The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Aviation Survival Technician Third Class Noel G. Hutton, United States Coast Guard, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight while serving as rescue swimmer of Coast Guard HH-60J helicopter 6011 on the night of 12 November 1999. The crew was engaged in the rescue of three survivors from the 52-foot fishing vessel BECCA DAWN, which sank in a winter storm 160 miles northwest of Sitka, Alaska. After transiting through heavy snow squalls, Petty Officer Hutton arrived on scene to find three survivors clinging together, struggling to remain afloat in the raging 35-45 foot seas. Winds were 40 knots with howling 65-knot gusts filling the air with freezing spray. Severe turbulence flung the aircraft about the sky almost uncontrollably. Petty Officer Hutton assisted the flight mechanic in several attempts to deliver the rescue basket. The extreme conditions demanded both persons to manage the hoist cable and keep the struggling survivors in sight despite black, gale driven seas. They repeatedly delivered the basket to the survivors only to have huge breaking waves sweep it away from them. After a heroic and exhausting 15-minute struggle, they timed a perfect delivery of the basket. One man climbed in and was hoisted to safety. Petty Officer Hutton repeated the struggle, successfully delivering the basket after another grueling 15-minute battle. While one man climbed inside the basket, the remaining survivor clung to the outside. He knew that their combined weight could overload the hoist. With no way to communicate to the survivors, he was forced to attempt a recovery. The cable swung wildly as the basket approached the aircraft. With a mighty effort, Petty Officer Hutton and the flight mechanic used their combined strength and weight to steady the basket, miraculously managing to bring it into the cabin without dislodging the clinging survivor. With all three survivors safely in the aircraft, Petty Officer Hutton treated each for hypothermia. Petty Officer Hutton’s actions, skill, and valor were instrumental in the rescue of three lives. His courage, judgment, and devotion to duty are most heartily commended and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard.