You have to love the good guys!
From Eurweb
*The identity of an African American U.S. Marine who helped to locate two police officers buried in the crumbled World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, has finally been revealed, reports the Associated Press.
Jason Thomas, of Columbus, Ohio, was watching a TV promo for the new Oliver Stone film chronicling the events, “World Trade Center,†when he noticed two Marines with flashlights hunting for survivors atop the smoldering ruins.
“That’s us. That’s me!” thought Thomas, who lived in Long Island during the attacks and now works as an officer in Ohio’s Supreme Court.
For years, authorities have wondered who the mystery man was that swooped in to assist in the recovery efforts – eventually helping to free Port Authority police officers Will Jimeno and Sgt. John McLoughlin – then took off, never to be seen or heard from again. The producers of “World Trade Center†were also unable to locate the serviceman, who had given his name only as Sgt. Thomas at the time. In the film, unaware of his identity or race, producers cast a white actor, William Mapother, to play Thomas in the movie.
After the television promo, Thomas, 32, hesitantly re-emerged last week to recount the role he played in the rescue of the officers, who were buried beneath 20 feet of debris when the twin towers collapsed.
As proof of his identity, Thomas provided the AP with photographs of himself at ground zero. Also, the movie’s producer, Michael Shamberg, said Thomas and Jimeno have spoken by phone and shared details only the two of them would know.
Thomas had been out of the Marine Corps for about a year when he was dropping his daughter off at his mother’s Long Island home on Sept. 11, 2001, and she told him about the planes crashing into the towers. He retrieved his Marine uniform from his truck, sped to Manhattan and had just parked his car when one of the towers collapsed. Thomas ran toward the center of the ash cloud.
“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 happened upon another former Marine, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, and the pair decided to search for survivors. Armed with little more than flashlights and an infantryman’s shovel, they searched through the heavy chunks 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 McLoughlin and Jimeno, injured but alive.
Shamberg said he apologized to Thomas for getting his race wrong in the movie. Filmmakers discovered the mistake after production had already begun. 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.
There are a couple of things that stand out to me in this story. One is the humility with which Sgt. Thomas has conducted himself in the thus far. The other is the statement that he ran towards the cloud of debris.
There is a breed of man that runs TOWARDS danger in order to help others. Sgt. Thomas is obviously of that calibre.
In spite of all the jibber-jabbering, America still produces heros.
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That’s one impressive story from Sgt. Thomas. Thanks for posting it, and for linking. After seeing the movie, it doesn’t diminish in my mind what the filmmakers were attempting to do. Hey color-blind is good, too - just how MLK wanted us all to be.
Exactly! I couldn’t agree more. He was judged on his character alone. That’s a good thing. What an inspiring story!
Once a Marine, always a Marine. I have heard that many times from Marines themselves. It’s not something you can just stop being. Great story and great hero!
Yes, color blind Sounds great,..but,..black people throughout history never received nor do they now receive to this day, positive credit for the great things that they have done. Hollywood or history books would never replace a white guy with a black guy in a heroic situation. So why did they replace the black guy, (Sgt Thomas), in the 911 story. The famous story of the Three Musketeers was written by a black man (Alexandre Dumas), but no one would have ever heard of the Musketeers characters if they were presented as black. Hollywood casted the characters as white because they knew it would never be accepted by white America. It seems people are satified by negative images of black people that that’s the way it’s just accepted. You would be surprised how often these situations of non-recognition happen to Black/African Americans. Also, why didn’t they know his race if they knew his name? There were witnesses right there inter-acting with SGT. Thomas that could have given a decription of him. It hurts and it hurts our children the most. They need to see the postive. Good for you Sgt. Thomas thanks for being there. Too bad race has to be a issue.
If out of curiosity if any one of you would like to know a LITTLE more of what I mean, buy, rent or borrow the book, The Great Negroes past and present”, by Russell L. Adams. Thanks for listening.
Sherry, I do have an idea of what you mean. Please remember that everyone was covered with a thick layer of ash that day, everyone was the same color - ash. Look at the photos of people coming out of that ash cloud. It seems reasonable to me that deciphering people’s race would not have been easy and not have been the first thing on people’s minds.
There are a few cases I can think of in which black actors were cast in traditionally white roles (Denzel) - but not many.
But you are right, that’s one reason it’s important for Sgt. Thomas’ story to be told, in my opinion. Thus, this post.
He is a hero of the highest calibre. He ran towards danger. That sends chills over me.
Well said Beth, thanks for the input. It’s touching to see people come together in any circumstance it makes my heart smile. Maybe we need to be covered in ash everyday,..cute,…smile. Life would be so nice if people were not judge by what they look like but their character. Unfortunately at this point and time of the world people sometimes act accordingly to how they are treated. Times have changed for the better, but we still have a ways to go. I just like to see people happy. P.S. Sgt Thomas arrived after the explosion, (no ash covering on Thomas). Thomas heard the event on the radio jumped in his car to arrive on the scene to help. But in all the confusion I can certainly see where they would not recognize a complexion. In a mental panic such as 911 your focus is on the situation and not the individual. Kudos to all that helped that day.
I’m glad that the identity of the 2nd. marine has been established in the 911 police officer’s rescue. I really liked the movie, however my complaint is that if they knew that one marine was white and the other black, why not cast the characters as such? Why cast two white men? I remember after 911, when they had the picture of the 3 white firemen raising the flag atop of the 911 rubble and an artist wanted to repaint the picture to have one man white, one man black and one man Hispanic to honor the variety of people that came together to help. There were protests and the threat of a law suit if that action was taken. It was left alone at that point. How do you think it makes me feel as a black, American male to know that there was a person of color that came forward and went the extra mile, the same as the white marine, and we can’t even get an acknowledgement for what he did? If the story was about drugs, shootings or welfare fraud, all the characters would have been black. I am disappointed in the choice of the 2nd marine actor. I’m not taking anything away from any of the brave people who did anything at all on that tragic day, or looking for hollow glory, but I believe a casting mistake was made. It may be that unless you are a person of color, you can’t understand my response to such a seemingly small issue, but to this Blackman, it is one more example of marginalizing. I want my children to know that there was someone who looked like them at 911 that did something heroic and patriotic, also. I want them to feel the same bride that the family of the white marine feels when their daddy is applauded for a job well done. Sometimes, all you can do is shake your head, then move on in hopes that maybe tomorrow our society will wake up. Thanks for listening.
Rev. Robert Gray
Jason Thomas is September 11 Hero…
Jason Thomas is a hero who saved lives on September 11, 2001. No one knew who he was and what he had done for several years after the events of that day. Read about him and see photos and a video below.
Jason Thomas
One of the things I have noticed ab…