A hero: Rick Rescorla

Yesterday before I went to sleep I read the latest issue of TIME. In the cover story "How to Survive a Disaster," I learned that some people survive disasters because they respond more appropriately and that drills, though some might think it a waste of time and money, are a must.

Among the stories in the article, the one about Rick Rescorla, once Morgan Stanley's security director, impressed me most. In fact, I was deeply touched by what he did. He was the one who made a difference to the lives of 2,687 Morgan Stanley employees. He saved them from the 9/11 tragedy. Before Sep. 11, he made it a point to hold drills once in a while though it cost the company money, because he believed that "the best way to get the brain to perform under extreme stress is to repeatedly run it through rehearsals beforehand." On 9/11, he directed people down the stairwell. He even sang into the bullhorn to "keep the employees moving to safety."

Sadly, Rescorla didn't survive the disaster and his remains, according to TIME, haven't been found. He is a real hero in my mind. I salute him from the bottom of my heart.

If you want to read the artilce, visit the website:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1810315,00.html

For your convenience, you can also click on How to Survive a Disaster.doc

Rescorla's story appears on pages 7 ~ 9, under the heading "How One Person Made a Difference."

If you want to take a look at what he looked like the moment he was directing the evacuation, go to this website and scroll down:

http://images.google.com.tw/imgres?imgurl=http://neveryetmelted.com/wp-images/Rescorla9-11.jpg&imgrefurl=http://neveryetmelted.com/%3Fp%3D1550&h=216&w=375&sz=15&hl=zh-TW&start=4&sig2=BTb6AtRa2C7VZpaBtli0Gw&um=1&tbnid=h9sFPNm6ZCU-eM:&tbnh=70&tbnw=122&ei=Vd1XSISmMYq2swKkurD5Bg&prev=/images%3Fq%3DRick%2BRescorla%26um%3D1%26complete%3D1%26hl%3Dzh-TW%26rlz%3D1T4ADBR_zh-TWTW244TW244%26sa%3DN