MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii -- Weekends aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, are usually spent casually indulging in outdoor activities such as sporting events, lying out in the sun, surfing and swimming in the Pacific.
For three Marines and three civilians, one of those lazy days in the afternoon sun turned out to be a dramatic life-threatening situation when a current swept two young girls out into a riptide at Boulders/Hilltop Beach, Oct. 30.
“I wasn’t even down to the beach yet, when I realized that the girls had been pulled out into the ocean by the current,” said Staff Sgt. John T. Hyatt, fund administrator, Anderson Hall, and father of Ami, one of the young girls in the water. “As soon as I figured out what was going on, I ran down into the water to help out.”
According to Lance Cpl. Mark R. Drinkwater II, fire direction control man, Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, the two girls, one of which was his sister, were playing in the water when a current sucked them out.
“Once Theresa, the mother of one of the girls, noticed they were out in the water and couldn’t swim back, she jumped in to try to help them back to shore,” said Hyatt, Tampa, Fla. native. “She then became the third victim.”
Over the next 20 minutes, Drinkwater, Hyatt and Lance Cpl. Andrew G. Kopacek, ammunition technician, Alpha Battery, 1/12, all quickly made their way into the water in an effort to get the three struggling swimmers out of the water.
“Kopacek was the first one to reach the girls, and he helped Julia onto some nearby rocks,” said Hyatt. “At that point Drinkwater had made his way out there and he grabbed Ami, my daughter, and swam her onto the beach.”
According to Hyatt, once he reached Theresa, she had already been in the water for at least 15 minutes, and she was beginning to go into shock.
“I couldn’t hold her up, so I had to just keep pushing her with the waves and eventually we made it to shore,” he explained. “Brianna, an older sister of Julia, had been able to get out onto the rocks and help her sister back to the beach, so we had everyone out of the water.”
Although everyone was safe on shore, Theresa had swallowed a lot of water and needed medical attention.
“She was going in and out of consciousness and went into shock from exhaustion,” Hyatt said. “An ambulance came and took her to the hospital, and she ended up being okay.”
According to Hyatt, the girls were both in the water for 15 minutes and Theresa was out there for at least 20 minutes — just treading water in four- to five-foot waves.
“If he (Hyatt) had not been there, I don’t think I would be alive,” said Theresa, who spent one night recovering in the hospital.
“It was a surreal experience,” 20-year-old Kopacek admitted, “It is hard to recall what exactly happened because it all went by so fast.”
Although Drinkwater’s mother and sister were both stuck out in the water, he ended up saving Ami, Hyatt’s daughter.
“We didn’t go into the water because Staff Sergeant Hyatt and I had family members out there,” said Drinkwater. “It was just instinctive to help. You see someone in trouble, and you just kind of react and do the best you can to get them out of danger.”
Looking back on the event, the Marines agreed they only did what they thought anyone in their situation would have done.
“We are just glad that everyone ended up being okay,” said Kopacek, 20.
“The two lance corporals displayed extreme bravery without hesitation,” said Hyatt. “I don’t think it has sunk in yet, that without their quick thinking the girls might not have made it out of the water alive. It was a miracle they stayed above the water long enough for the Marines to get to them. We are all very thankful that we were there to help out and that everyone ended up being okay.”