It ended just after midnight on Sunday with three words on Truth Social: "WE GOT HIM!"
But what led to that post was nearly two days of chaos, deception, firefights, and a race against hundreds of Iranian troops and armed nomadic tribesmen hunting a single American officer hiding alone in the mountains of southwestern Iran.
A U.S. Air Force member who had been missing behind enemy lines for more than 24 hours after his F-15E fighter jet was shot down was rescued, President Donald Trump announced early Sunday morning. Time The operation to bring him home involved a scale of force rarely seen in a search-and-rescue mission — and left a trail of destroyed American aircraft deep inside Iranian territory.
The F-15E Strike Eagle, belonging to the 494th Fighter Squadron, was shot down by Iranian forces on April 3 over Iranian territory during the ongoing conflict. Wikipedia The jet was from the 48th Fighter Wing out of Royal Air Force Lakenheath in Suffolk, England. CNN Both crew members — the pilot and the Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) — ejected before the aircraft went down. The IRGC cordoned off parts of the mountainous southwestern Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province Al Jazeera almost immediately, and the clock started ticking.
An A-10 Warthog aircraft was also hit near the Strait of Hormuz around the same time. Its pilot ejected and was subsequently rescued. Al Jazeera That second shootdown received almost no public attention — Washington stayed quiet about it while the search for the missing WSO consumed every available resource.
The pilot of the F-15E was pulled out within hours. Trump later revealed that first rescue took seven hours in broad daylight over Iran Al Jazeera — an extraordinary exposure for any military operation. But the WSO was still out there, and neither American nor Iranian forces knew exactly where.
The WSO had escaped into the Zagros Mountains, while the IRGC and local nomadic Bakhtiari tribesmen — traditionally armed with hunting rifles and deeply familiar with the rugged terrain — all worked to find him. Wikipedia Iranian authorities issued a public plea for locals to hand over the soldier to authorities, offering a reward of $60,000. Footage from state media showed men carrying rifles and Iranian flags moving through the mountains. Al Jazeera
Meanwhile, the WSO was doing everything his training had prepared him for. According to U.S. officials, he used his mandatory Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) training to evade capture for a day and a half, with hundreds of IRGC soldiers everywhere. Time He eventually found shelter in a mountain crevice — invisible to everyone except, eventually, the CIA.
The CIA spread word that U.S. forces had already found the WSO and were moving him by ground to get him out of Iran PBS — a carefully constructed lie designed to freeze Iranian search teams in place and buy time. It worked. While the Iranians were confused and uncertain, the agency used its unique capabilities to search for and find the American airman. The War Zone
The U.S. used an abandoned agricultural airstrip about 14 miles north of Shahreza City in southern Isfahan as a temporary forward operating base Wikipedia while closing in on his position. Israel shared intelligence about the situation on the ground, and the Israeli Air Force carried out at least one strike to prevent Iranian forces from reaching the area. Time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later confirmed the cooperation publicly, saying he was "deeply proud" that Israel could contribute to saving the airman.
What was meant to be a get-in, get-out rescue operation dragged on, and enemy fire prolonged the mission into daylight, making it considerably more dangerous. Al Jazeera U.S. planes conducted strikes in the area as special operations forces converged on the mountainside, bombing approaching convoys to ensure Iranian forces could not get there first. Satellite imagery later showed at least 28 craters along several roads in central Isfahan province — each one around nine meters wide, precisely placed to destroy road width and block any reinforcements. CNN
Two HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters were hit by Iranian fire during the mission. The helicopter carrying the rescued pilot was struck by small arms fire, wounding crew members on board — though both aircraft landed safely. The Aviation Geek Club Two MC-130J Commando II aircraft became stuck at the remote forward base and were deliberately destroyed on commanders' orders to prevent sensitive equipment from falling into enemy hands. All personnel were extracted by three replacement aircraft. The Aviation Geek Club
Trump described the rescue as "an Easter miracle" and praised U.S. forces for their "strong, decisive" actions. He added that the WSO is a "highly respected Colonel" who is "seriously wounded" but will recover. NBC News
It appears to be the first time a U.S. aircraft has gone down inside Iran as part of war, dispelling any notion that the U.S. holds complete control over Iranian airspace. NBC News The rescue closed a tense chapter — but the broader picture remains complicated. Two U.S. aircraft were shot down in a single day. Multiple additional aircraft were destroyed during the recovery. Iranian and American forces exchanged direct fire over a stretch of days, and armed Iranian civilians joined the hunt for an American officer.
Trump used the successful rescue to claim a significant victory, turning what had been a potential propaganda problem into a cause for celebration. Wikipedia Iran, for its part, is already pushing its own version of events — with officials suggesting the entire operation may have been a cover for something else entirely.
A White House press conference is scheduled for Monday afternoon. Expect very few answers and a great many questions.
Muskan Zahra
