25 years later, Trump honors 9/11 hero who returned to the South Tower to save lives

Donald Trump paid tribute to the victims and heroes of the attacks on September 11, 2001. Just days before the 25th anniversary of the attack that claimed 2,977 lives, the president led a ceremony attended by family members of the victims, firefighters, police officers, and other emergency responders who responded to the attacks. There, Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, known as the "man with the red bandana," for the lives he helped save in the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

The ceremony took place at The Ellipse, across from the White House, and was organized by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded after 9/11 to support the families of fallen first responders and injured veterans, as well as to preserve the memory of the attacks.

In addition, officials displayed a massive steel beam weighing more than seven metric tons, recovered from the rubble of the South Tower. The piece is part of the "Steel Across America" tour, launched to remember the victims and honor those who responded to the attacks.

On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the attacks, Trump highlighted the significance of the salvaged beam as "a testament to the courage and resilience and spirit of a city and a nation that saw our homeland struck, our towers knocked down and stood back up stronger, more determined, and more united."

"This battered piece of steel here today on the Ellipse is a reminder that America is blessed with a strength no fire can consume, no evil can conquer, and no terror can destroy," he added.

Presidential Medal of Freedom for Welles Crowther, the "Man with the red bandana"

At one point during the event, Trump spoke of Welles Crowther, popularly known as the "man in the red bandana." According to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Crowther was 24 years old when Al Qaeda terrorists attacked New York City. The young man worked as a stockbroker at the firm Sandler O'Neill & Partners, located in the South Tower of the World Trade Center, and was also a volunteer firefighter.

After one of the planes struck the South Tower, Crowther began helping people trapped in the building. Wearing a red bandana over his nose and mouth to protect himself from the smoke, he guided some survivors to a stairwell and returned several times to the upper floors to continue helping the injured. The 9/11 Memorial notes that he made three trips to the 78th-floor lobby before the tower collapsed, ending his life.

For months, his identity remained unknown. However, many survivors recounted how a man wearing a red bandana had saved their lives. When Alison Crowther, Welles's mother, read one of those accounts, she immediately recognized her son, since ever since he was a child, he had been in the habit of carrying a red bandana that his father had given him.

"He didn't know that those he helped and, nor who would have known, but 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 before announcing that he would award Crowther the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor.

Alison Crowther accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of her son and then spoke a few words in his honor: "This means the world to me, my daughters, Paige and Honor, and our entire family. This will be treasured for generations to come."

"As I visit schools across the country, I see firsthand how young people are impacted and inspired by Welles. His example and legacy to be better, kinder, and more caring of others. Twenty five years after September 11, his life continues to remind us of something very simple. In moments when others need us, each of us has the power to choose courage, compassion, and service. That's the real meaning of the red bandana, to be courageous, to find the good, to be the good," she stated.