Heroine

Heroine:

CENTCOM has a series called "Heroes in the War on Terror," which highlights good acts by soldiers, sailors, airmen or Marines. Today's is a little odd, in that -- while the act by the National Guardswoman was heroic -- it wasn't really GWOT related.

She saved a drowning man, in West Haven, CT. When you hear the details, you'll understand why CENTCOM decided not to quibble about whether it was right for the series -- it's a story that deserves telling in any forum.

The nursing student and Iraq War veteran jumped into the freezing water and swam out about 10 feet to where Tom was struggling for air.

“It was too cold to talk,” said Artigue, “but I grabbed his vest and tried to keep him above the water. He grabbed a hold of me and started to pull me down with him, but I was able to drag him by his vest to shore.”

The human chain helped to pull both Artigue and Tom out of the water. On a cold November day, coming out of cold, moving water, communication was difficult, but Artigue was able to keep Tom talking and conscious until emergency crews arrived.

Well done, sergeant.