The team deployed around 7 a.m. Friday from Corpus Christi, about 200 miles south of where the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, Texas, had risen from about 3 feet to nearly 30 feet. Floodwaters in the area had swept through and battered several youth camps on the river banks — including Camp Mystic, the summer camp where they were headed.

A Coast Guard rescue swimmer is already being hailed as an “American hero” after his very first mission — helping to save the lives of 165 Texas flash-flood victims. “This is what it’s all about, right?