Re: From The Fresno Bee 6-24-96
Alan Houser (troop24@EMF.NET)
Sun, 14 Jul 1996 08:18:40 -0700
On Wed, 26 Jun 1996 Mike Montoya <mmm@IMS.MARIPOSA.CA.US> wrote:
>Read this in the paper, does anyone know any more?
>GRANTS PASS, Ore. - The water craft skier who rescued a motorist from the
>Rogue River before zipping away has been identified as a 16-year-old Eagle
>Scout from Northern California.
> Benjamin Paulsen of Lafayette and his cousin saw a huge splash when
>Stanley Paris' truck flipped into the river Thursday. They dove in and
>rescued Paris and left when paramedics arrived.
I recognized that name since I attended an Eagle Court for 9 members of
Lafayette Troop 204 a few months ago. I contacted my fellow Bobwhite,
Jeff Cairns, ASM in 204 (and father of one of the nine new Eagles) for
details. This is what he passed on to me:
"Ben is one of mine and I started the heroism paperwork rolling before
I left. He and his brother spend some time each Summer at their
grandparents' house on the Rogue River. Ben and his cousin had apparently
rented jet skis and just happenned to be at the right place at the right
time. The truck apparently didn't have a roof and wound up upside down on
the bottom of the river. Ben dove down once and got the door open. He went
down a second time and was able to grab an arm but the driver was apparently
pinned. By that time, a number of others were on the scene and Ben got them
to get into the water and lift the vehicle while he went under to get the
driver. He said that once he got the guy out, others started CPR and he
could hear the ambulance on the way. Since he and his cousin were paying
for the jet skis by the hour, they got back on and took off. When the press
caught up with him at home, he was surprised and pleased to hear that the
guy had made it. He said that some pretty severe head injuries were involved."
Alan R. Houser ** Scoutmaster, Berkeley Troop 24 ** troop24@emf.net
** WWW page ** http://www.emf.net/~troop24/t24.html **
Scoutmaster, Mt. Diablo Silverado Council Contingent Jamboree Troop #3
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
