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 | | Friday, 1 March, 2002, 15:21 GMT War epic ignores Cornish hero  Rick Rescorla (left) sang to raise spirits in the towers The widow of a hero of the Twin Towers attack has spoken out after her husband's actions during the Vietnam war were written out of a new blockbusting movie. Rick Rescorla, who was born in Hayle, Cornwall, served with US forces during the conflict and was hailed as a hero. His role was immortalised in a book written by two American soldiers. But a new film starring Mel Gibson ignores the efforts of the Cornishman during the battle of Ia Drang - and even hands some of his actions to American characters.
"He was a key figure at Ia Drang. They could at least have dedicated the film to him." Mr Rescorla emigrated to the US and adopted American citizenship in order to qualify to fight in the Vietnam conflict. He was a fervent anti-communist and fought in several campaigns in Africa before enlisting in the US army. The Cornishman saw action at the infamous battle of Ia Drang in 1965 but viewers of We Were Soldiers - the latest film depicting the struggle - will not know it. Mr Rescorla had joined the US army with his long-time friend Dan Hill, an American mercenary. The pair had met in Rhodesia in 1961, becoming noted for their survival skills.
When the war ended in 1975, Mr Rescorla left the army and became a security expert. At the time of the 11 September terrorist attacks he was working at the twin towers and led all 2,400 employees of the bank Morgan Stanley to safety before returning to the burning north tower where he perished. We Were Soldiers, is based on the book We Were Solders Once.. and Young by Lt General Harold Moore, the US commander at Ia Drang. The picture on the front of the book even shows Mr Rescorla in action. | |   See also: Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top England stories now:  Links to more England stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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