To Toss A Monkey Wrench: A World Without The Gipper
17-year old Ronald Reagan (pictured above in his lifeguard uniform) in 1927, a year before his death.
As we typically like to do here at the Dixon Daily Paper [1], we'll take a flashback to the past and rehash or review a story that our paper covered in years past. This story is from the July 17, 1928, exactly forty years ago, and is about the tragic drowning of two young men on the Rock River, darkening a sunny summer for the residents of Dixon, Illinois.
Terror At The Beach!
Tragedy struck a local beach in local park yesterday as two young men drowned in the river's fierce rapids. The victims, 22 year-old Adam Glydesdale [2] and 17 year-old Ronald Reagan were struggling for their lives against the river's strong current for nearly a half hour. According to eye witnesses, the whole ordeal began when Glydesdale, a reportedly novice swimmer, got caught up in the river's undertow and began to lose control and take in water as he progressed downstream. Glydesdale's suffering became clear to beach employee and lifeguard Ronald Reagan who immediately took action and attempted to save the drowning man. Reagan, a strong swimmer, was easily able to reach the drowning man. It was after that when things got complicated. Glydesdale was already panicking and was making it difficult for the veteran lifeguard to grab him. Matter were made worse by the fact that Glydesdale was a much larger man than Reagan and he began to pull Reagan downstream with him. It is presumed that after this incident the men drowned as they were carried downstream.
Reagan was the student body president at Dixon High School. There, he participated in football, baseball, track, and school plays. According to classmate David George, Reagan was "just a real swell guy who cared about the people around him." Reagan was going to begin school at Eureka College in September.
Notes:
[1]: A completely made up paper.
[2]: A completely made up person.