Emergency medics and onlookers tried to save the officer, 51 year old Russell Simpson, after he was swept under the surf. But they failed.
Simpson was part of a rescue rope chain trying to reach the boy, 13-year-old Zed Leas. Relatives say the boy had been walking his dog on the beach.
Leas was rescued after he climbed into a basket lowered by a U-S Coast Guard helicopter, officials say. He was taken to Bandon Hospital and treated for mild hypothermia.
Simpson was one of five full-time officers in Bandon. He moved there in 1997, after retiring from the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Simpson started working for the city as a code enforcement officer in 1999.
The mayor, Joe Whitsett, says the whole community is in shock. " I encourage people to be careful on the beach, we're gonna miss officer Simpson. He's a fine, fine man, who died doing what he loved to do, helping the community, he died a hero."
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