Jesse G. Hunter saved Herman W. Meyer and Darwin E. Kane from drowning, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 2, 1947. While swimming in the Cedar River, schoolboys Herman,13, and Darwin, 14, were caught in a current of four m.p.h. and drifted in midstream in muddy water six and a half feet deep. Hunter, 32, city fireman, ran 400 feet to the bank and plunged into the water 200 feet upstream from Herman. Swimming 1,500 feet with the current and passing Darwin, who was struggling, Hunter reached Herman, who was unconscious, 300 feet from the bank. Treading water, Hunter grasped Herman by the hair, and Darwin drifted 25 feet to Hunter and seized his free arm. At Hunter’s direction, Darwin released the hold and took hold of Herman’s shoulders. Too tired to swim closer to the bank, Hunter drifted supporting the boys 1,585 feet, where firemen in a rowboat reached them. The boys were pulled aboard, and Hunter clung to the gunwale with help until police in another rowboat reached the first boat 385 feet farther downstream; and all were brought ashore. Herman was revived. Hunter was weak and badly winded and suffered numbness in his legs. 41092-3559
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41092-3559