Thread by @ChetPowell

This is Glenn Harris. Today is his birthday. Glenn died on May 27, 1974. He was 17 years old. He would have graduated from Colquitt County High School in Moultrie, Georgia on the following Saturday. Glenn was swimming at Reed Bingham State Park that day, when one of the... 1/?

girls, who could NOT swim, waded into a restricted area of the lake where the shallow water suddenly dropped to a depth of 15 feet. Without hesitation and with no regard for his own safety, Glenn jumped in to help. The girl, acting purely out of fear, grabbed Glenn, pinning- 2/?

his arms to his side. He struggled unsuccessfully to free himself until finally; he used his foot to force her off & gave her a final push toward some other people as he was going down. She was pulled out, but Glenn did not come back up.
My dad was the park’s head ranger. 3/?

I was just a kid, riding with him that day when he received the call over the radio. We arrived at the scene quickly.It took them several minutes to find Glenn in the deep murky water. I watched as they pulled him from the water and laid him on the ground. 4/?

He was not breathing. He had no pulse. Glenn died on May 27, 1974. EMS was en route, but the park was several miles from town, so my dad alternately gave Glenn mouth-to-mouth & CPR…for nearly 20 minutes. He eventually got a faint pulse. EMT’s arrived and took over. Glenn’s 5/?

heart was now beating, but he was still not breathing. They were giving him air through a respirator. I kept waiting, expecting him to suddenly sputter the water out and “wake up" like they do in the movies, but it didn’t happen. Glenn was taken to the nearest hospital. 6/?

My father was waiting anxiously outside the ER when he noticed another man standing nearby in the hallway. . My dad recognized him instantly even though he hadn’t seen him in 40 years. He had worked for my dad’s father, my granddaddy, long before I was born. 7/?

“James!” my dad exclaimed as they shook hands. “What are you doing here?” “They’ve got my boy here,” he answered. James Harris was Glenn’s father.
Glenn was transferred to a larger hospital in Macon later that day. He remained in a coma for another two months. 8/?

Then, one day, to everyone's surprise, Glenn opened his eyes. He gradually began to improve, but as a result of oxygen deprivation, he still has many health issues, one of which is memory loss. Glenn’s family watch over him carefully, but he sometimes slips out & Wanders off. 9/?

I had kept up with Glenn's progress over the years, but had not actually seen him or his mother, Miss Mamie, since they attended my father's funeral in 1995. Ironically, by 2005 I had retired from full-time law enforcement & was into a 2nd career -the one my dad always hoped 10/

for; I was in my father’s old position. I was the ranger at the park where I grew up & where Glenn Harris had drowned and was saved by my father. On December 1st of that year I was involved in a fatal shooting while on duty. Most of the people in the two adjoining counties- 11/?

knew me well enough to know that it was the last thing that I would have ever wanted to be involved in, but there were a few, who knew nothing about me, who jumped to another conclusion. I was called a racist. Me – who taught my children from the time they could crawl - 12/?

that bigotry, racism or discrimination in ANY form, against ANY person or any group, is wrong. Dealing with such a traumatic event was difficult enough, but that word – RACIST – sent me to an even lower place. So, at one of the lowest points in my life, when I was just trying 13/

to get from day to day without having an emotional breakdown, I got in my park truck on a very very cold December morning & just to occupy myself… I drove. I happened upon a man standing on a dirt road, less than a mile from Reed Bingham State Park. The man had no coat. 14/

He was cold - freezing - bent over and shaking uncontrollably. The mucus from his nostrils had literally frozen on his contorted face. I asked him his name, but he could not speak. I radioed for help. A deputy arrived and we put the man in the patrol car to warm up. 15/?

I looked around and found that he had apparently been sleeping in an old, long-abandoned farm house. After he warmed up a bit I tried again. "What is your name?" I asked. He sputtered, "M – M – My name is G – G – Gl – Glenn – Glenn Harris." It took a second to register. 16/?

Was it the same person? I took a closer look at his face as I asked, "Glenn, did you know a man named, C.J. Powell?" He smiled for the first time, causing the dried mucus to crack on his face. "Yes!" he grinned and his eyes lit up. “Mr. C.J. saved my life!" I knew that smile. 17/

We contacted his family & it was then that I learned they had been searching for Glenn for three days. He had walked more than 30 miles & ended up less than one mile from my house. The deputy & I took Glenn home where I was able to visit with his family. Sadly, I learned- 18/?

that his mother, an amazing lady, had died the year before. I am not a very religious person. I cannot explain what brought Glenn & me together on that cold December morning, but I believe it was not mere happenstance. There was something more at work that day. 19/

This photo was taken when Glenn & I recorded our story. During the interview, his sister, Carolyn said "Glenn was saved twice by the Powell's, first the father & then the son." I would just add that although he doesn't understand it; Glenn saved me too. Happy birthday, buddy. 20