‘Inhumane capitalists!’, Rick spoke to
himself, as he returned home watching
it.The next day, Tuesday, 11th
September 2001, was Rick’s last day at
the office. It was 8:46 AM, the first bird
struck the North Tower of the Trade
center. Rick’s thoughts had come true.
He quickly sounded the alarm and asked
the employees to evacuate the building.
He quickly set the timer to 20 minutes.
He knew that there would be another
bird aiming at the South Tower.
Getting 2700 employees within 20
minutes would be a huge challenge to
Rick.‘This is not a drill.
Please evacuate immediately. Leave
your belongings behind’, Rick screamed
through the Intercom. Rick had
managed to get a little more than three-
fourths of the employees out within the
first 15 minutes.
But then, people started to panic more
as the second bird was approaching the
building. Rick quickly ran to 50th floor
to get the rest to the safe zone.
A hundred more employees were still
stuck within the building. Out of fear,
people started jumping out of the
windows, hoping that someone down
would catch them.
33
Some started to move towards higher
floors, some hoped that they would
evacuate faster if they used the elevator.
Rick had successfully organized the
evacuation of the employees just under
20 minutes. It was a record! But then,
suddenly, he had received a news that 13
men were stuck at the 13th floor. Such a
sinned number it was-13. Trying to
keep people calm, under such incredibly
stressful circumstances, Rescorla began
singing inspirational songs. One,
among them, was from his home. Based
on the Men of Harlech, he sang these
words:
Men of Cornwall stop your dreaming,
Can’t you see their spear points gleaming?
See their warriors’ pennants streaming,
To this battlefield.
Men of Cornwall stand ye steady,
It cannot be ever said ye
for the battle were not ready
Stand and never yield!
Rick had successfully organized the
evacuation of the employees just under
20 minutes. It was a record! But then,
suddenly, he had received a news that 13
men were stuck at the 13th floor.