People You Should Know: Rick Rescorla

Rick Rescorla photographed by Peter Arnett (credit: www.lzxray.com)

I had not even thought about, until a friend mentioned it to me, that kids that entered High School this year were born AFTER 9/11. That'll make you feel old! Or, at least, it surely did me!

This got me to thinking…I wonder how they will learn about 9/11? I wonder if just hearing about the events of that day will evoke the raw emotion within them as it did us? Will they ever know what we felt as we sat watching helplessly as those towers fell…or saw the footage on the Pentagon...or as we heard the heroic efforts of those on Flight 93? Will they ever know what it felt like, in the aftermath of such a tragedy, to see their Nation unite? I wonder if they will be able to fully comprehend the gravity of the events that occurred that day…

I will get back to 9/11 shortly…

I have interviewed two Vietnam Veterans recently. Now, I will be the first to admit that I am not well versed in the Vietnam War. I often talk about how lucky I feel to have had the teachers that I had in both High School and College. I had some of the very best History teachers. Mrs. Barnes, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Montgomery...I was truly blessed. Although History was one of my favorite classes growing up, I don’t feel like we touched on Vietnam very much. Now, I don’t know if that was because if one went by the sequence of things, the Vietnam War would be more current, and therefore, would be towards the end of the year, when things were wrapping up; or perhaps it was because it was a controversial War...I’m not sure. But whatever the reason, I’m finding that my knowledge about the Vietnam War is limited.

I wonder if the Vietnam Veterans look at our generation and think "Will you ever be able to comprehend what happened back then?" Perhaps they feel as I do looking at the youth born after 9/11. Perhaps the only thing we can do is pass the history along to future generations, and share our stories. May we never forget.

As I was interviewing my most recent Vietnam Veteran, he introduced me to someone rather important. And while some of you may have heard of him before, and heard his story, I had not. His story has haunted me, and it has weighed on my heart and I must share his story…for all of you who haven't heard of him, and for all of you who may have forgotten.

This will be a bit of a different post, and I will be using citations, as I don't want to plagiarize. All of the articles used I found on the Rick Rescorla Memorial Website.

This American Hero, Rick Rescorla, was actually born in Hayle, Cornwall, UK. He was just a teenager when he joined the British Army, first becoming a paratrooper, and later joining intelligence. In Cyprus, he led a unit that fought insurgents and guerrillas (Hill & McBee, 2004). Then he joined a security force in Northern Rhodesia (Bateman, 2002). It was in Rhodesia that he met his lifelong friend Dan Hill. After Rhodesia, Rescorla joined the Flying Squad of Scotland Yard (Hill & McBee, 2004).

He came to the US in 1963 and enlisted in the United States Army. He later took the Officer Training in Fort Benning, GA, and was commissioned as a US Officer of Infantry in 1965. Five short months later he was leading a platoon of 44 men in Vietnam with 2/7 Cavalry Battalion of the 1st Air Cavalry Division. Two months later he became one of the heroes of the Battle of Ia Drang Valley (Hill & McBee, 2004).

For those of you, like myself, who had not heard of the Battle of Ia Drang Valley... The Battle of Ia Drang Valley is essentially the battle that secured the US in the Vietnam War. Previously, we aided and advised the South Vietnamese.

Hal Moore, author of the book "We Were Soldiers Once…and Young," that dons Rick Rescorla on the cover, once said "Rescorla was the best platoon leader I ever saw" (Grunwald, 2001).

The first night, of the Battle of Ia Drang valley, the American Troops, led by Hal Moore, were surrounded at Landing Zone X-Ray. One company had been nearly wiped out due to an onslaught of firefight. The next day, the company that Rescorla was in was ordered to replace Moore's (Grunwald, 2001).

The tales of Rescorla's bravery continued: That second night, after studying the terrain from the enemy's viewpoint, he commanded his men to dig foxholes 50 yards back, lay traps, and reposition their guns and artillery. As always, to calm his men for what was to come, Rick Rescorla sang and joked (Grunwald, 2001). Bill Lund, who served with him in that battle, stated, "What a command presence. We all thought we were going to die that night, and Recorla gave us our courage back" (Grunwald, 2001). He also saved several of his men by throwing a grenade on an enemy machine gun nest (Stewart, 2002).

After the Battle of Ia Drang, Rescorla and the Bravo company were evacuated by helicopter. The rest of the battalion marched to another nearby landing zone, Landing Zone Albany. The Battalion on foot was ambushed. Again, Rescorla's company were called in to assist. Only two helicopters made it through the enemy fire as they were trying to land. Rescorla's pilot was wounded as they were descending, and Rescrola and his men jumped the remaining ten feet, while the enemy was shooting at them (Stewart, 2002). Lieutenant Larry Gwin said "I saw Rick Rescorla come swaggering into our lines with a smile on his face, an M-79 on his shoulder, his M-16 in one hand saying 'Good, good, good! I hope they hit us with everything they got tonight--we'll wipe them up.' His spirit was catching. The enemy must have thought an entire battalion was coming to help us, because of all our screaming and yelling" (Stewart, 2002).

I was particularly moved, while researching for this post, to read an article by Robert Bateman simply titled "Rick Rescorla." Bateman speaks of Rick Rescorla's legendary calm in the midst of battle (2002). A young man already well-versed in combat, he would often sing to his men to help calm and ready them for combat. Later, Bateman states "When I started interviewing these veterans of my regiment decades later, I was struck by the emotions Rescorla's men still felt for him." He mentions speaking with Rescorla's old Radio Telephone Operator as well as other survivors. He says "Over time, I came to believe that they would have followed Rescorla in an assault upon the gates of Hell, for he did not order, he led" (Bateman, 2002). What more powerful words can be said about a leader?

Aside from his distinct bravery on the battlefield, I was also struck by his best friend's tales of his compassion. Dan Hill tells in James Stewart's article of how Rescorla would often cradle his dying men reassuring them that everything was going to be alright (2002). Hill states "Rick died a little bit with every guy who died under his command" (Stewart, 2002).

After Vietnam, Rick Rescorla left active Army Service and joined the National Guard. He retired as Colonel (Hill & McBee, 2004). He lived quite an interesting life. After the War, he used his military benefits to study creative writing, received his Bachelor's Degree. He later earned a Master's Degree in Literature, and went on to obtain a Law Degree. He even taught Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina.  He left seeking a higher-paying position in corporate security.  He joined the Dean Witter Corporation in 1985 (Stewart, 2002).  He still continued to write. When his second wife, Susan, met him he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer that had already spread to his bone marrow (Stewart, 2002).

As you have probably noticed, I have used a lot from the article co-written by his best friend, Dan Hill, and Fred McBee. Such an interesting article. Rick Rescorla took his job as Vice President for Security at the Dean Witter Corporation seriously. He had even gotten a consultant to help him find the weak areas that might make an opening for an attack. As the article continues, you find that Dan Hill had actually been one of the consultants.

Rick Rescorla warned the New York/New Jersey Port Authority two years prior to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing (Hill & McBee, 2004). He knew the importance of the World Trade Center, and knew that it had become an icon of the power of the American economy. He, along with Dan Hill’s help, surveyed the building and found that in the basement, near a support column, if a truck bomb were to go off, it could bring the whole complex down (Gertz, 2002). When he gave the Port Authority the warning, they basically told him to do his job, and be concerned with the floors in the World Trade Center that were leased to the Dean Witter Corporation (Hill & McBee, 2004). On February 26, 1993, Islamic Terrorists parked a rental truck in the basement, that had a homemade chemical bomb inside (Gertz, 2002). Later, the company he worked for received a quarter of a billion dollars because of the Port Authority failing to take seriously the warnings of the upcoming attack (Hill & McBee, 2004).

He warned the Port Authority again, in 1995/96, that another attack would be coming...and the next would be coming by air. He knew that the Terrorists, who’s plans had been foiled in 1993, would try again. As Dan Hill says, Rick Rescorla was not a psychic. But he had a mind for finding the weak areas where one could be attacked. He had a mind for guerilla warfare…and the ability to predict where the enemy would strike next. He had the mind of a soldier (Hill & McBee, 2004).

As you know, The Port Authority, again, did not heed his advice. And upon urging his company to move to low-rise buildings, he was told that the lease was in effect until 2005 (Hill & McBee, 2004). There was nothing that could be done on that front.

After being told this, he decided it was in his hands to get his people prepared in case of an attack. He made them drill, and practice safe evacuations frequently. He prepared for power outage by having stair lighting and generators installed. He assigned people to oversee office and floor evacuations. He made the workers participate in the buddy system (Hill & McBee, 2004). And while I’m sure it was a nuisance at times, the people became accustomed to these drills, and it became engrained in them.

When the North Tower was hit at 8:45 a.m. on September 11th, 2001, the Port Authority instructed everyone in the South Tower to stay put, as there was no danger. Rescorla retorted with "Piss off, you son of a bitch. 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 the fuck out of here" (Gertz, 2002).

The workers were ready. Rick Rescorla implemented his evacuation plan. As he had done in Vietnam, he sang songs to keep his people calm in crisis. 2700 people followed his commands that day. Twenty-seven-hundred people are still alive today because of Rick Rescorla. Only six employees of Dean Witter/Morgan Stanley lost their lives that day. Rick Rescorla was one of the six (Hill & McBee, 2004).

See, as a trained soldier, a trained leader...he could not leave one of his men behind. Three were missing, and he and two assistants went back in to look for them. Unfortunately the building collapsed before they were able to get out.

He may have been British by birth, but Rick Rescorla is a true American Hero.

John 15:13 reads "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

May we never forget his service. May we never forget his courage. May we never forget his sacrifice.

Rick Rescorla, you will never be forgotten.

References

Bateman, Robert L. (2011). Rick Rescorla.  Retrieved from:

        http://rickrescorla.com/articles/rick-rescorla-robert-bateman

Gertz, Bill (2002). Remember Rick Rescorla.  Retrieved from:

        http://rickrescorla.com/articles/remember-rick-rescorla-bill-gertz

Grunwald, Michael (2001). A Tower of Courage. Retrieved from:

        http://rickrescorla.com/articles/a-tower-of-courage

Hill, Daniel J. & McBee, Fred (2004). Stand and Never Yield.   

        Retrieved from:  http://rickrescorla.com/articles/stand-and-never-yield

Stewart, James B. (2002). The Real Heroes Are Dead. Retrieved from: 

        http://rickrescorla.com/articles/the-real-heroes-are-dead