A U.S. Army soldier has been nominated for the Soldier's Medal after helping save two people who had fallen through thin ice on a frozen lake in Wisconsin.

Sgt. 1st Class Jaime Herrera with the 181st Multi-Functional Training Brigade at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin was ice fishing at Mirror Lake State Park with his family on Jan. 22 when the incident occurred, according to the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office.

"We arrived around 11 a.m. and made our way out onto the ice," said Herrera. "I did my usual checks, such as making sure the ice was thick enough and safe. At the same time, I noticed a man and his daughter who were about 100 yards to my east fishing in an area known for trouble," he added.

Soon after setting up his ice shelter on the lake, Herrera — a 19-year-veteran of the Army — heard a noise and yelling.

"I turned to see the man and his daughter in the water," said Herrera.

The man, Bryan Huinker, and his 10-yeard-old daughter, Hattie, had fallen through thin ice into the lake. Herrera and his fiancée, Sabrina Lord, immediately rushed over to help. Meanwhile, Lord's 9-year-old son, Malecki Lee, called 911 for help.

Herrera and Lord first responded to help Hattie, as it was clear she was struggling with her dad too far away to reach her.

"I knew right away she was not going to be able to get out on her own. Her father was behind her another 20 to 30 feet and was unable to help her," said Herrera.

As Herrera got close, he crawled on his stomach across the thin ice to disperse the weight, eventually getting into the freezing water to help.

At first, Herrera could not get Hattie out as the thin ice kept breaking around them. He then found an area where his feet could touch the bottom of the lake and he pushed Hattie out.

"Because the ice was only two inches or less where they went through, as I was trying to lift us out, the ice kept breaking under us," Herrera said. "Realizing we were not getting out together … and using my legs to push up, I was able to get her out of the water."

Lord had been trying to reach Herrera and Hattie with a rope and had fallen through the ice too.

"While I was rescuing the little girl, Sabrina was heading to me with the rope to assist me and as she approached my location, she fell through the ice and began to encounter the same situation with not being able to climb out due to thin ice," Herrera said.

With his legs starting to fail from the cold, Herrera used his fists to break through thin ice until reaching ice thick enough to prop himself out of the water. He then ran to his ice sled, cutting the pull rope to use in rescuing Lord.

"I crawled back to her, tossed her the rope, and assisted her in getting back to safe ice," Herrera said. "I then walked Sabrina off of the ice while at the same time yelling and trying to motivate [Bryan Huinker]," he added.

Huinker was able to get himself out of the water, as emergency responders arrived to the scene.

"I got my kids into our truck, Sabrina to the ambulance, and waited for [Bryan] to get off the ice before being seen by the emergency personnel," Herrera said.

"I was treated for frostbite and mild hypothermia at the scene and released. I lost sensitivity in three of my left hand fingertips, due to them being in the water holding the little girl for an extended period of time. I spent around 20 minutes in the water," he added.

At this point, everyone was out of the water and had escaped with only minor injuries.

"I think service members have a natural 'call to action' mentality," Herrera said. "Otherwise, why would we be in the service to begin with? ....I think that any service member faced with the same type of situation would have reacted in the manner that I did," he added.

Herrera has been nominated for the Soldier's Medal, a medal which is awarded to "any person of the armed forces who, while serving in any capacity with the Army, distinguished themselves by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy," according to Army Regulation 600-8-22.

Herrera and 9-year-old Lee also have been recognized locally as Hometown Heroes by the Lake Delton Fire Department.

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