BM2 Clifford Keith

Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Clifford Keith says he'll always remember his first ocean rescue.

When the call about a swimmer in distress came June 3, 2007, Keith was the surf rescue swimmer on duty. At the beach, he found not one swimmer but five caught in a rip current about 100 yards from shore.

Keith first reached two teens and an 8-year-old girl, staying afloat together. Then he saw two men roughly 25 yards farther out.

Deciding the youngsters needed to be pulled to shore first, he struck out for the men, gave them a torpedo buoy, then returned to the children. After getting them to shore, he headed out again. But the exhausted men had lost the buoy and were drifting in the distance. Keith reached them, then signaled his line handler to pull them in.

KRGV Channel 5 reporter Rita Garcia recalls Keith saying, "I was so tired, but I kept going; I knew others needed my help."