thedrifter
08-25-06, 06:40 AM
Quick to save lives, but not to take credit
Posted 8/24/2006 11:11 PM ET
By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY
Jason Thomas was watching the TV show Rescue Me in his living room in Columbus, Ohio, when he saw a commercial for the movie World Trade Center.
"That's when the chills hit me," says Thomas, 32, a security officer at the Ohio Supreme Court. "It just became all too familiar."
A scene in the ad showed two Marines with flashlights, hunting for survivors in the ruins. He realized one of them was him — in a role he hadn't discussed publicly in the five years since Sept. 11, 2001.
Reluctantly, after an aunt persuaded him to tell his story, Thomas stepped forward. He revealed that he was the mystery man who, with another former Marine, dug through wreckage to rescue Port Authority policemen Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin, who were pinned beneath 20 feet of rubble.
Authorities never knew his name because, after digging for hours in a dark hole that threatened to collapse at any moment, he walked away after Jimeno was pulled out alive. He spent another 2 1/2 weeks at Ground Zero looking for other survivors. He never took credit. He tried to forget.
On Wednesday, he was honored at the Ohio Supreme Court. The crowd of 300 included the state's chief justice, two state senators, Thomas' wife and his five children.
"It's overwhelming. It really is. I don't feel I deserve it, because I was just there to help," says Thomas, a Marine sergeant from 1996-2000.
He had told a few co-workers about the rescue, but they respected his privacy. "We didn't talk about it, because he didn't want to talk about it," says Regina Koehler, a graphic designer.
Thomas, a 6-foot-3 black man, is depicted in the film by a smaller, white actor, William Mapother.
"We made a terrible error. I'm so sorry we miscast him," says Michael Shamberg, a producer of the film, directed by Oliver Stone. Shamberg says the filmmakers didn't know the rescuer's identity until Thomas' aunt, Theresa Golden phoned days before the premiere.
"He's the greatest guy," says Shamberg, who has met Thomas. "He's the kind of hero you want." Shamberg says he would have cast Thomas as himself. "He looks like a Central Casting Marine — he doesn't have an ounce of fat."
The other Marine, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, confirmed Thomas' identity when shown a photo. Thomas says Jimeno thanked him in a recent phone call.
"He's an incredibly humble and amazing individual," says Scott Strauss, a former New York police officer who helped in the rescue. He says he and Thomas talked on the phone, and Thomas knew details that only those who were there know.
For example, Strauss says when he arrived at the site, it was dark and the air so thick with smoke that he didn't get a good look at the man who stood waving a flashlight to signal where the officers were trapped. When he asked Thomas how he alerted rescuers, Thomas said, "I waved my flashlight."
Born and raised on Long Island, Thomas was dropping off his 2-month-old daughter Imani at his mother's house in Hempstead, N.Y., when she told him the first tower had been hit.
"They got us," Thomas responded. He retrieved his Marine uniform from his car, skipped a class in criminal justice and raced to the Trade Center. He saw the second tower collapse. Ash enveloped him.
He says he got a man having trouble breathing onto a stretcher. He tried to help an older man with a head injury, but it was too late. He knelt by the man and said a prayer.
He later ran into Karnes, also clad in Marine fatigues. Together they searched for survivors together. From one pit, they heard Jimeno's dim voice. They stayed with him until he was lifted out after being pinned 13 hours. Exhausted, Thomas left before McLoughlin was pulled out hours later.
He hasn't seen World Trade Center. "I'm not ready," he says. "I don't want to relive everything."
He's not bothered that the film portrays him as a white man. "That's not an issue at all."
Who should have played him?
"I wouldn't want anyone to play me but me," he says. "No one else would grasp what happened."
Ellie
Posted 8/24/2006 11:11 PM ET
By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY
Jason Thomas was watching the TV show Rescue Me in his living room in Columbus, Ohio, when he saw a commercial for the movie World Trade Center.
"That's when the chills hit me," says Thomas, 32, a security officer at the Ohio Supreme Court. "It just became all too familiar."
A scene in the ad showed two Marines with flashlights, hunting for survivors in the ruins. He realized one of them was him — in a role he hadn't discussed publicly in the five years since Sept. 11, 2001.
Reluctantly, after an aunt persuaded him to tell his story, Thomas stepped forward. He revealed that he was the mystery man who, with another former Marine, dug through wreckage to rescue Port Authority policemen Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin, who were pinned beneath 20 feet of rubble.
Authorities never knew his name because, after digging for hours in a dark hole that threatened to collapse at any moment, he walked away after Jimeno was pulled out alive. He spent another 2 1/2 weeks at Ground Zero looking for other survivors. He never took credit. He tried to forget.
On Wednesday, he was honored at the Ohio Supreme Court. The crowd of 300 included the state's chief justice, two state senators, Thomas' wife and his five children.
"It's overwhelming. It really is. I don't feel I deserve it, because I was just there to help," says Thomas, a Marine sergeant from 1996-2000.
He had told a few co-workers about the rescue, but they respected his privacy. "We didn't talk about it, because he didn't want to talk about it," says Regina Koehler, a graphic designer.
Thomas, a 6-foot-3 black man, is depicted in the film by a smaller, white actor, William Mapother.
"We made a terrible error. I'm so sorry we miscast him," says Michael Shamberg, a producer of the film, directed by Oliver Stone. Shamberg says the filmmakers didn't know the rescuer's identity until Thomas' aunt, Theresa Golden phoned days before the premiere.
"He's the greatest guy," says Shamberg, who has met Thomas. "He's the kind of hero you want." Shamberg says he would have cast Thomas as himself. "He looks like a Central Casting Marine — he doesn't have an ounce of fat."
The other Marine, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, confirmed Thomas' identity when shown a photo. Thomas says Jimeno thanked him in a recent phone call.
"He's an incredibly humble and amazing individual," says Scott Strauss, a former New York police officer who helped in the rescue. He says he and Thomas talked on the phone, and Thomas knew details that only those who were there know.
For example, Strauss says when he arrived at the site, it was dark and the air so thick with smoke that he didn't get a good look at the man who stood waving a flashlight to signal where the officers were trapped. When he asked Thomas how he alerted rescuers, Thomas said, "I waved my flashlight."
Born and raised on Long Island, Thomas was dropping off his 2-month-old daughter Imani at his mother's house in Hempstead, N.Y., when she told him the first tower had been hit.
"They got us," Thomas responded. He retrieved his Marine uniform from his car, skipped a class in criminal justice and raced to the Trade Center. He saw the second tower collapse. Ash enveloped him.
He says he got a man having trouble breathing onto a stretcher. He tried to help an older man with a head injury, but it was too late. He knelt by the man and said a prayer.
He later ran into Karnes, also clad in Marine fatigues. Together they searched for survivors together. From one pit, they heard Jimeno's dim voice. They stayed with him until he was lifted out after being pinned 13 hours. Exhausted, Thomas left before McLoughlin was pulled out hours later.
He hasn't seen World Trade Center. "I'm not ready," he says. "I don't want to relive everything."
He's not bothered that the film portrays him as a white man. "That's not an issue at all."
Who should have played him?
"I wouldn't want anyone to play me but me," he says. "No one else would grasp what happened."
Ellie