Rick Rescorla
| Rick Rescorla | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Cyril Richard Rescorla |
| Born |
May 27, 1939 Hayle, Cornwall, United Kingdom |
| Died | September 11, 2001 (aged 62) South Tower, World Trade Center, Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Allegiance |
 United States United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
United States Army British Army |
| Years of service | 1963–90 (USA) 1956–60 (UK) |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit |
1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) Parachute Regiment (UK) |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Ia Drang |
| Awards |
Silver Star Bronze Star (OLC) Purple Heart Vietnam Gallantry Cross |
| Other work | World Trade Center Security Chief for Morgan Stanley |
Cyril Richard "Rick" Rescorla (May 27, 1939 – September 11, 2001) was a United States Army officer and private security officer of British origin who served in Northern Rhodesia as a member of the Northern Rhodesia Police (NRP) and as a commissioned officer in the Vietnam War, where he was a second lieutenant in the United States Army. As the director of security for the financial services firm Morgan Stanley at the World Trade Center, Rescorla anticipated attacks on the towers and implemented evacuation procedures credited with saving many lives. He died during the attacks of September 11, 2001, while leading evacuees from the South Tower.
Rick Rescorla was born in Hayle, Cornwall, on May 27, 1939. He grew up there with his grandparents and his mother, who worked as a housekeeper and companion to the elderly. In 1943, his hometown of Hayle served as headquarters for the 175th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division, largely composed of American soldiers from Maryland and Virginia preparing for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Young Rescorla idolized the American soldiers and wanted to become a soldier because of them.
Rescorla was a natural sportsman, 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 Briton. Rescorla stated, "I'm for Tammy" [sic] and after Mauriello won the fight everyone in Hayle knew him as "Tammy".
Rescorla left Hayle in 1956, aged 17, to join the British military. He enlisted in the British Army in 1957, training as a paratrooper with The Parachute Regiment and then serving with an intelligence unit in Cyprus during the EOKA Cypriot insurgency from 1957 to 1960. He then served as a paramilitary police inspector in the Northern Rhodesia Police (now the Zambia Police Service) from 1960 to 1963, experiences which made him a fierce anti-Communist. It was during the latter post that he met and forged a "life-altering friendship" with American soldier Daniel J. Hill, who inspired Rescorla to join the U.S. Army and fight in Vietnam in order to fight the communists. On returning to London and civilian life, he joined the Metropolitan Police Service.
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