‘American Hero’: All Corners Praise Coast Guard Swimmer Who Saved Lives Amid Texas Floods
The Daily Signal 7/7/2025 3:40:00 PM
 

Republicans and Democrats are hailing a Coast Guard swimmer as a national hero after he saved 165 lives from the flash floods in central Texas.  

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem took to the social media platform X to share about Petty Officer 3rd Class Scott Ruskan: “United States Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer and Petty Officer Scott [Ruskan], directly saved an astonishing 165 victims in the devastating flooding in central Texas. This was the first rescue mission of his career and he was the only triage coordinator at the scene.” 

“Scott [Ruskan] is an American hero,” Noem added. “His selfless courage embodies the spirit and mission of the [U.S. Coast Guard].” 

The official account of the White House also took to X to praise Ruskan: “Scott Ruskan and his aircrew saved 165 lives on their first mission during the Texas floods. From the U.S. Military to first responders and volunteers — these brave Americans remind us who we are. When disaster strikes, they don’t run from the storm. They run into it.” 

Democrats also praised Ruskan.

“In our darkest times we see people do extraordinary things to help others,” Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., posted on X. “Petty Officer Scott Ruskan from NJ heroically rescued 165 people from the Texas floods. We are eternally grateful to Ruskan and other first responders risking their lives for others.”

At least 104 people have died in the Texas floods, 28 of them children, CNN reported. Dozens are missing.

Bryan Winchell, a Texas Task Force 1 helicopter search and rescue technician, called the Coast Guard from Corpus Christi for reinforcement in central Texas on the Fourth of July, according to The New York Post.   

Ruskan helped to spearhead the triage and evacuation efforts at Camp Mystic, the Christian summer camp for girls in Texas’ Hill Country that has suffered some of the worst effects of the floods.  

Due to poor weather conditions, it took Ruskan and his team almost 6 hours via helicopter to travel to San Antonio from Corpus Christi, to get closer to Camp Mystic. Ruskan and his team worked with 12 rescue helicopters to evacuate close to 200 people, The New York Times reported. Landing zones were set up on an archery field and a soccer field. Ruskan then gave up his spot on a helicopter to allow for two extra spots for the rescuees. He told his crew that he would love to stay to continue helping. 

“That’s a little bit outside our area of operation normally, but people were in danger, and we’re a good asset to try and help people out, and these guys were asking for help, so that’s kind of what we do,” Ruskan told The New York Post. He said he wanted to comfort the victims, noting that it was “probably the worst day of their life.”  

Ruskan said he realized that while he could not successfully find every single missing person, he could ensure those who were found were brought to safety and help console them. 

“Honestly, I’m mostly just a dude. I’m just doing a job,” he told the Post. “This is what I signed up for, and I think that any single Coast Guard rescue swimmer or any single Coast Guard pilot, flight mechanic, whoever it may be, would have done the exact same thing in our situation.” 

“That’s what we were asked to do and we’re gonna do it,” he added. “Any one of us, if anyone else was on duty that day, they would have done the same thing as us. We just happened to be the crew that got the case.”

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