‘Man in Red Bandana’ documentary honors 9/11 hero Welles Crowther

‘Man in Red Bandana’ writer and director Matthew Weiss sat down with Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous to discuss his documentary as well as the impact and legacy of Welles Remy Crowther’s heroic behavior on September 11th, as the 20th anniversary of the attacks on the Twin Towers approaches.

Video Transcript

MATTHEW WEISS: i never made a film before. I never read a book on filmmaking. I actually never took a class in filmmaking or had bucket list dream of making a film. But I went to lunch with my banker Jeff Crowther and I just started using his bank for my law firm. And over lunch he told me the story about his son Welles and I was just blown away.

I literally thought it was one of the most amazing stories I'd ever heard. And the quick succession I said to myself, everyone needs to hear the story, I want to share the story with everyone. So while there are filmmakers that look for stories, this was a story that found the filmmaker.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Let's talk more about Welles and what a special, special man he was. For those who are not familiar or who have not seen the film, he had multiple times where he could have gotten out and saved himself but he went back in. And that was not his job that day.

He was not a firefighter, although I understand he has been-- he's one of the few to be posthumously given the honorable firefighter title. Something that he wanted to do at some point in his life was to become a firefighter. But tell people about Welles and what he did that day.

MATTHEW WEISS: So Welles was 24. He worked on 104 floor of the South Tower. He was an equities trader for a company called Sandler O'Neill and Partners.

And after the first building got hit which was the North Tower he called his college roommate and told him he was going to get out. And then his building got struck minutes later. And so he left a voicemail for his mom and he said that he was OK. And that was the last that they heard from him.

And so eight months passed where they had a memorial service. And then they located his body in the lobby and then they had a private funeral service. And then in May of 2002, so now we're eight months past 9/11 there was a "New York Times" article with survivors and what they saw and how they got out.

And Alison-- who never gave up looking for her son, anything, any information about him-- read this article and then there were two women who both said that they were led up and out by a man who had a red bandanna over his face. And as soon as she read that she knew that was Welles because he always carried a red bandanna. It was a habit got into. His friends would tease him about it.

But he had it. He played lacrosse he had it under his helmet. He used it to wipe up spills. And it was just his little thing that he had.

And so she sent photos to both the women Ling Young and Judy Wein who positively IDed Welles as the man that saved them both. And then met with these women and through their accounts the Crowthers were able to piece together the last hour of their son's life, his finest hour. He put out fires on the 70th floor, which was the sky lobby where the United Airlines plane struck. He extricated people that were trapped.

And then he led a group down from 78 to 61 carrying a woman on his shoulders. He left that group in clean air and safety and went back up, led another group down went about five flights, went back up a third time and led yet others out. In my research, I have found, I believe, 10 people that he saved on that day, 10 people who were in the upper reaches who were at or above where the plane hit so statistically were likely to die. Only 18 people survived at or above where the plane struck the South Tower. And Welles saved at least 10 of those 18 people.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: It's absolutely incredible the selflessness that was on display that day. And I know that Welles unfortunately was in the lobby of the South Tower when the building collapsed and he did not survive. And that red bandanna that you speak of, I know is on display, I've seen it at the 9/11 Museum. What do you believe is Welles legacy?

MATTHEW WEISS: Well, so you mentioned the lobby which is important. His body was found in the lobby and his family and friends were frustrated like, why didn't he get out? He was only a few feet from safety, a few hundred feet.

And then they found out he was with a group of firefighters that had just called in that they were going up 78 with the jaws of life to help people up there. So they realized very quickly that Welles was actually going back up for a time with this firefighter group to help other people. So he certainly could have saved himself that day and he chose to give his life to help others. And that's why he was bestowed the honor of being a New York City Honorary Firefighter.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: And what do you believe should be his legacy when people think of and hear the name Welles Crowther?

MATTHEW WEISS: I think someone who's selflessness, caring, heroic, courageous. Those are the values that Welles personifies. I made my film and I was passionate sharing the story because I wanted to encourage others to just think a little bit less about themselves, a little bit more about others.

It could be as simple as giving up your seat on the subway or bus or holding a door open for someone who's coming in the same building as you. Just doing little acts of kindness. And there's all ways that we can improve ourselves. And I felt Welles' story was such a strong example of that.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: For sure. Are there other ways in addition to this film that you've made that you are helping to keep his memory and legacy alive and what happened on that day 20 years ago?

MATTHEW WEISS: Yeah, I'm always sharing Welles' story. I'm speaking tonight in Chicago about Welles. And I'm speaking in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday night about Welles.

I continued to maintain my Facebook page. We have like 15,000 fans, followers that get updated about things, you know, there's different events where people honor Welles and we post photos of that. And I feel like I'll be spending the rest of my life sharing Welles' a story and his values to as many people that are listen.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: You never met, obviously, Welles Crowther is yet he has become a pretty big part of your life, Matt. If you were able to say something to him, what would it be?

MATTHEW WEISS: I love you.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Yeah.

MATTHEW WEISS: Just it. Incredible. He was, you know, captain of his hockey team, always thought of others first. This was not surprising to his friends and family when they found out what he did that day.

Needless to say, what, I think, is truly amazing about the story is that a piece of fabric, this bandanna, changed the perspective on his family and friends feelings about the loss. Obviously, it didn't take away their pain but it allowed them to manage their pain, give them some direction, and some pride in the fact that he had free will. That he used his last hour in a selfless manner. He was courageous.

And certainly when you lose someone and you don't know what happened and then you find out these amazing qualities that he displayed this last hour, it certainly shifts your perspective. And all eight months after the fact. So I just think it's just an incredible story on many accounts.