Robert L. Brown, 38, fireman, saved Harold Q. Hillman, Jr., Dennis W. Meckley, and Lawrence A. Dickerson, 20, U.S. Marines, from burning, Richlands, North Carolina, November 24, 1967. Hillman and Dickerson were rendered unconscious and Meckley was badly dazed when all sustained injuries in a collision involving their automobile and a truck. Brown witnessed the accident and stopped near the automobile where fire had broken out around the fuel tank in the luggage compartment at the front end. Running to the vehicle, Brown opened the door on the passenger side and found Hillman just inside. After beating out small flames on the trousers of Hillman, Brown dragged him away from the automobile. He then returned to the vehicle, where flames from the luggage compartment were issuing into the passenger section through the broken windshield. Stepping onto the door frame, Brown extended his upper body into the automobile and took hold of Meckley, who was on the rear seat. He drew Meckley to the door, pulled him through the opening, and aided him away from the vehicle. Returning to the automobile, Brown knelt on the front seat near the flames issuing through the broken windshield and freed Dickerson’s foot from beneath the brake pedal. He then pulled Dickerson from the automobile and dragged him away. A short time later an explosive spread of flames involved both the automobile and the truck. Hillman, Meckley, and Dickerson, none of whom had sustained burns, recovered from their injuries.
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