Arthur F. Foulks, 22, machine operator, saved William T. Craft, William Doherty, Howard Buck, and Edward H. Homer, each 15, schoolboys, from drowning, Florence, New Jersey, April 10, 1949. A rowboat in which the four boys were riding on the Delaware River swamped and capsized near midstream in cold water 29 feet deep. The boys rose and took hold of the boat, which drifted bottom-side up in a current of 1 m.p.h. Partly clothed and with a rope coiled around his shoulder, Foulks swam 530 feet to the boat. He tied an end of the rope to the bow and swam 75 feet toward the bank, the rope becoming taut. Foulks tried to tie the rope around his waist but could not because his hands were numbed. He placed the end of the rope between his teeth and, aided by the current, swam towing the boat 410 feet to within 45 feet of a wharf at the bank. A life preserver on a rope was thrown to Foulks by men on the wharf. He grasped the life preserver and the rope tied to the boat and was pulled to the wharf, where be lost his hold on the rope. Holding the life preserver, he swam 25 feet to the boat, which was pulled to the wharf. All were lifted onto the wharf, Foulks attaching the rope to each boy before he was hoisted from the water. Foulks was fatigued, and he and the boys were cold and numbed but recovered. 3653-41717
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