Vietnam, 9/11 and Rick Rescorla

Military history, Vietnam in particular, is a passionate topic of mine, giving me the privilege of connecting with a Vietnam Veteran, photographer and author.*

We were Soldiers Once...and Young,is a rivoting account of the 7th Calvary's battle in Vietnam.  Written by (ret.) Lt. Major Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway, We Were Soldiers Once..and Young teaches us of military heroics and sacrifice. Moore and his 450 soldiers were helicoptered into Ia Drang Valley in Nov. 1965, and were quickly surrounded by 2,000 N.Vietnamese soliders.  Moore and his men fought valiently. One of his men was Rick Rescorla.

On the original cover of the book  is a picture of Rick. He was not only a Vietnam Veteran but later in life became  VP of  security at Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter, located in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He's credited with saving hundreds of lives during 9/11 until perishing during the towers collapse.  A documentary was made about Rick's prediction  of a terrorist attack on NYC, called, The Man Who Predicted 9/11 Click on that link for more info or on a site dedicated to Rick at http://www.rickrescorla.com/  and in a book by James Stewart entitled, Heart of a Soldier.

Interesting how Rick's survival of Vietnam led to his efforts to save lives on 9/11. Had he not survived Vietnam,  hundreds of people on 9/11 may not have either. Rick was a true hero.

*Having been moved by Moore and Galloway's book when I read it several years ago, I posted a few comments on a website dedicated to the veterans of the battle and thought nothing of it. http://www.lzxray.com/ . Then one day, I received an email from  Mr. Galloway. Over the years, Joe has graciously signed both books, We were Soldiers and a follow up book called, We were Soldiers Still.  Moore also signed the original. I'm a proud owner of one of Galloway's photographs of this mission.  As the book became a movie, Joe provided sneak peek tickets for me and several colleagues; the dvd:  We were Soldiers Once and Young.  Moore was played by Mel Gibson, Galloway played by Barry Pepper. I encourage you to either read the book or see the movie. 

For more info - -  Facebook page under We Were Soldiers Once and Young: Ia Drang 1965