Lifesaver gold medal reflects pair's bravery.

Byline: Winston Ross The Register-Guard

NEWPORT - Tina Alexander stared blankly at the words on the laminated paper, as the man in the Coast Guard uniform read them.

"For heroic action ... assisted in the rescue ... caught in the deadly grip of frigid 6-foot surf ... cries for help ... began to succumb ... failed to resurface ... sacrificed his own life ...'

Alexander wasn't listening. She was somewhere else. Back on the beach that hot summer day in 2003. Reliving her son's death, in front of a crowd of people.

The gold medal that shined before her was awarded for his bravery, diving into the raging surf wearing only a pair of pants to save two teenage girls flailing in the water. But he wasn't there to collect it.

"I could see it happening all over again," she said.

It was June 5, and she was strolling the Jump-off Joe beach near Newport, her husband, son and friends in tow, when the girls started screaming. Thirteen-year-old Heather Melson and 14-year-old Sara Soyster had waded into the 53-degree water wearing swimming suits. A riptide had pulled them quickly but quietly away from shore. By the time they realized it, the girls were powerless to swim back.

When David Alexander, who was 21, heard the screams, he and Tina's husband, James Kirk, kicked off their shoes, threw down their wallets and ran for the water, battling the same currents and powerful waves. Tina called for help.

The Coast Guard was on scene in minutes, but now they had four people to rescue instead of two. Alexander and Kirk had gotten close to the girls, but not close enough, before the ocean turned on them. Since the girls were farther out, Coast Guard rescuers were able to pluck them from the water. But Kirk and Alexander had succumbed to the cold temperatures and were unable to swim. Too close to shore for the 47-foot motor lifeboat to navigate the sharp rocks in the shallow surf, they would have to be pulled out another way.

Luckily, Kirk drifted close enough to shore for rescuers to drag him from the surf. Alexander did not. He disappeared beneath the water. A helicopter crew later spotted him. A rescuer dropped from the aircraft and put him in a basket, unconscious and hypothermic - but not dead.

For the next hour, medical officials tried to resuscitate Alexander, first on the beach and then on the way to the hospital. He didn't survive.

On Thursday, Alexander and Kirk were awarded the Coast Guard's highest civilian honor, the Gold Lifesaving Medal. Since the medal was first created in 1874, only 600 have been awarded nationwide to people who risk their lives saving or trying to save others.

"It was an honor," Kirk said after the ceremony. "But I miss my son."

Coast Guard officials advise against doing what Alexander and Kirk did. But at the same time, their bravery is hard to ignore.

"If I was on the beach today, and someone was yelling for help, I would do it again," Kirk said. "And so would my son."

He met the teenage girls at Alexander's memorial service, Kirk said. One was carrying a teddy bear. She called it her angel. She named it David.

Winston Ross can be reached at [phone].