Witnessing the crisis, David and several other men voluntarily climbed down into the lifeboats where they helped lift the shivering men up onto the Comanche’s deck.
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Even though David was one of the lowest ranking men on his ship and his own nation considered him a second-class citizen, he willingly put his life at risk to save his fellow Americans.
During the precarious operation, the Comanche’s executive officer, Lieutenant Langford Anderson, fell overboard. Without hesitation, David dived into the deadly waters to save Anderson.
Swanson recalled that David was a “tower of strength” who shouted encouragement to his fellow sailors during the harrowing ordeal. In addition to the two men whom David single-handedly saved, he and his shipmates successfully rescued 93 survivors from the Dorchester.
Although the Comanche and other ships rescued a total of 230 men from the Dorchester, nearly 700 others lost their lives. Shortly after David’s heroics, he contracted pneumonia from his time in the water.
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