- This short drama is a tribute to a modern day hero, Welles Remy Crowther. He was born on May 17, 1977 in NYC. Welles joined Empire Hook & Ladder as a junior member and became a full member of the company at age 18. He graduated Boston College in 1999 with a degree in Economics. Welles became an intern with the firm Sandler O'Neill & Partners and became a licensed equities trader after earning his Series 7 license. Survivors of September 11, 2001 reported that Welles was wearing a red bandanna over his nose and directed people down to the 61st floor, then returned to the 78th floor. His body was recovered on March 19, 2002 next to other FDNY and emergency services personnel.—Anonymous
- Welles Remy Crowther was born on Tuesday, May 17, 1977 in New York City. From a very early age on he exhibited fine qualities: He was always polite, caring of others (especially his little sisters, Honor and Paige), and very protective, with a strong sense of duty. Welles was very devoted to his family, and especially to his parents, Jefferson and Alison Crowther. He was also deeply fond of his uncles, aunts, and cousins, and had a strong and enduring sense of family. Welles began his life in Pomona, NY, then his family moved to Upper Nyack, NY when Welles was 7 years old. On one memorable day, while preparing to go to church with his parents and two sisters, his father, Jefferson Crowther, gave him a red bandanna in case he needed to blow his nose. Welles suddenly became attached to this bandanna, carrying it wherever he went for the rest of his life. He attended Upper Nyack Elementary School, joined the Cub Scouts and eventually Boy Scouts, and played Little League baseball as well as Pop Warner football. For three summers, he was the Rockland County Diving Champion for his age group and participated in sailing as well as tennis camps in Nyack. Welles attended Nyack Middle School where he began playing lacrosse and ice hockey. He attended Camp Beckett in Beckett, MA, then started attending specialized summer programs for ice hockey and lacrosse. Welles also excelled at skiing, tennis, sailing, and golf. At Nyack High School, he was an honor roll student and was inducted into the National Honor Society as well as the French Honor Society. He was a top varsity ice hockey and lacrosse player for 4 years and a veteran ice hockey captain. He joined a traveling ice hockey team, the Bear Mountain Bears, during his junior and senior years. Welles also continued to participate in scouts throughout high school. Moreover, he was a member of Varsity Athletes Against Substance Abuse (VAASA) and, by invitation, participated in RYLA (a Rotary Club youth leadership conference). He was also invited to attend Camp Sunrise, a unique and specialized leadership camp. At the age of 16, Welles joined Empire Hook & Ladder Co., No. 1, Upper Nyack, New York as a junior member where his father worked. When he turned 18, he completed the New York State training program in firematics and became a full member of the company, fighting fires and dealing with emergency situations. Welles graduated high school with high honors in 1995 and received a lacrosse scholarship to Boston College. He graduated from Boston College in 1999 with a degree in Economics and spent all 4 years as a member of their NCAA varsity lacrosse team. He was also active within the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a Boston College program that serviced underprivileged youngsters in the Boston area. After graduation, Welles lived in Hoboken, New Jersey with college friends for the first year, and then in Greenwich Village, New York with a friend whom he had met while in Spain. He worked as an intern at the firm Sandler O'Neill & Partners (located on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center 2) during the summer of 1997 as a research intern first and then as an equities trader after earning his Series 7 license. During the summer of 1998, he traveled to Spain to participate in a summer program organized by Syracuse University, studying foreign markets. On September 11, 2001 when the attacks on the World Trade Center began, Welles was no longer an equities trader. He suddenly became a firefighter. Through telephone calls, Welles was known to have been in his office on the 104th floor of the south tower just before flight 175 hit. Eyewitnesses report that, after flight 175 hit the 78th floor Sky Lobby of the south tower, a man suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He was stripped to his T-shirt and wearing a red bandanna to cover his nose and mouth, protecting himself against the smoke and debris. This man organized a rescue effort on the floors high above where the official rescue workers were able to reach. He called for fire extinguishers and found and directed dazed and confused survivors to the only functional stairwell. The man carried survivors to the 61st floor, then returned to the 78th floor to rescue more people. His final hour remained a mystery until an article about September 11th printed in The New York Times (5/26/2002) mentioned eyewitness reports of a mysterious man in a red bandanna on the 78th floor Sky Lobby of 2 World Trade Center when the second plane crashed into the south tower. Eyewitnesses reported that the man spoke calmly, with authority, and was obviously well trained. Knowing that her son always carried a red bandanna in his back right pocket, his mother, Alison Crowther, believed that the description in the New York Times of the mysterious man matched her son: his character, his training, and his likely location at the time. She sent recent photographs of her son to the eyewitnesses, who eventually confirmed that her son was the Man in the Red Bandanna. His body was recovered on March 19, 2002 next to uniformed FDNY firefighters and other emergency services personnel who had been operating a command center in the lobby of the South Tower. The Crowther Family ultimately learned, almost 3 years later, that Welles and the members of FDNY with whom he was recovered had been on their way back up the South Tower with a Hearst jaws of life tool to free survivors who were trapped under debris, presumably in the Sky Lobby. Welles is remembered for his selfishness, leadership, and heroism during the attacks of September 11, 2001.
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