ALIVE!

[flashman13]

10. Seriously, the pilot was rescued last night. It was completely wild cowboy shit, but they got him.

There was a major gun fight with rescuers wounded, none killed. Two (very expensive aircraft modified just for this type of mission) HMC-130J Commando II flew in from Kuwait and landed in Iran. They unloaded two MH-6J Little Bird helicopters which flew with Rangers on board to retreive the missing pilot. A some point(s) there was a major fire fight. The two Commandos, for unknown reasons, were rendered incapable of flight. Three other aircraft flew in to lift out the rescuers. The Commandos and Little Birds (probably because there wasn't time to load them, possibly while under fire) were abandoned and blown up to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands.

It is impossible to overstate the bravery and skill required to make this rescue work. The sad thing is that we should not be at war with Iran and none of these people should have been there to start with.