Five days before the 25th anniversary of the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, WQPT Quad Cities PBS will show four 9/11 documentaries, Sunday night, Sept. 6.
Starting at 8 p.m. Sunday and shown back to back, they are:
- “Man in the Red Bandana” -- The inspirational story of a 9/11 American hero — Welles Remy Crowther. The young man worked on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center South Tower and saved at least 10 people on Sept. 11, 2001. Tragically, Crowther died that day (at age 24), but his heroics became known eight months later as a result of an ordinary item — a red bandana. Narrated by Gwyneth Paltrow.
- “9/11: Inside the Pentagon” – Many people have seen the Twin Towers fall in a series of powerful documentaries and TV shows. Movies have expertly rendered the courage of first responders and the passenger takeover on United Flight 93. But, in the smoke of 9/11, one story still remains largely overlooked: the attack on the Pentagon, which killed 184 people.
- “Surviving 9/11: Where We Stand” -- Through the powerful, intimate voices of survivors, first responders and a new generation shaped by that day’s legacy, this film explores how trauma, resilience and memory continue to shape our individual and collective identities.
- “Leaning Out” – Leslie Robertson (1928-2021), lead structural engineer of the World Trade Center, oversaw the construction of the world’s tallest towers, haunted by their fall ever since. Families of 9/11 victims demand answers. This unique bond with humanity solidifies his place in American history.
WQPT general manager Dawn Schmitt said recently that the public TV station usually airs something related to 9/11 around the anniversary, but this is a special year, and programmers recommended three fairly new docs (the one on the Pentagon is the exception).
She lives in Geneseo, and had recently given birth to her son Augustus at the time of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 (which killed 2,977 people, including 343 firefighters, plus the 19 hijackers who carried out the attacks). He was born in June 2001.
“I remember it very well. I was a new mom. I just had my second baby,” Schmitt recalled. “I had gotten ready for work and I was on my way to work at NorthPark Mall in Davenport.”
“I was driving into work and listening to the radio, but it was also very confusing, you know,” she said, noting the mall didn’t have TVs on. “We're still listening to the radio. And they closed the mall, and so we were all sent home.”
“I was just seeing the replays of the plane hitting the tower,” she said. “Then shortly after I got home is when the first tower fell. It was just shocking.”
Her 25-year-old son (one of four kids) is now a new producer at WQAD-TV, Moline, after having worked a couple years for a radio station in International Falls, Minn.
“He always volunteered for WQPT, for many, many years,” Schmitt said. “He helped out at Imagination Station and our Summer Learning Adventure. So he volunteered with us for a long time and with the sports media, so he might have gotten the bug from me.”
Like her former WQPT colleague Lora Adams (who’s directing the 9/11-related musical, “Come From Away” at Moline’s Black Box Theatre), Schmitt noted: “There are so many special stories from that time, that deserve to be told and remembered.”
“Just like how our parents remember where they were when President Kennedy was shot, this is going to be a time in history where everyone's going to remember where they were when it happened,” she said of Sept. 11. “Or when they heard about it first. I think it's just incredibly important because this is a profound event that just defined a generation of people.
“It's so important to remember the courage and the dedication and the sacrifice that was made. And it really shows what the human spirit is able to accomplish,” Schmitt said.
“Come From Away” (now playing at Black Box through Sept. 12) is a 2017 musical that tells the true story of the Newfoundland town of Gander during the week following the September 11 attacks, when 38 planes, carrying approximately 7,000 passengers, were ordered to land unexpectedly at Gander International Airport. The characters in the musical are based on actual Gander residents and the stranded travelers they housed and fed.
Schmitt recalled at that time, her parents were traveling.
“It was so confusing what was going on. But it was scary too for me because my parents were actually over in Israel at the time, and they were supposed to be in Jerusalem that day,” she said. “They were in Jerusalem that day. So it's just so many different emotions. And it was a crazy, crazy week.”
While her parents couldn’t fly home until a week later, she doesn’t remember how long the mall was closed.
“People were still like, when the mall did open, I do remember this, people weren't shopping,” Schmitt said. “There were people at the mall, but they were just there to talk, you know. I don't remember a whole lot of business at that time. It was more people just trying to process.”
For WQPT, she’s glad there are so many shows to choose from, to reflect the variety of stories of 9/11.
“It's wonderful, all the new films that were available to us, people who have really put these stories together of the impact,” Schmitt said.
On May 17, the “Man in the Red Bandana” Facebook page noted that Welles would have turned 49 then.
“On September 11, 2001, Welles did what heroes do. He put others before himself,” the page said. “He found people trapped in the South Tower, led them to safety, and then went back up to help more. Again and again. “Because of his courage, calmness, and selflessness, at least, 10 people were saved by him. “But Welles’ story is not only about how he died.
"It is about how he lived — with character, service, humility, faith, and love. He was the kind, giving of person who did the right thing when it mattered most.”
He will be posthumously honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, at a date to be announced.
“It’s the stories of helping out neighbors and supporting neighbors and like with Lora’s show ‘Come From Away,’ I mean, that's a great example of how a town came together, to support people who were in need,” Schmitt said.
For more information on WQPT, click HERE.
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