Welles Crowther began carrying a red bandana when he was 6 years old. It soon became his signature, and a link between father (who always carried a blue one) and son. When Welles turned 16, he signed up as a junior firefighter at the local fire station - Empire Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1. On September 11, 2001, Welles was working as an equities trader on the 104th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. When disaster struck, he took off his figurative equities trader "hat" and put on his fireman's hardhat. He navigated the stairs of the building 3 times to lead people down to safety before he was killed when the tower collapsed. Welles saved the lives of 12 people that day who will always remember the man in the red bandana.