3 Scouts honored for saving lives

SPRINGVILLE — Three local Boy Scouts have been awarded the prestigious Boy Scouts of America Lifesaving Honor Medal for saving the lives of two of their friends.

Jeffery Bates of Troop 944, Austin Green of Troop 69 and Brian Pendleton of Troop 1460 — all Springville troops — were on a Springville High School marching band trip a year ago when the incident occurred.

The band students were participating in the Grape Bowl Classic in Lodi, Calif., when the band members decided to visit Salmon Beach near Bodega Bay. The friends were playing in the water, but because it was so cold, Bates and some other students went back to shore. The others were wading along the shore when the tide began to come in and they were caught in a strong undertow, which was taking them away from the beach, said Bates' mother.

Green fought through the undertow and made it close to shore when Ondylyn Dye and Michelle Grass began to scream for help. Pendleten and Green went to help them. Green brought Grass in by swimming parallel to the shore until they were free of the riptide.

Pendleton went to help the petite Dye.

"Waves were breaking over their heads," said Darrellyn Bates.

Her son was a lifeguard at Seven Peaks in Provo for two summers. He saw what was happening and went back out to help. He used an "active drowning rear rescue" maneuver to help bring Dye in, also swimming parallel to the shore. Once out of the current, Bates carried Dye the rest of the way in.

Earlier in his Scouting career, Bates had earned a Boy Scout Lifesaving Merit Badge and is an Eagle Scout.

After reaching shore, the two girls and Green went into shock, so the two Scouts treated them. Dye's mother, who was a chaperone on the trip, took her daughter to the school bus, where she changed her into warm clothes and covered her with blankets.

"I'm glad that the boys with us were smart about what they did and didn't panic and that they were prepared," Dye said. "They really saved my life. I know I couldn't have gotten out of there alive by myself."

"I will be forever grateful to (Green) for risking his own life and to all the people who were there," Grass said. "I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for them."

Several chaperones were scattered along the beach with other band members but didn't learn of the incident until it was over.

Ronald Nyman, director of field services for the Utah National Parks Council of the Boy Scouts, presented the awards during a Springville City Council meeting. The medals were awarded at the recommendation of a National Court of Honor, Nyman said.

Mayor Gene Mangum commended the teenagers "for bravery and for courage."

"It's a remarkable thing. Somewhere along the line somebody taught them what to do," Nyman told the Deseret Morning News. "They thought of somebody else when they were fighting for survival."

Darrellyn Bates said she didn't learn of the incident until days later when the two girls came to her door with a plateful of cookies to show their gratitude.

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E-mail: rodger@desnews.com