Robert T. Vann rescued Wilford, Jr., and Michael W. Wells from burning, White House, Florida, June 14, 1951. Wilford, two months old, and his brother Michael, 15 months old, were asleep in the bedroom of a one-story house at Cecil Field when fire broke out in the kitchen. The flames quickly spread to a hallway between the kitchen and the bedroom, and heat became intense. From the living room at the front of the house the father and another man attempted to reach the bedroom, but they were driven from the hallway by the heat and flames. Robert, 14, schoolboy, was attracted and entered the living room. Placing a cloth cap over his face, he ran into the hallway. He crouched to avoid gusts of flame descending from the ceiling and continued seven feet through dense smoke to the bedroom door, which he entered. He found Wilford in a bassinet and wheeled the child to a crib at the opposite wall in which Michael was sleeping. Robert placed Michael in the bassinet and attempted to push him and Wilford into the hallway but could not progress beyond the bedroom door because of the heat. He wheeled the children to a window at the rear of the bedroom. From outside a man tore off the screen and cranked open the window which was only 10 inches wide. Robert handed Wilford and Michael through the window opening to the man and then followed them out of the bedroom. Wilford had severe burns of the face, legs, and stomach but recovered. 42311-3762
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