Altus Airman recognized for rescuing drowning victims

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Franklin R. Ramos
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  An Airman from the 97th Air Mobility Wing has been named the Air Education and Training Command Vanguard Award winner.

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Gates, flight chief of the 58th Airlift Squadron operations flight, has been awarded the Vanguard Award for commandeering a boat to pull two victims out of the water roughly 300 meters from shore and performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation to one of the victims until emergency medical technicians arrived. His actions ultimately saved one of the victim's lives.

The award recognizes enlisted members who have voluntarily performed a heroic act on or off duty to save a life or prevent serious injury to a person or persons.

"The AETC Vanguard Award is prestigious and I'm extremely honored to be nominated for such a high level award," said Gates. "But, more importantly I am just thankful that we were able to make a difference for one of those victims that night."

While stationed at Joint Base Charleston, S.C., Gates was on a boat trip with a friend from South Carolina to North Carolina.

"I was with a friend of mine on leave who is a full time captain onboard a 65-foot sport fishing yacht and we were docked at the Bohicket Marina, Johns Island, S.C., that night getting ready to get up early and ferry the boat 14 hours up to North Carolina," said Gates.

At around 10 p.m., July 16, 2014, Gates was going to sleep and as soon he closed his eyes, he heard screams for help.   

"I had just barely fallen asleep and I heard somebody screaming for help. Initially I thought it was my buddy watching TV inside the boat," said Gates. "Next thing I know, he comes in and says, 'Ben, come outside right now!' We went out and heared somebody screaming somewhere in the water."

With little light, Gates had to rely on his ears to locate the source of the screams.

"All we heard was 'Hey, come save us! Help! We can't swim, come get us,' so we threw some life jackets towards the screams," said Gates. "But by that time one victim said 'I can't swim back to the marina.' The current was basically pushing him up the creek because the tide was coming in and at that point I just took over."

After realizing the victims couldn't make it to shore on their own, Gates took action.

"There was a small 14-foot boat on the other side of our dock that belonged to the marina. So I jumped in and it had the keys so my friend and I started driving to the life jackets because they had lights flashing on them," said Gates. "When we got to the life jackets there was a guy in the water and he was doing everything he possibly could to keep the second victim afloat. She was face down in the water and unconscious and he was close to drowning too. He had swam with her for probably several hundred yards by the time we got there and was just out of breath."

They immediately lifted the victims out of the water, into the boat and provided medical aid. Gates relied on his self-aid buddy care training and U.S. Coast guard Sea School training and started life saving actions.

"We pulled the woman into the boat and she was unconscious. She obviously had been in the water for a while. We got the second individual on the boat. I assessed the woman after she was on the boat and checked for her pulse but she had no pulse and she was not breathing," said Gates. "She had a very distinctive look on her face that I'll never forget for the rest of my life--it was the look of death. Her skin was just snow white. At this time we were probably about 300 yards from the marina. I knew this was serious and all the training that I received in the Air Force just kicked in. My friend started driving the boat and called 911 as I began CPR."

Gates continued to provide CPR for at least five minutes before being relieved at the dock.

"By the time we got back to the dock there was a crowd that had gathered because they had heard the screams as well," said Gates. "There was an emergency medical technician there who relieved us of first aid and began doing CPR at that point."

Gates and his friend retrieved an automated external defibrillator from the yacht they were traveling on and applied it to the victim. Sirens could be heard in the distance.

"I ran up the dock, found the first responders and directed them back down to where everybody was," said Gates. "From what I understand, they worked on the woman for about 45 minutes at the edge of the dock, got her breathing again. She had a pulse again and then they took her to the hospital."

The next morning, Gates and his friend continued on their trip.

"I never saw her again. The next morning we got up early and left for North Carolina. When we got there we started getting phone calls from the sheriff's department about the woman's health condition and had come to find out she had passed away a couple of days later as a result of being in the water for too long," said Gates. "The other individual swimming with her that we pulled out survived and he was very grateful that night."

"I was extremely grateful that we were able to get to them. We were the last possible bit of hope on that marina before they were gone, up the river," said Gates. "Even after the woman went to the hospital, we went to bed that night thinking that she was going to survive. So I was pretty grateful that we were able to at least help them out and afford them some medical attention."

Gates' supervisor at the time, U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Harold P. Bordeaux, 437th Operations Support Squadron wing combat operations and tactics superintendent, said his actions weren't surprising.

"In my two years of working with him, BG was a standout performer who would rather take a handshake or a pat on the back or a job well done over any award," said Bordeaux. "He put himself in imminent danger to save the life of another. I wouldn't expect any less from him. He's simply that type of a person. He would give you the shirt off his back."

For Gates, he was able to use his training and believes it should always be taken seriously.

"It's one of those things where it can happen at any moment. Be glad that you're trained for it and hopefully you'll never have to use it, but if you do at least you'll be prepared," said Gates.

Gates' current leadership also recognized his actions and dedication.

"While the events of this evening reflect great credit upon Gates, in a broader sense they reflect the individual preparedness and selfless dedication to "Service Before Self" that we have all signed up for," said Lt. Col. Michael Peeler, Gates' current commander. "We should all be extremely proud to know that the life-saving skills and first-responder training we endure can truly save lives."