George Bukator helped to save Joseph J. Scotch, John A. Probash, Jr., and Stanley W. Swiatkowski, from drowning, Chippawa, Ontario, May 19, 1944. Joseph, 17, machinist’s helper, John, 17, shipping clerk, and Stanley, 16, schoolboy, drifted on a raft in a current of six m.p.h. in the Niagara River to a point 2,800 feet from the bank about a mile above the brink of Niagara Falls and within 2,000 feet of cascades that extended to the falls. Bukator, 31, barber, and Alton M. Sedore reached them at that point in a boat they had rowed from the bank, their progress being slow and unsteady at first because they were inexperienced. One at a time, the boys entered the boat while it drifted 300 with the raft. With free-board of five inches, Bukator and Sedore rowed with great effort across the current to the bank at a point 2,300 feet below the point from which they had started, the trip requiring 30 minutes. 40196-3402
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40196-3402