An Unlikely Hero; The Marine who found two WTC survivors.

slate.com ^ | Sept. 10, 2002 | Rebecca Liss

[Daffynition]

[MNDude]

Cool story, but “Unlikely hero”? Marines have heroism in their blood!

[Guenevere]

Amazing read!

[3Fingas]

Semper Fi, SSgt Karnes! Once a Marine, always a Marine.

[Stonewall Jackson]

A wonderful article. But they had one thing incorrect: they know the identity of the other Marine who assisted Staff Sergeant Karnes. His name is Jason Thomas. After the attacks, he and his family moved to Ohio, which is why it was so hard to identify him.

Sergeant Jason Thomas at Ground Zero

[Daffynition]

Heroes don't stick around for all the ribbons and awards.

[Daffynition]

[Daffynition]

The idea that he stopped to get a squared-off haircut, makes me smile.

[Daffynition]

He must have been quite a sight!

[Richard from IL]

Great story!

[paterfamilias]

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)

[Siena Dreaming]

I believe this man went on to serve in Iraq and Afganistan.

[paterfamilias]

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.

[Daffynition]

Yes. He re-uped

[Daffynition]

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.

[Daffynition]

Bless your wonderful Marine family! “)

[JoeProBono]

[Ronaldus Magnus]

Finally, Karnes lowered the convertible top on his Porsche. This would make it easier for the authorities to look in and see a Marine, he reasoned. If they could see who he was, he'd be able to zip past checkpoints and more easily gain access to the site. For Karnes, it was a "God thing" that he was in the Porsche—a Porsche 911—that day. He'd only purchased it a month earlier—it had been a stretch, financially. But he decided to buy it after his pastor suggested that he "pray on it." He had no choice but to take it that day because his Mercury was in the shop. Driving the Porsche at speeds of up to 120 miles per hour, he reached Manhattan—after stopping at McDonald's for a hamburger—in the late afternoon.

...

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.

[Alberta's Child]

What an impressive look. I’d douse myself with gasoline and follow that guy through hell if I had to.

[agrace]

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.