It was already dark, and the beach at Lowell Park was closed for the day. Dutch Reagan, the seventeen-year-old lifeguard, was helping the park manager, Mr. Graybill, close up the changing rooms when they heard muffled cries and splashing. A swimmer had sneaked into the park for an after-hours swim. Now he was in trouble, caught in the fast-flowing waters of the Rock River.
Dutch peeled off his glasses and dived into the dark water. He followed the sounds. A desperate man was struggling to keep his head above water. The swimmer was so panicky that he tried to fight off his rescuer.
Dutch was afraid the man would drown them both. At last, the swimmer was too exhausted to fight anymore. Dutch held the man’s head out of the water and swam one-armed back to shore.
“PULLED FROM THE JAWS OF DEATH” screamed the headline in the Dixon, Illinois, Evening Telegraph. The paper called Dutch a hero, adding that he had saved twenty-five lives so far.
Dutch Reagan worked as a lifeguard for six summers. For the most part, the job was not glamorous. Early every morning, Dutch had to stock the snack bar. There was no refrigerator, just three big ice chests. So he would stop at the icehouse for a 300-pound slab of ice. After chopping the ice into three big chunks, he carried them, one by one, to the beach.
No matter how hot it got, Dutch didn’t take a swim. The rule was that the lifeguard never got his suit wet unless he was in the water to save a life. The Rock River was famous for dangerous currents. In the past, people had been swept downstream. They had gotten trapped in the sluice gate of the dam. It had been up to the lifeguard to dive around the dam and get the body.
Dutch was proud of his work. Every time he pulled a swimmer from the river, he would carve a notch into an old log near his station.
After six summers, the log had seventy-seven notches cut into it. Patrolling the beach was hard work, twelve hours every day of the week, but Dutch enjoyed being responsible for the safety of the swimmers at Lowell Park.
Many years later, when he was known as Ronald Reagan, he became the fortieth president of the United States. But Dutch always looked back on his days as a lifeguard as one of the best times of his life.
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