FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Rick Rescorla ~ September 16, 2013

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[Kathy in Alaska]

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

Info and some photos from WeWereSoldiers.net.

           

During combat in Vietnam, Lt. Rick Rescorla would sing to his troops to keep their spirits high while under fire. As head of security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in New York, Rescorla used the same tactics to calm co-workers as he led them from their offices during the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Rescorla survived battlefields in Southwest Asia, but he apparently was not so fortunate Sept. 11. Currently on the missing list, Rescorla was last seen in a 10th-floor staircase. He is credited with saving 3,800 colleagues, while sacrificing himself.

Rescorla is a featured character in "We Were Soldiers Once … And Young," a factual account of combat in Vietnam’s Ia Drang Valley. Written by Army Gen. Hal Moore and reporter Joe Galloway, the book is considered required reading among Army officers. Since the book was first published in 1996, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service has sold 47,000 copies, with more than 3,200 sold in the last year alone. The book was made into a Mel Gibson movie that is due out next spring.

"He was on the cover of the book," Galloway said, recalling the photo of Rescorla as a battle-weary lieutenant preparing for a bayonet charge with his M-16 rifle. Rescorla, 62, took charge during the terrorist attack on his building, just as if he was again in combat, Galloway said during a telephone interview from his home in Washington, D.C. "No one would have expected anything less of him," Galloway said. Rescorla was in his office on the 44th floor at 8:48 a.m., when the first plane struck the neighboring tower. At 9:10 a.m., a plane hit the second building where Morgan Stanley, an international financial services firm, had offices between the 43rd and 66th floors. Survivors said Rescorla grabbed a bullhorn and cleared out 3,800 workers from 20 floors. When newspapers published accounts of Rescorla’s calming office workers with his songs, Galloway remembered Rescorla singing Welsh mining songs during combat in Vietnam. Comrades who served with Rescorla said he would sing and tell jokes to motivate troops. "He was doing what he always did, singing to them," Galloway said. "Just as he did in battle."

In 1993, when terrorists bombed the World Trade Center, Rescorla also headed the evacuation. To get the crowd’s attention during that attack, he mooned them, Galloway said. "He was a genuine hero then," Galloway said. According to a press account, Morgan Stanley employee Bob Sloss last saw Rescorla in a 10th floor stairwell, calming the fleeing mob of office workers. "Rick was down toward the base trying to make sure people got down and out," Sloss was quoted in the report. "He was definitely there well after it had been established that the building was in trouble."

Born in Hayle, England, in 1939, Rescorla joined the U.S. Army in the 1960s and went to Vietnam as a platoon leader with the B Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry. In November 1965, his unit plunged into a battle at Landing Zone X-Ray, at the base of the Chu Pong, a 2,400-foot mountain in the Ia Drang Valley. He later survived a North Vietnamese ambush at nearby Landing Zone Albany that claimed the lives of 151 men in his unit. In the book, Rescorla played a significant part in repelling the enemy when they outnumbered his unit. Moore, the officer who led the battle at Landing Zone X-Ray, and Galloway, a UPI reporter who covered it, painted Rescorla as a likeable character, who was a skilled leader under fire. "Gen. Moore said he was the finest platoon leader in the Army," Galloway recalled.

After the war, Rescorla went to Oklahoma University on the G.I. bill, and later earned a master’s degree and a law degree. In 1989, he retired as a colonel in the Army Reserve. For the past 18 years, he had worked in security management for Morgan Stanley. During a televised celebrity fund-raiser following the attacks, Robin Williams told the nation of Rescorla’s heroism, Galloway said. Galloway said he will no doubt have Rescorla on his mind Nov. 16, as he speaks to members of the 1st Squadron, 4th U.S. Cavalry during the unit’s annual ball in Schweinfurt, Germany. "If you can go to the grave knowing you helped save people, it seems to be a life well-lived," Galloway said. "He died as he lived, a great soldier."

Rick Scavetta
Stars and Stripes  

More reading...it's well worth your time to click these links and remember a true modern day hero.  One of the sites records how many times people have remembered a hero by adding a flower at the bottom of the page for each visitor.  Please click through to find out which one it is!

 Rick Rescorla.com

 Rick Rescorla "Follow Me" Statue Unveiling

  Presidential Medal of Freedom

 Rick Rescorla: American Hero

 Blackfive: Rick Rescorla: Someone You Should Know

 Rick Rescorla: Cornish Hero

 LZXray.com: American Soldier

 We Were Soldiers Once And Young

 TapsBugler: From Vietnam to the World Trade Center

 9-11 Heroes Page

 Armchair General: Rick Rescorla forum thread

 

Thank you for your help, Aloha Ronnie!

Prayers going up for the family and friends of Rick Rescorla. 
May God bless you and give you comfort and peace. 
Rick was truly a hero. 

 

A hero is someone who has given his or herself to something bigger than oneself.
-Joseph Campbell

A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.
-Bob Dylan (!)

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission!

[MS.BEHAVIN]

*HUG*
Good evening, Ma.

Mr B is feeling much better, thank you!
Hopefully this new regimen he is on will KEEP him feeling that way.

The weather was sunny, breezy and in the low 70s today.
Perfect Fall weather!

[luvie]

Thanks, Galz, for this story of a double hero! Military and civilian! It would be wonderful if he were found....but probably won’t happen! God bless him, wherever he is!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Connie, and thanks for the tributes to our troops.

Did your weekend go well? Shopping?

Yesterday we either tied or passed the record for straight days of rain....today is dry so far, and sunny!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, jocon....he was indeed a hero on 9/11/01. He helped many to get out in time, at the cost of his own life.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Sand...((HUGS))...Rick Rescorla was indeed a defender.

Are you and Zeus still batching it? Did you get mugged?

[SandRat]

Good evening, Kathy...((HUGS))

MrsSR is back home now. No muggings today.

“A two year old received a tea set for her birthday and it became her favorite thing.

When left for a few days to take care of her sick sister, the little girl took to serving her daddy a cup of tea (really just water). He sipped it telling her how it was.

This went on several times a day until mom returned. Mom listened as daddy told how sweet it was as he sipped his daughter's tez.

“Did it ever occur to you”. she said, “that the only place a toddler could reach to get water is the toilet?”

[Kathy in Alaska]

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, ML...((HUGS))...how was the Biker Ministry?

You and Lynn-Dah get out and about today? A nice ride? A walk?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Welcome to the Canteen, frankenMonkey...

Thanks for the wonderful momento...well deserved!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, DuncanWaring, and thanks for sharing this “statue” of Lt Rescorla.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mac...*HUGS*...hope you had a good weekend.

Did you sing in the choir?

The sun was out, so I took my Mom out to the cemetery for the first time. We had to get our Annual Passes....I had to get her and bring her in at the front gate for pictures and fingerprints.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good job! Any time to relax today?

[Kathy in Alaska]

The sun was out today, so I took my Mom out to the cemetery. Veterans Affairs called a couple weeks ago
to say my Dad's headstone was in place. We tried last weekend, but bad weather kept us at home.

If she wants to get physically close to it, she will need to wait til both my brother and I can help her.
I could never get her and her wheelchair over the grass. I took pictures and showed her.

And his fellow patriots...front row, second from the left.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening/morning, Mayor, and thank you for today’s sustenance for body and soul.

Hope you had a nice weekend.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Beautiful resting place for your Dad, Ma.
Ya done good!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, Mac, for the Missing Man Setting as we remember those who have given their all that we may gather safe and secure.

[eyedigress]

Very Nice. Be calm about getting your mother over there. She may not want to be there yet.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Yes, it was a quiet day.
I went to visit my SIL who is doing much better.
Took care of some laundry and grilled ribs for supper.

I have a lousy headache, so I’m gonna hit the hay.
Good night Ma and gang!
*SMOOCHES*

[Jet Jaguar]

Looks good Ma.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks...when I told her I couldn’t get the wheelchair over there, the look on her face said that she wasn’t ready. She’s been pushing to go, but she is not ready. (The grass/ground is not level and if she goes down, I can’t get her up by myself. Major knee issues.)

And for the first time I saw a couple tears. She asked if I felt him there. I did feel that he was at peace, but she feels him at home all the time. I blew up a Christmas picture from a few years ago and it sits on her desk. She talks to him all the time and see changes in his smile. Another picture and some of his ashes are on the mantle....

I took more pictures, showed them to her and she said she wasn’t ready to let go. Maybe getting closer to his headstone would do that. You are right...she is NOT ready, but she got to see where he is, and where she will join him some day.

As we drove slowly back thru the cemetery, finding our bearings on the map, she said.....”I’m ready anytime. Things that have been bothering me have been resolved”. (I think having all the siblings here, all the talking and chatting, etc., everyone speaking to everyone else, has given her that peace.)

She’s not in any way giving up, but she is at peace.