The State of the Union isn’t just a speech; it’s a time to take stock of where we are as a nation—not just politically, but morally. It is an update, then, not just on where we are, but who we are. And it’s therefore fitting that the stories of everyday Americans are woven into the pomp and pageantry of the president’s address.
For that, we can thank one everyday hero whose uncommon courage inspired a tradition.
This is the Forgotten Hisotry of The Skutnik.
It was a frigid day in the nation’s capital as the clouds hung low in the sky. Government offices were closing early, and a young assistant at the Congressional Budget Office was packing up his things to head home, when he heard it—a low rumble at first, but then so loud that it shook the building.
Suddenly, he heard what sounded like an explosion and he raced outside into the cold to see what it was. An Air Florida jet had crashed into the 14th Street Bridge.
The young man ran to the banks of the Potomac River, not quite believing what he was seeing. A crowd had gathered to watch rescue helicopters try to drop rescue rings and pull survivors from the icy water. One woman was too weak to grab onto the ring. She tried desperately, but just couldn’t hold on. Her head was dipping below the ice, and the young man feared the worst.
He realized that if he didn’t do something, she would drown right in front of him. Without thinking, he ran into the river and furiously swam toward the woman, grabbed her in his arms, and pulled her to shore.
Because of his heroism, she survived. But 74 didn’t, including four drivers on the bridge who died when the plane crashed into them. The woman, Priscilla Tirado, lost her husband and baby. But she lived thanks to the quick thinking of the man who lay shivering beside her.
When paramedics reached him and asked what he had done with his coat, he told them he gave it to another survivor who was pulled from the freezing river. He was taken to the hospital and placed in a hot tub for 40 minutes to warm up, and as soon as he did, there was a small army of reporters waiting outside for this mysterious hero. Who was he? What made him risk his life like that?
“I didn’t have any profound thoughts,” he told them. “I just did it. When I got out of the water, I was satisfied. I did what I set out to do.”
His name was Lenny Skutnik, and he became an instant celebrity: The hero of the Potomac. He was no hero, he insisted; he acted on pure instinct. Still, he was awarded the Carnegie Hero Fund Medal and the Coast Guard’s Gold Lifesaving Medal.
Two weeks later, First Lady Nancy Reagan invited him to sit with her for her husband’s State of the Union Address, where President Ronad Reagan highlighted his bravery. The story was deemed one of the highlights of Reagan’s speech, and the next year, he highlighted the stories of more everyday Americans who were sitting in the gallery with the First Lady. Often they were singled out for their acts of heroism, but always they were from ordinary walks of life whose extraordinary stories deserved to be told.
The press dubbed these guests “Skutniks” in honor of the man whose story started the tradition and a name they’re still known by to this day.
It is perhaps the most fitting tribute to an ordinary American hero who insisted he had just done what any other ordinary American would have done.