In Md., a Father's Final Act of Love

Douglas Martin was deep in the Atlantic, swept out to sea off Ocean City by a powerful riptide. He was swimming toward the shore and safety. But there, in the other direction, was his 15-year-old daughter, Amy, flailing for life.

Amy: a thin girl with braces and long brown hair. She had a cleft palate but had overcome that. Bright and curious, she had decided she would learn Arabic. Douglas: an intelligence officer and Catholic who loved his six girls. He could not bear to part with a single one.

Faced with that choice, he turned around, hoping to save his daughter. But neither he nor Amy made it back.

When the Coast Guard boat arrived, rescuers fished them out of the water. Douglas and Amy were unconscious. The rescuers gave them CPR, pounding away at their chests to get them to breathe. But it was too late. Douglas was dead by the time they returned to the station. Amy, taken to Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, Md., died an hour later.

The five other girls and Martin's wife, Jeanne, piled out of a minivan yesterday afternoon after returning to their home in Columbia's Locust Park neighborhood. The cul-de-sac was silent but for the chirping of crickets, the distant wash of traffic on Route 29 and the slap of their car doors closing.

The family needed time before they could talk, Jeanne's sister, Karen Bassler, said. "She's just absolutely distraught."

But Jeanne's brother, Mike Murphy, came out of the gray two-story house to talk. His eyes were wet, but his voice strengthened as he described his brother-in-law, a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help church who home-schooled his daughters: Amy; Emily, 17; Mary, 13; Kathy, 10; Jenny, 7; and Suzy, 3.

He worked for the National Security Agency, but Murphy couldn't talk about that.

It didn't matter what he did, Murphy said, because "his vocation as a father was what set him apart."

" 'Preach the Gospel at all times,' " Murphy said, quoting St. Francis of Assisi. " 'If necessary, use words.' That's what Doug did; he preached the Gospel with his actions."

As a light rain began to fall, Murphy moved under a tree and described what had happened. His account added details to those told by Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Brian Sullivan and the Ocean City police.

Because the daughters are home-schooled, the family can go on vacation when they want. So they ventured to Ocean City this week. The crowds had thinned, and the air was a little cooler, but the water had kept some of its summer warmth.