Awesome feat: American saved 2687 lives

Remember this name - Cyril Richard "Rick" Rescorla - the head of security at the Morgan Stanley Bank - it was he who became the main character on September 11, 2001. What Rescorla did was included in many scientific works as an ideal model of behavior in a critical situation, as an example of the correct and unwavering performance of duties by the head of the security service, an example of how to fight for life if you really want to survive in the modern world, the journalist writes Yuri Butusov in an article for Censor.net.

The most amazing thing is that Rescorla PREDICTED the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center many years before the attack! He was not a clairvoyant and was not an expert in the fight against terrorism - he simply had extraordinary analytical abilities, which, as it turned out, were an order of magnitude superior to the work of all government security agencies.

He became the prophet of a catastrophe, which, apart from him, all others considered to be a whim, and despite mistrust and mockery, Reskorla did everything possible to save the overwhelming majority of the lives entrusted to him when the catastrophe came.

"Rick" Rescorla was born on May 27, 1939 in the UK. He served in the British army and was a participant in armed conflicts in Cyprus and Rhodesia. But in 1963, he joined the US Army - he wanted to fight communist regimes, and was sent to Vietnam as part of the 1st Cavalry Division.

Remember the movie "We Were Soldiers" with Mel Gibson? It was based on the book by Lieutenant General Harold Moore, who was a battalion commander of the 1st Division in Vietnam.

So Moore called Rescorla “the best platoon leader I have ever seen.” It was the photograph of Rescorla, who especially distinguished himself in the battle of Ya-Drang, that Moore ordered to be placed on the cover of his book, which became a bestseller in the United States. For Vietnam, “Rick” received high awards - “Silver Star”, “Bronze Star” with Oak Leaves, “Purple Heart”.

After completing his military career, Rescorla took a job in 1985 as a security officer at the Morgan Stanley Bank, which was located in the south tower of New York's largest and tallest business complex, the World Trade Center. This was the heart of Manhattan, the financial capital of the world. Everything was safe and wonderful here, and no one thought about any terrorism.

But in 1988, the Libyan intelligence services blew up an airliner over Lockerbie, and only one person realized that the world was entering an era of attacks by terrorists who seize nothing and make no demands, who simply kill people with improvised means and whose actions are difficult for security structures to predict. In a 1988 interview about Vietnam, Rescorla said this prophetic phrase: “In the future, the essence of war will be the hunt for terrorists. There will be no giant battlefields, no massive tank offensive operations.”

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In 1990, Rescorla prepared a report to the WTC administration that the center would become one of the priority targets of Arab terrorists. He conducted a threat analysis and noted that the most convenient way to carry out a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center is to drive a truck with explosives into the underground garage. The management of the World Trade Center and Morgan Stanley perceived this report as some kind of ridiculous invention of a retired soldier who was creating panic and attracting attention to himself. Rescorla tried to conduct fire drills at the bank and practice emergency evacuations. But this was generally perceived by the company’s employees as a whim and stupidity, and when Rescorla announced the alarm, most simply did not pay attention to it, considering the veteran an annoying hindrance in their work.

Anyone would give up and stop annoying colleagues. But Reskorla stubbornly continued to declare anxiety.

Everything has changed 26 February 1993 of the year. On this day, Arab Ramsey Yousef parked the car in the underground garage of the World Trade Center. He did it without hindrance, because there was no protection at this facility. In 12.37, Yousef blew up an 680-kilogram bomb that was installed in a car.

The World Trade Center building shook. But on the 73rd floor of the Morgan Stanley office, people felt a slight jolt and only paused for a moment before continuing with their urgent billion-dollar projects. The explosion was perceived as a threat by only one person - “Rick” himself! The others acted as if nothing bad could ever happen to them!

And then Rescorla, in the midst of all this office-banking noise and turmoil, stood in the middle of the operating room and demanded that all employees immediately drop everything and begin an immediate evacuation from the building. It was so ridiculous that almost no one paid attention to the eccentric from the security service. And then “Rick” climbed onto the table and yelled, as if he was rousing soldiers to attack: “Do I need to take off my pants so that you pay attention to me?!” Amazingly, after this, a group of thousands of bankers and their clients, grumbling and cursing, nevertheless began to line up for the exit, and Rescorla immediately began handing out flashlights and led all the bank employees bypassing the elevators - along the dark fire escapes.

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And only when all the financiers took to the streets, their indignation was replaced by shock. As a result of a powerful bomb blast in the garage, 6 people died at the WTC, and 1042 were injured! The building was seriously damaged.

After this, Rescorla’s authority as the head of the bank’s security service finally rose unusually high - professionalism is highly respected and valued in America. He was creakingly approved of a training plan for the evacuation of personnel, and was allowed to conduct them when necessary.

The will and determination of one person could change everything. No, that's not all—it was just the beginning.

Immediately Rescorla made a new shocking trick - he told the directors of Morgan Stanley that terrorists would not stop attacking the World Trade Center, that new attacks would be more terrible, and due to the high terrorist threat, the entire bank should be evacuated from the shopping center out of town, to the state of New York. Jersey, dispersed in a complex of buildings, and this will truly increase security.

It was already too much. Departure from the World Trade Center would have cost the bank enormous sums, because the lease agreement was concluded before 2006. Well, there was an explosion in the garage, but the building stood up and stood when it was still being attacked, so why panic? Nevertheless, according to the requirements of Reskorla, bankers began the procedure for early termination of the lease ...

Rescorla implemented a security system at Morgan Stanley that would be worth communicating to its employees to all tenants in high-rise buildings where evacuation is a complex process.

I brought the rules of Reskorla into seven theses, and it seems to me that the application of these rules can save many lives more than once:

1. In the event of an emergency, you should not hope that someone from the outside will save or solve your problem. DON'T LISTEN TO ANYONE - everything depends on coordination and speed of action.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND YOUR FRIENDS - THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU THAN ANYONE else.

2. To ensure order and quick evacuation in case of emergency can only frequent and sudden for all training fire alarms.

YOU OWN ONLY ONE OF THE SKILL THAT CONSTANTLY WORKS.

3. Evacuation should take place as quickly as possible, but in a pre-agreed order, otherwise panic and sacrifices are inevitable.

4. Evacuation does not take place through elevators, which may be de-energized, but only along fire escapes, which must be maintained in ready-to-use condition.

5. All employees go on evacuation in pairs, and in case of any emergency, the victim is assisted first of all by his partner, who was previously determined during the exercise.

6. Everyone takes part in drills, including management and random office visitors, without exception. The possibility of a training alarm should be provided for in the regulations for communications with clients. During an alarm, NO ONE REMAINS PASSIVE, everyone takes action.

7. During a fire drill under any circumstances - ALWAYS GO DOWN! Never go upstairs. NEVER.

One of the directors of Morgan Stanley, W. McMahon, recalled: “He very seriously insisted that absolutely everyone participate in fire drills. We said, well, the “sergeant” took up training again. And all this was repeated again and again. It happened that I still stayed in my office, but the fire commissioner came and said: no, I have to go.”

Fire alarm officers put on fluorescent orange vests and helmets to identify them during the alarm.

The manager of the bank's administrative department, S. Engel, recalled Rescorla this way: “He kept saying: they will attack us again. Either from the air or from the underground."

The day “Rick” Rescorla was preparing for was September 11, 2001.

At 8 hours 46 minutes 40 seconds, American Airlines Flight 11, hijacked by terrorists, crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center between the 790rd and 93th floors at a speed of 99 km/h. A monstrous explosion shook the building and caused a powerful fire.

The administration of the World Trade Center turned on the speakerphone in the south tower; a WTC employee urged everyone not to panic and stay in their seats. But at Morgan Stanley, no one was interested in the rules and calls of the WTC administration - they had “Rick” Rescorla. Just as always, he took the duty megaphone, walkie-talkie and telephone and began an emergency evacuation operation of people from the bank from the 73rd to 44th floors.

Everything went well. 250 random visitors who were trained in the courses of brokers, were in advance, as expected, instructed by bank employees what to do on the alarm signal. Bank employees organized, with flashlights, holding in pairs, began a quick organized descent on fire escapes. The first staff left the top, 73 floor. Fire commissioners controlled the movement on all floors, communication worked, everything went according to plan.

And on time! Because at 9 hours 3 minutes 2 seconds, United Airlines Flight 175, hijacked by Boeing terrorists, crashed into the south side of the WTC South Tower between the 959th and 78th floors at a speed of 85 km/h!

The strong explosion now set the south tower on fire. Those who did not go down from the upper floors were now doomed - the fire engulfed the entire building, and when it hit, the plane pierced right through the tower.

Rescorla used a megaphone to order silence and transferred the evacuation to another staircase. Through the glass walls of the skyscraper, Morgan Stanley employees saw maddened people jumping out of the fire-engulfed northern tower next to them, who remained on the upper floors after the explosion, but did not have time to go down or decided to save themselves on the roof. The jump was their last chance...

To cheer people up, Rexorla, a native of Cornwall, began singing into a megaphone "Men of harlech" - an old Welsh battle song from the 15th century.

«Men of Cornwall stop your dreaming, can't you see their spearpoints?
See their warriors' pennants streaming, To this battlefield.
It is not ready.
Stand and never yield!«

In less than an hour, 2687 Morgan Stanley employees, who were located on 29 floors - from the 44th to 73rd, left the South Tower in an orderly manner and retreated to a safe distance. It looks like a miracle, but it was a miracle of organization and training.

And then Rescorla received information that the senior vice president of Morgan Stanley, busy with an important conversation, ignored the evacuation order and remained in the office. Also, for various reasons, 7 more bank employees remained on different floors of the building. You couldn't go there. The tower was burning and crumbling. There was already hell on the upper floors.

But, as once in his youth, in Vietnam, 1st Lieutenant Rescorla could not leave his people in trouble. Together with four security officers, "Rick" returned to the tower and they walked up the stairs. Watching them were almost three thousand people saved by Rescorla. They managed to climb to about the 10th floor.

But at 09:59:04 a monstrous roar was heard - the colossal colossus of the southern tower began to fall apart and collapsed, scattering to smithereens...

This happened 55 minutes and 51 seconds after the plane was hit. Precious minutes gained from years of previous completely unpopular training sessions saved the lives of most of the Morgan Stanley staff and all the visitors. But the price of this amazing rescue was the life of “Rick” Rescorla.

The remains of his body were never found during the analysis of the dam. His name is imprinted on the memorial to the victims of the tragedy erected on the site of the WTC, as well as on other monuments from grateful people ...

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