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CNN Live Today
Remembering a Red Bandana
Aired September 10, 2003 - 10:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to continue remembering and celebrating Wells Crowther's life and his sacrifice with those who knew him best, his parents, Allison and Jefferson Crowther are with us this morning from New York City.
Mr. and Mrs. Crowther, thank you for being us.
ALLISON CROWTHER, MOTHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: Thank you for having us.
JEFFERSON CROWTHER, FATHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: Thank you.
KAGAN: There are no words when you watch the story of your son, and the sacrifice and the heroism that exhibited on that day.
And, Mr. Crowther, if I may, you say he on that day, at that moment, he was a firefighter. If I may, I would like to suggest, he was more than that, he was a hero.
J. CROWTHER: Well, he did his duty which was very important. As a firefighter, you're trained to respond appropriately, and he did. He was a firefighter. He was a good one, a little too aggressive sometimes, but that's typical of the younger firefighters, but he was a very proud and capable firefighter, and he did his duty.
KAGAN: And, Mrs. Crowther, when you hear the words of Lynn (ph) Young, just one of the people that you're son saved, the appreciation and the story of how he rose to the occasion, your heart must fill -- it's already broken, but it must fill with such pride of how your son acted on that day.
A. CROWTHER: Yes, we are very proud of Wells. What he did that day absolutely suits his character and his nature. He was a very good soul. He was -- cared for others deeply, and he was fearless, and all of those characteristics came together that day.
KAGAN: You've said the Labor Day before, so just a couple of weeks before this happened, that he had a premonition that something big was coming his way.
A. CROWTHER: Yes, he did. The last weekend he was with us, which was Labor Day weekend, we were getting ready -- I was taking him to the train to go back into the city. He lived in Greenwich Village. And he seemed very contemplative over the weekend. He was very thoughtful. He spent a beautiful time with us, with the family, and some time kind of looking through his albums. He seemed almost a little melancholy to me. And I said, as we were getting ready to go, he turned to me and looked at me and said, mom, I don't know what it is, but I do know this, I know I'm meant to be part of something really, really big.
KAGAN: And how could any of us even know what was to come within the next couple of weeks. I think it's also indicative of the kind of man and son that Wells was, that in the middle of all this, he took time to call you to say that he was OK and leave you a message.
A. CROWTHER: It was a beautiful gift to me and to our family. I will treasure this always, that it was 9:12 when he placed the call, so the plane had hit his tower, he was already engaged in rescue efforts, or to assess the situation, to start mounting rescue efforts high up in the sky lobby, and that he took the time to call me to say he was all right is a gift I will always treasure in my heart.
KAGAN: And at what point did you get that message?
A. CROWTHER: I didn't hear my phone ring, so it wasn't until about 9:30 or so that I started hearing beeps on my cell phone that indicated I had a message, and then that's when I knew, and I heard his voice, and I thought, oh, he is all right, he is all right, and at that point, he still was, he was still alive and functioning and well. It wasn't until -- and I carried that in my heart, too, through that hour that he was still somehow all right, but when we heard the news that the first tower collapsed, then I knew in my heart that he was gone.
KAGAN: And it was on March 19th that his body was found. What's the significance of the 19th, Mr. Crowther?
J. CROWTHER: Wells always wore the number 19 as an athlete, and he considered it his number. He was number 19 as a high school lacrosse and ice hockey player, and he was number 19 at Boston College, his beloved alma mater, where he played varsity at lacrosse there. And Wells, even as his apartment that he had in Greenwich Village was number 19. He always considered it his number.
KAGAN: Absolutely amazing.
J. CROWTHER: So it was no surprise to us that he should be found on the 19th.
KAGAN: Wells had it working even at that point.
J. CROWTHER: That's right.
KAGAN: And -- go ahead.
A. CROWTHER: I'll just add that when we last gathered down at Ground Zero for the one year anniversary of the event, Wells' name was called out at 19 minutes past 9:00 in the morning.
KAGAN: Something that could not be planned, and even if you tried to plan it, it would never work out that way. Taking the spirit of your incredible son and moving forward, what's his legacy, and tell us about the foundation that's been started in his name.
A. CROWTHER: Well, when this happened we right away thought we must preserve Wells' memory somehow, and so established a charitable foundation in his name. It was a dream Wells had had himself. He was planning to become very successful on Wall Street, and when he was, he was going to start a charitable foundation. So we established this for him. It's called the Wells Ark Remy (ph) Crowther Charitable Trust, and people have been very, very generous in donating to the trust. Even complete strangers have sent us donations to the trust, and it's building very nicely. We do make gifts. We've established a scholarship at Nyak (ph) High School that's given out every year to a young man and young woman who represent our son's qualities, and we also give gifts to help organizations and efforts on behalf of young people, whether it be succeeding, achieving high level or for health purposes, this is what we are doing with the foundation.
KAGAN: And, Mr. Crowther, appropriately tell us about the symbolism of red bandana, and how people can find information about that on the Internet.
J. CROWTHER: Well, if you actually just go and say -- type in "the man in the red bandana" on any one of the search engine, you'll come up with pages of information about Wells.
There's also an interesting Web site started by a gentleman down in Florida called red bandanna.organization, and he's dedicated it to Wells' memory, and it's an outreach to help men, a Christian outreach, to help men in this country.
A gentleman by the name of Patrick Moorely (ph) set it up. He called us and asked permission, and we gave it to him most gladly and willingly, and it's lovely. He's taken us the catch phrase for this organization -- well, he calls it "The Fellowship of the Red Bandana," and it's looking for people -- looking men to go up while others are coming down, and the catch phrase is, "follow me, I know the way."
KAGAN: Wow.
J. CROWTHER: It's quite beautiful.
KAGAN: Go ahead, I'm sorry.
A. CROWTHER: He considers Wells' story a parable, and he's spreading the word, which say very beautiful thing us to.
KAGAN: On top of everything, I think it humbles all of us and inspires us to hear your son's story.
What -- if you don't mind sharing, what will you be doing tomorrow.
J. CROWTHER: Well, we're going to be up in Boston at Boston College. They are dedicating a memorial to all of their alumni who perished on 9/11, and they have invited us to come up, and Wells truly loved Boston College, I have to tell you, and it's only fitting that we be there for him.
KAGAN: We wish you well on that journey. Our thoughts will be with you on that day, and I can only thank you so much for coming on with us today and helping us to know your son just a little bit better.
A. CROWTHER: Thank you.
KAGAN: As I said, a true inspiration. Allison and Jefferson Crowther, the parents of Wells Crowther, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 10, 2003 - 10:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to continue remembering and celebrating Wells Crowther's life and his sacrifice with those who knew him best, his parents, Allison and Jefferson Crowther are with us this morning from New York City.
Mr. and Mrs. Crowther, thank you for being us.
ALLISON CROWTHER, MOTHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: Thank you for having us.
JEFFERSON CROWTHER, FATHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: Thank you.
KAGAN: There are no words when you watch the story of your son, and the sacrifice and the heroism that exhibited on that day.
And, Mr. Crowther, if I may, you say he on that day, at that moment, he was a firefighter. If I may, I would like to suggest, he was more than that, he was a hero.
J. CROWTHER: Well, he did his duty which was very important. As a firefighter, you're trained to respond appropriately, and he did. He was a firefighter. He was a good one, a little too aggressive sometimes, but that's typical of the younger firefighters, but he was a very proud and capable firefighter, and he did his duty.
KAGAN: And, Mrs. Crowther, when you hear the words of Lynn (ph) Young, just one of the people that you're son saved, the appreciation and the story of how he rose to the occasion, your heart must fill -- it's already broken, but it must fill with such pride of how your son acted on that day.
A. CROWTHER: Yes, we are very proud of Wells. What he did that day absolutely suits his character and his nature. He was a very good soul. He was -- cared for others deeply, and he was fearless, and all of those characteristics came together that day.
KAGAN: You've said the Labor Day before, so just a couple of weeks before this happened, that he had a premonition that something big was coming his way.
A. CROWTHER: Yes, he did. The last weekend he was with us, which was Labor Day weekend, we were getting ready -- I was taking him to the train to go back into the city. He lived in Greenwich Village. And he seemed very contemplative over the weekend. He was very thoughtful. He spent a beautiful time with us, with the family, and some time kind of looking through his albums. He seemed almost a little melancholy to me. And I said, as we were getting ready to go, he turned to me and looked at me and said, mom, I don't know what it is, but I do know this, I know I'm meant to be part of something really, really big.
KAGAN: And how could any of us even know what was to come within the next couple of weeks. I think it's also indicative of the kind of man and son that Wells was, that in the middle of all this, he took time to call you to say that he was OK and leave you a message.
A. CROWTHER: It was a beautiful gift to me and to our family. I will treasure this always, that it was 9:12 when he placed the call, so the plane had hit his tower, he was already engaged in rescue efforts, or to assess the situation, to start mounting rescue efforts high up in the sky lobby, and that he took the time to call me to say he was all right is a gift I will always treasure in my heart.
KAGAN: And at what point did you get that message?
A. CROWTHER: I didn't hear my phone ring, so it wasn't until about 9:30 or so that I started hearing beeps on my cell phone that indicated I had a message, and then that's when I knew, and I heard his voice, and I thought, oh, he is all right, he is all right, and at that point, he still was, he was still alive and functioning and well. It wasn't until -- and I carried that in my heart, too, through that hour that he was still somehow all right, but when we heard the news that the first tower collapsed, then I knew in my heart that he was gone.
KAGAN: And it was on March 19th that his body was found. What's the significance of the 19th, Mr. Crowther?
J. CROWTHER: Wells always wore the number 19 as an athlete, and he considered it his number. He was number 19 as a high school lacrosse and ice hockey player, and he was number 19 at Boston College, his beloved alma mater, where he played varsity at lacrosse there. And Wells, even as his apartment that he had in Greenwich Village was number 19. He always considered it his number.
KAGAN: Absolutely amazing.
J. CROWTHER: So it was no surprise to us that he should be found on the 19th.
KAGAN: Wells had it working even at that point.
J. CROWTHER: That's right.
KAGAN: And -- go ahead.
A. CROWTHER: I'll just add that when we last gathered down at Ground Zero for the one year anniversary of the event, Wells' name was called out at 19 minutes past 9:00 in the morning.
KAGAN: Something that could not be planned, and even if you tried to plan it, it would never work out that way. Taking the spirit of your incredible son and moving forward, what's his legacy, and tell us about the foundation that's been started in his name.
A. CROWTHER: Well, when this happened we right away thought we must preserve Wells' memory somehow, and so established a charitable foundation in his name. It was a dream Wells had had himself. He was planning to become very successful on Wall Street, and when he was, he was going to start a charitable foundation. So we established this for him. It's called the Wells Ark Remy (ph) Crowther Charitable Trust, and people have been very, very generous in donating to the trust. Even complete strangers have sent us donations to the trust, and it's building very nicely. We do make gifts. We've established a scholarship at Nyak (ph) High School that's given out every year to a young man and young woman who represent our son's qualities, and we also give gifts to help organizations and efforts on behalf of young people, whether it be succeeding, achieving high level or for health purposes, this is what we are doing with the foundation.
KAGAN: And, Mr. Crowther, appropriately tell us about the symbolism of red bandana, and how people can find information about that on the Internet.
J. CROWTHER: Well, if you actually just go and say -- type in "the man in the red bandana" on any one of the search engine, you'll come up with pages of information about Wells.
There's also an interesting Web site started by a gentleman down in Florida called red bandanna.organization, and he's dedicated it to Wells' memory, and it's an outreach to help men, a Christian outreach, to help men in this country.
A gentleman by the name of Patrick Moorely (ph) set it up. He called us and asked permission, and we gave it to him most gladly and willingly, and it's lovely. He's taken us the catch phrase for this organization -- well, he calls it "The Fellowship of the Red Bandana," and it's looking for people -- looking men to go up while others are coming down, and the catch phrase is, "follow me, I know the way."
KAGAN: Wow.
J. CROWTHER: It's quite beautiful.
KAGAN: Go ahead, I'm sorry.
A. CROWTHER: He considers Wells' story a parable, and he's spreading the word, which say very beautiful thing us to.
KAGAN: On top of everything, I think it humbles all of us and inspires us to hear your son's story.
What -- if you don't mind sharing, what will you be doing tomorrow.
J. CROWTHER: Well, we're going to be up in Boston at Boston College. They are dedicating a memorial to all of their alumni who perished on 9/11, and they have invited us to come up, and Wells truly loved Boston College, I have to tell you, and it's only fitting that we be there for him.
KAGAN: We wish you well on that journey. Our thoughts will be with you on that day, and I can only thank you so much for coming on with us today and helping us to know your son just a little bit better.
A. CROWTHER: Thank you.
KAGAN: As I said, a true inspiration. Allison and Jefferson Crowther, the parents of Wells Crowther, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
