After cleaning a beach restroom at night in front of Redondo Beach’s Veterans Park, on May 8, of this year, Los Angeles County maintenance workers Nile Walker, Ronald White and Daniel Dillon heard a female scuba diver screaming for help as she tried to reach the shore.
The three men called 911, and then raced into the water and pulled the woman to safety. They then heard her male dive partner call for help, and rescued him.
“The beach in front of Veteran’s Park is popular with divers because it drops off very quickly into deep water. But for the same reason it is difficult to climb out of the water with heavy scuba gear,” emcee and retired Los Angeles County Lifeguard Chief Steve Moseley said at the Lifeguard annual Medal of Valor Dinner at the King Harbor Yacht Club on Wednesday, July 30.
The three maintenance workers were honored at the dinner with Distinguished Service Honors, which few non lifeguards have received since the Medal of Valor dinner was established in 1981. Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell presented the awards.
Distinguished Service Honors were also presented at this year’s dinner to Baywatch Redondo Captains Tim Gair, and Jeff Martinez, and Ocean Lifeguard Specialists Jeff Monroe, Eric Liberty and Matt Schafer.
The five lifeguards, along with Redondo Beach Harbor Patrol Captain Chad Smith and Harbor Patrol Officer Brad Godinez were honored for a rescue off of Avenue C in Redondo, of four children and an adult clinging to a sailboat that had capsized in heavy winds.
After the Redondo Harbor Patrol boat found the sailboat, Officer Godinez swam the four children, and the adult to the Harbor Patrol boat, where Captain Smith helped them board.
When the lifeguards arrived, they began searching in the water for a second adult who had been on the sailboat, but was missing. Lifeguard Captain Stephen Sleeis found the second man unconscious, under the boat and helped bring him aboard Baywatch Redondo. Efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
Sleeis was presented at the awards dinner with the Medal of Valor for his dangerous recovery of the body.
The 2025 Lifeguard Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to retired Captain Jim Richards, 92.
Richards began lifeguarding in 1961 for Huntington Beach. Over the next 43 years he also worked for Newport Beach, the State of California, Santa Monica and Los Angeles County.
In 1964, as chief of the Santa Monica Lifeguards, he was one of the five founding fathers of the USSLA (United States Surf Lifesaving Association). The other four were the chiefs of the City and County of Los Angeles, Huntington Beach and San Clemente.
Richards was known for telling young lifeguards, Moseley recalled at the awards dinner, to always “watch the water, stay in shape and do the right thing.” ER
