Oscar M. Hatle, 26, grocer, saved Frank M. Brooks, 28, restaurant proprietor, and Hilton H. Stemwedel, 12, school-boy, from drowning, Florence, South Dakota, May 29, 1936. While Hatle, Brooks, Hilton, and another boy were riding on a raft on Medicine Lake, the raft tilted and all were thrown into water six feet deep 75 feet from the bank. Brooks rose six feet from the raft, which drifted farther from the bank; and Hatle rose 12 feet from the raft. Brooks attempted to push Hilton, who was threshing, to the raft; and Hilton grabbed his legs, both being briefly submerged. Brooks pushed Hilton from him and turned away from him. Hilton climbed upon Brooks’s back and held him under the surface. Meanwhile Hatle swam three feet to the other boy and without difficulty towed him 20 feet to wadable water. Hearing Hilton call for help and thinking Hilton and Brooks were struggling, Hatle swam 20 feet to Hilton, who grabbed at him and scratched him. He tried to quiet Hilton, who was much excited, and then reached under the surface and took hold of Brooks’s arm and swam slowly toward the bank. Hilton kept his hold of Brooks and did not interfere. Hatle swam 30 feet to water three and a half feet deep, and Hilton then waded to the bank. Hatle dragged Brooks to the bank, and he was revived.
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