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9/11 Hero Welles Crowther Honored with Presidential Medal of Freedom as Firehouse President Credits Training and Community
President Donald Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, the 'man in the red bandana' who saved at least 18 people during the 9/11 attacks. The president of Crowther's volunteer firehouse, Empire Hook and Ladder Company Number One in Upper Nyack, New York, tells Cronkite that the company's traditions of community and sacrifice shaped the man who gave his life helping others.
President Donald Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, the former stockbroker known as the «man in the red bandana» who died while leading at least 18 people to safety during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The ceremony, held Tuesday at the White House, honored a man whose story has become one of the most enduring symbols of courage from that day.
At the ceremony, Crowther's mother, Alison, singled out the volunteer firehouse where her son trained: Empire Hook and Ladder Company Number One in Upper Nyack, New York. She said Welles would not have been able to act as effectively on 9/11 without the training and experience he gained as a member of the company.
David «Trevor» Gottlieb, president of Empire Hook and Ladder, told Cronkite that Crowther was forged in the firehouse's traditions of community and sacrifice. Gottlieb joined the company in 1988, when Crowther was about five years old, and recalled working alongside him from 1993 onward. «Volunteer fire service is usually multi-generational, and Welles' father, Jefferson, was an ex-captain. He was our treasurer, just part of the fabric of the company. Kid's been coming down here since he could walk,» Gottlieb said.
Crowther carried a red bandana in his wallet while working as a stockbroker in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. When the attack struck, he immediately leapt into action, helping usher people to safety as the building burned around him. Gottlieb said Crowther assisted in the rescue of at least 18 civilians and ultimately lost his life doing so.
«I think what Welles' impression he left upon us was anything's possible,» Gottlieb said. «And when you're faced with 108 floors and the chaos and the destruction all around you, when you sit back and rely on your training, on how you were brought up, I think that makes your job much easier.»
Gottlieb credited Crowther's instinct to help without hesitation to his upbringing at Empire Hook and Ladder, a company stocked with great people and spanning five generations of some families. «I would lay my life down for any one of them. And I think they would do the same for me,» he said of his firehouse family. «That's something that's kind of instilled in when you join here. And it's perfected throughout years and multi-generations of that behavior.»
He argued that Crowther's ultimate sacrifice reflected not only his own character but the spirit that inhabits all volunteer firefighters. «When you look at what happened that day, somebody made the decision to not run. They made the decision to stay and help. And they didn't ask if you're a Republican, a Democrat, a Muslim, a Jew, a Catholic,» Gottlieb said. «You're somebody who needs help. And the human spirit needs to continue that way. We have to focus on what brings us together, not what divides us.»
Gottlieb also pointed to two other Empire members, Harry Wannamaker Jr. and Joe Stach Jr., who he said lost their lives due to health complications related to 9/11. «We should never forget. We should never forget the sacrifice that everybody made, in particular Welles. But there was 343 other firemen that died. And then, since that time, we've lost two more members in Empire related to 9/11 diseases, Harry Wanamaker Jr. and Joe Stach Jr. And it's awful to see the scars that it leaves on families forever,» he said.
As the 25th anniversary of the attacks approaches, Gottlieb urged people to follow in Crowther's footsteps and volunteer for their local fire departments. «Volunteer fire service is hurting for people right now. Everybody's too busy to volunteer and I can't describe to you the feeling, right? You get to drive fire trucks, you get to play with some pretty cool tools. I encourage everyone to do this, make time, help any way you can because your community will be better for it,» he said.
