Several INCREDIBLE New Details Emerge on the Legendary Rescue of 2nd F-15 Pilot in Iran, Including a Clever Trick the CIA Pulled on the Iranians and a Final Twist

 

Military planes in flight. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

As Americans wake up this Easter morning, more remarkable details are now emerging about the mission to save the second F-15 pilot after the plane was downed in Iran on Friday.

The second pilot/WSO from the downed F-15 fighter jet on Friday was saved in an on-ground US rescue mission Saturday night, which involved an epic and grueling battle with Iranian forces.

The pilot was successfully rescued and exfiltrated following an intense firefight. He was injured after ejecting himself from the F-15 but is now safe. 

What an incredible miracle on the eve of Easter, thanks to our tireless heroes in uniform!

Fox News’s Jennifer Griffin revealed that no Americans were killed during the operation. The Fox News journalist additionally noted that different branches of the US military were involved in the rescue.

“It was a very complex operation to retrieve the downed service member,” a well-placed source told Griffin.

Griffin also confirmed that the A10 Warthog that crashed on Friday was providing cover for the rescue teams searching for the pilot. The A10 crashed in Kuwait, but the pilot managed to eject safely and was later rescued by Americans. 

Several videos emerged on X showing the mission’s difficulty and violence.

Now, we are learning some incredible new details about the mission, which may all appear in a movie one day:

• In addition to no deaths, there were NO Injuries to U.S. Forces.

An official confirmed to the New York Times that not a single American hero was wounded during the complex and violent operation.

What makes this even more remarkable is that the operation involved hundreds of special operations forces, several warplanes and helicopters, and advanced intelligence capabilities involving cyber and space.

Not to mention Iranian terrorists unleashing hellfire on them as the rescue mission unfolded.

• The CIA pulled off a clever trick on the Iranian enemy.

Per the Daily Mail, the mission’s success was aided when Iranian forces were deceived after the CIA spread the word that US forces had already found the colonel.

• In a final twist, two US transport planes were sent to extract the team became stranded at a remote base inside Iran, but our military had a solution.

Commanders ordered them destroyed rather than risk sensitive equipment falling into enemy hands, flying in replacement aircraft to complete the escape, the Times reported.

• The airman himself performed feats of ingenuity to save himself from Iranian forces, despite being injured.

In details confirmed by The New York Times, the wounded pilot avoided being captured and possibly killed by terrorists and bloodthirsty civilians while dealing with mountainous terrain.

He moved away from the plane wreckage and hid on higher ground while signaling for assistance. He had only a pistol to protect himself.

• There were TWO raids, including one in broad daylight that lasted 7 hours over Iranian territory.

“The second raid came after the first one, where we rescued the pilot in broad daylight, also unusual, spending seven hours over Iran,” President Trump revealed on Truth Social.

• Iranian forces were “getting close” to the downed crew before extraction.

“The Iranian Military was looking hard, in big numbers, and getting close,” Trump wrote.

JUST IN: Trump Signs Memo Directing DHS to Pay ALL Employees Amid Shutdown

 

(Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

President Trump on Sunday signed a memorandum ordering the Department of Homeland Security to pay its more than 35,000 employees as the government remains partially shut down.

The memo, entitled “Liberating the Department of Homeland Security From the Democrat-Caused Shutdown,” authorizes paychecks for DHS employees as the record-long shutdown nears 50 days.

“As President of the United States, I have determined that these circumstances constitute an emergency situation compromising the Nation’s security,” Trump writes. 

“Accordingly, I hereby direct the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to use funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to the functions of DHS to provide each and every employee of DHS with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them if not for the Democrat-led DHS shutdown.”

“Once regular funding for DHS has been restored, every effort should be made, as authorized by law, to adjust applicable funding accounts within DHS to ensure the continuation of DHS operations and activities consistent with planned expenditures prior to the lapse,” the memo continues.

Trump also slams Democrats, writing, ” More than 35,000 employees, including Coast Guard civilians, Federal Emergency Management Agency employees helping to prepare the Nation for disaster response, and cybersecurity professionals at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, have gone without a paycheck for nearly 2 months because of congressional Democrats.”

This comes after Trump signed an executive order authorizing pay for TSA agents to alleviate the chaos at airports, but other functions of DHS, including the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Administration, remain defunded. 

Trump has repeatedly called on the Senate to terminate the filibuster and pass a bill that would fund the entire Department of Homeland Security after Democrats attempted to defund ICE and CBP.

The House of Representatives recently blocked a bipartisan Senate-backed bill that funded DHS but excluded funding for ICE and CBP.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced plans on Wednesday to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE and CBP, for the next three years.

However, the plans will pass the previously blocked Senate bill and would not terminate the filibuster. The plan would separately fund ICE and CBP through reconciliation.

City of Houston Deletes Tweet Referring to Easter as the ‘Spring Holiday’

 Renaming Good Friday wasn’t such a good idea.

The city government of Houston, Texas, was the target of national outrage over an announcement that its offices would be closed on Friday in observance of “the Spring Holiday.”

In apparent response, the city deleted the post from the social media platform X, but by then, the damage had already been done.  Conservative radio host and commentator Todd Starnes was one of those calling out the disrespect to Good Friday — the prelude to Easter, the holiest day on the Christian calendar. He compared it to Houston’s treatment of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

“Notice the difference in how Houston City Hall celebrates a Christian holiday compared to a Muslim holiday,” Starnes wrote.

The image on the right is from the official X account of the Houston mayor’s office. 

Houston’s mayoral office is technically nonpartisan, but its mayor, John Whitmire, is a lifelong Democrat who defeated fellow Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee for the post in 2023.

Whitmire’s office did not respond to requests for comment, according to the Houston Chronicle.

But there was plenty of comment on social media about the nation’s fourth largest city, and it wasn’t good for Houston at all.

Even after the controversy, and the post being deleted from X, either the city’s social media team wasn’t fully informed of the decision or it decided to split the difference, but the “Spring Holiday” post is still active on the city’s Instagram account, as the Houston Chronicle noted.

In previous years, the city’s announcements had no problem referring to Good Friday or Easter by their names, according to the outlet.