thedrifter
03-12-07, 08:18 AM
Hero from Palm Beach uncomfortable in spotlight for saving six from burning boat
By Joel Hood
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted March 12 2007
Palm Beach – The image on the 10-foot screen was of a lone boat with a thick column of black smoke rising up off the open water. The hero stared at it a moment, unable to connect this photo with the real-life images still playing in his mind. L. Rodger Currie, 81, remembers the smoldering wreck.
He said remembers the heavy winds on that bright, blue summer day two years ago offshore Massachusetts in Nantucket Sound. He remembers a stranded crew, six of them in all, clinging to the boat deck amid 10-foot flames and suffocating smoke.
He remembers the mother, holding out her 3-year-old daughter shoulder high as Currie and his boating partner pulled alongside the sinking vessel. Currie called out to her and the woman tossed her daughter across the 4-foot swales, from one teetering boat to the next. She landed safely in Currie's arms.
On Sunday, Currie, a Palm Beach resident and former Marine, was awarded a bronze Carnegie Hero Medal for his bravery in helping save the lives of all six passengers that July day. The presentation was held at the Henry M. Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, just blocks from Currie's home. He wore a baby blue tie and crisp navy suit jacket. He fidgeted and fussed and nervously wiped his brow.
It's not easy to risk your life to save others; tougher still to be recognized for doing what you'd imagine anyone else would do in the same situation, family and friends said about him later.
"He's a very proud man, I'm sure he never gave [the rescue] a second thought," said Currie's daughter, Susan Toth, who lives in the family's native Massachusetts. "I know he's not very comfortable with all this attention."
Currie, a retired dental surgeon, is from a generation that thinks differently about heroism, Toth said. He flew 105 missions as a dive-bomber for the Marines in the South Pacific during World War II. He reportedly saved the life of his best friend and fellow Marine in the jungles there, lifting his friend's paralyzed body to safety and eventual transport home. Toth said Currie doesn't share a lot of details.
"I am honored," Currie said looking around the museum's gold-trimmed grand ballroom.
Since 1904, the Carnegie Hero Medal has been awarded to everyday citizens who throw themselves into danger to help others. About 100 are presented each year to people in the United States and Canada. Two past winners from Florida were in attendance Sunday, including West Palm Beach resident Joseph Alaimo, who rescued a 10-year-old girl from drowning in the ocean in 2004 and Kerry Reardon, of St. Petersburg, who pulled a young boy from a submerged car a year later.
Joel Hood can be reached at jhood@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6611.
Ellie
By Joel Hood
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted March 12 2007
Palm Beach – The image on the 10-foot screen was of a lone boat with a thick column of black smoke rising up off the open water. The hero stared at it a moment, unable to connect this photo with the real-life images still playing in his mind. L. Rodger Currie, 81, remembers the smoldering wreck.
He said remembers the heavy winds on that bright, blue summer day two years ago offshore Massachusetts in Nantucket Sound. He remembers a stranded crew, six of them in all, clinging to the boat deck amid 10-foot flames and suffocating smoke.
He remembers the mother, holding out her 3-year-old daughter shoulder high as Currie and his boating partner pulled alongside the sinking vessel. Currie called out to her and the woman tossed her daughter across the 4-foot swales, from one teetering boat to the next. She landed safely in Currie's arms.
On Sunday, Currie, a Palm Beach resident and former Marine, was awarded a bronze Carnegie Hero Medal for his bravery in helping save the lives of all six passengers that July day. The presentation was held at the Henry M. Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, just blocks from Currie's home. He wore a baby blue tie and crisp navy suit jacket. He fidgeted and fussed and nervously wiped his brow.
It's not easy to risk your life to save others; tougher still to be recognized for doing what you'd imagine anyone else would do in the same situation, family and friends said about him later.
"He's a very proud man, I'm sure he never gave [the rescue] a second thought," said Currie's daughter, Susan Toth, who lives in the family's native Massachusetts. "I know he's not very comfortable with all this attention."
Currie, a retired dental surgeon, is from a generation that thinks differently about heroism, Toth said. He flew 105 missions as a dive-bomber for the Marines in the South Pacific during World War II. He reportedly saved the life of his best friend and fellow Marine in the jungles there, lifting his friend's paralyzed body to safety and eventual transport home. Toth said Currie doesn't share a lot of details.
"I am honored," Currie said looking around the museum's gold-trimmed grand ballroom.
Since 1904, the Carnegie Hero Medal has been awarded to everyday citizens who throw themselves into danger to help others. About 100 are presented each year to people in the United States and Canada. Two past winners from Florida were in attendance Sunday, including West Palm Beach resident Joseph Alaimo, who rescued a 10-year-old girl from drowning in the ocean in 2004 and Kerry Reardon, of St. Petersburg, who pulled a young boy from a submerged car a year later.
Joel Hood can be reached at jhood@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6611.
Ellie