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.

This is the story of a first mission that turned a rookie into a hero. A young U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Texas was thrown into a crisis just days after finishing their training. When massive floods hit,