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Rick Rescorla
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Cyril Richard Rescorla (May 27, 1939 – September 11, 2001), known as Rick Rescorla, was a retired United States Army officer of British birth who served with distinction in Rhodesia as a British soldier and the Vietnam War as an American officer. As the World Trade Center security chief for the financial services firm Morgan Stanley, Rescorla anticipated both attacks on the towers and implemented evacuation procedures that are credited with saving many lives.
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Cyril Richard Rescorla (May 27, 1939 – September 11, 2001), known as Rick Rescorla, was a retired United States Army officer of British birth who served with distinction in Rhodesia as a British soldier and the Vietnam War as an American officer. As the World Trade Center security chief for the financial services firm Morgan Stanley, Rescorla anticipated both attacks on the towers and implemented evacuation procedures that are credited with saving many lives. He died in the attacks of September 11, 2001, while leading the evacuation efforts.
Early life
Rescorla was born Cyril Richard Rescorla in Hayle, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom, in 1939. In 1943, Hayle served as headquarters for the 175th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division, largely composed of soldiers from Maryland and Virginia. Young Rescorla idolized the American soldiers.
Rescorla was a sports natural, setting a school record in the shot put, and was an avid boxer. When a professional boxing match was scheduled between a British boxer and an American heavyweight contender named Tami Mauriello, his friends backed the Englishman. Rescorla stated, "I'm for Tammy", and after Mauriello won the fight, everyone in Hayle knew him as "Tammy".
Rescorla hated his given name "Cyril" and began using "Rick" on joining the British Army.
Military service
Rescorla enlisted in the British Army in 1957, training as a paratrooper with The Parachute Regiment, and then serving with an intelligence unit in Cyprus. He then served as a paramilitary police inspector in the Northern Rhodesia Police (now the Zambia Police Service.) On returning to London and civilian life, he joined the Metropolitan Police Service, but soon tired of walking a beat.
When Rick moved to the United States, he was staying in a YMCA in Brooklyn, New York until he was able to enlist in the Army. Rick enlisted in the United States Army in 1963, and after basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, he attended Officer Candidate School and airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia. On graduation, Rescorla was assigned as a platoon leader in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).
Sent to Vietnam, Rescorla participated in the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang, described in the book and movie We Were Soldiers Once...And Young, and is the soldier pictured on the book jacket cover. Co-author Lieutenant General Hal Moore described him as "the best platoon leader I ever saw". Rescorla’s men nicknamed him "Hard Core" for his bravery in battle, and revered him for his good humor and compassion towards his men. He is also mentioned in the book Baptism by Larry Gwin who also fought at Ia Drang. The fourteenth chapter of the book is called Rescorla's Game and describes him as the "Cornish Hawk".
Rescorla's Vietnam honors included the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, a Purple Heart, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.
Later life
Rick met his first wife Betsy while studying at the University of Oklahoma, where he obtained a bachelors and a masters degree. The two married in Dallas in 1972 and Rick attended the Oklahoma City University School of Law. After graduating, Rick took a position with the University of South Carolina, where he collaborated on a text book on criminal justice. Betsy & Rick's first child was born in South Carolina in 1976. After deciding to leave academia, Rick took a position with Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company in Chicago, Illinois, where the couple's second child was born in 1978. When the scandal of the Savings and Loan Crisis broke, Rick determined it was time to move on and accepted a position with Dean Witter in New York City. The family moved to New Jersey in 1984. When Dean Witter merged with Morgan Stanley in 1997, Rescorla became director of security for Morgan Stanley, headquartered in the World Trade Center.
In 1994, Rick was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent surgery to remove his prostate. Initially, the prognosis was positive, but by 1996 it was clear that the cancer had spread.
Rick and Betsy separated in 1996, after nearly 25 years of marriage. Their divorce was finalized in 1997. The pair remained close, with Rick eventually moving around the corner from Betsy and the entire family celebrating holidays together.
Rick met Susan Greer in 1998 in the townhouse complex where he lived. When Rescorla’s cancer went into remission, he credited Susan, who had introduced him to a specialist in herbal medicine. The couple were married on February 20, 1999 at Castillo de San Marcos, in St. Augustine, Florida at a ceremony attended by Dan Hill and his wife. Although the cancer had metastasized to his bones, in the summer of 2000 Rescorla was told the cancer was not advancing any further.
WTC risk assessment
In 1992 Rescorla warned the Port Authority (owner of the World Trade Center) about the possibility of a truck bomb attack on the pillars in the basement parking garage, but was ignored. When Islamist terrorists used this method in the 1993 attack, Rescorla was instrumental in evacuating the building, and was the last man out.
Rescorla recommended to his superiors at Morgan Stanley that the company leave Manhattan. Office space and labor costs were lower in New Jersey, and the firm's employees and equipment would be safer in a proposed four-story building. However, this recommendation was not followed as the company's lease at the World Trade Center did not terminate until 2006. At Rescorla’s insistence, all employees, including senior executives, then practiced emergency evacuations every three months.
Life on 9/11
Rescorla was supposed to be on vacation on 11 September in preparation for his stepdaughter's upcoming wedding in Tuscany. But as well as covering a shift so one of his deputies could go on vacation, he was also scheduled to attend a lunchtime meeting to discuss the lawsuit Morgan Stanley was filing against the Port Authority about the security lapses that led to the 1993 attack.
At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 struck World Trade Center Tower 1 (see September 11, 2001 attacks). Rescorla, following his evacuation plans, ignored building officials' advice to stay put and began the orderly evacuation of Morgan Stanley's 2,700 employees on twenty floors of World Trade Center Tower 2, and 1,000 employees in WTC 5. Rescorla reminded everyone to "...be proud to be an American ...everyone will be talking about you tomorrow", and sang God Bless America and other military and Cornish songs over his bullhorn to help evacuees stay calm as they left the building, including an adaptation of the song Men of Harlech:
Rescorla had most of Morgan Stanley’s 2700 employees as well as people working on other floors of WTC 2 safely out of the buildings by the time United Airlines Flight 175 hit WTC 2 at 9:02 a.m.
After having led many of his fellow employees to safety, Rescorla returned to the building to rescue others still inside. When one of his colleagues told him he too had to evacuate the World Trade Center, Rescorla replied, "As soon as I make sure everyone else is out".
According to Stephan Newhouse, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, Rescorla was seen as high as the 72nd floor evacuating people, clearing the floors and working his way down.
He was last seen heading up the stairs of the tenth floor of the collapsing WTC 2. His remains were not recovered. As a result of Rescorla's actions, all but 6 of Morgan Stanley's 2700 WTC employees survived. Four of the six included Rick and three of his deputies who followed him back into the building - Wesley Mercer, Jorge Velazquez, and Godwin Forde.
He left behind a widow, Susan Rescorla, two children and three stepchildren. Rick was also followed by his mother, Ciss Rescorla, who died the following year, his uncle Trevor Rescorla, who has also since died, as well as many dear friends and family members in the United States and Hayle, Cornwall, England. A memorial stone was erected in his hometown of Hayle, Cornwall, to commemorate his life.
Tributes
A biography of Rescorla, Heart of a Soldier by James B. Stewart (ISBN 0-7432-4459-1), was described by Time Magazine as "the best non-fiction book of 2002". Rescorla was the subject of a 2005 documentary entitled The Man Who Predicted 9/11. The film was shown on Channel 4 in the UK and the History Channel in the United States.
There is a petition drive to award Rescorla a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom with over 30,000 web signatures as of January, 2008.
In 2003, Rescorla was honored with the "White Cross of Cornwall" award ("An Grows Wyn a Gernow"), by the Revived Cornish Stannary Parliament.
In 2006, Fort Benning, Georgia, unveiled a statue of Rick Rescorla.
There is a Forward Operating Base in Farah Province, Afghanistan named after him called FOB Rescorla.
See also
External links
- - a 1998 Video interview with Rick Rescorla
- American Legion memorial pages:
- Article on Rescorla and film review from the Mudville Gazette blog
- Retrieved on 3008-07-20
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