J. Roland Klemm saved David L. Mee and Daniel M. Hutcheson from drowning, Wilmette, Illinois, March 15, 1964. When their canoe was swamped in Lake Michigan, schoolboys David, 16, and Daniel, 15, jumped into the icy water, clung to the craft after it rose upside down, and pushed it ahead of them as they swam shoreward. They soon became too numb to continue, and called for help 450 feet from shore in water 12 feet deep between waves three feet high. Klemm, 39, factory purchasing agent, was attracted and ran 700 feet to a point on the beach from which the wind and waves would aid him on a diagonal course to the two youths. He undressed to his underwear and waded 100 feet in the cold water. Klemm swam 600 feet and reached the canoe. Both David and Daniel said that their limbs were numb, but Klemm urged them to continue trying to swim. Pulling the canoe, to which David and Daniel clung while kicking feebly, Klemm swam toward shore. The wind and waves forced him off course, but after swimming 460 feet they obtained footing and waded 150 feet to the beach.
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