{"id":2587237,"date":"2026-04-05T02:38:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T06:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-downed-us-f-15-crew-member-rescued-after-evading-capture-in-iranian-mountains\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T02:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T06:42:10","slug":"breaking-downed-us-f-15-crew-member-rescued-after-evading-capture-in-iranian-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-downed-us-f-15-crew-member-rescued-after-evading-capture-in-iranian-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking: Downed US F-15 Crew Member Rescued After Evading Capture in Iranian Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbreaking-downed-us-f-15-crew-member-rescued-after-evading-capture-in-iranian-mountains%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2587237&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>An F-15E fighter jet was shot down by Iran\u2019s IRGC Friday in a remote area of southwestern Iran. U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israeli-military-expansion-in-syria-raises-tensions-as-they-carve-out-a-buffer-zone\/\" title=\"Israeli military expansion in Syria raises tensions as they carve out a buffer zone\">forces quickly moved<\/a> to rescue the pilot, who was retrieved Sunday night after two helicopters came under enemy fire; one helicopter was struck by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-national-guard-positions-armored-vehicles-on-border-with-mexico\/\" title=\"Texas National Guard Positions Armored Vehicles on Border With Mexico\">small-arms fire<\/a>. The Weapons Systems Officer, wounded in the attack, was initially left behind but managed to evade capture while communications with the surviving pilot helped locate him, and he was rescued the next day. IRGC forces did mount a counterattack on a U.S. black Hawk during the mission,but the helicopter continued to fly. President Donald trump publicly celebrated the rescue on Truth Social, asserting that the U.S. \u201cwill never leave an American warfighter behind\u201d and warning iran over the Strait of Hormuz. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Houston Cantwell called Friday\u2019s incident the first time in about twenty years that a U.S. fighter jet has been shot down in combat, with observers noting escalating tensions and a possible peak in the conflict.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mercyme-debuts-new-single-for-crew-member-who-lost-all-four-limbs\/\" title=\"\u2018MercyMe\u2019 Debuts New Single for Crew Member Who Lost All Four Limbs\">crew member<\/a> of a F-15E fighter jet shot down by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces was rescued Sunday night. The F-15E was shot down in a remote area of southwestern Iran Friday, with IRGC forces quickly taking the credit for the attack.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. forces quickly converged on the area to rescue the pilot, and found themselves under fire, per a report from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/missing-u-s-crew-member-from-downed-fighter-jet-rescued-in-iran-sources-say\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CBS News<\/a>. Later on Friday, two military helicopters swooped in, picked up the pilot, and escaped the area with him onboard while taking enemy fire. One of the U.S. choppers was struck by &ldquo;small arms fire,&rdquo; wounding crew members onboard.<\/p>\n<p>While the pilot was brought to safety, the downed jet&rsquo;s weapons systems officer &mdash; wounded from the attack &mdash; was left to fend for himself in the mountains, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/04\/05\/iran-f15-crew-member-rescued\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Axios<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>IRGC forces rushed to the area to capture the missing officer. Despite his injuries, he managed to evade enemy capture for over a day.<\/p>\n<p>Since the two F-15E crew members remained connected via their d comms systems, U.S. forces were able to locate the weapons systems officer on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>A &ldquo;specialized commando unit&rdquo; entered the region covered by U.S. air support that &ldquo;unleashed a hail of heavy fire&rdquo; to conduct the rescue, per Axios.<\/p>\n<p>IRGC forces did manage to strike a U.S. Blackhawk that took part in the effort, but it managed to fly on despite <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >multiple crew members sustaining injuries<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The second F-15E crew member was rescued hours later on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump d about the historic rescue shortly thereafter via his  account.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"truthsocial-embed\" style=\"max-width: 100%; border: 0;\" src=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/116350133044957842\/embed\" width=\"600\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><script src=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/embed.js\" async=\"async\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;WE GOT HIM! My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History,&rdquo; Trump wrote.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour, but was never truly alone because his Commander in Chief, Secretary of War, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and fellow Warfighters were monitoring his location 24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND! The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies&hellip; We truly have the best, most professional, and lethal Military in the History of the World. GOD BLESS AMERICA, GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS, AND HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>According to retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Houston Cantwell, Friday&rsquo;s attack marks the first time in two decades that a U.S. fighter jet has been shot down in combat.<\/p>\n<p>Three other U.S. fighter jets have been shot down since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, but those were all the result of friendly-fire incidents, according to the Pentagon.<\/p>\n<p>The war&rsquo;s escalation appears to be fastly approaching a pinnacle.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday as the rescue effort was ongoing, President Trump threatened that &ldquo;hell will reign down&rdquo; on the Iranian regime if it doesn&rsquo;t agree to open the Straight of Hormuz &mdash; a key global oil checkpoint in the region &mdash; within 48 hours.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A crew member of an F-15E fighter jet shot down by Iran\u2019s IRGC in southwestern Iran on Friday was rescued Sunday night. IRGC quickly claimed credit for the attack, and U.S. forces moved in to recover the pilot while taking fire. Two American helicopters inserted to extract him; one helicopter was struck by small-arms fire but continued the evacuation. The jet\u2019s weapons systems officer, wounded in the attack, was left behind in the mountains but avoided capture for more than a day. Because the two F-15E crew members stayed connected by radio, U.S. forces were able to locate the WSO on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Axios reports a \u201cspecialized commando unit\u201d entered the area and unleashed heavy fire to carry out the rescue. The IRGC did manage to strike a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter participating in the effort, but it kept flying despite injuries to crew members. The second F-15E crew member was rescued hours later on Sunday morning. President Trump later hailed the operation on social media, saying the U.S. military conducted one of the most daring rescues in history and that the American warrior was never truly alone because of leadership monitoring the mission. He asserted that the United States would never leave a wounded service member behind and praised the overall display of air dominance.<\/p>\n<p>Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Houston Cantwell said Friday\u2019s shootdown marked the first time in about two decades that a U.S. fighter jet was brought down in combat, noting that three other U.S. fighters had been downed since the Iran conflict began, all in friendly-fire incidents according to the Pentagon. The incident signals a sharp escalation in the war. On Saturday, amid the rescue effort, Trump threatened Iran with severe consequences if it did not agree to open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2587238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Michael-Featured-Image-881.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[14743,18326,3823,4505,12701],"class_list":["post-2587237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-aviation","tag-f-15","tag-iran","tag-military","tag-rescue"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Michael-Featured-Image-881.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2587237"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2587241,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587237\/revisions\/2587241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2587238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2587237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2587237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2587237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}