9/11 hero ‘Man in the Red Bandana' gets Medal of Freedom from Trump

The Sept. 11 hero dubbed the 'Man in the Red Bandana' Tuesday was honored with a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Trump at a White House ceremony ahead of the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks. Welles Crowther, a volunteer firefighter and financial trader from Nyack, saved an estimated 18 strangers trapped in the World Trade Center's south tower before being killed when the building collapsed. 'They were sure they were going to die,' Trump said. 'Then suddenly a rescuer appeared. They call him the man in the red bandana.' Using the red bandana to cover his nose and mouth, Crowther, then 24, guided stricken victims down from the 78th floor of the burning skyscraper, making three separate arduous trips to save more victims, who had all but lost hope of escaping from the inferno. 'He willingly made all of these trips, up and down, up and down, up and down, over and over again, saving life after life,' Trump said. 'On Sept. 11, Welles saved many, many lives before losing his own life.' Trump, who bestowed the medal to Crowther's mother, mostly stayed on message during the solemn ceremony but joked that he is unhappy because Crowther's epic acts of heroism made him 'become much more famous than me.' Crowther's story is one of the best-known tales of sacrifice from 9/11 and is often used in curriculum plans to teach students about the selfless bravery and heroism of ordinary New Yorkers. The ceremony came as Trump presided over a 9/11-event called 'Steel Across America,' which showcases a 21-foot steel beam from the World Trade Center that was carried across the nation to remind people about the tragedy. About a third of Americans were either not yet born or too young to remember the worst terror attack on American soil, which killed about 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and aboard hijacked United Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania. Trump said he made the appearance to 'reaffirm the sacred vow we made a quarter of a century ago: we will never forget.' The president is skipping the main 25th anniversary memorial ceremony at Ground Zero on Thursday. He plans to speak instead at the Pentagon.