Roswell’s mayor and city council recently paid special appreciation to firefighters Andrew Riley and James Laudermilk for receiving the 2023 Life Saving Valor Award by the Georgia State Firefighters Association. Both firefighters will also be recognized at the 2024 Firefighter’s Recognition Day at the Georgia State Capitol on February 6, 2024.

Riley and Laudermilk rescued a drowning woman from the Chattahoochee River at Don White Memorial Park near Riverside Road on April 27. Bystanders reported the woman struggling to stay afloat early that afternoon. The Roswell Fire Department’s Swiftwater Rescue Team and firefighters arrived on the scene and attempted freeing the woman with a water rescue rope.

Riley and Laudermilk swam out and brought the woman to safety when she was unable to grasp the rope.

According to city documents, Laudermilk has demonstrated his dedication to the Roswell Fire Department since 2013, while Riley has been an integral part of the department since 2015.

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The renovation of Jekyll Island's Great Dunes golf course includes nine holes designed by Walter Travis in the 1920s for the members of the Jekyll Island Club. Several holes that were part of the original layout where located along the beach and were bulldozed in the 1950s.(Photo by Austin Kaseman)

Credit: Photo by Austin Kaseman