Rick Rescorla: Led thousands to safety on 9/11
Studying and emulating the lives of great men is a useful practice with a long history. Our culture, however, tends to promote celebrities, self-improvement gurus, and politicians.
Although no such luminaries proved of much use during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many “ordinary” people found it within themselves to act with stunning courage and determination.
The story of Rick Rescorla offers an especially poignant lesson for these times, involving as it does the triumph of individual know-how, experience, and common sense over bureaucratic “expertise.”
While serving as a platoon leader in the Vietnam War, the British-born Rescorla calmed his troops by singing to them. Years later, he employed the same tactic while helping evacuate the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
Twenty-three years on, it’s clear just how woefully unprepared our leaders were for 9/11. Rescorla, on the other hand, was ready.
Even before he became head of corporate security for Morgan Stanley, he had long warned anyone who would listen of the Twin Towers’ vulnerability to attack. When American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower, the Port Authority ordered Rescorla to keep everyone at their desks.
His response, given his somewhat more intimate view of the unfolding crisis, was appropriately blunt: “Piss off.” The evacuation plan he’d insisted all employees rehearse through countless surprise drills went smoothly. His defiance saved some 2,700 lives.
Having led his charges at Morgan Stanley to safety, Rescorla went back into the building in search of more people to help. He was last seen on the 10th floor. He had never been comfortable calling attention to his wartime deeds, for which he was awarded a Silver Star and a Purple Heart. "The real heroes are dead," he would say. When the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m., Rescorla joined their ranks.
Two new identifications of World Trade Center victims announced as anniversary of 9/11 terror attacks nears
The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) has announced the identification of two more people who perished due to the heinous September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center.
"Dorothy Morgan is the 1,646th person and a man whose name is being withheld at the request of his family is the 1,647th person to be identified through ongoing DNA analysis of unidentified remains recovered from the disaster that claimed the lives of 2,753 people," according to the OCME.
"The identification of Dorothy Morgan was confirmed through DNA testing of remains recovered in 2001. The identification of the unnamed man was confirmed through DNA testing of remains recovered in 2001, 2002, and 2006," the news release noted. "The two identifications are the first new identifications of World Trade Center victims since October 2019. Some 1,106 victims, or 40% of those who died, remain unidentified."
The announcement comes ahead of the two-decade anniversary of the horrific terror attacks.
On that day 20 years ago, hijackers flew airplanes into the Twin Towers in New York City and into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Both of the Twin Towers eventually collapsed.
Passengers aboard another hijacked plane fought back and that aircraft went down in a field Pennsylvania, around 20 minutes by air from the nation's capital city.
"Twenty years ago, we made a promise to the families of World Trade Center victims to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to identify their loved ones, and with these two new identifications, we continue to fulfill that sacred obligation," Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York Dr. Barbara A. Sampson said in a statement. "No matter how much time passes since September 11, 2001, we will never forget, and we pledge to use all the tools at our disposal to make sure all those who were lost can be reunited with their families."
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