Trump awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to 9/11 ‘Man in the Red Bandana’

President Donald Trump announced during a rally in New York that he is posthumously giving the country’s highest honor to Welles Remy Crowther, the 9/11 hero who is remembered as the “Man in the Red Bandana” after repeatedly leading victims to safety in the burning South Tower before dying in a terrorist attack.

Trump unveiled the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a stop in Rockland County on Friday with Rep. Mike Lawler, RN.Y., who had urged the president to recognize Crowther’s heroism ahead of the 25th anniversary of September 11. Crowther, a 24-year-old equity trader who also served as a volunteer firefighter, became America’s first firefighter. and the collapse of a man wearing a red bandana on his face.

“At the request of Bruce, and Mike, and other politicians – the great political people we have, and we are approaching the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, a dark day that will live in infamy. Posthumously we give Welles the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” said Trump to the crowd in Rockland County, receiving a loud app.

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“The highest award other than the Congressional Medal of Honor – those are two bulls and Welles has one of them. I want to congratulate his great mother for doing a wonderful job raising that young man. What a brave boy, he saved those people and became a legend in a sense, no one else could have done what he did. So he will be getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”

The president then brought up Welles’ mother, Alison Crowther, who addressed the pro-Trump crowd for a moment, describing the award given to her son as “a huge honor.”

“It’s a good thing that even after 25 years Welles’ light is still shining,” he told the crowd, noting that he has traveled the world telling his son’s story in places as far away as Jordan. Alison Crowther noted that on this trip, when she told the children Welles’ story, “They were greatly moved and inspired … to be better people.”

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Welles, a stockbroker who worked on the 104th floor of the South Tower, was in his office when the first plane hit the North Tower that morning. He left a voicemail for his mother shortly after the towers were hit, letting her know he was fine, but his body was later found in the rubble.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the dedication of the National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York, May 15, 2014. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Welles “made three trips to the sky lobby, saving as many people as he could, until the burning building collapsed,” with some reports suggesting he saved as many as 18 lives that day. As he did so, Welles covered his nose and mouth with a red bandana he kept on his desk.

That red bandana is currently on display at the 9/11 museum in New York City. The Tunnels to Towers Foundation, a nonprofit that supports first responders and their families, including those who became victims after 9/11, said Welles always kept a red ribbon on his desk.

A Tribute in Light is illuminated above the lower Manhattan skyline and One World Trade Center behind the Declaration of Independence before the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York City on September 10, 2025, as seen in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

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The source recounted that, when asked why he always carried a red bandana, Welles replied: “With this red bandana, I’m going to change the world.” His father, the foundation said, told Welles to always wear a red bandana because of “dirty jobs.”

“People can live 100 years and not have the compassion, the strength to do what he did,” said a survivor rescued by Crowther.