AFGHANISTAN: Oklahoma machine-gunner/lifeguard saves two Marines from river

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Spec. Beau Jordan was trained as a machine-gunner for the Oklahoma Army National Guard. But he used to work summers as a lifeguard, and his hobby is scuba diving.

So when two Marines were in danger of being swept away by a swift-moving river in Afghanistan, Jordan says he ‘reacted instinctively.’

Jordan, 22, was waiting for the two to return from a Taliban-hunting mission with Afghan troops. It was dark before he spotted the Marines, in full combat gear, trying to cross the rain-swollen Alishang River. The two were using the red headlamps on their helmets for guidance.

Then one of the headlamps went under the water.

‘I just jumped in,’ Jordan said. ‘I didn’t have time to think about it.’

He pulled one Marine to shore and then went back for the second, saving both.

On Friday, in a ceremony at Ardmore, Okla., Jordan received the Soldier’s Medal, the Guard’s top award for non-combat bravery.

-- Tony Perry, in San Diego

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