Remembering Rick Rescorla: a hero on 9/11

As smoke rose from tower one, someone from the Port Authority ordered Rescorla to keep his people at their desks. He replied, “Piss off. Everything above where that plane hit is going to collapse, and it's going to take the whole building with it. I'm getting my people out of here!”

Rescorla ordered an immediate evacuation, saving more than 2,700 people before the second plane plowed into tower two.

Rick Rescorla was born in Cornwall, England, in 1939. After service in the British armed forces, he earned a commission as an officer in the U.S. Army. Rescorla volunteered to fight in Vietnam. He fought with the 7th Cavalry Regiment (Airmobile) in the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang. He was the gritty soldier pictured on the cover of “We Were Soldiers Once ... And Young.” Co-author Lt. Gen. Harold Moore described him as “the best platoon leader I ever saw.” Rescorla’s men called him “Hard Core” for his extraordinary courage in battle.

The History Channel has a chilling documentary about Rescorla called “The Man Who Predicted 9/11.” It tells how in 1992, Rescorla warned the Port Authority about the possibility of a truck bomb attack in the unguarded basement of the World Trade Center. He was ignored. When terrorists tried to bring down the Twin Towers with a truck bomb in 1993, Rescorla took charge of the evacuation and was the last man out.

Rescorla then warned Morgan Stanley that the terrorists would return to finish the job — next time with aircraft. He said they should move their corporate headquarters to a safer location in New Jersey. The company’s lease in Manhattan did not end until 2006, and they failed to heed his warning.

Rescorla did the next best thing: He prepared for another attack. At his insistence, all employees, including senior executives, participated in full-blown, no-notice emergency evacuation drills every three months. High-powered stock brokers complained about being yanked away from their million-dollar deals to trudge down 40 stories. But it all paid off on 9/11.

At 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 struck tower one. Rescorla sprang into action and had most of Morgan Stanley’s 2,700 employees and hundreds of visitors safely out of the building before United Airlines Flight 175 hit tower two at 9:02 a.m.

Rescorla loved his adopted county. As thousands marched down to safety, he sang “God Bless America” over a bullhorn and encouraged everyone to “be proud to be an American.” The last voice many heard as they descended from tower two was Rescorla singing his version of the song from the movie “Zulu”:

“Men of Cornwall stand ye steady; It cannot be ever said ye for the battle were not ready; Stand and never yield!”

A Morgan Stanley director told Rescorla he had to get out, too.

“As soon as I make sure everyone else is out,” Rescorla said.

In his last call to his wife, Susan, Rescorla said, "Stop crying, I have to get these people out safely. If something should happen to me, I want you to know I've never been happier. You made my life."

Rescorla was last seen heading back up to rescue stragglers. His remains have never been recovered.

In the years since 9/11, neither Congress nor any president has ever paid formal tribute to Rescorla's heroism. So in 2009, America’s Medal of Honor holders awarded Rescorla their Above & Beyond Citizen Medal. In their words, “Inside of us all, a hero lies. For some, it rises up and shows itself through an extraordinary act of courage and selflessness. On the battlefields of their everyday lives, these incredible individuals are moved to act. And so they go willingly, selflessly, courageously — above and beyond.”

I first read the amazing story of Rick Rescorla in “Heart of a Soldier” by James B. Stewart (Simon & Schuster, 2002). The San Francisco Opera has transformed Stewart’s book into an opera, which will premiere on Sept. 10, 2011, the eve of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Imagine the pride that Susan Rescorla will experience as the music rises higher, ever higher with each crescendo, soaring up to the ultimate triumph of love, courage and devotion that Rick Rescorla achieved in his life on 9/11.

Mike Giorgino is a retired Navy Commander and a Gulf War veteran. He practices law in San Diego. He may be contacted at mgiorgino@aol.com.

1 posted on 09/10/2011 11:52:35 AM PDT by mgiorgino

Nice article.
I recently read “Heart of a Soldier”; it’s an excellent book, and I recommend it highly.

2 posted on 09/10/2011 11:57:22 AM PDT by Radagast the Fool ("Mexico-Beirut with tacos!"--Dr. Zoidberg)

>>In his last call to his wife, Susan, Rescorla said, “Stop crying, I have to get these people out safely. If something should happen to me, I want you to know I’ve never been happier. You made my life.”<<

If those were my last words I would know my life had meaning and there was ultimate dignity in my passing.

God bless you (as He no doubt has already done so) Mr. Rescorla. And the hundreds of Rick Rescorlas on that awful day.

3 posted on 09/10/2011 11:59:45 AM PDT by freedumb2003 (California: Making Texas more Conservative one voter at a time)

To: ALOHA RONNIE

4 posted on 09/10/2011 12:10:09 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)

To: freedumb2003

There can never be words said sufficiently powerful to express the essence of this intelligent resourceful man who answered his calling. He saved many lives. My co-workers. Semper Fidelis, lest we ever forget!

5 posted on 09/10/2011 12:18:28 PM PDT by Broker (Fighting time has come.)

Some say this man was found as high as the 71st floor before the tower fell. He was singing songs (this reminds me of the band that was playing as the Titanic went down) as he led people to safety.

6 posted on 09/10/2011 12:23:58 PM PDT by Siena Dreaming

7 posted on 09/10/2011 12:28:34 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.)

8 posted on 09/10/2011 12:28:53 PM PDT by skeeter

To: ALOHA RONNIE

9 posted on 09/10/2011 12:34:30 PM PDT by TomServo

Thousands of people finding themselves in near-hopeless life or death situations followed right behind Rick Rescorla and made it out alive.

His whole life was like that. What a giant.

10 posted on 09/10/2011 1:11:50 PM PDT by The KG9 Kid

I found this on a posting.
Rescorla called in an old Army buddy, who oddly enough had converted to Moslem, to help him determine the weakness of the Twin Towers. Rescorla’s friend pointed to the exact pillar that, if correctly blown would drop one of the towers. It was in fact the pillar the Moslems tried to destroy. At the time of Rescorla’s death he was suffering from prostate cancer. If I remember correctly it was not of an aggressive nature.

11 posted on 09/10/2011 1:43:40 PM PDT by em2vn

We do not celebrate tomorrow, we REMEMBER. As we pause, we must also pass on to the next generation the glorious examples of heroism and common decency that came on that dark day. Our children and grandchildren must count the name Rick Rescorla in the company of Samuel Adams. They must know that “Let's Roll” was as important as Washington's Valley Forge exhortations. Children 100 years from now should vie to play FDNY members in the school play just as our forefathers wished to be minutemen

12 posted on 09/10/2011 1:48:13 PM PDT by brothers4thID (http://scarlettsays.blogspot.com/)

13 posted on 09/10/2011 2:54:15 PM PDT by RasterMaster ("To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." - Abraham Lincoln)

To: RasterMaster

Mudville’s Greyhawk has a great piece on Rescorla, http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/000307.html
Quote from RR’s Vietnam experiences: “My God, it was like Little Big Horn,” recalls Pat Payne, a reconnaissance platoon leader. “We were all cowering in the bottom of our foxholes, expecting to get overrun. Rescorla gave us courage to face the coming dawn. He looked me in the eye and said, ‘When the sun comes up, we’re gonna kick some ass.’ “

14 posted on 09/10/2011 3:53:03 PM PDT by iopscusa (El Vaquero. (SC Lowcountry Cowboy))

I thought the unusual nature of the Towers was that they did not have a conventional internal skeleton, rather, it used the “tube frame structural system” that distributed the weight around the outside wall (59 columns on each side of the building and 47 columns in the center core) which allowed for an open floor plan. There were no individual columns that held the whole shooting match up.

It was the lateral trusses that held up the floors that weakened in the heat of the burning jet fuel and gave way in a rapid chain reaction. Nobody had calculated for the sustained heat of the burning fuel.

15 posted on 09/10/2011 3:55:35 PM PDT by sinanju

When the $hit hits the fan, I’d hope that someone like Rick was in every foxhole. In my own, I’d hope to have the ability to emulate his leadership.

16 posted on 09/10/2011 4:01:20 PM PDT by RasterMaster ("To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." - Abraham Lincoln)

To: brothers4thID

I’m sorry, but someone has to say it. With the perspective of a decade, I think Todd Beamer should have stayed in his seat.

If the Capitol building had gotten blowed up along with most of the congresscritters, we’d have had a few months of legislative confusion, followed by a quick emergency election, and wound up with a whole new crop of legislators with the old way of doing business annihilated in the smoking rubble. We would almost certainly not be in our current mess.

17 posted on 09/10/2011 4:03:33 PM PDT by sinanju

18 posted on 09/10/2011 4:18:58 PM PDT by RasterMaster ("To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." - Abraham Lincoln)

I'm glad there are not many who share your worthless opinion...

19 posted on 09/10/2011 4:41:57 PM PDT by RasterMaster ("To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." - Abraham Lincoln)

Nice article thank you for sharing.

Rick Rescorla was the kind of man all men should measure themselves against.

“Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway” John Wayne

20 posted on 09/10/2011 4:52:50 PM PDT by mad_as_he$$

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794