The Red Bandanna

A New York Times bestseller What would you do in the last hour of your life? The story of Welles Crowther,whose actions on 9/11 offer a lasting lesson on charactercalling and courage One Sunday morning before churchwhen Welles Crowther was a young boyhis father gave him a red handkerchief for his back pocket. Welles kept it with him that dayand just about every day to come; it became a fixture and his signature. A standout athlete growing up in Upper NyackNYWelles was also a volunteer at the local fire departmentalong with his father. He cherished the necessity and the camaraderiethe meaning of the role. Fresh from collegehe took a Wall Street job on the 104th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Centerbut the dream of becoming a firefighter with the FDNY remained. When the Twin Towers fellWellesΓÇÖs parents had no idea what happened to him. In the unbearable days that followedthey came to accept that he would never come home. But the mystery of his final hours persisted. Eight months after the attackshoweverWellesΓÇÖs mother read a news account from several survivorsbadly hurt on the 78th floor of the South Towerwho said they and others had been led to safety by a strangercarrying a woman on his backdown nearly twenty flights of stairs. After leading them downthe young man turned around. ΓÇ£IΓÇÖm going back upΓÇ¥ was all he said. The survivors didnΓÇÖt know his namebut despite the smoke and panicone of them remembered a single detail clearly: the man was wearing a red bandanna. Tom RinaldiΓÇÖs The Red Bandanna is about a fearless choiceabout a crucible of terror and the indomitable spirit to answer it. Examining one decision in the gravest situationit celebrates the difference one life can make.