Today, President Donald J. Trump stood with first responders, Gold Star families, and the Tunnel to Towers Foundation to honor the Americans who ran toward the fire on September 11, 2001. At his side was a 21-foot steel beam recovered from the wreckage of the South Tower — carried more than 10,500 miles on Tunnel to Towers’ Steel Across America tour as a living reminder of the courage that rose from the ruins and our duty to Never Forget.
President Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, the 24-year-old equities trader remembered as the “Man in the Red Bandana”: “After the plane hit the South Tower, a group of people on the 78th floor were trapped with broken bones, charred skin and eyes, and lungs filled with black smoke. Death was all about them; it was certain. They were sure they were going to die. Then suddenly, a rescuer appeared. They call him the ‘Man in the Red Bandana.
’” ( Watch ) Welles’s mother, Alison, and sister, Paige, accepted the Medal on his behalf: “This means the world to me, my daughters, Paige and Honor, and our entire family. This will be treasured for generations to come. ” ( Watch ) President Trump announced that the U. S.
Coast Guard will commission a new Fast Response Cutter in memory of FDNY firefighter and Coast Guard reservist Jeffrey Palazzo — one of the 343 firefighters killed on 9/11: “Before September 11, he had already saved many lives… Him and the other members of Rescue Squad 5 died at the World Trade Center while fighting to rescue fellow New Yorkers. ” ( Watch ) “On 9/11, nearly 3,000 precious souls were stolen from us — killed by evil terrorists at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on Flight 93. All…