A retired soldier drowns while ice fishing in an upstate New York pond; friend trying to save him

Newark Valley, New York. A retired state trooper was fishing with a friend in upstate New York last week when the ice they were fishing on cracked and both men plunged into a cold pond.

According to the deputies, a friend of a former soldier escaped from the water and repeatedly tried to save his fisherman friend. First responders pulled Norman J. O’Neill, a former New York State Police investigator, from the South Tier Pond and attempted to rescue him by giving him CPR and first aid, deputies said.

But it was not possible to revive O’Neill.

O’Neal drowned, the Tioga County Sheriff’s Office said. The Andwell man was 59 years old.

The fishing accident occurred just after 3 p.m. Friday at Alexander Pond, a fishing spot on Barber Town Road in the Newark Valley. Rescuers found O’Neal about 150 feet from shore, deputies said.

Another angler was treated at UHS Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City and released, deputies said.

The sheriff’s office was assisted by the New York State Police, Newark Valley Fire Department, Owego Fire Department, Owego Ambulance Crew, Maine Ambulance Crew, Campville Fire Department, and Tioga County Emergency Services.

According to his obituary in the Press & Sun-Bulletin, O’Neill served in the military for 31 years, worked as an investigator, and served on the submarine rescue team that helped recover Trans World Airlines Flight 800 in 1996. He was also an avid outdoor enthusiast, enjoying golf, hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and boating.

“You could always find Norma lending a helping hand and a sympathetic heart to anyone he came across,” his obituary reads. “He was a devoted husband, father, son, brother, uncle, neighbor, and friend who we will deeply miss and remember.”

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