Jason Thomas

Jason Thomas (born ca. 1974) is a former U.S. Marine who helped rescue people after the September 11, 2001 attacks. He helped find a pair of Port Authority Police officers buried in the rubble of the World Trade Center.

eptember 11, 2001 World Trade Center rescue

Thomas, who now lives in Columbus, Ohio,cite news|accessdate=
url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-08-15-sept11-hero_x.htm
title=Once a mystery, 9/11 rescuer unmasks self amid publicity for new film
author=Associated Press
work=USA Today |date=August 15, 2006] was dropping his daughter off at his mother's Long Island home when she told him planes had struck the towers.

Having left active duty a year earlier, he quickly put on his Marine uniform, sped to Manhattan and had just parked his car when one of the towers collapsed. Thomas ran toward the center of the ash cloud.cite news|accessdate=
url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060814/ap_on_re_us/attacks_hero_found
archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060822125348/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060814/ap_on_re_us/attacks_hero_found
archivedate=2006-08-22
title=Mystery 9/11 rescuer reveals himself |date=August 14, 2006
author=Caruso, David B
work=Yahoo!News]

Thomas told the Associated Press: "Someone needed help. It didn't matter who," he said. "I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.'" cite news|accessdate=
url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060814/ap_on_re_us/attacks_hero_found
archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060822125348/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060814/ap_on_re_us/attacks_hero_found
archivedate=2006-08-22
title=Mystery 9/11 rescuer reveals himself |date=August 14, 2006
author=Caruso, David B
work=Yahoo!News]

After hours of firefighting, assisting survivors and in some cases, praying over the dead, Thomas ran into another former Marine, Staff Sgt. Dave Karnes. Thomas presented a plan for a search and rescue mission of the area and he and Karnes tried to enlist other soldiers on site to help. When they were told the mission was too dangerous, they decided to go by themselves. “I found a couple guys, but it wasn’t enough, to them, to start a search and rescue,” he said. “I remember myself and Karnes saying, ‘We’re going to start the search and rescue with or without you, because someone needs us.’”

Carrying little more than flashlights and an infantryman's shovel, they climbed the mountain of debris, skirting dangerous crevasses and shards of red-hot metal, calling out, "Is anyone down there? United States Marines!" It was dark before they heard a response. The two crawled into a deep pit to find two men, injured but alive.

Thomas and Karnes found Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin, a pair of police officers buried in the rubble.

Thomas said he returned to Ground Zero every day to pitch in, before attempting to put the events behind him, not even telling his five children about his rescues. He had identified himself to Karnes and others only as "Sergeant Thomas."

In film and TV

The producers of Oliver Stone's feature film, "World Trade Center", which depicts Thomas and Karens' story, tried unsuccessfully to locate Thomas. Not knowing that Thomas was African-American, they cast white actor William Mapother to play as him. Thomas did not know that the movie featured his and Dave Karnes's story until he saw a TV commercial for the movie showing two Marines with flashlights, hunting for survivors atop the smoldering ruins at Ground Zero.

On February 11, 2007, "" aired a special 2-hour episode of their show about Jason Thomas and his family. From "TV Guide": "The team rebuilds the home of Jason Thomas, who saved two police officers' lives during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York, then Ty travels to Ground Zero to meet the two officers." [ [http://tv.yahoo.com/extreme-makeover-home-edition/show/thomas-family/episode/121359;_ylt=Am.52RvvAY6iasKs5aA02rmLv9EF Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Thomas Family, Season 4, Episode 20 ] ] [cite web|accessdate=
url=http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome/bios/413.html
title=Meet the Families: Thomas Family, Season 4, Ep. 13
work=Extreme Makeover Home Edition |publisher=ABC.com
archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070823064803/http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome/bios/413.html
archivedate=2007-08-23]

ee also

*Dave Karnes
*John McLoughlin
*Will Jimeno
*Dominick Pezzulo
*"World Trade Center", film

Notes

References

*cite news|accessdate=
url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14350685/
author=Associated Press
title=Mystery 9/11 rescuer reveals himself; Unknown Marine steps forward as one who helped save two NYPD cops
date=August 14, 2006
publisher=MSNBC.com

*cite news|accessdate=
url=http://newpittsburghcourieronline.com/articlelive/articles/35730/1/World-Trade-Center-omits-Black-soldier/WTC-movies-unsung-hero.html#
title='World Trade Center' omits Black soldier
work=The Pittsburgh Courier |author=Todd, Deborah M.
date=August 9, 2006

External link

* [http://www.thejasonthomas.com/ The Jason Thomas Official website]