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STAFF SERGEANT DAVID W. KARNES, USMC, a true Christian hero on September 11th, 2001, who, while an accountant with Deloitte & Touche in Wilton, CT, located and helped rescue two New York City Port Authority Police Officers, Will Jimeno & John McLoughlin, trapped for hours in the rubble of the collapsed Twin Towers after rushing into the burning World Trade Center with fellow PAPD officers to rescue the lives of others. 2,749 people perished in the Twin Towers attacks (not including the hijackers) and only 20 people were pulled out alive. McLoughlin and Jimeno were numbers 18 and 19.
This is the true story upon which the critically acclaimed motion picture by Academy Award winning director Oliver Stone, "WORLD TRADE CENTER", starring Academy Award winning actor Nicholas Cage (as officer John McLoughlin) is based. The role of Staff Sergeant Karnes, portrayed by Michael Shannon, was a central figure in the film. Karnes, however, did not cooperate in the making of "World Trade Center", and refused to accept a handsome payment for the rights to his own life story.
Karnes later was quoted as saying on the morning of September 11th, after witnessing the attacks upon the WTC with his colleagues on television, “I told people at my office ‘you guys may not realize it, but we're at war right now.' After staying at my desk for a few hours praying and asking God what I should do, I left the office to go to the WTC site.”
Having spent 23 years in the Marine Corps infantry, Karnes got a regulation hair cut, put on his Marine Corps camouflage utility uniform and obtained equipment that included rappelling gear. On his way to ground zero, he drove to the church where he is a member, Bible Baptist Church of Elmont, Long Island (see
http://www.biblebaptistchurchelmont.org/), to ask his pastor, Jim Barker, to pray that God would lead him to survivors.
After arriving at the site, by God's providence, Karnes, ran into another Marine, Jason Thomas, and walked with him into the rubble. At the time he only knew his fellow Marine as "Sgt. Thomas," and his full identity was not revealed until years later. The two men found Jimeno & McLoughlin buried in the rubble. Karnes called his wife and sister on his cell phone with instructions to relay to the authorities their whereabouts, and then further risked his own life by crawling into the hole in the rubble where the two PAPD officers were trapped in order to aid in their rescue. Praise be to our Sovereign Lord, the efforts of Karnes & the rescue team that arrived were successful in saving the lives of Jimeno & McLoughlin.
Staff Sergeant Karnes spent a total of nine days at ground zero. Upon returning home, he reenlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve and went on to serve in the Philippines and Iraq, where he served for seventeen months including three tours of duty in Iraq. He is still an active United States Marine today. We are grateful for his service to our country, and for taking the time from his busy schedule to participate in this interview live in WNYG's studio in West Babylon, Long Island, for the second time.
