Looking back at 9/11 after 20 years, members of the Shelter Island School community read and discuss “The Red Bandana” by Tom Rinaldi.
It tells the story of 24-year-old Welles Crowther, working on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center South Tower as an equities trader. [You can reserve a copy of the book via Live-brary, a program of the Public Libraries of Suffolk County.]
A volunteer firefighter in his small Hudson River hometown of Nyack, Crowther made it down to the 78th-floor sky lobby. He found a group of survivors, including some unable to walk because of their injuries. Carrying one woman and exhorting others to follow, he led them down 17 flights of stairs to a working elevator and path to safety before heading back up to assist others.
Crowther is credited with saving 18 lives. Survivors did not know his name but described the red bandana that he wore across his face against the smoke and dust. It had been a gift from his father and enabled his parents to know that their beloved child had applied himself in the service of others in the last moments of his brief life.
Crowther’s mother says she hopes the red bandana symbolizes “how people helped each other that day and that they’ll be inspired to do the same, in ways both big and small.”
Shelter Island High School students will take part in an assembly on Friday with a panel of speakers, each of whom brings to the discussion a unique perspective on 9/11. Strange as it seems to be teaching 9/11 as history, we are so glad to be part of a community where the spirit of volunteerism and public service remains strong. And where kids learn — like Welles Crowther did — that it’s important to help one another.
As in past years, the volunteer Shelter Island Fire Department will hold a 9/11 remembrance at the Center Firehouse at 8:45 AM on Saturday to honor those who died in the attacks of September 11, 2001. All are welcome to attend.
