Posted on 06/14/2011 13:00

One day last fall, Harry Gustafson Jr., a Pennsylvania State Police trooper from New Castle, and his friend, Dwayne Dye, headed out to fish on Lake Erie.

Dye is an experienced charter boat captain, but when the motor on their 17-foot fishing boat overheated, a series of waves capsized their vessel.

What happened next saved Dye's life and earned Gustafson a State Police Medal of Honor Friday.

"Through a series of heroic actions, Trooper Gustafson managed to rescue Mr. Dye from under the overturned boat, climb onto the hull, and then hold his friend above the waves by means of a nylon rope tied around both men," said state police Commissioner Frank Noonan. "Mr. Dye was unable to climb onto the hull."

Gustafson was presented the award Friday during the department's annual awards ceremony in Hershey for his work in the incident that happened Aug. 8, 2010.

According to Noonan, the two men were stranded in the Erie County waters for nearly four hours. Dye, a 61-year-old from North East, Pa., was struggling and his health deteriorated as the hours passed. Gustafson held him above the waves.

"At one point, Gustafson told his semi-conscious and weakening friend, 'I got you. I'll hold you all day'," said Noonan.

Eventually, another fishing vessel came into view and approached the men's boat. Gustafson grabbed Dye around the neck and swam toward the bot. As they approached it, Dye, who was almost unconscious, sank under the water.

Gustafson dove and brought him back to the surface, where the trooper and two men from the other vessel lifted him out of the water.

Dye was taken to Hamot Medical Center in Erie, where he was diagnosed as suffering from a minor heart attack, fluid in his lungs and hypothermia.

"Trooper Gustafson said that often during the ordeal he thought about his family, including his then-pregnant daughter," said Noonan. "Less than 24 hours after he and Dye were brought to shore, Gustafson's daughter gave birth to his first grandchild."

Gustafson enlisted in the state police in November 1991. He's assigned to the Criminal Investigation Unit at Troop D in New Castle.

State police have presented 57 medals of honor since the award was created in 1970.