Edward B. Gillentine saved Judith V. Plummer, Ronald L. Branning, and Alice L. Hough from drowning, Miami, Florida, October 26, 1957. At night, the sedan in which Miss Plummer, 14; Branning, 18, and Miss Hough, 13, were riding plunged into Biscayne Bay and landed on a boat moored there. The car was carried free of the boat and began to sink in water nine feet deep 80 feet from the bank. Gillentine, 18, student, who was considerably underweight from a recent illness, ran 500 feet to a point opposite the submerged car. Removing his shoes, he dived into the water and swam 45 feet to where the car lay, on its side, two feet below the water level. Miss Plummer then rose to the surface, floundering wildly. Gillentine supported her; she then swam to the wrecked boat, only the bow of which was above the water. Gillentine submerged, reached into the car, and located Branning, then grasped him by the hair and drew him from the car. Gillentine towed Branning, who had been injured severely, to the boat. Swimming back to the car, Gillentine removed Miss Hough, who had suffered a fractured leg. Miss Hough threw both arms around Gillentine, submerging him. Gillentine broke her hold, then returned to the surface, where he held her head above water. Too fatigued to swim to the boat and unable to secure footing on the car, Gillentine trod water and supported Miss Hough until others arrived in a boat. Branning and Miss Hough recovered from their injuries. Gillentine was fatigued and winded, but he recovered.
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