His parents did not learn what their son had done until eight months after he died, when a newspaper account matched a stranger's description to a red bandana he had carried since he was six.

Welles Crowther worked as an equities trader on the 104th floor of the South Tower, a desk job he had told his father he could not imagine doing much longer. He had been a junior firefighter since sixteen, trained at the same Nyack station his father served. He tied a red bandana over his mouth, found a stairwell still clear of debris, and carried a wounded woman down fifteen flights on his back. Then, he led another group to the stairs, told them he would lead them to safety, then turned around and climbed back up. He made that trip three times before the tower came down around him.