US Airman Gives Defiant Selfie After Rescue From Iran

A defiant thumbs-up from a US airman who cheated death: The hero shot down over Iran smiles in a selfie taken moments after his nerve-shredding rescue. An exclusive Daily Mail image reveals the tough-as-nails colonel reclining in a stretcher seat inside the belly of a C-17 aircraft, his face marked with swelling, scratches and unmistakable relief.

The weapons systems officer suffered agonizing injuries including a broken back after ejecting from his stricken F-15E Strike Eagle when it was shot down deep in enemy territory on April 3. While his crewmate was rescued within hours, it took US forces nearly 50 hours to whisk the stranded aviator to safety from a remote mountain ridge as Iranian fighters closed in.

And yet he was only too happy to smile for a selfie with one of the proud pilots who took part in the daring raid involving more than 150 American aircraft and thousands of military personnel. The patriotic snap, published for the first time by the Daily Mail, is likely to infuriate Iranian commanders who were racing to find the stranded aviator first to score a sick propaganda coup.

The serviceman has not been named publicly, but he broke his silence Sunday evening to describe his incredible tale of survival to CBS 60 Minutes. I had injuries, but we all train to adapt and overcome the things that we're faced with, he told host Norah O'Donnell, who referred to him by his call sign, Dude 44 Bravo.

The US Air Force colonel identified as Dude 44 Bravo can be seen smiling and flashing a triumphant thumbs-up in a selfie obtained by the Daily Mail after he was rescued from enemy territory in April. The heroic airman opened up about his experience being stuck behind enemy lines in Iran in an interview with 60 Minutes on CBS on Monday.

Never let a lack of motivation put you on Iranian TV, he added. The officer was forced to eject from the back seat of the $30 million fighter jet when it was hit by a shoulder-fired missile in the remote Zagros mountains. His parachute was damaged by the blast – leaving him freefalling to the ground at 70 to 100mph.

At one point, when I looked up and saw no parachute, that was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen, he said. He wasn't focused on the speed at which he was falling.

A pilot was saved within hours after a crash, but finding his partner became a nightmare. That second airman, known only as Bravo, endured broken bones in his back, arm, and shoulder along with a sprained ankle. Iranian forces hunted him relentlessly while a $60,000 bounty sat on his head. He trekked up a 7,000-foot ridgeline and dug into a crevice for nearly 50 hours. To keep from being tracked, he used an emergency beacon only when absolutely necessary, broadcasting a faint SOS until the CIA finally heard it. Bravo admitted he was terrified once he realized his parachute had been destroyed. He told reporters about that moment of fear with raw honesty.

Wreckage sits where Iranian authorities said a US military helicopter went down during the rescue mission. When the airman could finally review everything he survived, he sent a message saying 'God is good' to honor what faith brought him through. The rescue operation surged into full gear while American bombers and drones struck Iran's Revolutionary Guard forces near where Bravo was hiding. Once the path cleared, more than 90 special operators entered the country. This marked the first time US troops stepped onto Iranian soil in 46 years.

The original plan involved moving Bravo by helicopter before loading him into one of two rescue planes waiting at a makeshift desert airstrip. Seeing his rescuer approach felt like 'one of the greatest moments of my life' according to the airman speaking with 60 Minutes. Yet danger remained even then because those planes got stuck in sand and could not take off. A clandestine Air Force unit swooped in to extract them before the stranded aircraft – worth $100 million each – were bombed to stop US military tech from falling into Iranian hands.

Finally, Bravo called his wife. He admitted he was close to tears while saying 'I was really proud of her and grateful for the strength that she showed.' Describing this unprecedented mission, he declared it a story of teamwork, training, faith, decisions, and leadership doing something that will live in history as an example of what America is willing to do to uphold its promise and leave no man behind.