Jason Thomas, a former marine who was instrumental in the heroic rescue of two New York Port Authority Officers on September 11, 2001, gave the opening remarks at the 2012 Law Enforcement Conference in Columbus on October 25.

The two-day conference gathered Ohio's state, county, and municipal law enforcement officers to talk about an array of subjects challenging today's officers. It featured 30 educational workshops on topics including officer-involved shooting investigations, child sex trafficking, survival mindset training, and the Chardon school shooting. Around 1,000 law enforcement officers attended the conference.

Thomas, who's currently a court security officer at the Ohio Supreme Court, lived in New York when terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center. He's now a motivational speaker and talked to Ohio's law enforcement officers about persevering and never leaving a brother behind.

"I took it personally, and I knew it was a terrorist attack. I also knew there was going to be a lot of men and women who lost their life on that day or was going to need assistance, and I just wanted to be in a position to assist," Thomas said.

Thomas said he wanted the officers who attended the conference to reflect on the good that came out of 9/11 and to also remember the tragedy that all experienced on that day.

 "Every year we tend to pull a little further away from what took place on 9/11. We're starting to forget a little bit about how the terrorist attack affected this country and all the men and women that were there that day," Thomas said.

Thomas told the officers that it takes a special person to want to get into law enforcement, and he commended them on all of their efforts.

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