Austin E. Fitch, 24, draftsman, saved Roy B. Dill, 21, clerk, from drowning, Deicke, Missouri, July 27, 1913. Dill became distressed while swimming in the Meramec River and went beneath the surface, 110 feet from the bank. Fitch paddled to him in a canoe, after he had gone down twice, and extended a paddle. Dill was too weak to grasp the paddle and went beneath the surface again. Fitch jumped into the water and went to the bottom in an upright position. He grasped Dill and sprang upward, and both reached the surface. The wind had carried the canoe out of reach. Dill struggled with Fitch for a few moments, and then Fitch grasped him and swam and at times waded in water over his head, holding Dill’s head above the surface. He went 90 feet to a stump, to which he clung until help reached them. 11835-889
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