The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant Stephen H. Torpey, United States Coast Guard, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight on the early morning of 31 January 1998 while serving as aircraft commander onboard Coast Guard HH-60J 6011. The aircrew was engaged in the perilous rescue of three survivors from the Fishing Vessel LA CONTE which sank 50 miles off Cape Fairweather, Alaska, during a fierce winter storm. Dispatched from Sitka to relieve two other helicopter crews Lieutenant Torpey skillfully piloted 120 miles through blinding snow storms, severe turbulence, and 60 knot winds. On scene, he was confronted with 50-foot seas, rogue waves topping 70 feet, and winds gusting from 50-70 knots. The hurricane-force winds made holding a stable hover over the survivors virtually impossible and caused the rescue basket to blow wildly 150 feet behind the helicopter. Undaunted by these overwhelming conditions, Lieutenant Torpey ingeniously deployed a barrage of marker flares to improve hover reference, astutely assigned critical tasks to each crewmember, and began implementing innovative rescue techniques, one after another, determined to save LA CONTE’s crew. After struggling for over an hour, Lieutenant Torpey miraculously placed the basket within reach of one of the survivors, who quickly threw himself inside and was hoisted to safety. Now exhausted, but even more resolved to rescue the others, Lieutenant Torpey repeated this amazing feat two more times over the next 25 minutes, saving two more mariners. Lieutenant Torpey’s actions, aeronautical skill, and valor were instrumental in the rescue of three survivors. 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.