Trump awards Coast Guard member who saved campers at Camp Mystic with Legion of Merit medal

President Donald Trump said Tuesday night during his State of the Union address that he is awarding a Coast Guard member who saved over 160 people at Camp Mystic last year with a prestigious award. 

Trump said he will be giving Petty Ofc. Scott Ruskan the Legion of Merit medal, which is awarded to members of the military for exceptional conduct, for his rescue operations in Texas amid historic flooding. 

The president recalled how an 11-year-old prayed that she would be rescued during the flooding but believed she would die.

"Those prayers were answered when Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan descended from a helicopter above," Trump said in his speech. "Nobody knew where he came from. It was Scott's first ever rescue mission, young guy, but very brave. 

"People watched Scott from a distance, and they couldn't believe what they were seeing," he continued. "The winds were blowing, the rain was pouring, everything was going and that rapid water, nobody had ever seen anything like it. They said, 'wow, that's something' ... Petty officer Ruskan, I'm pleased to inform you that I am now awarding you the Legion of Merit for extraordinary heroism, which is what it was, extraordinary heroism."

The young camper who prayed for rescue was also in attendance at the speech, Trump said, and the two were reunited for the first time since the flood.