The White House released a list of "special guests" for Tuesday's State of the Union address — including parents whose daughters were slain by MS-13 gangbangers, rescuers in hurricane and fire disasters, hero soldiers, first-time homeowners and sibling owners of a thriving small business.
Here are those invited to sit with first lady Melania Trump during President Donald Trump's address:
- Corey Adams, a welder at Staub Manufacturing Solutions in Dayton, Ohio, who intends to use extra money from tax reform for his two daughters' education.
- Elizabeth Alvarado, Robert Mickens, Evelyn Rodriguez, and Freddy Cuevas, whose daughters were chased down and murdered in September 2016 by members of Mara Salvatrucha, known as MS-13, on Long Island, N.Y.
- Ret. Cpl. Matthew Bradford, who despite losing both legs and his eyesight in an IED explosion in 2007 in Iraq, re-enlisted in the Marine Corps, becoming the first blind, double amputee to do so.
- Jon Bridgers, founder of Cajun Navy 2016, a non-profit rescue and recovery organization, who helped thousands across the South after Hurricane Harvey.
- David Dahlberg, a fire prevention technician in southern California, who saved 62 children and staff members from a raging wildfire that encircled their camp.
- Albuquerque, N.M., Police Officer Ryan Holets, who adopted a baby from parents who suffered from opioid addiction.
- Ashlee Leppert, an aviation electronics technician in the U.S. Coast Guard, who rescued dozens imperiled during the devastating hurricane season.
- Agent Celestino "CJ" Martinez of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit, who was instrumental in more than 100 arrests of MS-13 gangbangers.
- Staff Sgt. Justin Peck, who rescued and saved the life of a fellow soldier in Raqqa, Syria.
- Preston Sharp, who organized the placement of more than 40,000 American flags and red carnations on soldiers' graves.
- Steve Staub and Sandy Keplinger, siblings whose manufacturing company has grown from 23 workers to 37 workers over the past year.