Stephen J. Herbert saved Thomas Douglas from burning and exposure, Kobuk, Alaska, June 22, 1957. Douglas, 32, sawyer, was a passenger in an airplane that crashed and overturned on a mountain ledge 40 miles from the nearest settlement. Others in the plane were the pilot, who was killed in the crash, and Herbert, 18, student, and his father. Seriously injured, Douglas was suspended by his feet from the instrument panel as flames broke out around the engine. Herbert, who was injured only slightly, climbed from the wreckage and then removed his father from the cabin as flames spread to the fuselage. Hearing Douglas call for help, he ran back to the plane, where flames burned around Douglas’s feet. He reached into the cabin and pulled on Douglas’s legs but could free only one of them. Thinking it might be necessary to amputate the other leg, Herbert obtained a knife and climbed into the plane, where overhead flames extended downward about two feet. He got to his knees behind Douglas and pulled forcibly on his thighs, freeing the trapped leg. With difficulty, he dragged Douglas from the plane shortly before a sudden burst of flames enveloped the fuselage and extended to a point within five feet of them. Flames soon consumed the plane. Herbert erected a windbreak and built a fire to warm the injured men, and then, following a light snowfall, he tramped the word “help” in the snow. Twelve hours after the crash, a search plane was attracted by a smudge fire that Herbert had built, and a helicopter removed the three men. Douglas was hospitalized for five months for treatment of his injuries, which included severe burns to his legs that required the amputation of one of them. Herbert recovered from a laceration and a wrenched back.
44241-4171Stephen J. Herbert
Fairbanks, AK