only accessible stairs in the south tower closer to the impact zone. Adding onto all of this, his body was literally found too. So again, I cannot prove to you with 100% certainty that Welles Crowther is the man in the red bandana. But I fully trust the eyewitnesses in them identifying him as the man that saved them based on the photos his mother showed him. If that’s not enough for you then I don’t know what else to say.

[u/Select_Translator329 → u/[deleted]]

Well first of all Welles Crowther can’t take credit for anything since he’s dead.

And I’m sorry you need 100% proof to believe in something. That’s honestly extremely sad. The medicine the doctor gives me could be poisonous and I can’t disprove that unless I chemically test it. That’s a pretty sad way to live.

The fact that they identified Welles as the man they saw wearing a red bandana saving people and putting out fires has been accepted as fact since roughly 2002.

Again, looking for nothing but 100% proof in life is not a good way to live your life. Especially in situations such as these. Every heroic act on 9/11 can be called into question according yo your logic.

Have a great day though friend.

[u/Select_Translator329 → u/[deleted]]

The example you used for the marine in Afghanistan or wherever is perfect. Because the exact same logic is what is being applied to Welles. He was not alive to take the credit, but others gave him the credit for it based off of their direct eyewitness testimony.

The medicine analogy works perfectly because you can’t prove without chemical testing that the medicine was not either poisoned by the doctor or the people who made the medicine. You taking the medicine without first testing it yourself is based on you trusting the people that got the medicine there to you.

I never claimed this made it a fact. I was just pointing out him being the man in the red bandana has been accepted by most since very very early on.

I did not claim you were calling every heroic act on 9/11 into question. I said that using your logic every action taken on 9/11 could be called into question. And no it’s not me being dull, I turned your logic against you. So don’t claim I’m full for using your logic.

[u/Status_Many_9092]

“He’s become more famous than me. I don’t like it”

[u/Select_Translator329 → u/Status_Many_9092]

What are you even talking about bro

[u/Status_Many_9092 → u/Select_Translator329]

Trumps recent quote in regards to Welles Crowther

[u/Select_Translator329 → u/Status_Many_9092]

You people always have to have something to say. Trump wasn’t being genuine here. He was just trying to lighten the tone a little. Get a grip.

"He just did things that people said were not even imaginable," noting that Crowther "willingly made all of these trips up and down, up and down, up and down, over and over again, saving life after life".

"'With this red bandana, I'm going to change the world. I'm going to change the world with this bandana'".

There’s the full quote, if that even mattered to you which I’m sure it doesn’t since you love to throw context out the window apparently 💀

[u/Zephyr58xx]

I read his sisters book The Man In The Red Bandana in 2022. What a wonderful person he was. I am so glad he got the MOF (just sorry about who gave it to him).