ON Sept. 11, Jason Thomas was living on Long Island and attending John Jay College of Criminal Justice when the planes hit.
He grabbed his Marine uniform, rushed down to Ground Zero, and helped rescue two police officers trapped in the debris.
He identified himself only as “Sgt. Thomas” – and was startled to see a character based on him in a trailer for Oliver Stone’s movie, “World Trade Center,” which opened last summer.
Now, this Sunday, Thomas gets paid back – with the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
“Seeing the house . . . was just amazing,” says Thomas, who was whisked away to Disney World with his family last fall while the “Home Edition” crew razed his old house in Columbus, Ohio.
In its place, they built a new, 3,600-square-foot palace, adding two bedrooms, two bathrooms and fancy landscaping.
“My first reaction was the size of the house, which wrapped around the corner,” he says.
Thomas lives there with his wife and four kids, and his wife’s aunt and her daughter.
Thomas never graduated from John Jay – “9/11 threw a huge monkey wrench into that,” he says – but hopes to eventually return to school.
He now works for the Supreme Court of Ohio as a court security officer, providing protection for the Chief Justice and the building’s employees.
And, he still doesn’t know who submitted his name to the ABC show.
“It’s going to be emotional to watch it,” he says. “What a blessing.”