Scott B. Williams

Scott G. Williams, 15, schoolboy, helped to save Susan M. LeBrun, 14, from drowning, Tillamook, Oregon, September 5, 1966. Susan. a good swimmer, was frolicking in the surf of the Pacific Ocean and suddenly was swept seaward. Informed that a girl hidden by the fog was calling for help, Scott and four other youths 16 to 19 decided to go to her aid. The others were Bruce AIIen Free, his brother Michael Royce Free, Jack Otto Lehmann, and Susan’s brother. The five took positions fifty feet apart end entered the chiIIy water. Scott was at one end of the line with a six-foot air mattress. They had waded and swum 160 feet and were obscured by the fog from persons on shore when Scott sighted Susan. He passed the word to the others; and they then followed Scott, who was the first to reach Susan. She was 265 feet from shore in water seven feet deep between swells four feet high and was greatly fatigued. Bruce, Jack, Michael, and Susan’s brother arrived in that order. All five youths were tired. A riptide moved them farther from shore as they placed Susan on the mattress. The five youths tried to tow the mattress toward the beach but a swell upset it. Thereafter they took turns supporting Susan while she held to the mattress. As the group swam parallel to shore to get out of the riptide area, all swallowed some water and became more tired. Reaching an area where the riptide was less severe, they then swam toward the fogbound beach through breakers three feet high. All were fatigued and cold by the time they succeeded in reaching wadable water. Two men who had waded out with a rope met them and aided them in wading 100 feet to shore. Susan, as well as Scott and the other youths who had been in the water about 40 minutes, were treated for shock and exposure. All recovered.