This weekend’s dramatic and harrowing rescue of a downed United States Air Force Officer deep in the mountains of Iran will undoubtedly be recreated and featured one day in a movie or documentary.
But the incident also drove home an immediate foundational and long held principle and mantra of the American military:
No man or woman is ever left behind.
It was on Thursday night in Iran when a F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet was hit by Iranian fire. Both the pilot and aircraft’s weapons systems officer (WSO) were forced to eject. Within six hours the pilot was rescued, but the second officer remained at-large. He evaded enemy capture by hiding inside a mountain crevice on a 7,000-foot ridgeline.
The officer’s beacon device alerted the United States rescue team where he was – but they still needed to confirm he was alive and that he was the American they were looking to extract. Once that was accomplished with the help of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and various technologies, a misinformation campaign was launched to buy more time for the highly complex and coordinated rescue mission. U.S. officials began spreading the news in Iran that the WSO had already been rescued and was making his way out via a vehicle convoy.
It was all a ruse, but it was effective.
Members of America’s elite Special Operations Forces were called in, including Navy SEAL Team Six, Delta Force, the Air Force Pararescuemen (PJs), and the 160th SOAR “Night Stalkers” – the Army’s elite aviation unit. Dozens of other groups and individuals were also part of the daring mission. Well over 200 military personnel participated in the operation.
Officials have described the mission as one of the most difficult and complex ever performed by U.S. forces. In the aftermath of the rescue, President Trump called the operation “an Easter Miracle.” He told NBC’s Kristen Welker, “The enemy was large and violent. The rescuers were brilliant, strong, decisive, and as cool as anyone can be. Such a rescue has never happened before in so violent an enemy territory. It is usually not done because it is considered not doable.”
In fact, it almost wasn’t doable as the two C-130’s dispatched to ferry both the WSO and some of the rescuers got stuck in the desert sand. Three replacement aircraft were sent in, and the abandoned planes were destroyed by the Americans to prevent them from getting into enemy hands.
After the WSO was safely back in U.S hands, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social:
“WE GOT HIM!” he declared. “This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour.”
He then added:
“WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND.”
Sending hundreds to save even one brings to mind the “Parable of the Lost Sheep,” the biblical story of a shepherd leaving his ninety-nine sheep to search for the one lost in the wilderness (Matthew 18:10-14, Luke 15:4-7).
America’s military is a secular force, of course, but some of the principles it employs, including the “leave no man behind” commitment, mirror teachings found in Scripture. Might that be the case because America was founded by individuals for whom God’s Word was a central or core part of their lives?
We are blessed to live in a country that can assemble a group of warriors with the bravery and courage needed to pull off such a mission.
It was revealed the first message the downed airman gave back to his rescuers was three words: “God is good.”
Speaking at the White House on Monday, President Trump summed up the rescue by saying, “God was watching us.”
Please join us in praying for our military members serving in the ongoing conflict and for a peaceful and lasting resolution.
