A U.S. Navy sailor assigned to the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sand died Saturday after attempting to rescue children from high surf at a Kauai beach, authorities said.

Master-at-Arms 1st Class Jeffrey Diaz died after first responders pulled him from waters off the military installation along the Hawaiian island’s western shore, the Kauai Police Department said in a release Monday.

On Saturday afternoon, emergency personnel were dispatched to Waiapua‘a Bay near Shenanigans, a restaurant located along the beach at PMRF, after reports of a swimmer in distress, according to the release.

Authorities said Diaz had entered the water to rescue two children who were “struggling in high surf.”

“While the children made it back to shore safely, he encountered trouble in the water,

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