[nukkad] Rick Rescorla

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 "All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous 
beginning." - Albert Camus 
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Rick Rescorla was born on May 27th, 1939 in Hayle,
England and came to the United States to enlist in the
Army in 1963. He was a key figure in the
groundbreaking Vietnam War book "We Were Soldiers Once
... and Young," which was turned into a movie starring
Mel Gibson that debuted nationwide in April 2002. A
photo of Rescorla, haggard but fierce with his bayonet
fixed, graces the cover of the true-life military
thriller co-authored by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore and
former UPI reporter Joe Galloway. 

Lt. Rescorla's bravery and good humor were infectious.
In the midst of battle, the fierce anti-Communist sang
old Cornish tunes to boost morale. The men of the 2nd
Battalion, 7th Cavalry nicknamed him "Hard Core" for
his daring exploits. But beneath this platoon leader's
steel exterior lay soulful introspection. Rescorla,
who later became a military instructor, construction
firm owner, writer, lawyer and professor, shared with
Moore and Galloway his recollections after the
infamous battle at Landing Zone X-Ray in Vietnam's Ia
Drang Valley: 

"We were flown away, but the stench of the dead would
stay with me for years after the battle. Below us the
pockmarked earth was dotted with enemy dead. Most of
the platoon were smiling. Suddenly a grenadier next to
me threw up on my lap. I understood how he felt. He
was, like many, a man who had fought bravely even
though he had no stomach for bloodletting." 

Rescorla earned a Silver Star, a Purple Heart and
Bronze Stars for Valor and Meritorious Service. He
became a U.S. citizen in 1967, got married, had
children, divorced, remarried and found midlife
success on Wall Street as vice president of security
at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. His office was on the
44th floor of the south tower. Rescorla brought
military precision, preparation and intensity to the
job. He drilled employees regularly and gave prescient
warnings to Port Authority officials that the Twin
Towers were extremely vulnerable to a terrorist
attack. His advice was ignored. During the 1993 World
Trade Center garage bombing, Rescorla ensured that
every one of his firm's employees was safely
evacuated. He was the last man out of the building. 

Again, he offered his expertise and advice to the Port
Authority. Again, it was ignored. And again, on Sept.
11, Rescorla found himself leading a massive
evacuation of Morgan Stanley's 2,700-person workforce
-- which occupied floors 44 through 74 of the south
tower. As soon as the first plane hit the north tower,
Rescorla sprung into action. He ignored the admonition
of Port Authority security officials to stay put. A
co-worker shot the now-famous photograph above of
Rescorla commanding his troops with a bullhorn.
Employees marched two-by-two down the stairwells.
Rescorla sang patriotic songs to keep them calm.
"Today is a proud day to be an American," he is said
to have told co-workers. 

Most of Morgan Stanley's employees were safely out of
the building by the time the second plane hit the
south tower. All but six of Morgan Stanley's workers
survived. Rescorla was one of the lost six. He was
last seen walking back up the stairs, in search of
stragglers. 

Rescorla's bravery has been recounted in worldwide
media outlets, from the Washington Post to The New
Yorker magazine to the BBC. A movie based on his life
is now being planned. And hundreds of veterans have
signed an online petition urging President Bush to
posthumously award Rescorla the Presidential Medal of
Freedom. 

It's exactly the kind of thing Rescorla would not have
wanted. He shunned public praise for his past heroism,
kept his war photos and medals in a closet, and told
his wife he didn't want to see the Mel Gibson movie
based on "We Were Soldiers" when it came out. Rescorla
was a man who didn't need to be reminded of the high
price of freedom. 


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