Pete W. Morgan attempted to save Floyd C. Collins from burning, Roff, Oklahoma, February 16, 1934. An aeroplane, which was being piloted by Collins, 32, dropped to the ground and burst into flames. Collins was thrown from the aeroplane and lay on his back beneath the junction of the wing and the fuselage. Burning wing covering lay across his legs, but he was not pinned beneath the wreckage. Dense smoke surrounded the aeroplane, and flames rose eight feet above it. Morgan, 21, ran to Collins, grasped him under his armpits, and dragged him two feet backward. Because of the intense heat, he dropped Collins and ran six feet farther from the aeroplane. He then returned to Collins, grasped him, and dragged him four feet farther from the flames. An empty gasoline tank of the aeroplane exploded, and Morgan dropped Collins and ran 10 feet away. Another man then reached Morgan. Morgan grasped the man’s hand, and both ran to Collins, Morgan being ahead of the other man. Morgan with his other hand grasped Collins’s hand, and he and his companion dragged Collins two feet. Skin sloughed off the hands of Morgan and Collins, and Morgan lost his hold. The other man ran farther from the flames. Morgan took hold of Collins under his armpits with his arms and pulled Collins 15 feet farther from the aeroplane. He and the other man then beat out the flames on Collins’s clothing. Collins died a few hours later from burns. Morgan sustained serious burns and was disabled for 10 weeks.
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