{"id":207,"date":"2026-05-23T09:06:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T09:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207"},"modified":"2026-05-23T09:06:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T09:06:47","slug":"trump-announces-highest-civilian-honor-for-9-11-hero-welles-crowther-remembered-as-the-man-in-the-red-bandana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207","title":{"rendered":"Trump announces highest civilian honor for 9\/11 hero Welles Crowther remembered as the ‘Man in the Red Bandana’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Trump\u00a0announced during a rally in New York that he was posthumously awarding the nation\u2019s highest civilian honor to Welles Remy Crowther, the 9\/11 hero remembered as the \u201cMan in the Red Bandana\u201d after he repeatedly led victims to safety from the burning South Tower before dying in the terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n

Read more Clarence Thomas triumphs \u2014 and his legal vision, too<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump revealed the Presidential Medal of Freedom honor during a Rockland County stop on Friday with Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who had urged the president to recognize Crowther\u2019s\u00a0heroism\u00a0ahead of the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11. <\/p>\n

Crowther, a 24-year-old equities trader who also worked as a volunteer firefighter, became a symbol of American courage after survivors recounted being guided through smoke and wreckage by a man wearing a red bandana over his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the request of Bruce, and Mike, and some of the political \u2014 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,\u201d Trump told the Rockland County crowd, earning a resounding applause.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the highest award outside of the\u00a0Congressional Medal of Honor\u00a0\u2014 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoy, what bravery, saved those people and became a legend in a sense, nobody else would have done what he did. So he\u2019s going to be getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president subsequently brought up Welles\u2019 mother, Alison Crowther, who addressed the pro-Trump crowd momentarily, describing the award bestowed on her son as a \u201chuge honor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a beautiful thing that even 25 years later, Welles\u2019 light still shines brightly,\u201d she told the crowd, noting she has traveled the world telling her son\u2019s story to places as far away as Jordan.<\/p>\n

Read more Orange County chemical leak frustrating crews as evacuation zone grows<\/a><\/p>\n

Alison Crowther remarked that in these travels, when she tells children Welles\u2019 story, \u201cThey\u2019re tremendously moved and inspired \u2026 to be better people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welles, an equities trader who worked on the 104th floor of the South Tower, was in his office when the first aircraft hit the North Tower that morning.<\/p>\n

He left his mother a voicemail shortly after the towers were struck, letting her know he was okay, but his body was later found amid the rubble.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

According to the\u00a09\/11 Memorial\u00a0& Museum, Welles \u201cmade three trips to the sky lobby, saving as many people as he could, until the burning building collapsed,\u201d with some reports indicating he saved up to 18 lives that day. As he did so, Welles covered his nose and mouth with a red bandana he kept at his desk.<\/p>\n

That red bandana is currently displayed at the 9\/11 museum in\u00a0New 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 bandana at his desk.<\/p>\n

The foundation recounted how, when he was asked why he always carried the red bandana, Welles replied: \u201cWith this red bandana, I\u2019m going to change the world.\u201d His father, the foundation said, told Welles to always carry a red bandana on him for \u201cmessy jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can live 100 years and not have the compassion, the wherewithal to do what he did,\u201d a survivor rescued by Crowther has said.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump needs to shut down this key Iranian transit artery \u2014 ASAP<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Trump revealed during a New York rally that he was posthumously awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom honor to Welles Crowther, the 9\/11 hero remembered as the “Man in the Red Bandana.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump announces highest civilian honor for 9\/11 hero Welles Crowther remembered as the 'Man in the Red Bandana' - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump announces highest civilian honor for 9\/11 hero Welles Crowther remembered as the 'Man in the Red Bandana' - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Trump revealed during a New York rally that he was posthumously awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom honor to Welles Crowther, the 9\/11 hero remembered as the "Man in the Red Bandana."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-23T09:06:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6fc9c0eea9b960dca703fc547730e049.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"799\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=207#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=207\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Trump announces highest civilian honor for 9\\\/11 hero Welles Crowther remembered as the ‘Man in the Red Bandana’\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-23T09:06:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=207\"},\"wordCount\":617,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=207#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/6fc9c0eea9b960dca703fc547730e049.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"US News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=207#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=207\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=207\",\"name\":\"Trump announces highest civilian honor for 9\\\/11 hero Welles Crowther remembered as the 'Man in the Red Bandana' - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=207#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=207#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/6fc9c0eea9b960dca703fc547730e049.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-23T09:06:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=207#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=207\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=207#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/6fc9c0eea9b960dca703fc547730e049.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/6fc9c0eea9b960dca703fc547730e049.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=207#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump announces highest civilian honor for 9\\\/11 hero Welles Crowther remembered as the ‘Man in the Red Bandana’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump announces highest civilian honor for 9\/11 hero Welles Crowther remembered as the 'Man in the Red Bandana' - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump announces highest civilian honor for 9\/11 hero Welles Crowther remembered as the 'Man in the Red Bandana' - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"President Trump revealed during a New York rally that he was posthumously awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom honor to Welles Crowther, the 9\/11 hero remembered as the \"Man in the Red Bandana.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-05-23T09:06:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":799,"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6fc9c0eea9b960dca703fc547730e049.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"Trump announces highest civilian honor for 9\/11 hero Welles Crowther remembered as the ‘Man in the Red Bandana’","datePublished":"2026-05-23T09:06:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207"},"wordCount":617,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6fc9c0eea9b960dca703fc547730e049.webp","articleSection":["US News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207","name":"Trump announces highest civilian honor for 9\/11 hero Welles Crowther remembered as the 'Man in the Red Bandana' - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6fc9c0eea9b960dca703fc547730e049.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-23T09:06:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6fc9c0eea9b960dca703fc547730e049.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6fc9c0eea9b960dca703fc547730e049.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=207#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump announces highest civilian honor for 9\/11 hero Welles Crowther remembered as the ‘Man in the Red Bandana’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}