DRAPER – A member of the Utah Air National Guard received a prestigious medal at an awards ceremony Aug. 4 after rescuing two people drowning near a South Carolina beach last year.
According to a Utah National Guard press release, Airman Jacob Teel was on leave from his assignment with an air control squadron in South Carolina in May 2023 and was visiting a beach in the coastal town of Isle of Palms when a hectic scene unfolded.
Someone on the beach called for help after seeing two swimmers being pulled into the sea and struggling to stay afloat.
“Although he did not consider himself a strong swimmer, Teel acted without hesitation. He plunged into the water, fought against exhaustion and the danger of ingesting salt water, and managed to reach the struggling couple, secure them on the board and bring them safely to shore,” the press release said.
It was a close call for Rebecca Bennett, who was vacationing on Isle of Palms with her four children. She saw her 13-year-old son being pulled into the sea and grabbed a bodyboard to save him. The press release said “strong currents quickly pulled them under the water.”
Bennett later told a member of the National Guard, “I accepted that we were going to die here, and a sense of peace came over me. But then (her son) said he didn’t want to die, and that reminded me that I had three other children on the beach and I couldn’t leave them. Will and I started praying and asking for help, and just then the wave came down and I saw Jacob on the beach. I knew we were saved.”
Teel ran into the water. He managed to grab Bennett’s bodyboard, reach them both and swim them back to shore.
“After this near-death experience, I look at my daughter Faith, who has special needs, and remember how I almost wasn’t there for her,” Bennett said, according to the press release. “I am thankful every day for Jacob Teel. He is a hero in our home.”
At a ceremony on August 4, Teel received the Airman’s Medal – an award given to any U.S. Air Force soldier who has “distinguished himself by an act of heroism, usually at voluntary risk of his own life, but not involving actual combat,” according to the Air Force.
“It’s not every day that you see a soldier deployed who completely abandons his military duties and does something he has no experience in to save the lives of others,” said Adjutant General Daniel Boyack, who assumed command of the Utah National Guard in August 2023.
