On April 3, just five weeks into the war with Iran, two American Air Force officers — identified by their mission call signs, Alpha and Bravo — took off in an F-15E fighter jet to conduct a nighttime strike on Iranian facilities.
It started as “another day in the war for us,” Bravo, the weapons systems officer, told CBS News. “Until the moment where we got hit by an Iranian weapon.”
Bravo described the impact from the Iranian missile as “getting hit by a freight train.” Within seconds, Bravo and Alpha, the pilot, ejected from the aircraft and “found ourselves floating over the heart of Iran.”
Bravo’s parachute was damaged by the initial hit.
“At one point when I looked up and saw no parachute, that was the most —” Bravo paused. “That was the most terrifying thing I have ever seen. So I paused right then and I prayed, ‘Lord, your will be done, but if I’m getting through this, I need help.’”
Shortly after, Bravo hit the ground at a speed of 70 to 100 miles an hour, military briefers estimate.
The forceful impact was only the beginning. Bravo would spend the next 50 hours evading Iranian bounty hunters, dealing with his severe injuries, working to communicate with U.S. forces and awaiting rescue.
It wouldn’t be until the sun rose on Easter morning, more than two days later, that Bravo was safely in the care of U.S. forces. His survival, he said, is “a modern-day miracle,” only possible because of divine intervention.
“I believe that it’s a testament to God’s provision in my life to bring me through that moment,” Bravo said in an interview with “60 Minutes,” his first public description of the events. “And I’m grateful eternally for knowing that He was there with me.”
The events following the crash
When Bravo landed, he sustained significant injuries: a broken back, arm and shoulder; a sprained ankle; and several bleeding wounds on his head and face.
Despite his injuries, Bravo knew his priority had to be distancing himself from the crash site to evade Iranian capture. That night, with limited supplies and extensive injuries, he climbed a 7,000-foot ridgeline.
“Never let a lack of motivation put you on Iranian TV,” he remembered thinking.
Approximately six hours after the crash, Bravo watched as U.S. forces rescued Alpha, while Bravo remained behind enemy lines.
Even in the face of his own undecided fate, Bravo said he felt no envy or hopelessness seeing his partner fly to safety. In fact, he called it a “boon to (his) survival” and said he was grateful for the opportunity to witness the rescue.
“It was the proudest dad moment of my life,” Bravo said. “To see it firsthand made me incredibly proud of them and of Americans like them that continue to raise their hand and say, ‘Here I am, send me.’”
‘God is good,’ Bravo reported amid survival efforts
When night fell on the first day, Bravo sent a brief message to friendly forces: “I’m hurt. I’m moving. God is good.”
“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,” Bravo said.
It was nearly 50 hours after Bravo was shot down that he was finally rescued, but he said he never had a doubt the U.S. military would rescue him.
“I have great faith in my creator,” Bravo said. “Second only to that is my faith in the men and women of the United States military to do what we say we are going to do.”
‘I don’t have this story without faith’
Bravo described the moment his rescuer showed up to retrieve him from the ridgeline as “one of the greatest moments of (his) life.”
He didn’t reveal what his rescuers said to him, but his words to them were simple: “Let’s go.”
Reflecting on his rescue, Bravo said he does not think there is any other explanation for how he survived other than divine intervention.
“I don’t have this story without faith,” Bravo said. “I’m not saying faith is replacement for training, but instead it is a boon to training.”
“Training helps us understand what we do, but faith is the backstop of all of my actions during my time in Iran, and the way that guides what I do day in and day out.”