Man in Red Bandana (2017) - full transcript

Those awful moments

after the South tower was hit

some of the injured huddled

in the wreckage
of the 78th floor.

Fires were spreading,
the air was filled with smoke.

It was dark,
they could barely see.

It seemed as if
there was no way out.

Then there came a voice.

Clear.

Calm.

Saying he had found the stairs.



- Out of nowhere and
a young man came over

and came in screaming and said,

"I found the stair, follow me,

only help the one you can help."

- A young man, in his 20s,
strong,

emerged from the smoke

and over his nose and his mouth

he wore a red handkerchief.

It was just this guy
and I don't know who the guy is

that was just in a doorway
and all you heard him say

was, "Over here."

- I don't know how you
thank somebody for that.

I'm sitting here talking to you

and other people aren't.



There was a story
from people that got out,

survivors, that somebody
helped them, they didn't know

who he was, they
couldn't see his face.

He had a red bandana over
his mouth and his nose.

That had been going
on, and like, you know,

we didn't know
whether it was a myth.

Was it something
that people imagined?

- Without him that
particular moment

I would've been
crushed or buried.

- Judy said she
never would've gotten

out of the tower alive
if not for the man with

the red handkerchief.

They didn't know his name.

They didn't know
where he came from,

but they knew their
lives had been saved

by the man in the red bandana.

For the families
and friends of 9/11 victims,

the change brought about by
the disaster is profound.

There is no closure
for premature loss.

Only a painful emotional
wound that never heals.

One such family is that
of Welles Remy Crowther.

Welles is the 24 year old son of

Alison and Jefferson Crowther.

An older brother
to sisters Paige and Honor.

Welles was among the
thousands of people

who were working at
the World Trade Center

complex early in the
morning that ill-fated day.

He developed a strong
work ethic growing up

in upper Nyack,
New York, a quaint town

nestled along the Hudson river

about 25 miles
north of Manhattan.

Welles's mom will never
forget a special gift

that he received
at an early age.

- It was the Christmas
that Welles was three

that my in laws my husband's
parents purchased a

a little red fire truck that
he could sit in and ride.

It was a riding toy.

It became one of
his favorite toys

and he was always
in it pretending

to be going to fires
or putting out fires.

In high school,
Welles was captain

of the Nyack Indians hockey team

and known as a
selfless team player.

He also excelled at Lacrosse.

Good job, Welles.

- He was the type of
guy always in your face

never let you get down
always gave you confidence.

Even in the worst times,
the best times,

he always gave you confidence,
made you wanna drive

and to succeed, and do well.

- I would say he's
probably one of the most

loyal people, you know,
I've ever met.

You could be anywhere
you could call him

at three in the morning,
you could be in another state

and if you needed
something, he would do it.

- He was just a good hearted
kid, you know, very happy.

Always had something
positive to say,

if you were down, he was
the first one to come over

and pat you on the back.

- Welles told the
coach he's like,

"Hey, put John
on a line with me.

Let him skate on there,

I wanna get him his
first varsity goal."

Welles picks up the puck
in the middle of the ice,

makes a move on the goalie,

passes the puck across
to me, wide open,

that shot and score.

All the guys surround me,

and then Welles
left the celebration,

went into the net to grab the
puck and he presented it to me

in the locker room,
him and the coaching staff.

Like many young
boys, Welles adored his father

and wanted to be just like him.

- Soon as my husband
joined the firehouse

Welles would go down
with him on the weekends

to help work on the truck,

and he was small
and had little hands,

so they used to send him
into the little places

in the fire truck that
the big men couldn't reach

to clean it to get it polished
up for parades and such.

Welles became
a junior firefighter

as soon as he was able,
when he turned, I believe it's 14.

Then once he turned 16, he
could actually begin to train.

He did go up to the fire
training center here

in Rockland County
and he did see live fires.

- This photo of Welles was
taken when he was 19 years old,

and it was in September
in chief's inspection parade

wearing his dress uniform for

Empire Hook and Ladder
Company Number One.

He was carrying
a ceremonial axe.

They always get the
young guys to carry

the heavy axes in the parades.

Welles learned
much about firefighting

from his friend and
mentor Harry Wanamaker.

- Harry was a lieutenant
in the fire department.

He was a member of Empire Hook
and Ladder Company Number One,

and a very good friend
of mine and Welles's.

- Based on his disposition
and his manner,

he would never give up.

If I was a soldier in a foxhole

I'd love to have Welles
next to me, I think.

- After Welles graduated
from high school,

he went on to Boston College,

where he spent a very happy
four years and was a member

of the Boston College Men's
Varsity lacrosse team.

After graduating
in the spring of 1999,

Welles was hired by Sandler
O'Neill and Partners

as an analyst, and quickly
promoted to equities trader.

- He was active, his eyes
were active, he was moving.

I can tell if a guy's
gonna make it or not

just the way they walk
on a trading floor.

- He was good at whatever he
kind of wanted to be good at.

He wanted every day to count.

No fear whatsoever.

He'd walk up to any
girl and ask her out.

Welles was
proud of where he worked.

While posing for this June
2001 photograph with Harry,

he instructed his dad,

"Make sure you get the Twin
Towers in the background."

Just three months later,
on September 11th,

Welles left his
Manhattan apartment

and was working behind his
desk on the 104th floor

of the South tower.

This beautiful and cloudless
day in the Northeast

United States would soon
turn into one of terror.

American Airlines
flight 11 departs

Logan International
Airport in Boston,

bound for Los Angeles.

15 minutes later,
United Airlines flight 175

leaves Logan, heading to
the same destination.

Not long afterwards,
the pilot hears and reports

an ominous transmission
from flight 11.

Within minutes, flight 175

is also hijacked by
another group of terrorists

who would turn both
aircraft's into flying bombs.

At 8:46 a.m. flight 11
crashes into the North Tower.

We had seen a fireball.

I can tell you it appears
as though something has gone

into the World Trade Center.

I'm looking at the
north side of what is

the North Tower so,
correct me if I'm wrong,

but this is about three
quarters of the way up

maybe even 3/4 of
the way up Tower One.

There is smoke now billowing out

of the top of the
World Trade Center.

My heavens, this has just
happened within several minutes.

- We saw flames shooting out
of the side of the building.

So we had no idea
what was going on.

People started screaming
we gotta get out of here.

- I started walking
towards the windows

on the side of One
World Trade Center.

That time I was witnessing
people jumping to their deaths

from One World Trade Center.

Just a terrible thing to watch.

Following the first crash,

Welles speaks with his
college roommate John Howels.

- I'm like, "Are you alright?"

He was like, "Yeah,
I heard it I felt it."

I'm like, "Are you guys
getting out of there?"

and he's like, "Yeah,
we're getting out of there now."

- It was Jeff's
secretary calling.

She said, " Welles just called.
He wanted me

to call you to let
you know he's alright."

I said, "Well,
why wouldn't he be alright?"

She said, "Haven't you heard?"

I said, "Heard what?"

- He was calm.

Very calm.

17 minutes later, flight 175

strikes Welles' building,
killing hundreds

in the South Tower as well
as 65 on board the aircraft.

- All manner of thoughts
were running through my mind

after I saw the building hit.

But before it collapsed
and I just...

I must have said
a lot of prayers.

After the second crash, Welles

is believed to still
be on the 104th floor,

imperiled above the impact zone,

a searing inferno of
death and carnage.

Nine minutes after
the South Tower crash,

he calls his mom and
calmly leaves a voicemail.

- So I picked it up, and that
was at about 9:28, 9:30.

Flight 175
struck the South Tower

between floors 77 and 85.

Being within the vicinity
of floor 78 was critical.

In fact, if the South
Tower had a ground zero

then it was the 78th floor.

From the main floor,
a dozen express elevators

took up to 55 people to 78.

At the 78th floor
there was a sky lobby

with local elevators
to the higher floors.

After the North tower was
struck, many occupants of

the South Tower headed
back to the sky lobby.

- We took the local
elevator from the 81st floor

and we went down to
the 78th floor, which is

the sky lobby where you would
get the express elevators.

It quickly
filled up as they waited

for one of the express
elevators to return

from their two
minute round trip.

- It was packed.

It was, like, so crowded
to a point it's like

you could almost hear
the other side breathing.

The concentration of people

on the 78th floor,
26 floors below Welles' office,

made the sky lobby one
of the worst locations

within the South Tower
for the plane to strike.

- See, when you work
on a 81st floor,

planes flew
at the same altitude,

so on an average day,
looking further out,

let's say a half a quarter mile,

you would see a plane zoom by.

But this time this plane
is coming towards me.

First small, and then
by the split second

it's getting larger,
larger, larger,

and in my head now,
I can still hear that sound

of the revving engine
as the plane gets closer,

and closer,
and bigger and bigger.

Gray in color.

U on the tail.

This flight 175 United Airlines

is bearing down on me,
eye level, eye contact.

As I'm looking at this plane,
I can hear this revving sound,

like, probably a
thousand yards away

you can hear this like
they're accelerating

maximum speed
to cause more casualty

or for whatever reason.

All I could remember saying was,
"Lord I can't do this.

You take over."

I dropped the phone,
screamed, dove under a desk.

Then the most
thunderous sound ever.

Boom.

- When I felt the blast, I
didn't know what was happening,

I just knew it was some
sort of bomb or something.

- There was this
horrendous noise explosion.

That horrible noise. Then
things started flying at us.

I was pushed down to the
ground like everybody was.

There was horrendous crying
and screaming going on.

- I got knocked flying and,
you know, the false ceilings

all caved in and debris and
dust all the lights went out.

It's louder than
you could imagine.

- The plane hit the building.

Knocked me into
one elevator wall.

I ended up on my...

On all four kneeling down.

You could feel it felt like
the momentum of the plane

and the building
was gonna tip over.

- Walking into the elevator
and then just feeling

a blast like nothing
I'd ever felt before,

just a wave of heat,
and, just, I was smashed

into the back wall
of the elevator,

and just crumpled to the floor.

I basically went flying.

As I went flying, in my mind,
I thought this was the end.

- Elevator doors
had been blown open.

There was this fire coming out.

She was skidding along the floor

toward the open elevator
doors and the fire.

She was grabbing
on to the carpet

as hard as she could, to keep

from falling into
the elevator shaft.

She was able to stop
herself barely just before.

- The flames just came
up around the elevator

'cause the doors
were still open.

You could see the
flames just shooting

around the elevator cab.

Then the building slowly
just righted itself back up.

- When I regained my
senses, there was a inferno

in the elevator shaft that
was coming into the elevator.

The fire was coming in.

The hot embers were
flying into the elevator.

It was filling up
with black smoke.

- I see a lot of
people laying down.

I would assume they're dead.

- I was definitely stunned,

but I was aware of
what was happening.

At that point, by the time the
elevator came back to settle,

everything was dark.

There was smoke up on the
floor just looking out.

My instinct was just to jump,
get out of the elevator

before the doors closed,
and I would be trapped in there.

I realized then what
the people in Trade Center One,

the choice they were making,

which was you'll do
anything but burn too.

It's the most
horrifying experience

that I've ever faced in my life.

- I just kept praying
that he'd be alright.

That he would survive.

That he would get down
out of the building

safely, without harm.

The Crowthers
did not know it at the time,

but the odds of Welles,
or anyone else, escaping

from the upper reaches
of the South Tower

were frighteningly dismal.

- American Airlines flight 11

hit the North Tower between
the 93rd and the 99th floor.

Some people were killed
instantly, but most were trapped.

At or above the 92nd floor,
about one person escaped.

1344 people died.

The South
Tower was struck much lower,

between floors 77 and 85,
creating a second line of death.

599 people were trapped
at or above this level

and ultimately died.

However, unlike the North Tower,

18 people in the South
Tower were able to

miraculously escape
from this zone.

Many of them were
severely injured

and desperately needed help.

- I don't feel anything,
not a thing

until I get to the hospital.

I didn't know
I was burned at all.

I didn't know I was bleeding
until they show me a picture.

I had second and
third degree burns on my arm,

a large gash in my
head from my neck

down to my leg on the left side.

I also had a broken hand.

- My colleague was
lying next to me,

and I just tried
to push her a little bit

to see if she was okay,
and she wasn't.

She was gone.

- I remember seeing my
friend laying on the floor.

My pocketbook had fallen on her.

She wasn't conscious.

None of my friends that
I was with on 78 made it.

I just couldn't see,
it was so dark.

Just couldn't see anybody.

I couldn't help anybody
'cause I was hurt.

- I was laying there
face down, and something

from the ceiling
crashed next to my head.

Then I thought "I've
got to get out of here.

I've gotta get up."

Those in the South Tower

who survived the
crash of flight 175

only had 56 minutes to flee.

- Buildings are designed
to resist wind loads.

They're designed to
resist gravity loads.

But they're designed
to resist them

with most of their
pieces in place.

Once the World Trade
Center was hit by the plane

the fire began to
consume the fireproofing,

but also began to melt the
structure of the steel.

Much like your
joints in your knee,

the joints that held the
floors to the walls gave way.

- I watched.

I was transfixed, and when
the building collapsed,

I dropped to my
knees and I prayed.

I said, "Dear Lord, take me now.

Let Welles live.

Take me in his stead."

I tried calling him.

I couldn't get through.

The phone rang again,
it was Alison.

- When I heard that news,
I just knew.

I said, "Oh, my God,
Welles is gone."

I just knew, so I
called my husband back.

I said, "Jeff, Welles is gone."

I could barely breathe.

- I said, "We don't know,
dear, he may be fine.

Let's wait and see.

Don't jump to any
horrible thoughts."

- Jeff said, "Don't say that.

He had a lot of skills.

He had time he
probably got down.

He could very well
have gotten down."

- I said to her again,
"Let's not worry now.

Let's just wait and see."

Although struck
first, the North Tower

comes down 29 minutes after
the South Tower collapsed.

You have smoke.

It's just astonishing.

People in the newsroom
crying, hugging each other.

What a scene today.

I'm shaking, I mean,
it's just horrifying.

The second tower just
came crumbling down

as I'm sitting down at the desk.

It's just a horrifying scene.

- We're doing the best we can

to evacuate Southern
Manhattan below Canal Street.

If you are in Southern
Manhattan below Canal Street

you should walk north and get
out of Southern Manhattan.

While 9/11
was truly a tragic day,

it also marked one of the
greatest rescue operations

in our nation's history.

Below the impact zone,
the vast majority

of civilians were
able to escape.

Between 10,000
and 15,000 occupants

safely evacuated the two towers.

Fortunately, there were not
nearly as many injuries

as one would have expected.

- I was in a couple of
different places with this.

In one place deep inside,
I knew he was gone,

and the other place I was saying

I can't give up looking for him.

I'm gonna keep looking
until I find him.

I spent a lot of time
calling hospitals.

- Then Alison realized
that if she wanted

to get through to any
of these hospitals

she had to do it
between the hours of

like 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.

Every night for a week,
Alison stayed up

in the middle of the night,
working the telephones,

calling hospitals,
checking to see if Welles

had been checked in
to any hospital.

No luck.

Nothing, not a trace.

It was very frustrating,
it was very disheartening.

But we didn't give up.

- Down at ground zero,
there was a site

where families could go and
bring things and we did that.

We brought pictures of Welles,

Welles with his sisters
and family pictures,

and we left them there
at that very first site

right down by ground zero
where the families would come.

- I wondered did my phone
call screw up him getting out?

Was he trapped on the top floor?

Was he one of the people
that fell from the building?

Did he burn?

You're thinking about all
these terrible thoughts,

but did he burn alive?

Did he get out?

- Many of Welles's friends
went searching for him, also.

There's even a story
that a couple of them

donned white coats
and went into, like,

surreptitiously went
into hospitals looking.

- Literally his friends
were walking the halls

and sticking their heads
into every hospital room

that was occupied, checking
to see was Welles there.

Finally we realized that we

weren't gonna find
him like that.

- There were thousands
and thousands of

emergency workers down there.

We've gotten a tremendous
amount of help and assistance.

Harry Wanamaker
was among thousands of

first responders who poured
into lower Manhattan to help.

- Harry Wanamaker spent
the entire nine months

after 9/11, working on the pile.

Helping to recover bodies.

- It was difficult for Harry
to talk about at first.

People were still hoping that
they would find something

or find a miracle.

- Every time I saw him,
he said "I'm looking for Welles.

I'm looking for Welles.

We'll find him.
Don't worry, we'll find him."

- Harry would talk about
Welles all the time,

every day that he spoke to me.

Harry would talk about it as
if there was always still hope.

Conditions were
harsh, with dust, smoke,

and lingering odors of decay.

Despite, hope, prayer,
and best intentions,

workers realized
they were no longer

engaged in a rescue operation,

rather they were there
to clean up debris,

gather crime scene evidence,
and recover remains.

- We were very surprised that

we found a victim
the following day.

By that time,
we had figured out that

pretty much everybody who
was left there, was deceased.

The wreckage was
trucked to Staten Island,

where workers carefully
sifted through it.

Almost three
months into the operation,

we had processed about
80,0000 tons of debris.

We recovered approximately
2,700 human remains

and thousands of
personal effects.

This massive
and painstaking effort

proceeded for months,
but there was no sign of Welles.

Meanwhile, victims'
families were busy

performing other
difficult tasks.

- Clarkstown Police
had us come in

and we gave our DNA
samples, both of us.

We brought them his hairbrush,
his comb, his toothbrush,

and so forth, and that was
very helpful for them.

As soon as Pier 94 was open,

Alison and I went down together.

Even though we had no body,

they issued a temporary
or interim death certificate.

- The cause of
death listed: Homicide.

Most 9/11 funerals
were unique, in that

family members were
without remains

to bury, cremate,
or otherwise respect.

- To have a funeral
or memorial service

without a body is
very, very difficult.

It's almost like a
betrayal of your loved one

that you're having this
acknowledging their loss

without the proof of their body,

and perhaps there
will never be proof.

With this added heartache,

families of the
fallen did their best

to respect their loved ones.

66 of these funerals
were for workers

of Sandler O'Neill and partners,

including one for
Welles Remy Crowther.

On September 29th,
2001, over 1,000 people

came to Grace Episcopal Church
to say goodbye to Welles.

The crowd overflowed into
the courtyard and the street.

Welles' sister Honor shared
this story during her eulogy.

- Welles was, more than
anything, proud of other people.

He really took other
peoples' accomplishments

with greater pride than he
did his own accomplishments.

I'll never forget one night,
up at Boston College,

Welles had a Lacrosse
game at six o'clock,

and my team had a
game at eight o'clock.

Welles's team lost but he
and a number of his teammates

stayed to cheer us on.

Although we lost, I scored
three goals in the game,

and after my third
goal, from the stands,

I heard him yell down.

Sorry.

He yelled down,
"That's my sister."

He was more excited for
me than he would've been

if he had scored three
goals in his own game.

That was Welles.

Like others
who have experienced a loss,

the Crowther family
continues on,

but with irreparably
broken hearts.

For Alison,
dealing with the grief involved

an off chance but
relentless search.

- I knew somehow I had to
keep looking for Welles.

Somehow maybe someday
I would find him

or something about him.

I watched all of
the documentaries.

I watched all of
the news programs.

I just kept searching,
looking, searching for him.

Again, I don't know
what was driving me.

Just a mother's instinct.

Meanwhile,
recovery efforts continued

well into the spring.

At the World Trade
Center site, a new ramp

has been built to allow trucks
to get to the lower levels.

Now, for the first time,
workers will be able

to explore what is under
the old earthen ramp.

New York City Fire
Commissioner Nick Scopeta.

That ramp is
very close to covering

what was one of the
command centers.

It's entirely possible that
there will be more recovered.

Rich Lamb WCBS 880U.

That month,
Alison received a telephone call

that no parent
should ever receive.

- So I got on the phone
with the policeman

and he told me that they
recovered Welles's...

That they'd recovered
Welles's body

from ground zero, and he'd
positively identified him.

That was the 22nd of March.

Days later, Welles' personal

effects were returned.

- Both of our daughters,
Welles's younger siblings,

right away expressed "Thank God.

He's coming home."

- He was back with
us and so I had this

very deep sense of
contentment that

some sort of circle
was completed.

What I didn't know
was that his spirit

was going to carry on
in such a powerful way.

Welles' remains were cremated

and in a private ceremony,
his ashes were immured

in a wall at Grace
Episcopal Church,

the same location where
only a few months earlier

he had celebrated
the happy occasion

of his friend's wedding.

- When we took his body to be
cremated over in Westchester,

the fire department escorted
his body with the fire truck.

We said our goodbyes
at the funeral home.

- He was intact but
he was missing a part

of his jaw and his right hand.

- Both wounds were
consistent with flying glass

and of course we knew
and they had told us

that he had been in the lobby
when the building collapsed.

So we knew that there
was all the glass around

and the building pancaked.

It was like a giant
bellows compressed,

and the blast
there which hit him,

and other people he was
with, must've been incredible

and it blew them out against
the wall of another building.

- After all this news, I
went into the bathroom there

and I just sat down to
just be quiet for a moment

and collect myself.

I was thinking, well,
they told us it took about

eight and a half seconds
for the tower to collapse

because I was trying to put
myself there with Welles.

I was trying to be with
him however I could.

As I sat there I
counted one Mississippi,

two Mississippi,

three Mississippi.

Despite the
recovery of Welles' body,

Alison never gave up looking.

- I just knew I had
to keep searching, even

after months
anything new came up,

I would read it.

I would watch it.

I just wasn't going to
give up looking for him.

It was really kind of irrational

when you think about
it why do that?

But there was something inside
of me making me do that.

- She had been looking
everywhere and anywhere

for any shred of
evidence about our son,

whatever she could find,
and we found nothing.

On May 28th,
2002, the massive cleanup

was completed, and the last
column ceremoniously removed.

Just two days earlier,
the New York Times

published a comprehensive story
about the World Trade Center

disaster entitled Fighting
To Live As The Towers Died.

- I, at that point, still
could not read anything

or look at anything about 9/11.

I took the newspaper in.

I woke my wife and I said,
"Here.

You may wanna read this."

Five journalists contributed

to provide tower by tower,
floor by floor,

and minute by minute
survivor accounts.

What they saw and
how they got out.

Journalist Eric Lipton

interviewed many
of the 18 survivors

who escaped from the
South Tower's upper level.

- My task was to focus
primarily on the South Tower

in the zone around the 78th
floor, where the plane impacted,

and to try to find those people
who lived through the attack

and could tell the story of
what had happened in that zone.

Then get a vision into
this dark world in a way

that no one else previously
had been able to assemble.

- When I came to the
section that was entitled

9:05 In The South Tower
78th Floor Sky Lobby,

I knew if I was going
to ever see anything

about Welles it would be here.

- As soon as my wife read
this, she said, "This is Welles.

They're talking about Welles."

I was in the other room,
I said, "How do you know?"

- He was about seven or eight,

and we were dressing
for church one day,

and he had a little suit on.

- He said, "Daddy, can I
have a handkerchief like you

in my jacket pocket?"

I said, "Sure you can."

I went into my dresser
and I got him one out.

I also grabbed a red bandana.

As you've seen,
I carry a blue one.

I got the red bandana
and I brought it back.

I said, "Now,
this one is for show.

But the red one is for blow."

- It became the tradition
here at home and at

the fire house, and
everywhere Welles went,

he had the red bandanas

and my husband had
the blue bandanas.

It was a practical
reason for that, 'cause

the different colors
helped me sort them out

in the laundry, so I always
knew the red ones were

for Welles, but he
carried a red bandana

with him every single day.

- He always had this red bandana.

I'm like, nobody carried
around handkerchiefs

- Welles always had a
red bandana in his bag.

All the guys on the
team used to give him

a little grief for it make
fun of him a little bit.

He shook it off.
He always had it with him.

- Even wearing a suit,
he would have one

in his pocket going to work, so...

- In fact, the weekend
before that Sunday,

before September 11th,
we were going out to dinner

and he pulled out of his
back pocket a red bandana

wrapped around his
comb and wallet.

Like, he always carried it.

I said, "Welles, are you
still carrying that thing?

You're just like your
father." And he just laughed.

He chuckled.
I think he liked that.

I started reading,
and sure enough,

there were the references
by two eyewitnesses,

women that had survived.

That this mysterious man

wearing a red
handkerchief saved them.

He had a red bandana
which he had across his face.

- The minute I saw that, I knew.

I said, "Oh my God,
Welles, I've found you.

There you are."

I jumped up, I ran over
out to Jeff and I said,

"Jeff, look, I've found Welles.
He's here look."

- In the article
the two individuals

who talked about the
man with the red bandana

one worked for Aon Insurance.

- I had to reach
out to the two women

who were mentioned
in the article

and just make sure
to confirm that,

yes indeed, this was Welles.

I didn't wanna live
with a falsehood.

I called Aon, and I said,
here's why I'm calling.

I think it's my
son who saved her.

That afternoon,
Judy Wein called me back,

said, "Please,
send me photographs."

So I sent his college
picture to her and she said,

"I'm in communication with
about 1, 17 other people

that were on the tower."

They had formed their
own communication group.

She said, "I'll send
the picture out."

She did.
Ling Young responded.

- She send me one picture
and I looked at it.

I really had to study the
picture very carefully,

and I said, "Yes,
that is the person."

My son Richard made
sure I got it right.

He said, "Mom,
you gotta make sure,

because it's not
something that you gonna..."

I say, "Yes."

I said, "You gotta take a look

at it very carefully again
make sure."

I said, "Yes."

- She saw him in the stairwell.

She recognized him
from the picture.

- August of 2002,

we invited both Judy
and her husband, and Ling,

and her family to our house.

Ling was still
seriously injured.

She was in a wheelchair.

She had burns over
40% of her body.

Judy had recovered from
her physical wounds,

but it was one of the few times

that Judy actually left
her home in Queens.

- It was an emotional
meeting, okay.

From then on, we
just kept connected.

- The two ladies were
able to, in effect,

fill in the blanks for us.

Through their accounts,

and the reporting of
the New York Times,

they were able to piece together
much of Welles' last hour.

Mom, this is Welles.

I want you to know
that I'm okay.

- Welles came to the 78th floor,

which was the sky lobby,

shortly after the plane
impacted the South Tower

when the left wing sliced
right into the 78th floor.

Welles had all of his training

and he had a red bandana
which he had tied across

his nose and mouth
to protect himself

from the incredible
dust and smoke.

He just went to work.

With Welles' help, Ling Young

and Judy Wein were
among the 18 souls

who managed to safely cross the
south tower's line of death.

How did Welles help
many of these 18 pass

through the crash zone
while no one was able

to descend through this
area in the North Tower?

How come so few
within the South Tower

used the safe passage?

For the 18 survivors,
an architectural fluke

in the World Trade
Center's design

allowed for a
single escape route

and Welles had
resourcefully found it.

- Like most modern
skyscrapers, the stairs

and the elevators were
placed in the center

or the core of the World
Trade Center towers,

preserving the rest of
the space, or the perimeter

of the space, for the more
valuable office uses.

When American Airlines flight 11

flew into the North Tower,
it severed all three

of the tightly clustered
interior stairs.

With no elevator service

those in the upper levels were
imprisoned in a fiery hell.

In contrast, the South
Tower was struck much lower

from floor 77 to 85.

Two of its stairwells
were instantly severed,

stairwells B and C.

- I started stumbling
around a lot of people

and there's a lot of
people who were gone

and people who were crying,
people who were terribly hurt.

I went to a stairwell
and it just wasn't there.

However, stairway
A remained functional

due to its unique design.

Stairwell A jutted around

a dozen 24 ton elevator hoists.

That pulled express
elevators to the top.

Heavy debris from the crash

between floor 76
and 78 blocked it,

but with some effort,
those in the upper reaches

of the South Tower
could find salvation.

Few realized that stairway A

could lead them down to freedom.

Indeed the 9/11 commission
report references only

one individual who spread
this lifesaving information.

Welles Remy Crowther.

- I got out and I can't see okay.

I took off my glasses,
they was filled with blood.

- I started making
my way to the closest

stairway, emergency stairway.

I felt a doorknob,
there was nothing there,

but when I opened up the door,

there was smoke coming
out of the stairway.

It was dark, the stairway,

but it wasn't enough to
keep me out at that point.

- We looked around.

I said we can't leave
because we don't know

how the floor was.

We were afraid if we just move

the thing might collapse on us.

We just kind of sat
there waiting for help.

- Welles came out of
the smoke and dust

and found a group of people
who were sitting on the floor.

They were afraid to move because
the visibility was so bad.

They thought they'd fall
through a hole in the floor.

- Then all of a sudden,
out of nowhere,

and a young man came over,
came in screaming,

and said, "I found a stair.
Follow me.

Only help the one you can help."

He said it in such a
way, we say, "Let's go."

- When I got down to the
78th floor, it appeared

that the stairway ended
going any further down.

At that point, I started
feeling around the wall,

but it was still
a smoky condition.

It was hard to tell
without a flashlight,

but I did back myself
up into a corner.

I felt a doorknob,
and much to my relief,

when I turned the
doorknob, it opened.

Upon entering the 78th
floor, I heard a man's voice.

He screamed out, "Don't take
those stairs, take these stairs."

I started to run towards
where I heard the voice.

When I got there,
there was a young man there.

He was helping injured people
and non-injured people.

He was lining them up,
getting them ready

to go down the staircase.

When I got to them,
I just ran right by them.

- According to Judy,
it's the same thing with me.

It's the way that he said it.

We just got up
and we just follow.

- He said, "Is there
a fire extinguisher?"

The man said, "Yes,
over here on the wall."

Welles took it went and
put out a couple of fires,

came back and said,
"Are you ready to go?"

They said, "Yes, can someone
carry the fire extinguisher?"

- I picked it up.

I found later down the road.

They told me it was 25 pound.

It didn't feel like
anything at all that day.

- I was able to go down
one of two flights.

There was a wall knocked down.

I started to go under the wall.

I was able to lift
the wall up maybe one

or two feet, and it
just kind of popped

and it got hung on the
banister of the turn

where you go down.

I went underneath at that point.

Then the next floor down
the wall was down far enough

where I was able to
jump on top of it.

I just kinda rolled to my left

and then just continued
going down the stairs.

- In that first group,
Welles had carried

a young girl over his shoulder
because she was in shock.

- I, in the same moment,
I didn't know I was hurt.

I just went.

Welles was carrying a
light skinned black woman,

I think she was skinny,
if I remember correctly.

He dropped her off and said,
"I'm going back upstairs."

I mean, he could've
continued going down with us

but he didn't.
He decided to go back up.

- At that time, Welles took
the bandana off his face

because he didn't need
it to protect himself.

Ling was able to
see his full face

which is how she was able to
really completely identify him.

He turned around and said,

"I have to go back up
and help others now."

- Ling said, "Do I still have

to carry the fire extinguisher?

He said, "No, I don't
think you'll need it."

So she put it in the stairwell.

Welles went back up.

- I can tell you, the fire
started getting very bad.

There were beams that were just

crashing down from
out of the walls.

It was total chaos,
and the screaming

and the crying was just
really overwhelming.

- I remember thinking
if I can stand up

long enough to breathe
in the hot smoke

I'll die of smoke asphyxiation.

I won't know that I'm
gonna burn to death.

- Down was the fire,
so we started climbing

and looking for a way out

but all the doors
seemed to be locked.

- Two colleagues of
mine who I didn't know

them personally at the time
was Judy Wein and Gigi Singer.

We were just all kind of talking

and saying,
"Which way do we go?"

Myself and one of
the fellas, they said,

"Well, let's go around
to, say, this side"

and we started off that way.

Then it was getting worse
with the beams falling,

and the fire, and all that,
and then we were told

by Welles, "Get back here, don't
go that way, and go this way."

- In the second
group was Judy Wein,

a woman who worked for Aon.

We put together the
sequence of events

because she remembers
seeing the fire extinguisher

in the corner and
thinking to herself,

"Well, that's a strange place
for the fire extinguisher."

He directed people
and us to the only open,

only working staircase,
the only one

that went all the way down.

- So we came back, and
went down to that area,

and we found that
there was a stairwell.

It was lit and we just
said, "This is great."

So Judy and Gigi and I made
our way down the stairwell.

- As Judy was going
down the stairs,

she saw wave after wave,
group after group

of firefighters
coming up the stairs

carrying their heavy equipment.

- They left to keep
going downstairs.

Welles went back up.

- Then, I guess,
started to look around

and realized that the doors
hadn't closed all the way

and that maybe I could
get out of the elevator.

I start pulling, but the fire
is coming up from the floor.

It's singing my arms every
time I'm trying to do this.

As I open the door
and I look forward,

what I saw was the
whole floor was on fire.

The people that were
in the sky lobby,

most of them appeared to
have been killed instantly.

There were some people
who seemed to be alive

as I'm crawling along
touching each body

to see if the
person's alive or not.

- That's when I
met up with Kelly.

It was...
That was a miracle because

there wasn't many people
that made it on that floor.

It was just this guy, and I
don't know who the guy is

that was just in the doorway.

All you heard him
say was "Over here."

The door was open and
you could see a light.

Going towards the stairwell
was me, Kelly Reyher,

Keating Crown, and he
guided us down there.

I don't know whatever
happened to him afterwards.

I just held on to
Kelly for dear life.

I held on to his belt buckle.

We just started going
down the stairs.

- Got through it by just kind of

crawling out floor by floor.

"Okay, we're at 66, okay.

Okay, we're at 65,
only 63 more to go.

50, see how many we made."

- Floor 20, just remembered
it was a 20th floor.

I just said, "I can't
do this anymore."

'cause I was hurting
so bad, and I stopped.

- Her arms were severely burned.

Her face appeared to be burned.

She was limping.

Both her wrists
looked to be broken.

- Kelly just said, "Come on.

We did all these flights,
you got 20 more."

I says, "Okay."
And I just did it.

Showing little
regard for his own safety,

Welles went from
104 to 78 to 61.

From 61, back up
17 flights to 78.

Down a few flights
and then back up again

towards the 78th floor.

Donovan Cowan told
the New York Times

I was there about three minutes

and then this guy,
I don't know who he was,

he said
"I've found a staircase."

He was trying to get people out.

- Somebody lifted
me out of there.

I got up and felt my
way towards a stairwell,

and at that point I saw
all the dry wall down there

was on fire.

Once I ran past that,
the stairwell was clear.

He eventually left
the sky lobby after at least

three visits making his
way down to the main lobby.

- They found him in the lobby.

My first reaction was like
why didn't he get out?

Welles was
in the ground floor lobby

of the South Tower when
the building came down,

just feet from safety.

Had he gotten out,
Welles would've escaped

from the highest floor
of all survivors.

- My first reaction
was really selfish.

I was like, you know,
'cause it seemed like

he could've gotten out
and he chose not to.

From a selfish standpoint,
I was kinda mad at him.

I wanted him to get out.

They say he found
the firefighters,

and so, kind of, people
started piecing it together.

They found them in the lobby.

They found them with
the firefighters.

Well, okay, what was he doing?

- Welles was in the lobby
when the building collapsed.

He was with the battalion
chief, the lieutenant,

the firefighters,
the other civilian.

He was about to go back up,

and this I learned through
contacts at the fire department.

He was about to go back
up with the lieutenant,

two fire fighters with
the tools necessary

to lift some of the debris
that had people trapped

in order to try and
extricate those victims

and bring them down.

- He could've left, but
because of who he was

he chose to stay, and
we honor that decision.

- You know, it was
just an amazing story

of sheer heroism on
the part of a civilian

who decided to risk his life
to save people he didn't know.

- We're very proud of
his decision that he made

as a man, and it's the
price of greatness.

- Just like I said to Alison,
Jeff, every year, I said,

"You know what, it wasn't
Welles, I won't be here.

From the bottom of my
heart thank you very much."

No one will
know the precise total,

but Welles shepherded
down at least 10

of the eighteen
survivors who escaped

from the South
Tower's upper reaches.

He showed bravery, selflessness

and grace during a brutal time.

Like all victims, Welles is
remembered at various memorials.

Nyack High School
retired his number 19.

Welles is also remembered
at Empire Hook and Ladder.

This remembrance is
unique, because there

he is joined by his
teacher, mentor, and friend

Harry Wanamaker.

- Unfortunately, Harry died

in 2010, of 9/11
related illnesses.

Months of
physical labor on the pile

eventually took
its toll on Harry.

He contracted cancer from
inhaling toxic fumes.

Harry is among the
first responders

who have died due
to 9/11 illness.

The deceased are remembered
at the FDNY headquarters.

Equally tragic to these
deaths, are the number

of empty spaces on the
plaque left in anticipation

of future casualties.

Through the years,
Alison has shared

her son's story of
courage and selflessness

to thousands of students.

These efforts eventually
led her to develop

the Red Bandana Project, a
character development program.

The curriculum is taught
at dozens of schools,

sports programs and youth
groups throughout the country,

and uses Welles story
to teach leadership,

courage and forgiveness.

This curriculum is not the
only book about Welles.

Honor wrote a
children's book entitled

the Man in the Red Bandana
that age-appropriately

shares Welles' story
with young minds.

Welles' uncle John
Crowther contributed

by drawing the illustrations.

- Children today need a hero
to be able to look up to,

and not just somebody
who makes a lot of money

because they can play basketball
or baseball really well,

but somebody who is a hero
in a true sense of the word.

Welles is remembered
in another important way.

- We started the Welles Remy
Crowther charitable trust

in September of 2001
because we realize

people wanted to make donations.

They wanted to do something

and we thought that we
should start a foundation

to honor Welles and to
bring good in the community.

Through various
events that keep Welles'

legacy alive, the trust
has raised well over

one million dollars,
and remains active today.

Boston College also
embraces Welles.

Working with Welles'
family and friends

it hosts and annual
5k Red Bandana run.

- I just wanna thank every one
of you for showing up today

supporting Welles's
trust the way you are.

When Welles was killed,
we knew that

in order for us to keep
going forward in our lives

the only way we could do
it would be by bringing

some good from such
a terrible evil.

Other than the Boston marathon,

the Red Bandana 5k is
the most popular race

in the Boston area.

Over 1,800 runners
participated in 2014.

Boston College football
remembers Welles

at its annual Red Bandana game.

Finally, Boston College
pays Welles

one of its highest honors.

Following a
47 year hiatus, a live eagle

is brought back to campus
for BC football games.

A contest ensued in an
attempt to determine a name

worthy of such a
prestigious bird.

Hundreds of names were submitted

and they are narrowed down to
the top five voted on by fans.

It's with great pride
that we announce

the winning name is Welles.

Here to represent Welles

are his parents Jeff and Alison,

along with numerous members
of the Crowther family.

Tyler Jewell,
a skilled snowboarder,

donned a red bandana for
his former college teammate

while competing in the Olympic
games in Turin, Italy.

Beyond family and friends,

Welles' various
communities honor him.

At Sandler O'Neill and partners,

Welles and his fallen co-workers

are recognized at
its new offices.

In New York City, Jeff
threw out the first pitch

at a Mets game held
on a 9/11 anniversary.

It is not surprising
that his family, friends

and communities continue
to remember Welles.

What is surprising, is
the breadth diversity

and creativity of
the honors from those

that did not know him.

Teachers all over the
country share Welles' story.

The Crowthers have received
thousands of letters

and drawings from
grade-school children

from all over the United States.

In Ohio, middle school
students created

a 9/11 mural depicting
a fireman, policeman

and a man in a red bandana.

Artists throughout the country

have created works
of the savior.

Welles' story has also
inspired musicians.

Athletes participating
in various sports also honor Welles.

Two University of
Central Florida students

invited a few friends
to honor Welles

at a UCF nights football
game, and surprisingly,

thousands showed up all
wearing red bandanas.

Paige and Honor
attended the game.

- I think it's really
a sign of unity here

to see that it's, as
people keep saying,

it's bigger than
a football game.

I think they're showing that.

The divine
nature of Welles actions

has not eluded the clergy.

- He said, "I found
the stairs, follow me,

and only help those you can."

- There he left this
group of people there

and said, "You keep going down.

I need to go back
up and get others.

I have found the way.

I know the way out.

I know where the door is.

I know where the exit is.

I know where eternity is."

To instill his values and pass along his legacy,

parents all over
the United States

have named their
children after Welles.

The folklore nature
of Welles' heroics

has even reached
the White House.

- Alison called me
and said, "Go to your...

Go on the computer and see
if you got an invitation."

I said, "An invitation to what?"

She said, "Well, I
got this invitation

to visit with the
president in New York."

- The meeting was at
the September 11th

Memorial Museum preview site.
The Memorial Museum

had just installed a special
display about Welles.

Jeff told him about Welles

and he knew about
Welles already.

He said, "Oh, yes the man
in the red bandana, I know."

- He was very gracious

and he autographed two
red bandanas for us,

one for each one
of our daughters.

We thought he just
signed his name, but no.

He signed each red
bandana saying that

we will never forget Welles.

At the national
9/11 museum dedication ceremony,

President Barack Obama
spoke to dignitaries,

the nation, and the world about
the man in the red bandana.

- He put on that bandana

and spent his final
moments saving others.

Today as we saw on
our tour one of his

red handkerchiefs is on
display in this museum.

From this day forward,
all those who come here

will have a chance
to know the sacrifice

of a young man, who, like
so many, gave his life

so others might live.

Those we lost live on in us,

in the families who
love them still,

in the friends who
remember them always,

and in a nation that will
honor them now and forever.

Today it is my
honor to introduce

two women forever
bound by that day

united in their
determination to keep alive

the true spirit of 9/11.

Welles Crowther's mother Alison,

and one of those he
saved, Ling Young.

- My name is Ling Young.

I'm here today
because of Welles,

a man I did not get
the chance to thank.

It was very hard for
me to come here today,

but I wanted to do so,
so I could say thank you

to his parent and my new
friend Jeff and Alison.

- Thank you.

I am Welles Crowther's mother.

Alison Crowther.

My husband Jefferson and I

could not be more
proud of our son.

For us he lives on in
the people he helped

and in the memory
of what he chose

to do that Tuesday in September.

Welles believed that we are all

connected as one human family

that we are here to look out for

and to care for one another.

This is life's most
precious meaning.

It is our greatest
hope that when people

come here and see
Welles's red bandana

they will remember how people
helped each other that day.

We hope that they
will be inspired

to do the same in ways
both big and small.

This is the true legacy
of September 11th.

The measure of
a man is not his longevity,

but whether he made
a positive difference

during his lifetime.

Based upon the number
of people that he saved,

his courage in the
face of danger,

and the thousands
inspired by his heroics,

Welles was clearly a man
of extraordinary character.

Like other great men
and women of history

he is remembered,
missed, and honored.

- A dear friend Lieutenant
Harry Wanamaker FDNY retired,

and our courageous son
Welles Remy Crowther,

the man in the red bandana.

After his death, the Crowthers

learned something
remarkable about Welles.

A secret that further
beautifies his saintly legacy.

- One day, when I was
chatting with him,

and this was in August of 2001,

he said, "Dad, I think I
wanna change careers."

I said, "Excuse me?

You have a job that many young
men your age would die for.

You have an incredible salary.

You get a great bonus."

He said, "Yeah, Dad, but
money's not everything.

My life was meant for
something much more important."

When I cleaned out his
apartment after 9/11,

I found an application for the

New York City Fire Department.

It was about a half to
two thirds filled out,

so that was what his plan was.

Welles' plan became official on

December 15th 2006.

On that day, the fire
department of New York City

posthumously made him
an honorary fire fighter

in a ceremony at the
FDNY headquarters.

- We thought if there's
ever gonna be a first person

to be an honorary New
York City fire fighter,

it should be this young man

who in the greatest tragedy
the department ever had,

died side by side
with fire fighters

doing the same thing that
fire fighters were doing,

and that's the highest honor
we could afford a citizen.

- We're deeply grateful
to the New York City

fire department for
making Welles a brother.

Thank you so much.

- I knew that in that
last hour of his life,

he was no longer Welles
Crowther the equities trader.

He now became Welles
Crowther the fire fighter.

- If you go out to the
Brooklyn wall of remembrance

where all of the first
responders are memorialized

with a picture on the wall,
a tile, Welles is on that wall.

He's alongside the fire
fighters, police officers,

port authority police officers,
FBI that gave their lives

that day, and I think that
pretty much tells the story.

He's with us and he'll
be with us forever.

- His dream became a reality.

Official.

He was a New York
City fire fighter.

Welles spent his last hour,

his finest hour,
realizing his dream.

In doing so, he followed his
mind, heart, and spirit.

This is Welles.

I'm okay.

- I never thought that I
would be making a film.

I didn't have a
bucket list item.

It was nothing I
thought I'd ever do.

I just went to lunch with
my banker Jeff Crowther

and he told me the
story of his son.

I was just blown away.

- I just told his story

and that sparked
Matthew's interest

and desire to do
something with it.

Boy, you talk about
give someone the ball

and see if he can run with it.

He scored more than
one touch down.

He scored a whole
bunches of them.

- I thought it was just
one of the most remarkable

amazing stories that I
had ever heard before.

In quick succession,
my mind said

what an amazing story.

Everybody should hear the story.

I wanna share the
story with everybody.

So while there are film
makers that look for stories,

this was a story that
found the film maker.

Having seen way too
many 9/11 movies,

documentaries, reading
the 9/11 commission report

you can imagine it's
a very tough topic

in which you become an expert
in and really delve deep into.

But one thing I felt
as I'm working on it

is that I didn't see a
lot of films and pieces

where it was a personal story,

a personal narrative,

'cause you can't really grasp

3,000 people dying in one shot.

But you can relate
to one person.

I felt by sharing this one story

we could start to
grasp what that means

to lose 3,000 people.

I guess one of the
things that I'm

particularly proud about

are certain aspects of
the film and Welles story

that I was able to
tell in this film

that have never
been told before,

or never told fully before,

most particular, the
last 20 minutes or so,

when you learn about
Welles friends and family

that have honored him
and his communities,

but also total strangers
throughout the country

that have honored him in
a variety of amazing ways.

Just incredible
that piece of fabric

created such a legacy and
it's touched so many people

and inspired so many people
in such a diverse way.

- We we're really
blown away by the

the depth of the
story that you told

and the people that
you reached out to

that we hadn't really
even known,

some of these people
were helped by Welles,

so that was a beautiful
thing to find out.

We hope that moving forward

that people are
inspired to do good,

to work, because we're
all capable of bringing

good things into this world.

That we really focus on that

and try to help others
and consider others

be understanding and work

to make this world
a better place,

and that's where
we're at really now

with work with the trust

and the work with the
Red Bandana Project.