Kenneth G. Haugen, 40, well driller, saved Ginger K. Sowell, 5, and three others from drowning, Seward, Alaska, July 19, 1964. When high waves caused a motorboat containing Ginger and four adults to capsize in Resurrection Bay, all were thrown into deep water 1200 feet from shore. Her parents put a life jacket on Ginger and held her on the upturned bottom of the boat as they clung to opposite sides. Robert J. Hibler, Jr., held to the bow, and James R. O’Rear climbed onto the stern. Haugen, who earlier had beached his motor-powered dory due to the five-foot waves and strong wind, witnessed the accident. Haugen launched his 13-foot boat and piloted it on a zigzag course through the waves to near the capsized craft. He turned into the wind and threw the end of a 50-foot rope attached to the bow of his boat across the capsized craft. 0’Rear held the rope taut as Mrs. Merle C. Sowell, holding Ginger in her arm, slowly made her way along it to Haugen’s boat. Haugen lifted Ginger aboard and Mrs. Sowell held to the side of the boat. Hibler worked his way to the rope and followed it to the other boat, where he held to the opposite side to balance the craft. Meanwhile Mrs. Sowell’s husband had lost his hold on the far side of the capsized craft and had drowned. O’Rear moved along the rope to Haugen’s boat and aided in getting Mrs. Sowell aboard. After Hibler and O’Rear also were taken into the small craft, Haugen circled the overturned boat but saw no sign of Mrs. Sowell’s husband. With five persons aboard, the boat was difficult to handle, and it shipped some water as Haugen piloted it to shore, again following a zigzag course through the waves.
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