Rick Rescorla, Cornish-American colonel (b. 1939)
Cyril Richard Rescorla (May 27, 1939 – September 11, 2001) was an American soldier, police officer, educator, and private security specialist of British origin. He served as a British Army paratrooper during the Cyprus Emergency and a commissioned officer in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. He rose to the rank of colonel in the Army before entering the private sector, where he worked in corporate security.
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 thousands of lives. He died during the attacks of September 11, 2001, while leading evacuees down the stairwells of the South Tower.
2001Sep, 11
Rick Rescorla
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Events on 2001
- 6May
Pope John Paul II
During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque. - 11Sep
September 11 attacks
Two hijacked aircraft crash into the World Trade Center in New York City, while a third smashes into The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and a fourth into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in a series of coordinated suicide attacks by 19 members of al-Qaeda. A total of 2,996 people are killed. - 14Sep
September 11, 2001 attacks
Historic National Prayer Service held at Washington National Cathedral for victims of the September 11 attacks. A similar service is held in Canada on Parliament Hill, the largest vigil ever held in the nation's capital. - 17Sep
September 11 attacks
The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression. - 7Oct
War in Afghanistan (2001-2014)
The Global War on Terrorism begins as a result of the September 11 attacks. The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan initiates with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.