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\n Michael Cottrell, a Kadena Middle School librarian, rescued a teenager from rough waters in Sunabe, Okinawa, Aug. 27, 2026. (Ryan M. Breeden\/Stars and Stripes)
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CHATAN, Okinawa \u2014 A middle school librarian at Kadena Air Base pulled a 19-year-old man from rough seas in central Okinawa last week after a wave swept the teenager into the water.<\/p>\n
Michael Cottrell was walking his dog Thursday near a water purification plant in Chatan\u2019s Minato district when he noticed two young men near the edge of the surging East China Sea, he told Stars and Stripes on Monday. <\/p>\n
One stood on concrete steps leading toward the water and appeared to be searching for something that had washed away, Cottrell said. Then he realized the other was struggling in the surf. <\/p>\n
Waves repeatedly pushed the teenager against concrete wave-break structures before Cottrell heard him scream for help. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere was just nobody around,\u201d Cottrell said. \u201cI\u2019m not expecting anybody else to go at this point because I\u2019m the only person around.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cottrell said he picked up his dog, Perry, a 16-year-old Maltipoo, ran toward the water and handed the animal to a woman nearby.<\/p>\n
The 59-year-old quickly ruled out jumping into the sea himself. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf I end up in the water, I\u2019m not going to make it out,\u201d Cottrell said. \u201cI\u2019m almost 60 years old.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/020126OKI-RESCUEphoto02.jpg\")
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\n Michael Cottrell, a Kadena Middle School librarian, pulled a 19-year-old man from rough waters in Sunabe, Okinawa, at this spot, as seen on Aug. 31, 2026. (Ryan M. Breeden\/Stars and Stripes)
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Instead, he climbed over a barrier and made his way across the concrete structures toward the teenager, who was clinging to concrete but appeared too exhausted to pull himself from the water. <\/p>\n
Cottrell moved as close as he safely could and told the teenager they would have to time the rescue between waves. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t want to take his hand off of the pylon,\u201d Cottrell said. \u201cHe was nervous about that.\u201d <\/p>\n
When the water receded, Cottrell stepped down, grabbed the teenager by the arm and pulled him from the sea. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe other kid was frozen,\u201d Cottrell said. <\/p>\n
Two Japanese women who arrived during the rescue called an ambulance at Cottrell\u2019s request. <\/p>\n
The Chatan Fire Department received an emergency call at 3:31 p.m. reporting that a high wave had swept a 19-year-old man into the sea, a department spokesman said by phone Friday. <\/p>\n
The teen suffered numerous cuts but did not require transportation to a hospital, the spokesman said. Some Japanese government officials are required to speak to media on condition of anonymity. <\/p>\n
Cottrell\u2019s friend Scott Davis, a librarian at Kadena Elementary School, found him on the seawall shortly afterward. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe conditions were super rough,\u201d Davis told Stars and Stripes by phone Friday. \u201cMichael would give us the shirt off his back if we were in need, so he\u2019s just that kind of guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cottrell, an Army veteran, has worked for Defense Department schools for 20 years, including nine at Kadena Middle. <\/p>\n
He has coached youth sports for more than 30 years and has basic CPR training but has never worked as a lifeguard or received water-rescue training, he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t consider myself a hero of any type,\u201d Cottrell said. \u201cAnybody would have done what needed to be done, \u2018cause there was a kid there that just needed a hand.\u201d <\/p>\n
His advice for others who encounter someone in danger is to help without putting themselves in unnecessary danger. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to wear a cape,\u201d Cottrell said. \u201cYou just have to get involved. Don\u2019t be afraid to get involved. Just be smart about it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Stars and Stripes reporter Janiqua Robinson contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Cottrell, a Kadena Middle School librarian, rescued a teenager from rough waters in Sunabe, Okinawa, Aug. 27,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[53239,8,1428,37844,162,53238,53240],"class_list":["post-83636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-okinawa","tag-army-veteran","tag-japan","tag-kadena-air-base","tag-military-community","tag-okinawa","tag-okinawa-rescue","tag-water-rescue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}