Dear Ann Landers,
was working on the Garrison Dam in Riverdale, N.D. At that time, it was the largest earth-filled dam in the world. I was working on top of a 130-foot surge tank when a crane hit me in the back with a cable, throwing me off the tank. I was headed for the concrete below, with no chance of survival, when a man by the name of Floyd Hartman grabbed me around the waist. He had his safety belt on and caught me as I passed by him. I was taken to the hospital and didn't get a chance to thank him. That was his first and last day on that job, and I don't know where he went. So thank you, Floyd Hartman, for saving my life. -Roger W. Daub, Center, N.D.

Dear Roger,
What a terrific story! I hope Floyd Hartman sees this and writes. Or-if anyone knows where Floyd is, please send him this column and tell him I want to hear from him. He should write to me in care of the Chicago Tribune. I'll keep an eye peeled for his letter. Fortunately, the story didn't end there. Dear Readers: Remember the letter from Roger Daub? Roger was working on top of a surge tank when a loose cable hit him in the back. He was headed for certain death when a man named Floyd Hartman caught him. Roger never had a chance to thank Floyd. By the way, this incident occurred in 1960. Well, guess what! I heard from Floyd's son, Dennis, immediately after that column appeared in the Birmingham, Ala., Post-Herald. His name, incidentally, is Hardiman, not Hartman. Floyd is now 74 years old and a member of the Warrior, Ala., Senior Citizen Center. He was thrilled at the opportunity to speak on the phone to the man whose life he saved 33 years ago. Deborah Vance, a reporter for the Birmingham Post-Herald, inter-viewed Floyd Hardiman, and I received a copy of the story. Floyd said he remembered grabbing Roger around the waist with his legs. Floyd said if he had not been wearing his safety belt, he would not have been able to save Roger. "Roger wasn't wearing one," said Floyd, "but thank God I was [or it would have come] down to where I was either going to have to let go or fall to my death with him." Roger said, "He saved my life. I just can't believe I found him. There's no one like him that would have done what he did." And now, dear readers, writing seven columns a week is a piece of cake when you run into a story like this one. I was amazed at how much interest and concern this letter generated. Readers from all over the country wanted to help locate Floyd. A man in Plano, Texas, looked up every Floyd Hartman he could find and then wrote to them on my be-half. Several other readers sent me computerized lists of all the Floyd Hartmans in the U.S. telephone directories. A number of readers shared the following view: Dear Ann: That incredible column about how Floyd Hartman grabbed Roger Daub in the middle of a fall while they were both work-ing on a dam in North Dakota was a real thriller. Pm sure you will get a lot of mail saying it's a bunch of baloney-that such a thing couldn't have happened. Let me tell you that I am a true believer, and there is not a doubt in my mind but that it did happen. I believe Floyd was Roger's guardian angel. The clue was that line about Roger not being able to thank Floyd for saving his life because it was Floyd's first and last day on the job. I am convinced that some higher power sent Floyd for that one day to watch over Roger. Most of your readers will think I am some kind of nut, but so many things occur for which there is no logical explanation, and this, dear Ann, is one of them. -J.R. in Dallas Dear J.R .: You are not alone in your belief that Floyd was Roger's guardian angel. I received several letters saying exactly the same thing. So I say hooray! Let the banners wave! These days, when we read so much about man's inhumanity to man, it is reassuring to know some-thing like this can happen. It gives us all hope.