Northwest History. Alaska, Heroic Deeds. United States.

• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1936
• Subjects: heroism; death; Quartermaster Max McLees; Edmonds; Wislow Island; Bering sea; M. H. Reese; Seatle; Unalaska Island; Pat Dougherty; Kenneth Amende; University of Washington; Coast Guards ships; A. M. Sobieralski; Northwest; Pacific > History > 20th century; Alaska; Arctic; Bering Sea; Dougherty; Pacific
• Online Access: http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/clipping/id/92270

Heroism And Death Of 2 Told By Arctic Tragedy Survivors. Heroism and Death of 2 Told By Arctic Tragedy Survivors A story of tragic heroism—how Quartermaster Max McLees of Edmonds, went to his death in icy seas off Wislow Island in th« Bering Sea, by trying to tow an overturned dory on which a companion, Lieut. M. H. Reese, was clinging— was told yesterday after the Coast and Geodetic Survey vessel Surveyor arrived in Seattle after six months in the North. Lieutenant Reese and McLees, who both perished, were members of a surveying party which the Surveyor had put ashore on Unalaska Island ten days before the tragedy, which occurred September 26. Two Walked Across Island Two other members of the shore party, Pat Dougherty, 2116 N. 44th St., and Kenneth Amende, 5008 17th Ave. N. E., University of Washington student, who walked across the mountainous island to summon aid, told about the deaths of their companions. Dougherty, like many of the others, wore a full beard as he arrived home after months at sea. "Reese and McLees went out through the surf in a dory with an outboard motor," Amende said. "We were using triangulation in surveying, and they worked offshore while the rest of the party co-operated on land. They would row out past the surf, and then start the motor. But on the morning of the accident the dory overturned. Current Set Offshore "There was ho wind to speak of offshore, but a current sent them drifting out. "McLees, who was a strong swimmer, tried to swim and tow the boat. But the current was too much for him, I guess. The water is terribly cold. We kept wondering why he didn't swim ashore while he could. "When we saw that the boat was drifting away, Dougherty and I started for Unalaska on the other side of the island, where the Coast Guards ships base. The rest began making a raft to reach the two on the overturned boat. They didn't make it. Didn't Take Food or Blankets "We started in such a hurry that we didn't take any food or blankets or anything. It took us twenty-eight thours to walk to Unalaska. We got there about 1 o'clock 'Sunday afternoon, and fifteen minnutes later we were at sea in the patrol boat. "But an eighty-mile gale came up and if McLees and Reese had livrrt until it: beean. to blow, they couldn't had lived after that. The patrol boat was rolling along on her ports, and we had to brace one foot against the bulkhead to stay in our bunks. The Surveyor, commanded by Capt. A. M. Sobieralski, was seventy-five miles from the scene. It was notified by the Coast Guard, and steamed through the gale to aid in the search. The bodies of the two men were not recovered.