Written by: Mike Giorgino<\/p>\r\n
On September 11, 2001, Rick Rescorla was on duty on the 44th floor of the World Trade Center, Tower Two. He was vice president for corporate security at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. and a jumbo jet had just plowed into the other tower.<\/p>\r\n
As smoke rose from Tower One, someone from the Port Authority ordered him to keep his people at their desks. Rescorla replied, \u201cPiss 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!\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Rick Rescorla ordered an immediate evacuation, directing more than 2,700 people to safety before the second plane plowed into Tower Two.<\/p>\r\n
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 \u201cWe Were Soldiers Once…And Young.\u201d Co-author Lieutenant General Harold Moore described him as \u201cthe best platoon leader I ever saw.\u201d Rescorla\u2019s men called him \u201cHard Core\u201d for his extraordinary courage in battle.<\/p>\r\n
The History Channel has a chilling documentary about Rescorla called \u201cThe Man Who Predicted 9\/11.\u201d 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.\u00a0 He was ignored. When Islamic terrorists tried to bring down the Twin Towers with a truck bomb in the 1993, Rescorla took charge of the evacuation and was the last man out.<\/p>\r\n
Rescorla then warned Morgan Stanley that the terrorists would return to finish the job \u2013 next time with aircraft! He said they should move their corporate headquarters to a safer location in New Jersey. The company\u2019s lease in Manhattan did not end until 2006 and they failed to heed his warning.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
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 groused and complained about being yanked away from their million dollar deals to trudge down forty stories. But it all paid off on 9\/11.<\/p>\r\n
At 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 struck Tower One.\u00a0 Rescorla sprang into action and had most of Morgan Stanley\u2019s 2700 employees and hundreds of visitors headed down the stairwells before United Airlines Flight 175 hit Tower Two at 9:02 a.m. Nearly 3,000 people died in those two buildings, but only SIX employees of Morgan Stanley, including Rescorla, were among the dead.<\/p>\r\n
In his biography of Rescorla, \u201cHeart of a Soldier,\u201d author James Stewart said Rick loved his adopted county. As thousands marched down to safety, he sang \u201cGod Bless America\u201d over a bullhorn and encouraged everyone to \u201cStay calm, watch your partner.\u201d The last voice many heard as they descended from Tower Two was Rick singing his version of the song from the movie \u201cZulu\u201d:<\/p>\r\n
\u201cMen of Cornwall stand ye steady;<\/p>\r\n
It cannot be ever said ye<\/p>\r\n
for the battle were not ready;<\/p>\r\n
Stand and never yield!\u201d<\/p>\r\n
A Morgan Stanley director told Rescorla he had to get out, too. \u201cAs soon as I make sure everyone else is out,\u201d Rescorla replied. In his last call to his wife Susan, Rick said, \u201cStop 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.\u201d Rick was last seen heading back up to rescue stragglers. His remains have never been recovered.<\/p>\r\n
Despite many petitions, no president or congress ever paid formal tribute to Rick\u2019s heroism until November 7, 2019, when President Donald Trump presented the Presidential Citizen\u2019s Medal to Susan Rescorla at the White House on Rick\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\r\n
President Trump said, \u201cWe can never erase the horrors of that day, we can never replace the lives that were lost. But on behalf of our entire nation, I pledge that we will forever and always remember this incredible American hero.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
20 years later let us recall Rick\u2019s final moments in the blistering heat of that stairwell, suit jacket still on, bull horn in hand, calmly telling the multitude he saved, \u201cToday is a day to be proud to be an American.\u201d And always remember how Rick Rescorla, like the Good Shepherd tending his lost sheep, ascended to Eternity.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Written by: Mike Giorgino On September 11, 2001, Rick Rescorla was on duty on the 44th floor of the World Trade Center, Tower Two. He was vice president for corporate security at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. and a jumbo jet had just plowed into the other tower. As smoke rose from Tower One,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n