Posted on 09/12/2011 3:44:09 PM PDT by Daffynition
Only 12 survivors were pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center after the towers fell on Sept. 11, despite intense rescue efforts. Two of the last three to be located and saved were Port Authority police officers. They were not discovered by a heroic firefighter, or a rescue worker, or a cop. They were discovered by Dave Karnes.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
Cool story, but “Unlikely hero”? Marines have heroism in their blood!
Amazing read!
Semper Fi, SSgt Karnes! Once a Marine, always a Marine.
Sergeant Jason Thomas at Ground Zero
The idea that he stopped to get a squared-off haircut, makes me smile.
Great story!
It is surprising to me that the author of this piece is apparently unaware that the 2006 Nicholas Cage movie, “World Trade Center” is based on this story.
She misses the point about the Marine Corps as well.
They are not soldiers. They are different: they are Marines.
And, the Marine Corps has a glory machine second to none.
A great story, nonetheless.
Paterfamilias (proud father of a Marine and a soldier)
I believe this man went on to serve in Iraq and Afganistan.
It made me laugh, too.
Soon after my son was commissioned a 2nd Lt, but just before he reported to The Basic School, he was flying back to D.C. from the West Coast.
When he called home to let me know that he had arrived safely, he said with great excitement, “Dad, you’ll never guess who was on my flight — General Mattis!!!!)
Now, General Mattis is one of his greatest heroes (and with good reason).
“Did you say ‘Hello’ to him?”, I asked.
“NO!!!” said he, “I needed a haircut!”
I can’t tell you how much I love the Marines.
I’m not familiar with the film.
As an addendum:Thomas said he returned to Ground Zero every day for another 2 1/2 weeks to pitch in, then walked away and tried to forget.
“I didn’t want to relive what took place that day,” he said.
Shamberg said he apologized to Thomas for an inaccuracy in the film: Thomas is black, but the actor cast to portray him, William Mapother, is white. Filmmakers realized the mistake only after production had begun, Shamberg said.
Thomas laughed and gently chided the filmmakers, then politely declined to discuss it further. “I don’t want to shed any negativity on what they were trying to show,” he said.
As for his story, Thomas said he is gradually becoming more comfortable telling it.
“It’s been like therapy,” he said.
Bless your wonderful Marine family! “)
...
They climbed over the tangled steel and began looking into voids. They saw no one else searching the pile—the rescue workers having obeyed the order to leave the area. "United States Marines," Karnes began shouting. "If you can hear us, yell or tap!" Over and over, Karnes shouted the words.
Marine heroes like Staff Sergeant Karnes and Sergeant Thomas have that rare kind of institutionalized insanity that makes them the most feared warriors on the planet. There is no one I would less like to fight and there is no one I would rather have trying to save me.
What an impressive look. I’d douse myself with gasoline and follow that guy through hell if I had to.
Right you are. Thomas has stayed well under the radar, but he and his family were actually featured on Extreme Home Makeover several years ago too, so the author didn’t really dig much.
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