More than 18 months after then-2nd Lt. James Lamoreaux's romantic stroll with his wife along a Georgia river was interrupted by the sound of screams from the water, the Army recognized the young officer for his lifesaving reaction.
Lamoreaux, a 23-year-old former lifeguard with 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, received the Soldier's Medal in a Thursday ceremony at Fort Benning, Georgia. Now-1st Lt. Lamoreaux earned the highest non-combat medal for valor on March 15, 2014, by leaping into the Chattahoochee River in pursuit of two boys, ages 9 and 15, who'd been swept away by the current.
He swam more than 300 meters to grab the boys and pull them onto a boulder in the middle of the river, according to his medal citation. The Columbus Fire Department's river rescue team eventually plucked them off the rock and took them to safety.
The rescue-boat captain told the fire marshal that both boys likely would've drowned had it not been for Lamoreaux's actions, according to media reports at the time of the incident. Lamoreaux received a Citizen Valor Award in May 2014 during a ceremony in Columbus.
The Army award took a bit longer: Lamoreaux, of Meridian, Mississippi, said he knew he was up for it around the time of the Columbus ceremony, but "didn't really hear much about it until two months ago, when they said they got it through."
1st Lt. James Lamoreaux salutes Brig. Gen. Peter Jones, commandant of the Army Infantry School, after Thursday's medal ceremony at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Photo Credit: Noelle Wiehe/Army
While the award highlighted Lamoreaux's individual courage, he said he hoped the ceremony gave others an opportunity to consider the lifesaving crews on the job full-time.
"It was a chance for myself and everybody else to reflect back and thank the people that do this every day," he said. "For example, the police department, the fire and rescue teams around the nation."
Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.
