Trump awards Medal of Freedom to 9/11's 'man in the red bandana' as anniversary observances split across two cities

President Trump on Tuesday posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to Welles Crowther, the 24-year-old equities trader who became known as "the man in the red bandana" for leading at least 18 people to safety from the burning South Tower of the World Trade Center before he was killed in its collapse. The ceremony, held on the Ellipse near the White House two days before the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks, is one of the highest-profile events in a week of commemorations that will split across two cities: Trump plans to mark the anniversary itself at the Pentagon, while four former presidents and the sitting vice president are set to gather at Ground Zero in New York.

Crowther's mother, Alison Crowther, and his sister, Paige Crowther Charbonneau, accepted the medal on his behalf. The event, organized with the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, featured a 21-foot, nearly 17,000-pound steel beam recovered from the South Tower that has traveled the country this year as part of a "Steel Across America" tour, according to the White House's account of the tribute. Trump also announced that the Coast Guard will commission a new Fast Response Cutter named for Jeffrey Palazzo, an FDNY firefighter and Coast Guard reservist who died on September 11 while responding with Staten Island's Rescue Squad 5, a vessel the service says will be based in Guam after taking delivery of the cutter earlier this year.

The numbers

The formal anniversary ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial in lower Manhattan begins at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. Family members will read aloud the names of the 2,983 people killed in the 2001 attacks and in the February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, according to the memorial's own plans for the 25th anniversary published by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The program will include seven moments of silence, one more than in past years, marking the moments each tower was struck and fell, the time of the Pentagon attack, the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, and, for the first time as a closing moment, a silence dedicated to those who have died of illnesses linked to their exposure at Ground Zero. The memorial plaza opens to victims' family members at 7 a.m. and is closed to the general public during the ceremony, reopening later that afternoon.

Crowther is credited with saving at least 18 people from the 78th floor of the South Tower, where he had worked as an equities trader for Sandler O'Neill & Partners, before he died in the building's collapse at age 24. He is one of a small number of civilians to receive the Medal of Freedom for actions taken during the attacks.

How we got here

Crowther grew up in Nyack, New York, and graduated from Boston College in 1999. He had trained as a volunteer firefighter with the Empire Hook and Ladder Company in Nyack, experience his mother has said prepared him to act on September 11. After United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower, Crowther called his mother from his office to tell her he was safe, then is believed to have spent his final hour leading trapped survivors down smoke-filled stairwells, using a red bandana he carried to filter the air, according to accounts compiled by the Boston Globe and other outlets that have traced his final movements through survivor testimony. His story became one of the most widely told acts of individual heroism from the attacks, the subject of a Boston College tribute and years of advocacy by lawmakers seeking formal recognition.

Representative Mike Lawler of New York, whose district includes Nyack, had pressed for the honor for several years and separately introduced legislation to award Crowther a Congressional Gold Medal, which Lawler's office said this week would build on the momentum created by the Medal of Freedom announcement.

The Tuesday ceremony came amid a broader dispute over how this year's anniversary would be marked. Trump had originally considered traveling to Ground Zero, but decided instead to mark the day at the Pentagon after organizers of the New York ceremony, which has not permitted political speeches since 2012, would not allow him to deliver remarks there. The White House disputed characterizations of the decision as a snub, with a spokeswoman saying Trump would use the day to honor those killed "at the hands of evil terrorists." Vice President JD Vance will represent the administration at Ground Zero, where he is expected to appear alongside all four living former presidents — Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — along with Jill Biden, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton, according to reporting on the planned attendance. It will mark the first time Trump has not attended the New York ceremony on a milestone anniversary since returning to office.

Who is affected

The commemorations touch the families of the nearly 3,000 victims named in Friday's reading, surviving first responders, and veterans of the wars that followed the attacks, many of whom travel to lower Manhattan each year to read names at the plaza. They also reach the first-responder community directly: Palazzo was one of 11 members of Rescue Squad 5 killed on September 11, and the Coast Guard says the cutter bearing his name will carry his story to a new generation of servicemembers. Crowther's family, still based in the Nyack area, has spent 25 years building his legacy through a foundation in his name that funds red-bandana-branded leadership and service programs for students, a mission the family has said the medal now amplifies nationally.

Reaction

"This means the world to me, my daughters, Paige and Honor, and our entire family. This will be treasured for generations to come." — Alison Crowther, Welles Crowther's mother, after accepting the Medal of Freedom on her son's behalf.

Representative Lawler said in a statement that "Welles' story has become part of our nation's conscience, reminding us that in our darkest moments, extraordinary courage can emerge." His office said the pending Gold Medal bill, H.R. 5519, has drawn support from the Welles Remy Crowther Trust, the Problem Solvers Caucus, America250 and the nonprofit 9/11 Day. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum has said its 2026 programming, including a new exhibition titled "In Their Honor: 25 Years of 9/11-Inspired Service" opening the day after the anniversary, is built around examining how individuals turned personal loss into public service, a framing that mirrors the account family members and lawmakers have given of Crowther's legacy. A separate account of Tuesday's ceremony traced how the red-bandana detail that gave Crowther his nickname first became public, through a colleague's recollection in the days after the attacks.

What happens next

Friday's ceremony at the memorial plaza will be streamed publicly, and the museum plans to reopen to visitors that afternoon once the private observance concludes. ABC News has said its anchors will host a live broadcast from lower Manhattan that evening tied to the annual Tribute in Light installation. The Coast Guard cutter bearing Palazzo's name is expected to be commissioned in New York before deploying to Guam later this year. Lawler's Gold Medal legislation for Crowther remains pending in Congress, where supporters say this week's Medal of Freedom ceremony has renewed momentum for a vote. Family members of both Crowther and Palazzo are expected to take part in Friday's anniversary events in New York.