P a ge 45 t opside V olume 79 , I s s u e 2
USCG Auxiliary District 5 NR USCG Station Histories Continued
Gold Lifesaving medals were awarded to Captain Robert F . Longstreet , Keeper of Squan Beach Life-Saving Station , Captain John K . Anderson , and Mr . Charles H . Boker and a silver Lifesaving medal to Mr . Harry Anderson , for heroic conduct on June 13 , 1904 . With a heavy groundswell and very high surf , only a few fishing vessels dared to venture out and among them was one containing Captain Anderson , Harry Anderson and 5 others . After reaching the off shore fish pound , they loaded their boat and at around noon started back to the beach heavily laden . Within a few minutes and just outside the sandbar , a heavy sea capsized her and threw the occupants into the surf . Fortunately all of the men were able to cling to the overturned boat . On shore , Mr . Boker who witnessed the capsize , ran to a skiff and attempted to persuade unsuccessfully another fisherman to help him attempt a launch to rescue .
Captain Robert Longstreet , the Keeper of the Squan Beach Life-Saving Station arrived on scene and having no crew at the station as it was the inactive season , jumped in the skiff with Mr Boker and launched . Due to the heavy seas flooding the skiff , one man was required to continually bail as the other rowed . Due to their skillful efforts , they were able to reach the capsized boat where now 5 of the fishermen had been washed off in the direction of the shore . Captain Anderson was still clinging to the boat with one other man who could not swim . As the skiff made its approach to rescue the two , a great wave washed Anderson and the fisherman from the boat . Captain Anderson then went after and seized the fisherman and held him in the breaking surf until the crew in the skiff was able to reach them and haul them aboard .
In the meantime , 4 of the 5 who had previously been washed from the capsized boat and among whom was Harry Anderson had succeeded in reaching the beach . However the other who was unable to swim disappeared underwater and would have likely drowned had it not been for the actions of Anderson . After nearly losing his own life , he seized the end of a line and heroically plunged back into the surf to search for him . He was able to find the man about 40 yards from the shore lying on the bottom . Anderson grabbed the individual and struggled to get him to the surface . Both men we then hauled ashore by persons on the beach . The rescued man was not breathing and was only finally restored after the Life-Saving Service method of resuscitation had been applied for more than an hour .
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