| Never forget the heroism of ordinary Americans on 9/11. Thank you Sgt. Karnes. |
On Sept. 11, 2001 , three years after he last served the Corps, 43-year-old Karnes had his opportunity to demonstrate what Marines do. It came to him in the form of one of the most devastating attacks in U.S. history.
Working as a senior accountant at the time with Deloitte & Touche's national headquarters in Wilton, Conn., Karnes received a phone call that once again ignited his warrior spirit. It was early that morning at work when I received a phone call from my sister in Pittsburgh who told me that a small plane had just crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers, Karnes recalled. I looked outside and saw that it was a clear day, I knew that planes just don't fly into buildings that tall on such a day. I suspected right off that terrorists had flown a skyjacked commercial airliner into the building.
Karnes' nightmare soon came to reality as the morning events unfolded. Shortly after the first plane crashed, a second commercial airliner slammed into the second tower. After seeing the reports of a confirmed terrorist attack on television, Karnes knew that a call to duty had once again been sent to him. I told people at my office you guys may not realize it, but we're at war right now,' Karnes stated. 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.
What Karnes did next would likely seem strange to anyone other than a Marine. I stopped to get a high-and-tight haircut at the local barbershop, then traveled toward my home in Wilton to throw on a pair of starched cammies I had hanging in my closet. I then stopped at my storage unit on Long Island to grab some basic 782 and rappelling gear, and then started on what is normally a 45-minute drive toward the World Trade Center.
I was traveling down the closed parkway in my car at a very aggressive speed, Karnes explained. Funny thing is that two weeks prior to the attack, I bought a used car ironically, it was a Porsche 911. The cops that had checkpoints all up that route waved me through because I had the top down on my car and they could see that I was a Marine with intentions to get to the site.
Upon arriving at the site where the towers once stood, Karnes immediately noticed a group of fireman as well as a handful of military service members like himself. Karnes found a search-and-rescue buddy in another Marine on the scene whom he knows only as Sgt. Thomas. I asked Thomas and the others if anyone has been in the center of the collapse area where the two towers stood, Karnes admitted. He said no because the authorities won't let anyone near that area, so I asked him if he would take a walk over there with me.
Karnes and his new friend Thomas walked to the rubble that was once The World Trade Center complex. After charging into the wall of smoke in front of them, they executed a hasty patrol route through the debris field. As we were walking we were yelling at the top of our lungs United States Marines, can anyone hear us?' Karnes described. As we approached the depression of the south tower I thought I heard something. Indeed it was some muffled call for help, I ensured them that Thomas and I were both looking for them so keep yelling so we can find you.
Karnes instructed Thomas to position himself on some high rubble for visibility and to guide any responding rescuers to the trapped men.
After calling his wife and sister on his cell phone with instructions to relay to the authorities his whereabouts, Karnes was able to find two survivors. Port Authority Police Officers William Jimeno and John McLoughlin, were trapped 20 feet below the surface in a dark and smoky cavern made by the debris that was once the World Trade Center.
When I made it to the bottom of the void, I saw that Jimeno had an encroaching fire at his feet, if we had arrived about 20 minutes later than we did, the fire would have started burning him alive, Karnes said. About 15 minutes after reaching both officers, Chuck Sereika, a paramedic operating that day with expired credentials, showed up and started performing first aid on them.
After Sereika arrived, two Emergency Service Unit officers from the New York Police Department heeded the call for help followed shortly after by a New York City fireman. Together, the five men compiled what tools they had to dig the two officers out of the rubble. Discussions even arose about amputating Jimeno's leg to free him, but the only tool in their inventory capable of that was Karnes' K-bar knife, thankfully it did not come to that, Karnes said.
It took the men three hours to dig out Jimeno. By that time a human chain of rescuers had formed across the pile to Liberty Street to pass along the gear necessary for the nine-hour effort it took to free McLoughlin from his crypt.
The day ended for Karnes as he found a place to sleep for a few hours at Bellevue Hospital. He then spent the next eight days conducting search-and-rescue operations at the site.
When Karnes returned to Wilton the next week, he eagerly rushed to re-enlist in the Marine Corps Reserve. He is assigned [N.B.: as of the date of this article] to Company A, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.