When Welles Remy Crowther was 6 years old in my adopted town of Nyack, his dad gave him 2 handkerchiefs. The white one, he said, goes in your breast pocket and is for show. The red bandana goes in your pants pocket and is the one you use to blow your nose. Welles kept a red bandana for the rest of his life, and it became his signature. He wore it under his sports uniforms when he played varsity football and lacrosse. The other kids on his team teased him, but he didn’t care. It was his connection to his dad.
Welles became a junior firefighter in Nyack at the age of 16. He spent all of his time on the field or at the firehouse. He was kind, and he wanted to serve.
He went to Boston College and then moved to New York City to become a stock trader, working on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center. He was there on 9/11. On that terrible morning, he called his mother to tell her that he was ok and then made his way down to the 78th floor “sky lobby,” where the plane had struck. Many people there had died instantly, and the few survivors were badly injured. They couldn’t see because of the black smoke and thought there was no escape. They said that a young man wearing a red bandana came out of the smoke and said, “I found the stairs, follow me. Everyone who can stand, stand now. Only help the ones you can help.” He spoke calmly and with authority, carrying a young woman on his shoulder. He led a small group down to the 61st floor. He left them to go back upstairs and rescued a second group of people. Welles saved 18 people that day.
Welles’ body was found 6 months later in a buried command center alongside other rescue workers. He was 24 years old. When his family cleaned out his apartment, they found his application for the New York Fire Department mostly filled out.
His parents started the Welles Remy Crowther Charitable Trust to help “young people develop into exemplary adults.” They created a curriculum for elementary and middle school students with the themes: Leadership, Caring for Others, Team, the Power of One, Bridging Divides, Forgiveness, and Carpe Diem. His legacy lives on.
Welles was an extraordinary human being. But he was also a regular kid. There is a lot written about him, including a documentary on YouTube narrated by Gwyneth Paltrow, linked above. He is certainly a hometown hero here in Nyack.
I think about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. May we all reach into our inner Welles.