A US Air Force colonel survived 50 hours in a mountainous region of Iran after his F-15E jet was shot down by a shoulder-fired missile in April, sending his first message that God is good.
The colonel suffered a broken back, arm, and shoulder after his parachute failed during ejection, forcing him to hide in a mountain crevice with a pistol while evading Iranian forces.
United States forces conducted a rescue mission involving over 90 service members on the ground, destroying stranded aircraft worth around $100 million each to prevent sensitive technology capture.