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December 8, 2008

Army Spc. Brian Schafer honored for saving Clayton man during July flooding

By Deb Kelly

Greencastle — There came a moment that July morning when Jamie Broce asked just to be let go, to be swept through the pipe with the rushing water – maybe he would make it through to the other side, maybe not.

“I cannot let you do that,” said Spc. Brian Schafer, Broce’s neighbor, who had jumped into the flooded culvert to try to hang onto Broce until help could arrive.

Broce’s body had been sucked mostly into a drain that ran under the street, the top of the pipe against his ribs making it hard to breathe.

His arms were tiring as he pushed against the drainage pipe to keep himself from being dragged under with

the current.

Schafer, straddling the top of the pipe, continued to hold Broce under his arms, keeping Broce’s face above the water until the fire department arrived with equipment to get both men out of harm’s way.

Broce, a 31-year-old professional golfer who lives in Clayton, had not expected the water to be so deep – nearly chest-high – or so powerful when he jumped into the flooded ditch to try to clear limbs and debris he thought were keeping the water from draining.

He had only wanted to try to help his neighborhood July 12, the morning after 4 inches of rain fell, causing massive flooding up into storage barns and homes. Clayton is in southern Hendricks County, off of Indiana 39.

“I really felt we needed to do something – the water was up in the sheds,” Broce said Sunday.

“He was trying to be neighborly,” Schafer said.

Broce, along with his wife Darci Broce and their two young children, paid tribute to Schafer during a special ceremony Sunday at the Indiana National Guard Armory in Greencastle, as Schafer was awarded the Indiana Distinguished Service Cross for saving Broce’s life.

The award is given by the State of Indiana “to any commissioned officer or enlisted person of the militia, who performs, at great personal danger and risk of life or limb in peace or war, any act of heroism designed to protect life or property,” according to state law.

Schafer, 36, a soldier with the Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 150th Field Artillery unit of the 38th Infantry Division, based in Indianapolis, enlisted in February. He had recently returned from basic training.

He had been driving away from his house that morning on his way to a National Guard event in Indianapolis when he heard his wife Sonna yelling for him and saw her running down the street after his car. She had been nearby when Broce fell into the ditch, and heard his cries for help. Schafer rushed to the scene.

“Without thinking, I jumped in,” Schafer said. “He told me not to. I was immediately sucked into the same area … there was more force there than you can imagine.”

Before the rescue, the two men did not really know each other, Schafer said. Broce, who now serves as the men’s assistant golf coach at Indiana University, was a touring professional golfer who often was away from home. Now, the two are much better friends, Schafer said.

Schafer’s heroism came to the attention of the Indiana National Guard after Darci Broce wrote a letter to them in August, describing the guardsman’s actions that saved her husband’s life.

She wrote, “I came to the scene a few minutes [after Schafer had grabbed Broce], not realizing the intensity of the situation, and could not believe what I saw.

“I immediately feared for my husband’s life, and knew there was no room for error. If the vortex sucked him in any further, his head would be pulled under the water, and there was so much debris, getting completely through the tube to the other side was unlikely.

“My only comfort was knowing [Spc.] Schafer had a solid hold on Jamie,” she wrote.

The guardsman not only held onto Broce for an estimated 40 minutes, but he also took on a leadership role when the Liberty Township fire department arrived and had to call for backup from five other departments – Danville, Plainfield, Avon, Brownsburg and Putnam County.

Schafer instructed the firefighters, who were not familiar with water rescue, to use a rope around a nearby tree for leverage. It took Schafer, Schafer’s wife Sonna, two firefighters in the water and two more on the ground holding the rope to pull Broce out of the drainage pipe to safety. He suffered deep abdominal bruising, but otherwise was unharmed.

Darci Broce wrote in her letter, “Jamie and I have a strong faith in God, and we believe it was no accident that [Spc.] Schafer was there.

“Without him, no doubt, Jamie would have lost his life,” she wrote.

Schafer, who smiled throughout Sunday’s ceremony, but appeared a bit embarrassed by the accolades, said, “I feel overwhelmed right now. I’m not used to this kind of attention.

“It’s great that we can smile about it now,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Tod Carmony, who took over the 38th Infantry Division last month, was on hand Sunday to share his congratulations with Schafer and Broce.

He said the honor received by Schafer is given very rarely.

“It’s normally given if you risk your life to save someone else’s life” in a civilian setting, Carmony said.

“What a horrific event this could have turned into – we’re all happy it turned out the way it did,” he added.

As the sun streamed in through the high armory windows and dozens of soldiers and their families applauded, Schafer and Broce shared smiles and handshakes.

“There was a point that my life was resting in somebody else’s hands,” Broce said.

“You know, I think back on that day, and percentage-wise, what my chances would have been of somehow making it out alive,” Broce said, “And if there wasn’t a 6-foot-5, 240-lb. strong man right there, I don’t make it out.

“He deserves whatever honor he gets, and I’m just so glad I could be here and be a part of it,” Broce said.

Deb Kelly can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.kelly@tribstar.com.

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