Rick Rescorla

In 1994, the military officer was diagnosed with prostate cancer and he underwent a surgery to remove his prostate. By 1998 the cancer had spread to the bone marrow. Rescorla underwent treatment, and even used traditional Chinese medicine and meditation.

He met his second wife, Susan Greer, a twice-divorced mother of three daughters and an assistant to the dean at Fairleigh Dickinson University, in July 1998. The following year, he married Greer in St. Augustine, Florida.

Rick Rescorla was born on May 27, 1939, in Hayle, Cornwall, United Kingdom. He was raised by his single mother and grandparents.

He got interested in army service in 1943 when his hometown served as the headquarters for the Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division. Young Rescorla idolized the American soldiers and dreamt of becoming a soldier just like them.

In school, he was a sportsman and set a record in shot put. He was an avid boxer as well.

In 1956, Rick Rescorla left Hayle at age 17 to join the British military. The following year he was enlisted in the army and later on served with an intelligence unit in Cyprus from 1957 to 1960. From 1960 to 1963, he served in the Northern Rhodesia Police (NRP) as a paramilitary police inspector.

He then returned to London and joined the Metropolitan Police Service. After training at the Fort Dix, Rescorla attended the Officer Candidate School and received airborne training at Fort Benning.

Following graduation, he became a platoon leader in the 2nd Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, 7th Cavalry Regiment. He then moved to Vietnam and served under Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore. The duo participated in the Battle of Ia Drang that took place in the year 1965.

The following year, Rescorla left active duty and reached the rank of Colonel before retiring from the military in 1990.

He then returned to America and used his military benefits to study at the University of Oklahoma from where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree as well as a Master of Arts degree in English. He also obtained a law degree from the Oklahoma City University School of Law.

On September 11, 2001, at 8.46 am, American Airlines flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Rescorla witnessed the tower burning from his office window in the South Tower of the Trade Center. When an announcement came over urging people to remain at their desks, he ignored the announcement, grabbed his walkie-talkie, cell phone, and bullhorn, and started ordering the employees to evacuate.

He continued to calm them after the building lurched following the crash of a passenger plane in Tower 2 (the South Tower). Rescorla boosted the morale of his men by singing Cornish songs. He even called his wife and told her not to cry. Then after successfully evacuating most of Morgan Stanley's employees, he returned to the building despite fears that the towers would fall. Caring the least for his own life, Rescorla headed upward, shortly before the Tower 2 collapsed at 9:59 am. He was declared dead three weeks after the attacks. His remains were never found.