Trooper of the year. (The Goodness of America).(Brief Article)

At around 11:30 p.m. on July 6, 2001, off-duty Alaska State Trooper Larry Erickson was pulling into his driveway after completing his swing shift when he received a report that a Toyota Corolla was swerving erratically through downtown Fairbanks. He joined the search for the vehicle, and soon received another report based on a 911 call, that the car had plunged into the Chena River.

Erickson was first to arrive at the river, where he spotted the partially submerged car about 20 feet from the bank. The driver, later identified as Annie Ketzler, 25, was struggling in waste deep water to reach the river bank and screaming that her one-year-old daughter was still in the car.

Trooper Erickson waded into the river, reached the car despite the strong current, and opened the rear passenger-side door and began groping for the infant, Claire Ketzler. He located her still strapped in her car seat, but couldn't locate the latch.

Trooper Bryan Barlow and Fairbanks police Officer Mark Eldridge had reached the scene then. They began wading toward the car, and Barlow managed to hand Erickson his knife so he could cut ...