Replies

When the first plane hit the north tower, the Port Authority told workers in the south tower to stay put. But Rescorla disagreed and immediately executed an evacuation plan he had made the employees rehearse twice a year.

It sometimes pays to go with your instincts. God bless this man.

God Bless him for sure but what an terrible waste of a good and productive life. I'm so sorry he went back in again. Just so sorry. Lynn

I want to mention something that is very important about this event.

Several survivors were saying later that day that they would have stayed based on the notice to stay, but they decided to evacuate only after seeing so many others leaving. These "others" all started with the MS employees.

Rescorla started the wave of MS employee's evacuation, which in turn motivated other smaller groups to follow the wave. This resulted in the evacuation of the majority of people in the tower before the second plane hit.

Rescorla should be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom - not only for his lifelime of selfless acts of bravery, but his key leadership initiative to evacuate the tower, resulting in his saving of thousands of lives, and his forward thinking preparedness which made the evacuation so successful.

"The Presidential Medal of Freedom is America's highest civilian award and,
among all American honors, it ranks second to only the Medal of Honor
-the nation's highest military award. This great honor is reserved
for individuals the President deems to have made especially
meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the
United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public
or private endeavors. Though it may be awarded for singular acts of
momentous import, it is generally conferred only for a lifetime of service
or at the conclusion of a distinguished career. On February 22, 1963,
President Kennedy issued an Executive Order creating the
Presidential Medal of Freedom.... to be presented in two degrees,
the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction (the higher
degree), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom."

Rescorla exceeds the qualifications for this medal on all counts, especially with his distinguished service to our country.