In 1963, Rick Rescorla emigrated from England to the United States and joined the Army, later serving as a platoon leader in Vietnam. During the Battle of la Drang Valley in 1965, he would sing old songs from home to keep his men steady and boost morale.

After the war, Rescorla attended college on GI Bill benefits and eventually became head of security at the financial services firm Morgan Stanley, the largest tenant in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

“When the first plane hit the North Tower, the people in the South Tower were told that they were safe and they could stay at their desks,” said Lt. Col. Tyler J. Jensen in a keynote address at a Veterans Day ceremony on Monday. “Rescorla, he ignored that. He picked up a bullhorn and started moving the 2,700 employees down the stairs. And as he went and as they went, he sang to them, going up and down the stairs to keep them motivated.”

Nearly all of those employees made it to safety. Rescorla was last seen heading back up the stairs to find the last few employees, but he never made it out.

“We tend to think of veterans as people whose service is over. In my experience, that is never true,” said Jensen, a U.S. Army Special Forces officer and National Security Affairs Fellow at the Hoover Institution. “The uniform may come off, but the habits that individual has developed of selfless service still remain with them.”

Celebrating valor

About 100 people gathered at MacArthur Park Restaurant & Bar in Palo Alto for a Veterans Day ceremony to honor the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, during which Jensen shared stories of veterans, like Rescorla, who selflessly risked their lives in service to others.

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Aaron Kehoe

The annual event was co-sponsored by Stanford’s Office for Military-Affiliated Communities and the Office of Community Engagement, the City of Palo Alto, American Legion Palo Alto Post 375, and South Bay Blue Star Moms. It included remarks from Michelle Landrey Cline, president of the Stanford Alumni Association; Greer Stone, vice mayor of Palo Alto; and Ray Powell, retired U.S. Air Force colonel and commander of Post 375. It also featured a color guard presentation and performances by the a cappella group Stanford Mendicants, with Stanford graduate student and U.S. Army Capt. Chris Rieping serving as master of ceremonies.

Seated in the front row was Joe Tucker, who served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970 with the 101st Airborne Division near Phu Bai. He was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge and the Bronze Star Medal for his meritorious service under fire. Tucker currently serves as a service officer and sergeant-at-arms of American Legion Post 375 in Palo Alto. At Monday’s ceremony, the South Bay Blue Star Moms presented him with a quilt of valor to honor his service to the country. The organization – which has existed since World War II – makes and presents the quilts to veterans who have served in combat.

Stanford salutes veterans

The Stanford community is invited to reflect on the sacrifices of veterans like Tucker and Rescorla, who answered the call to serve the nation.

“This Veterans Day, we honor the courage and selflessness of all who have answered our nation’s call to serve, and we pay special tribute to the student, faculty, staff, and alumni veterans in our Stanford community,” wrote President Jonathan Levin in a letter to the campus community.

In his letter, he noted that Stanford’s undergraduate curriculum and programming support active participation in the democracy veterans help to ensure by making skills related to civic engagement and constructive discourse fundamental to a Stanford education.

The letter will be displayed Nov. 11 with two wreaths – one outside Memorial Auditorium and one at Memorial Court – from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m to honor the veterans and other military affiliates studying and working in all corners of the university who “enrich our community and inspire us to honor our own civic duties,” wrote Levin.

Members of the Stanford community are invited to visit and pay tribute.

The university has a long history of connection with the military community. Through Stanford Medicine’s affiliation with VA Palo Alto Health Care, faculty and medical students provide care to veterans and their families in the broader community. Over the decades, countless veterans, active-duty service members, Reservists, National Guard members, ROTC cadets, and military and Gold Star families have found their way to the university to study, work, teach, and conduct research, including 23 ROTC cadets and 52 undergraduate U.S. veterans who are currently enrolled at Stanford, according to the Office for Military-Affiliated Communities.

Members of the Stanford community have served in every major American conflict since the Spanish-American War. To date, 406 service members affiliated with Stanford have died in service to the country. Their names are commemorated on plaques in the lobby of Memorial Auditorium.