Virginia Waterman's Memorial on the Eastern Shore
Jeff Spruill
Carnegie Hero Fund Commission
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
United States Coast Guard
Atlantic Area, Fifth District
Certifies that
Jeffrey M. Spruill
Has been awarded posthumously the
Carnegie Medal
and the
United States Coast Guard Gold Lifesaving Medal
In recognition of an outstanding act of heroism:
Jeffrey M. Spruill died attempting to save Georgios Drakontaidis from drowning, Virginia Beach, Virginia, January 26, 1994.
From the motor launch, Hattaras, Drakontaidis, 36, was boarding a ship, anchored off Cape Henry near the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, when he fell from the ships accommodation ladder into the water.
Spruill, 20, the launch mate, threw a life ring toward Drakontaidis, but he failed to grasp it. Over the next few minutes, Spruill and the launch master affected other rescue attempts from aboard the Hattaras, but Drakontaidis was immobilized by the frigid water.
Spruill then jumped overboard, swam 75 feet to Drakontaidis, and applied a lifesaving hold to him.
The launch master deployed two life rafts, but when Spruill reached for them, he and Drakontaidis submerged. When they surfaced, Spruill was still holding Drakontaidis while attempting to swim to the rafts. After another effort by the launch master to direct the rafts to Spruill, the launch master himself entered the water and swam to the men, but by then the two had submerged a final time. Neither was recovered.
