Walking into the World of a 9/11 Hero and His Widow

In the almost 20 years since David Sandler started Sandler Communication Services, he has helped many people share their stories; perhaps no story impacted him as much, however, as that of Rick and Susan Rescorla.

Sandler helped Susan tell the couple’s story in Touched by a Hero: A 9/11 Widow’s Journal of Love & Legacy. Rick Rescorla, a retired army colonel and Morgan Stanley’s second vice president for corporate security, safely evacuated nearly 2,700 people from the World Trade Center during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He then went back to help others when the tower collapsed; his body was never found.

Rick Rescorla’s life and actions that day gained a great deal of notoriety and was the subject of books and documentaries. It wasn’t until 2009 that Susan Rescorla decided she was “ready” to deal with her own loss and tell the story of how, in the process of carrying out her husband’s legacy, she came into contact with many people. She reached out to Sandler to help her put it all together.

“It’s impacted me,” he said. “I began to look at things differently – friendship, commitment, other people. The way people talk about Rick, you just don’t hear people talk about people that way. Rick just seems to have been an extraordinarily special person.”

He believes the book, designed by local designer Stephanie Ward at TeleSet, will be “inspirational for people who have either gone through trauma or tragedy or are just dispirited.”

For Sandler, the Rescorla story is the latest in a career filled with stories.

“Everybody’s got a story and a unique way they have cobbled together their lives,” he said. “I find it very interesting. I try to build relationships, whether I’m working to help a school district communicate, working with a business on a campaign or interviewing a serial killer for a law enforcement publication. It becomes very team-oriented. There’s a lot of collaboration.”

“You walk into different worlds. I’ve walked into many different worlds,” he added.

Blending a background in English, journalism and education, Sandler received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from Suffolk College in Massachusetts. After a freelance writing career, the Flagtown resident started his own firm, offering communications services to school districts, individuals and small businesses.

Because he so strongly believes in helping people tell their stories, he has become a member of the Association of Personal Historians, which relays stories through books, videos and other mechanisms.

Today, he does a great deal of work with the Middlesex Regional Educational Services Commission, is an adjunct at both Raritan Valley Community College and Mercer County College and does private public speaking coaching.

His current focus, however, is on Susan and Rick Rescorla. Sandler and his wife Pat will be joining Susan at the Sept. 10 San Francisco Opera premier of “Heart of a Soldier,” an original opera that tells the story of what the opera company describes as a “story of enduring friendship and late-found love.”

“I feel like I know Rick – I really do.”