September 8th, 2021 By Spud

20 rock solid men assembled to follow the man in the red bandana this morning.

 

Mosey to 5/3 parking where we would warm up a 5/3 better. 

 

WARM UP 

 

SSH x20ic

ISTillbillies x15ic

Loose Change x10ic

Arm Circles fwd/bck 

Windmill x5 OYO

 

Mosey to Mugga Flugga for…

 

THE THANG

 

Groups of 3, 1 bottom of hill, 1 top, 1 runner, 110 total reps of each exercise for the 110 flights of stairs to the top of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.  

 

Top – 

Merks

Squats 

Carolina Dry Docks 

 

 

Bottom – 

LBC’s ic

Low Flutters ic

Core Killers ic

 

Repeato til Mary

 

18 burpees, 1 for each person Welles Crowther carried out of the South Tower on 9/11 before the building collapsed on him as he was just shy of the exit. 

 

 

PRAYERS/ANNOUNCEMENTS 

 

Firechicken memorial for dad 

New AO in Mount Pleasant

9/11 anniversary workout Saturday followed by super breakfast

PAX battling COVID 

 

MOLESKIN 

 

With the 20th anniversary of 9/11 coming this weekend I wanted to do something to remind us of the heroism that came from ordinary Americans placed in an extraordinary situation. One story that I’ve always found inspirational is that of Welles Crowther, a 24 year old equities trader working in the South Tower on 9/11. 

 

According to witness accounts, a group was stranded and lost above the sky lobby when the plane hit until a man with a red bandana covering his nose and mouth appeared carrying a woman on his back.  He led them to an exit and calmly guided them to safety.  With the building coming down around him, rather than go with the people he already saved he went back in to save more.  He didn’t have to do that, he was already a hero and could have lived a long life proud of what he had done.  But he wasn’t wired that way.  Something inside him made him have to go back in the face of certain death and save as many people as he could.  His body wouldn’t be found until March of 2002, mere steps from the exit and safety when the tower collapsed.  He was found with a group of fire fighters carrying the Jaws of Life, presumably to lead them back up to the sky lobby to pull out people pinned in the wreckage – heading back into the chaos at its worst moment rather than running to safety.  He called his mother right after the plane hit to let her know he was ok and that was the last she heard of him, never knowing that her son was a hero.  Until she heard witness accounts from survivors on the news of a mysterious “man in the red bandana” who had saved them.  His father gave Welles a red bandana when he was a little kid and he carried it with him every day, everywhere he went – including in his suit pocket that morning when he went to work.  She knew that had to be him so she tracked down the survivors and sent them pictures of Welles.  They all confirmed that it was her son who had saved their lives with no regard for his own safety.  All in they believe he pulled 18 people out of that tower before he died.  In his desk they found an almost completed application to FDNY.

 

A 24 year old equities trader had no idea that morning when he went to work that his moment of truth would come, and when it did he quickly and courageously saved the lives of 18 people who would not be alive today if it weren’t for him.  9/11 was filled with moments of selfless courage like that, both from professionals who didn’t hesitate to run into more than they signed up for and ordinary people like you and me who were placed in an extraordinary circumstance when their moment of truth came.  For weeks following the attack, everyday Americans swarmed into Manhattan to dig people out.  They formed human chains as far as the eye could see to pass survivors and the remains of the fallen away from the wreckage.  Perfect strangers with no ties to the situation dropped everything to work together and help.  That’s what Americans are made of, and that’s who we really are.  Turn off your opinion news networks and remember that. 

 

Your moment of truth may come like this, or it may come in a smaller and less dramatic way.  You may be a passenger on United flight 93 who takes down the plane before it can hit the White House.  Or you may be the person who has a chance to stand up for someone, stand up to someone, or simply encourage someone when they need it. We don’t know when those moments of truth are coming, and we don’t even always know when they’re upon us.  But train your mind, body, and soul to seize that moment when it comes and change the world.  

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