Dave Karnes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the U.S. Marine. For the U.S. Senator, see David Karnes.

Dave Karnes of the United States Marine Corps

David W. Karnes (born ca. 1958) is a U.S. Marine who located and helped rescue two police officers trapped in the rubble from the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center.

Karnes, an accountant by profession, left his office at Deloitte and Touche in Wilton, Connecticut on September 11, 2001 immediately after witnessing the attacks on television.

Karnes later was quoted as saying: “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.”^[1]

According to a Slate magazine profile, Karnes drove to a local church and asked the pastor and parishioners to say a prayer that God would lead him to survivors. A devout Christian, Karnes often turned to God when faced with decisions."^[2]

Having spent 23 years in the Marine Corps infantry, he got a regulation hair cut, put on his Marine Corps camouflage utility uniform and obtained equipment that included rappelling gear. He drove from Connecticut to the World Trade Center to assist with the disaster. At the site he 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.

According to a Defense Department profile of Karnes:

"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 and Thomas were able to find two survivors.”^[1]

The two men found Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin, a pair of police officers buried in the rubble. In the 2006 Oliver Stone movie, World Trade Center, which tells this story, Karnes is played by Michael Shannon.

Karnes spent a total of nine days at the site before returning to his office. 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 two tours of duty in Iraq.

Karnes did not cooperate in the making of Stone's World Trade Center movie, and his portrayal in the movie has been criticized. Slate magazine observed that "the film seems to overplay his zeal without conveying his motivations and reasoning," and that he is unfairly portrayed as "a robotic soldier of Christ—a little wacky and simplistic." ^[3]