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VOURBi OENOTELV
*Jfc**K* V9 I
SOLDIERS AID
IN RESCUE OF
COMRADE
* ; _
NENANA. Alaska — Quick
thinking and prompt action by
two Harborcraft Detachment sol
, diers recently prevented the
drowning of a fellow soldier in
a river, credited with being one
of the most treacherous in the
world. Master Sgt. Edward J.
Miller of McGrath, Alaska, skip
per of the Hazel B., tells of the
incident:
► “We were bringing the Hazel
B., an army boat, up the Tanana
river and were threading our way
past Squaw Crossing, a short dis-j
tance from the point where the
Tanana flows into the Yukon,
This section of the river is par
ticularly difficult, due to the con
stantly changing channel and the
rapid current.
“The Hazel B. was pushing a
barge, upon which two members
of the crew were stationed with
long poles to sound the depth of
0 the channel as we moved up
.. .
sream. In the bow of the barge
was Staff Sgt. Norman A. Heim-;
dahl of Petersburg, Alaska, and j
aft on the port side was Pvt. Wil
liam Britz of Chicago.
“Suddenly Britz* sounding pole
stuck in the mud and catapulted
him into the river. He let out a
yell and sank immediately, later!
explaining that he dived to the !
bottom to avoid entanglement
with the screw, in case the Hazel
B. passed over him
“Heimdahl saw the accident and
realized the extreme periol of the
situation. He ran aft and, unaid
ed, began struggling to launch a
heavy work boat that was lying
on the deck of the barge. This
was practically impossible as the
boat weighed more than 900
pounds,
“Had this occurred on any
other river, some member of the
crew would have Jumped into the
water to assist Britz but no one,
except an insane person, would
dive into the Tanana under any
circumstances. To do so would
amount to committing suicide, a
fact readily apparent to anyone
who has seen the river.
“The current is swift—so swift >
that a chip will float latter than i
a man could run along the bank i
—and there is considerable un* i
dertow. But the Tanana is dan- j
gerous for still another reason.
The turbulent water carries huge
quantities of fine silt in suspen
sion that will shortly sift into a i
swimmer's clothing and render it
impossible for him to remain !
afloat. Many drownings that
have taken place in the river !
have been caused by this factor. ,
“Tech. Sgt. Charles M. Bink
ley of Wrangell, Alaska, and I
witnessed the accident from the j
wheel house. Binkley was steer- !
ing the boat, but he turned the:
wheel over to me and acted at
once. He sprinted down the steps j
to the second deck and sprang l
| over the rail to the first deck, j
■ He then jumped aboard the barge j
; and helped Heimdahl launch the
! heavy work boat. They leaped
; into it and began rowing rapidly
down stream.
“I rang the bell, notifying the
engineer to stop the motors, and
at the same time I spun the vtfjgel
hard over to swing the boat wide
of the place where Brity. had dis
appeared.
| “About Jtjiis^time Britz came to ;
the surface and iT'could be plain
ly seen that he was exhausted.
He’s as strong as. a horse and a
, good swimmer but the sleeves of ■
j his jacket were so filled with silt j
! he was scarcely able to move his J
| arms in the water. He was slowly ;
1 sinking again when Binkley and j
Heimdahl arrived in time to grab
him and puli him into the boat.
“The telling oi this taker sev
eral minutes, but the tmtire ac
tion I’ve described took place
within the incredible period of
not more than 60 seconds. In
stinctively, when I took the wheel
from Binkley I glanced at my
wrist v/atch and noted the time.
When the boys pulled Britz into
the boat I checked the time again
and was amazed that so short a
space of time had elapsed.
"With Britz in the boat Bink
ley and Heimdahl began rowing
back to the Hazel B., but now
they were rowing against the
current. Their progress was
slow and it took them 20 min
utes to cover the distance.
'T checked with Binkley and
444- 4- 44 4 44 4 4-444-14-4+44444*H
' '* tf
Heimdahl and they agreed with
my calculation of the time re
quired to effect the rescue. I
have so entered it in the log of
the Hazel B. Britz, however, dis
agrees violently. He says he could
swear that he battled the silt
laden current for hours—no
less.”
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