'Heart Of A Soldier': An Opera At The Heart Of Sept. 11

[wundermaus]

"A man saves thousands from a burning building, then goes back in to make sure he got everyone out. He dies, leaving behind the great love of his life.

It might sound too dramatic to be true, but it happened 10 years ago Sunday at the World Trade Center in New York. Journalist James Stewart's book about that man, Heart of a Soldier, is the subject of a new opera, premiering Saturday in San Francisco." -
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/10/140336330/-heart-of-a-soldier-an-opera-at-the-heart-of-9-11?ps=mh_frimg2

Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings, op.11 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRMz8fKkG2g

[murielm99]

1. Interesting. Tragic.

Thanks for posting this.

[CBHagman]

2. Profile of Rick Rescorla in The New Yorker.

James Stewart's 2002 recounts Rick Rescorla's life story, particularly his courtship of Susan Greer and his actions as chief of security at Morgan Stanley in the World Trade Center.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002/02/11/020211fa_fact_stewart

Rescorla concluded that the company should leave the World Trade Center and build quarters in New Jersey, preferably a three- or four-story complex spread over a large area. He pointed out that many employees already commuted from New Jersey and would welcome the change. He warned that Manhattan’s limited bridge and tunnel connections meant that it could be easily cut off, and transportation and communications disrupted. Moreover, the World Trade Center space was expensive compared with real estate in the suburbs.

The World Trade Center lease didn’t expire until 2006, however. Rescorla and his colleagues stayed in Manhattan, and in the meantime Rescorla worked out an evacuation plan for the company’s twenty-two floors. At a command from him, which would come over the intercom system, all employees were instructed to move to the emergency staircases. Starting with the top floor, they were to prepare to march downstairs in twos, so that someone would be alongside to help if anyone stumbled. As the last pair from one floor reached the floor below, employees from that floor would fall in behind them. The drill was practiced twice a year. A few people made fun of it and resisted, but Rescorla tolerated no dissent, demanding military precision and insisting on a clearly defined command system. As he told Hill, he was simply following the “Eight ‘P’s,” a mnemonic that had been drummed into them in the military: “Proper prior planning and preparation prevents piss-poor performance.”

(SNIP)

Survivors of the attack pressed themselves on Susan to offer their thanks, and many called after the service. Susan felt compelled to try to piece together what had happened that day, and asked people if they had seen Rick. She heard many accounts in which Rick, always wearing his suit jacket and tie despite sweating profusely, kept people marching down the right side of the dark staircase, singing into his bullhorn, as firemen and rescue personnel raced up.