Thelma Marguerite Skillin

Thelma Marguerite Skillin saved James N. and Walter H. Green, Jr., from drowning, Bath, Maine, November 15, 1946. At dusk James, 14, fell from a wharf into the cold waters of the Kennebec River, his feet sticking in silt a foot and a half deep. His brother Walter, 18, U. S. Coast Guard, freed him, but James in a struggle got on Walter’s back, causing him to be submerged and stuck in the silt in water five and a half feet deep 15 feet from the wharf. Mrs. Skillin, 32, housewife, who was heavily clothed, removed her shoes, jumped from the wharf, and swam to James. She took hold of him under the chin with one hand, and he released Walter. Mrs. Skillin swam towing James 12 feet to a timber projection of the wharf, as Walter swam to a point near her and began sinking. Supporting James’ chin with the crook of her arm, Mrs. Skillin grasped Walter by the hair with the hand of that arm. Two men then pulled the brothers onto the wharf, to which Mrs. Skillin returned after resting briefly on the projection. James, who was semiconscious, was revived. Walter was nearly exhausted. Mrs. Skillin was chilled and nervous.