Two drowning victims rescued boy before they died

GRAND RAPIDS -- Witnesses say two Grand Rapids men who drowned in Itasca County rescued a boy struggling in Pokegama Lake before the men went under.

The sheriff's department got a call Sunday evening about two men struggling in the water. Witnesses say some young people were on a house boat when the wind picked up and waves grew to about three-foot swells.

They say one young person was struggling in the water when the two men went out to help him. The youth made it to safety, but the men did not.

The men are identified as 30-year-old Nathan Junker and 63-year-old Albert Hermiston. Both were members of Faith Baptist Church in Grand Rapids. Junker was the youth minister.