WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Tuesday remembered the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks ahead of the 25th anniversary on Friday, and presented a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, who saved 18 lives in the South Tower.

The president and Tunnel to Towers hosted the event on the Ellipse, where the president honored the 2,977 victims killed in New York City, the Pentagon, and aboard United Airlines Flight 93.

“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,” Trump said. “All of these years later, we gather on another Tuesday morning in September to reaffirm the sacred vow we made a quarter of a century ago: We will never forget.”

A beam from the south tower of the World Trade Center, weighing 16,000 pounds and spanning 21 feet, was on display at the Ellipse. The beam was part of a multi-city tour before Tuesday’s solemn event in the nation’s capital. 

“The 16,000-pound beam lifted from the ruins of the South Tower will forever testify to the courage and resilience and spirit of a city and a nation that saw our homeland struck, our towers knocked down, and stood back up stronger, more determined, and more united than ever before,” the president said. 

Toward the end of the memorial, the president presented Crowther’s mother and sister with his Presidential Medal of Freedom after sharing the account of Crowther’s heroism in helping to rescue others from the South Tower. 

After the tower was struck, Crowther, an equities trader and volunteer firefighter, found a surviving staircase through which he could exit from the 104th floor, where his office was. He helped multiple groups of people on the 78th floor escape the building. In all, he rescued 18 others out of the tower before it collapsed, 56 minutes after it was struck.

 “He willingly made all of these trips up and down, up and down, up and down, over and over again, saving life after life…Welles saved many, many people before losing his own life in the South Tower lobby when the building came down,” Trump said. 

“Today, in honor of his incredible bravery and all of the other countless unknown acts of heroism that day, it is my privilege to award the—very special, the highest honor that we give, highest civilian honor—the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” he added. 

Welles’s mother, Alison, thanked Trump “for the enormous honor.” 

“That Welles’s light still shines brilliantly today, even after 25 years, is testament to his legacy of courage, compassion, and love for humanity that continues to inspire and uplift others,” she said. 

“Welles, however, would not have been able to do what he did as effectively on 9/11 if it had not been for the training and experience he gained as a member of Empire Hook and Ladder Company #1 of Upper NIAC. Empire is a volunteer company, and the members are fully trained firefighters,” she said.