Colonel Cyril Richard Rescorla (1939-2001) was born in Hayla, England. He came to the United States in 1963 and joined the US Army. He was assigned to the Seventh Air Cavalry in Vietnam. He fought in 1965 in the la Drang Valley, near the Cambodian border. He won the Silver Star, two Bronze Medals with Vs; Purple Heart and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. He became an American citizen in 1967 and left the Army in 1968.
He earned Bachelor and Master degrees from the University of Oklahoma and a Law degree from Oklahoma City University. While attending college he joined the Oklahoma Army National Guard and retired after 20 years of service. In 1985 he joined Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Company and eventually became the Vice President of Corporate Security.
He was a calming force 1993 when a terrorist truck bomb went off in the basement killing six people. Following the attack he insisted on evacuation drills every few months. When terrorists struck the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001, he ordered an immediate evacuation of all employees. As a result only he and five others were killed, and 2,600 employees got out alive.
Today there is a bronze statue of him at the US Army National Infantry Museum, Fort Benning, Georgia.
Awards
Search
