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Posted on 11/14/2011 4:27:08 PM PST by hoagy62
ASTORIA, Ore. -- A Coast Guardsman was being honored as a hero Monday for his efforts in saving a woman from drowning in the Columbia River in September.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Leon Doniphan, a cook aboard Cutter Alert in Astoria, had just finished his shift on Sept. 10 and was heading on to the pier when he noticed some commotion on the river's edge.
It turned out, a young girl about 11- or 12-years-old, who had been swimming around the pilings under the dock, got caught in the river's current.
Moments later, it was apparent she was about to be carried under a 40-foot navigation buoy that had been retired and chained to the shore.
"The situation became grim quickly," witness Rod Hallock told the Coast Guard.
The girl managed to grab on to a small piece of metal on the buoy's edge but struggled to hold in against the churning water.
"She was yelling that she couldn’t hold on,” another witness, Lewis Nevel said.
The Coast Guard says Doniphan ran into the frigid waters and swam about 40 feet to reach the girl.
"The current was very strong and was trying to pull me under the buoy also," Doniphan said in a press release sent by the Coast Guard.
He managed to hoist the girl on to his shoulders and swim both of them just far enough away to not get trapped under the large buoy. But as they both began to be carried downriver by the current, Doniphan grabbed on to the chain that had tied the buoy to shore and pulled the two to shore.
(Excerpt) Read more at komonews.com ...
Maybe her birthday is Oct. 15th!?
Good on you Ramius. I grew up in Warrenton and you Coasties have saved more than one person I know closely. My old roomie was nearly killed in a commercial fishing accident and was picked up by a CG Base Astoria helicopter off his sinking shrimp boat.
My hat’s off to you guys.
The CRMM is awesome. Loved the video about the Columbia River bar pilots and the dangers they face - this is bravery that very few people know about. I would love to see Hollywood make a movie about them.
So what? It’s not an invalid point.
I read the article and it said September 10.....what did you you guys read?
ping
I would imagine it is the Coast Guard Lifesaving Medal. Just a guess.
Great story. Fortunately, he’s a good-sized young man ... Anoreth was trained for rescue, but the 11-year-old girl probably weighed more!
Thanks... And that’s really on behalf of some my shipmates... I didn’t do anything special. That was a long time ago and a different lifetime. :-)
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
- Robert Heinlein.
If it weren’t for people making poor decisions out on the water, the USCG would be out of a job. We’re there to give people a mulligan when they screw up really bad. :-)
I have a shirt with “Support your local recovery diver,
boat drunk” on it
SEMPER PARATUS!
IT AIN’T JUST A MOTTO, IT’S A WAY OF LIFE.
Holy crap...you’re right! I JUST noticed the time of the incident.
However, the article was published TODAY. Don’t know the reason for the delay. Slow news day?
The article is about the fact that he was honored Monday, not the fact of the rescue. There was probably another article published in September about the actual rescue.
Try reading the thread before burping up comments.
This entire story reeks.
If you've got solid evidence to the contrary, you're welcome to post them. In fact, even encouraged to do so........Till then, keep your insults to yourself, you merely affirm what we're already thinking about you.
Keep reading........the article was about the awards ceremony which was on Monday and expounded by detailing the actions that warranted the award....which were back in September.
Lets look at the facts, based on this story posted here.
1. This story was either never reported about when it occurred, and or was published nearly 40 days after the incident.
2. This story is allegedly for an award ceremony but nothing, no story about the incident itself, which occurred nearly 40 days ago?
3. The story says the victim was a young girl, 11 or 12 years old, yet they don't even know the victims age after all this time?
4. The story doesn't even give the victims name. Absolutely no was given for the alleged victim. No name at all.
5. At one point, the story describes a woman as the victim, then another part of the story, it describes the victim as a girl.
There seems to be an inordinate amount of discrepancies or issues with this story.
BTW, who is, "We"? And if ya don't have the guts to speak up, and state what ya mean, ya ought to get off news/political forums on the Internet.
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