September 11, 2001

Everybody Out!

9/11. The very mention of that date causes the minds of many to go back to the fateful day of
September 11, 2001 when terrorists attacked several points in the United States, including the World
Trade Towers in Lower Manhattan.

From the ashes of the South Tower, another hero has been memorialized. His name was Rick Rescorla.
Here is part of his story.

Rescorla was a retired Army Colonel and a Vietnam veteran who was working as the director for
security for Morgan Stanley, headquartered in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. After the
bomb attack on the Trade Center in 1993, Rescorla designed and implemented evacuation drills to
prepare employees for another attack. On 9/11/2001, he had to issue the evacuation order.

After the first plane hit the North Tower on 9/11, Rescorla ignored building announcements telling
people to stay at their desks and ordered the Morgan Stanley employees to get out of the South
Tower. He directed the employees to the stairwells to evacuate. As he directed them to safety,
Rescorla sang Cornish and Welsh hymns as he had done in times of crisis during the Vietnam War.

A conference center in Fort Hood, Texas, was dedicated in Rescorla's name in 2015. During the
dedication ceremony that day, Lt. Col. Andrew Watson told of Rescorla's heroic actions on 9/11.
"Everybody said, 'Rick your folks are out. You've done what you need to do,' but he pointed up the
stairwell and said, 'You hear those screams? There's more people up there. I have to help get them
out,'" (as reported by Military.com). Rescorla said he would run to safety only once he had gotten
everyone in the building out.

Rescorla wasn't able to get everyone out. He also perished when the building collapsed. He was
last seen climbing up the stairs on the 10th floor. He is credited with saving nearly 2,700 people
that day. He died at the age of 62.

"On behalf of the entire nation, I pledge we will forever and ever memorialize this American hero,"
said President Trump as he awarded a posthumous Presidential Citizens Medal to Rescorla's family on
Thursday, November 7, 2019. *

As Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was hanging in agony on the cross, some "who passed by hurled
insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, 'You who are going to destroy the temple and build
it in three days, save Yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!' In the same
way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked Him. 'He's the King of Israel!
Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue
Him now if He wants Him, for He said, 'I am the Son of God'" (Matthew 27:39-43).

Jesus could have ordered twelve legions of angels to come to His rescue (cf. Matthew 26:52-54), but
He didn't. Why not? Because in essence, Jesus heard the cries of those who are lost in sin - past,
present, and future - and He knew that the only way to accomplish their salvation was for Him to die
on the cross for their (and our) sins.

God will save and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts
16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans
10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). Those
who continue to walk in the light of His Word will continue to be cleansed by Jesus' atoning blood
(1 John 1:7-9).

Jesus died to get "everybody out" of sin and into heaven. He will save YOU if you will accept His
offer on His terms.

-- David A. Sargent
* Information gleaned from "Trump awards posthumous Presidential Citizens Medal to Sept. 11 hero
Rick Rescorla" by Morgan Phillips of Fox News, www.foxnews.com.