Nearly 25 years after the September 11 attacks, US President Donald Trump has announced that Welles Remy Crowther, the young financier and volunteer firefighter remembered as the “Man in the Red Bandana”, will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously for his actions during the 9/11 attacks.
Trump made the announcement at a rally in New York’s Rockland County on Friday alongside Republican Congressman Mike Lawler, who had pushed for Crowther to be honoured ahead of the attacks’ 25th anniversary.
Crowther was just 24 when hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Working as an equities trader on the 104th floor of the South Tower, he could have tried to escape after the first plane hit the North Tower. Instead, survivors later recounted how a man with a red bandana tied around his face repeatedly guided people through smoke-filled stairwells and debris, helping them reach safety before the tower collapsed.
.@POTUS tells the mother of Welles Crowther — the 24-year-old “Man in the Red Bandana” who heroically gave his own life to save 18 people on 9/11 — that Welles will be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom ❤️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ogAsfyqpB0
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 22, 2026
“At the request of Bruce, and Mike, and some of the great political people we have, and we are approaching the 25th anniversary of September 11th, 2001, a dark day that will live in infamy. We are posthumously awarding Welles the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” Trump said to loud applause from the crowd.
“It’s the highest award outside of the Congressional Medal of Honour; those are the two biggies, and Welles has one of them. I just want to congratulate his great mother in doing a phenomenal job in raising that young man.”
“Boy, what bravery, saved those people and became a legend in a sense, nobody else would have done what he did. So he’s going to be getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” Trump said.
The president later invited Crowther’s mother, Alison Crowther, to address the gathering. Calling the recognition a “huge honour”, she reflected on how her son’s story continues to resonate decades later.
“It’s such a beautiful thing that even 25 years later, Welles’ light still shines brightly,” she said, adding that she has shared his story with audiences across the world, including in Jordan.
Alison Crowther said children in particular are deeply affected when they hear about her son’s actions on 9/11. “They’re tremendously moved and inspired … to be better people,” she said.
On the morning of the attacks, Crowther had called his mother to tell her he was safe after the planes struck. Hours later, his body was recovered from the wreckage of the collapsed South Tower.
According to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Crowther made multiple trips through the building’s sky lobby to rescue trapped office workers before the tower came down. Some accounts say he helped save as many as 18 people.
The red bandana that became synonymous with his story is now displayed at the museum in New York City. The Tunnel to Towers Foundation has said Crowther always kept the bandana nearby, something his father had encouraged him to carry for “messy jobs”.
The foundation also recalled Crowther once saying, “With this red bandana, I’m going to change the world.”
One of the survivors he rescued later said, “People can live 100 years and not have the compassion, the wherewithal to do what he did.”
