A US airman has spoken of climbing a 7,000ft ridge with a broken back, arm and shoulder after he was shot down in Iran – and of being rescued by a team of American special forces as hostile locals closed in on him.
asserted
locals → speak → him
The air force colonel, identified only by his codename Bravo, appeared on camera Sunday night on CBS’s 60 Minutes in a segment some critics have labelled Pentagon propaganda to boost public perception of Donald Trump’s unpopular war.
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critics → identify → war
Pete Hegseth, the president’s defense secretary; Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff; and Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command; all appeared on the show to talk about the rescue operation.
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Hegseth → appear → operation
“Alpha”, the co-pilot of the downed F-15 fighter jet, declined to take part, despite reported pressure from the Trump administration to do so.
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Alpha → down → administration
The airmen were recovered in April in an operation involving thousands of military personnel, including the elite Army Delta Force, Navy Seal Team Six, and a CIA decoy operation to distract and deceive Iranians chasing a bounty for their capture, the 60 Minutes segment said.
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segment → recover → capture
Bravo, who was reportedly also initially hesitant to take part, told interviewer Norah O’Donnell that his aircraft was struck by an Iranian shoulder-fired missile – and he realized his parachute was damaged after he and his co-pilot ejected.
“When I looked up and saw no parachute, that was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen,” the weapons system operator said.
uncertain
operator → take → parachute
“So I paused, right then.
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I → pause → ?
And I prayed: ‘Lord, your will be done.
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will → pray → ?
But if I’m getting through this, I need help.’”
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I → get → help
Bravo said he was unable to fully untangle his chute and hit the ground hard.
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he → say → ground
“Based on my description and the injuries that I had, the professionals think I hit the ground, going somewhere between 70 and 100 mph,” he said.
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he → base → ground
In addition to the broken bones, Bravo said he also sustained a sprained ankle in the hard landing, and serious wounds to his head and face.
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he → break → head
“I had injuries, but we all train to adapt and overcome the things that we’re faced with,” he said.
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he → have → that
“I moved as quickly as I could, despite the injuries, away from the place that I landed.”
uncertain
I → move → place
Bravo said he managed to hike and climb up the 7,000ft ridge with only a pistol, a communication device and a tracking beacon.
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he → say → pistol
Declassified video broadcast by 60 Minutes showed a “risky” daytime raid by US forces to rescue Alpha, who landed about 5 miles away from his colleague.
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who → broadcast → colleague
More than 20 helicopters took part in that operation – and the video showed two of them under fire.
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video → take → fire
“It was a gun fight all the way in and all the way out,” Hegseth told O’Donnell.
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Hegseth → tell → O’Donnell
“But they got Alpha back.
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they → get → Alpha
And then we began to, immediately, I
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we → begin → ?
mean you’re celebrating that Alpha’s back, but you realize the job’s only half done.
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job → mean → ?
While Alpha was retrieved about six hours after they were shot down, Bravo’s ordeal lasted about 50 hours.
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ordeal → retrieve → hours
“As soon as I found a spot that I felt provided some concealment, I started working toward communication,” he said.
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he → find → communication
“When I got to the moment where I could review and think about all that I’d gone through, I sent: ‘God is good,’ as a recognition of all that he had brought me through.”
uncertain
he → get → me
Cooper said a plan to rescue him was accelerated as soon as it was clear he had survived.
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he → say → him
“There was a: ‘I’m hurt, I’m moving,’ and there was a ‘God is good’ message that came in there,” he said.
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he → be → ?
“Now we knew he was alive.
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he → know → ?
He’s moving.
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He → move → ?
OK, let’s keep planning.”
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’s → let → ?
US bombers and drones hit Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces nearby, according to CBS, which showed separate video of those attacks.
uncertain
which → hit → attacks
Two large search and rescue planes with special forces troops and small helicopters landed on a makeshift desert airstrip several miles from where Bravo was hiding.
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Bravo → land → airstrip
His first glimpse of the US soldiers was, he said, “one of the greatest moments of my life” – and came with about 1,500 Iranian personnel inside a 10-mile radius, Cooper said.
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Cooper → say → radius
The extraction did not conclude without incident.
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extraction → conclude → incident
One rescue plane became lodged in the desert sand, was abandoned and then bombed to avoid it falling into enemy hands
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it → lodge → hands
Cooper said more than 90 Americans were involved on the ground, supported by several hundred more in the air, and up to 5,000 people involved overall.
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Americans → say → air
“What you need to know is we would have sent more to go get the back-seater,” he said.
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he → need → seater
CNN reported on Saturday that getting the airmen to appear on television was a priority for Hegseth, who was eager to present a success story in Trump’s ongoing war that has killed 18 US troops, wounded more than 800 and sent oil and gasoline prices soaring.
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prices → report → 800
In a statement to CNN, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell called that story “a complete lie”.
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Parnell → call → story
He said the decision about whether to participate in the 60 Minutes interview on Sunday “was each pilot’s alone, because it is their story”.
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it → say → Sunday
“As CNN notes, one pilot decided to participate and one did not,” Parnell’s statement said.
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statement → note → ?
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
