Dennis Fleming

Dennis Fleming helped to save Kevin L. Gladhill, Michael G. Krall, and Russell U. Neff III from drowning, Lusby, Maryland, February 10, 2011. Gladhill, 32; Krall, 35; and Neff, 55, were fishing from a 21-foot boat in Chesapeake Bay, in the vicinity of turbulence created by the discharge of water from submerged conduits of a power plant nearby on the bank. Opposing winds amplified the turbulence, creating standing waves five feet high. A wave swamped the boat, and another capsized it, sending the men into the 34-degree water. They secured a hold of the boat, only the bow of which was exposed. Fleming, 51, environmental resources administrator, and a friend were fishing the same waters from Fleming’s 21-foot boat nearby and witnessed the accident. Radioing for help, Fleming immediately took his boat into the turbulent water and approached a point alongside the partially submerged one. Fleming, who left the boat’s controls, and his friend grasped the men one at a time and hauled them with difficulty into the stern of that boat. They then took the men to the safety of a harbor, from which they were transferred to the hospital for treatment of hypothermia. They recovered.