CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- What started as just another vacation on a beach with family in Emerald Isle, North Carolina on July 28, 2015, took a turn for the worst when Duncan A. Harris heard worried voices and desperation growing around him. He ran to the edge of the beach looking to see what all the commotion was about.
“At first I thought it was just another shark in the water but when I got there they told me someone was being dragged to the ocean by the current,” said Harris, a lance corporal and automotive maintenance technician with Company C, 6th Engineer Support Battalion, 4th Marine Logistics Group, Marine Forces Reserve. “I just took off running into the water, I didn’t even think about it.”
Moments after Harris entered the water, Peter Pontzer, a bystander, acquired a lifebuoy and followed him into the ocean. Harris and Pontzer began to swim forward, struggling to maintain visual contact with the victim who was far into the sea.
“It seemed to be high tide at the time,” Harris said. “The water was very choppy with constant waves breaking against us. We only had a couple seconds in between waves to see what was in front of us and try to maintain visual contact with the kid.”
After 15 minutes of constant swimming, Harris and Pontzer reached the teenage boy. They handed him the lifebuoy and began to tow him back towards the shore. However, the way back proved to be a much more difficult and challenging task. With low visibility and a tumultuous current, the victim began to lose hope. As the boy began to panic, Harris proceeded to reassure him everything was going to be fine.
“He was white as a ghost,” said Harris. “When he started to yell he couldn’t hold on any longer, that’s when I wrapped myself around him and the buoy and started to swim with one hand as I held him with the other. Peter towed us using the buoy’s strap.”
After 20 long minutes, Harris and Pontzer were able to swim their way back to the shore. However, as soon as they thought everything was over, they were informed of another victim being dragged by the current. Harris immediately sprinted back into the water. Before Harris could get chest-deep in the water, a rescue boat arrived.
“I helped them unload their jet-skis, rescue boards and told them where we had found the first victim,” he said. “They spotted the second kid in the water and brought him to the beach. Minutes later they flew the kids to the hospital.”
Harris described his actions as a ‘fight or flight’ reaction to the situation and attributed his instinct as a product of his Marine Corps training. From the very beginning of recruit training, Marines are taught to always protect each other and to risk their own lives if the need arises. However, Harris went above and beyond his training, disregarding his own safety and taking on the responsibility to save someone else’s life.
“It was one of those moments where you just react to the situation without thinking about it,” he said. “I didn’t really think about what I was doing. As soon as I heard there was someone in the water, I charged in. I didn’t think about what could have happened to me out there and I think every Marine would have done the same.”