Hero in the Ashes

Today is the sixteenth anniversary of a huge attack on America...when three planes crashed into the pentagon and two towers called the World Trade Center. A fourth plane crashed in an empty field on the way to probably hitting the capitol building.

On the anniversary of this day, we hear lots of horror stories. We see pictures like the ones I'll post below of people running from exploding buildings. We see smoke and flames and death. We hear hints of heroism in the mention of the firemen and police who rescued people even as the building fell.

I like stories of ordinary people who became heroes in times of crisis like this. This morning I googled "hero stories from 9/11" and found an article on Business Insider about 7 heroic stories from 9/11. This story of Welles Crowther caught my eye. After reading several articles on the story, I decided to share it here.

Welles Crowther was a 24-year-old young man who worked on the 104th floor of the south tower. Just moments after the plane hit the building, he called his mother to tell her he was okay. He then proceeded to help as many people as he could get out of the building. At one point, he carried an injured woman down 17 flights of stairs, only to return to the 78th floor to help more people leave. He wore a red bandana over his face, and most of the people he rescued didn't know his name. He died alongside many firefighters as he rushed back into the building as it collapsed.

There was no reason for Crowther to keep going back into the building. From a human perspective, he had every right to get himself out and run for home. But instead, he gave his life for people he didn't know, working to the end to get as many people to safety as he could.


Here are some pictures from the horrific day:

Here is a picture captured as the second plane heads
 towards the second building. Source 

The Second tower explodes in flame source

Taken as the buildings collapsed, scattering debris everywhere source

Running from the debris source

the smoke and debris source

Welles Crowther source

Sources:
http://aplus.com/a/5-heroes-who-gave-everything-on-9-11?no_monetization=true
http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/09/11/september-11-man-red-bandanna
http://www.businessinsider.com/7-incredible-stories-of-heroism-on-911-2015-9