Jason Thomas

Jason Thomas
Thomas standing at the ruins of the World Trade Center, days after the attacks.
Born	1974 (age 42–43)
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Rank	Sergeant
Battles/wars	War in Afghanistan Iraq War

Jason Thomas (born ca. 1974) is an American United States Marine who located and rescued people in the aftermath of collapse of the World Trade Center in New York City after the September 11 attacks in 2001. With fellow U.S. Marine Dave Karnes, he helped find a pair of Port Authority Police officers buried in the rubble of the World Trade Center.

On September 11, 2001, Thomas was dropping his daughter off at the home of his mother on Long Island when she told him planes had struck the towers. The 27-year-old Thomas, having left active duty in August 2001, quickly put on his Marine uniform, sped to Manhattan, getting lost on the way, and had just parked his car when the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. Thomas ran toward the center of the ash cloud.

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.'"

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 marines and 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 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. Then they met an operating engineer, who had a flashlight, and crawled down into the hole where the 2 cops were trapped, and spoke with Will. Then the engineer climbed out, and went for help, and brought back the FDNY.

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