In the mountains south of Isfahan, a wounded American airman spent two days alone on a 7,000-foot ridgeline — broken, hunted, and holding on — while his nation quietly assembled one of its most complex rescue operations in a generation. The recovery of Bravo, a U.S. Air Force weapons officer shot down over Iran in April, required deception, destruction, and the first American boots on Iranian soil in 46 years. It is a story about what a nation is willing to spend — in treasure, in risk, in ingenuity — to honor a promise made to those it sends into harm's way.
Downed Air Force officer rescued after 50 hours behind enemy lines in Iran
The officer sustained multiple fractures including a broken back, arm, and shoulder after high-speed impact; he survived two days behind enemy lines with minimal water or food in harsh mountain desert conditions.