Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Monday that a downed U.S. airman’s first message after ejecting over Iran was a simple but powerful declaration: “God is good.”
Speaking during a press conference with President Donald Trump about the rescue mission, Hegseth framed the operation in spiritual terms, noting the airman was shot down on Good Friday, spent Saturday hiding in a mountain crevice, and was ultimately rescued as the sun rose on Easter Sunday.
“In that moment of isolation and danger, his faith and fighting spirit shone through,” Hegseth said. “A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for, a nation rejoicing. God is good.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the downed U.S. airman’s first message after activating his emergency transponder was simple: “God is good.” <a href="https://t.co/gqka8LalPo">pic.twitter.com/gqka8LalPo</a>
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/2041209101091537003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2026</a></blockquote>
Hegseth added that no American lives were lost in the operation, as U.S. forces upheld the Airman’s Creed, which promises to never leave an airman behind.
“We leave no man behind,” Hegseth said. “And that is not luck.&#8221;
Both <a href="https://x.com/petehegseth/status/2040779298823659939?s=46&amp;t=o-U3qwC25WnWaylJ0oeG7Q">Hegseth</a> and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/2040880310250770892">tweeted</a> “God is Good” on Easter Sunday, alluding to the message from the airman.
According to details outlined by President Trump, the F-15E fighter jet was struck in southwest Iran, causing the pilot and Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) to eject. The pilot was successfully recovered in a mission several hours later, while the WSO spent 48 hours evading capture by enemies.
Trump said that despite being injured and “bleeding rather profusely,&#8221; the airman treated his own wounds, scaled cliff faces, and contacted American forces to transmit his location.
To recover the airman, more than 155 aircraft were used, including four bombers, 64 fighter jets, 48 refueling tankers, and 13 rescue aircraft. According to Trump, many of the aircraft were used to fool the Iranians into checking incorrect locations while searching for the American servicemember.
“We wanted to have them think he was in a different location, because they had a vast military force out there—thousands, thousands of people were looking,” Trump said. “So we wanted them to look in different areas, so we were scattered all over like we were right on top of them.”
Trump added that Iranians were tricked by seven different locations and were “very confused.”
Meanwhile, American forces rushed to the correct evacuation zone.
“America&#8217;s military descended on the area—the real area—engaged the enemy, rescued the stranded officer, destroyed all threats, and exited Iranian territory while taking no casualties of any kind,” Trump said.
Two large aircraft used in the rescue became stuck in wet sand and were unable to take off, according to President Trump. A contingency plan was quickly put in place, bringing in additional planes to evacuate personnel.
“We had a contingency plan which was unbelievable—where lighter, faster aircraft came in and they took them out, we blew up the old planes—we blew &#8217;em up to smithereens,” Trump said.

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Rescued Airman’s Words To God Now Echoing Across America