Heroism Begins with Her by Winifred Conkling

Author:Winifred Conkling
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-03-26T00:00:00+00:00

Staff Sergeant Barbara Barnwell: Courage at Sea

Staff Sergeant Barbara Barnwell

She may not have been fighting against an armed enemy, but the United States Marine Corps recognized that Sergeant Barbara Barnwell risked her life to save a fellow marine. On June 7, 1952, Barnwell was swimming in the Atlantic Ocean near Marine Corps Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. She heard cries from someone struggling in the surf. She immediately swam toward Marine Private Frederick H. Roman, who was caught in an undertow and fighting against the powerful current.

When Barnwell reached the drowning soldier, she put her arms around him. He scratched and clung to her, pushing her under the water several times, but Barnwell persisted in her attempt to pull him toward land. It took twenty minutes for Barnhill to swim the 120 yards to shore. When she reached shallow water, a lifeguard helped her carry Roman, who was unconscious, up to the beach.

Stories of the heroic rescue spread, and Barnwell was recognized for her selfless heroism. On August 7, 1953, she was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism, the first woman to receive the honor.

It wasn’t the first time Barnwell had saved someone who was drowning. When she was just eleven years old, Barnwell had rescued a seven-year-old child from drowning in Kansas City.

Barbara Olive Barnwell was born in 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri. She enlisted in the Marine Corps in May 1949 and served as a naval gunfire instructor with the First Air and Naval Gunfire Liaison Company at the time of the rescue. She died at age forty-nine in Santa Barbara, California, in April 1977.

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