Never Forget – A Hero’s Profile: Welles Crowther
September 1, 2009. We’re ten days from the eighth “anniversary” (I hate using that word) of 9/11. I don’t know why, but lately I’ve been fixated by some of the accounts and lives of some of the victims from that awful, awful day. So I figured that I’d do something to remind everyone of what happened that day, and why we should never become blasé about what happened.
I recently discovered a link to the evidence from the trial of terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui. I urge you to visit the site. Click on every link. Look at every picture, and listen to every audio file – especially if you’re one of those kook “conspiracy theorists” who believe our government was behind the attack. I must warn you – it’s gruesome. It’s horrible. But I believe that those of us who were not directly affected by the tragedy that happened eight years ago need to see this. We as a country need to make it fresh in our minds again and realize that there are those out there who are hell-bent on our destruction as a nation and as a way of life. And guess what? They’re winning.
If you don’t believe that, you haven’t been paying attention. Look at the politicians and what they’re doing. They keep trying to drive that wedge between the people of this country. The current administration is operating from a pre-September 11 attitude that terrorism is not an act of war, but a “law enforcement” issue. I’m sorry, but that’s just not the case. These fanatics will stop at nothing to kill innocents. They don’t care about political correctness, diplomacy, or the Geneva Convention. Just ask the family of Daniel Pearl. Just ask the families of all the people on the planes that were crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The only thing they care about is the murder of “infidels”. It is a war. It’s a war of ideologies and beliefs – between Sharia law and the law that everyone is born free and deserves freedom. But for now, enough of politics.
Let’s take a look at the real heroes of 9/11.
A True Hero
The first person I would like to write about is a man by the name of Welles Remy Crowther. He was an equities trader and volunteer firefighter who was on the 104th floor of 2 World Trade Center (the south tower) when United Airlines Flight 175 slammed into the building:
Welles Remy Crowther was born the oldest of three children, displaying his fearlessness, spirit and selflessness early and often growing up in the New York’s northern suburbs, his parents say.
He doted on his two younger sisters and followed his father Jefferson’s lead, always carrying a bandanna in his back pocket (Welles preferred red, his father blue) and joining him as a volunteer firefighter as a teenager.
A star student and lacrosse player at Boston College, Crowther joined Sandler O’Neil and Partners after graduation, settling into his office on the South Tower’s 104th floor.
After the plane crashed, he decided to take charge and help some of those trapped above the impact site get to safety. He rushed back and forth, up and down the stairs, trying to save as many people as he could. Two women – Judy Wein and Ling Young – were two he helped to save. Ms. Wein, an AON employee, was on the 103rd floor and Ms. Young was on the 78th floor in the sky lobby waiting on an express elevator when the plane crashed into the floor she was on. Fire and debris forced her to the floor.
He dropped off the woman some 15 floors later and headed back upstairs, according to Young, saying that more people needed assistance.
When he returned the 78th floor, Wein was waiting in pain, the impact having broken her arm, cracked her ribs and punctured a lung.
He was found on the first floor, along with numerous firefighters, where they had set up a makeshift command center. There was no doubt he was aiding in the rescue effort. He did not suffer any burns, and apparently died instantly from the collapse of the building. His family set up a trust in his name – the Welles R. Crowther Trust.
His friends also set up The Fellowship of the Red Bandanna. This man truly was a hero, and may his legacy live on forever.
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