Ben Carlson 1 Year Memorial 7/6/15 (and shots from 7/6/14)

On 7/6/14, veteran Newport Beach lifeguard, Ben Carlson, lost his life while rescuing a swimmer in huge and dangerous surf at 15th St. To mark the 1 year anniversary of this tragic loss, Ben's family, friends and co-workers gathered on the sand at 15th St. on 7/6/15 for a heartfelt memorial at 5:18pm, the exact time Ben jumped from the rescue boat one year ago. Lifeguards aboard a flotilla of six rescue boats tossed flowers into the sea and then sped off in formation towards the horizon. Later that evening, a large crowd of Ben's friends and family gathered on the Newport Pier in front of the recently renamed Benjamin M. Carlson Lifeguard Headquarters to honor Ben. Back on 7/6/14, I took some photos of the large surf in nearly the same spot, just hours before Ben died. One photo even shows the lifeguard boat speeding by - quite likely Ben was on board at that time.