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President Donald Trump revealed new details on the 36-hour rescue of a U.S. colonel that was "injured quite badly" and "bleeding rather profusely" after his fighter jet was shot down over Iran this past weekend.
“In the United States military, we leave no American behind. We don’t do it,” Trump told reporters during a White House briefing Monday (April 6) via the New York Post, acknowledging that the airman treated his own wounds while hiding in an area "teeming with terrorists" for nearly two days.
The president also credited rescuers for demonstrating "a breath-taking show of skill" in their efforts to save the airman only publicly identified by his nickname "Dude Bravo 44."
“The heroic F-15 weapons system officer had evaded capture on the ground in Iran for almost 48 hours. That’s a long time when you’re in tough shape and when you’re bleeding,” Trump added.
The airman landed a "significant distance" away from the pilot of the two-passenger F-15E jet, who was found earlier in the weekend. A senior Trump administration official confirmed to NBC News that the CIA subterfuge's assistant was crucial in the second crew member's rescue.
The intelligence agency initially launched a deception campaign inside Iran, reporting that the airman had already been found alive by U.S. forces and moved on the ground to be taken out of Iran.
“While the Iranians were confused and uncertain of what was happening, the Agency used its unique, exquisite capabilities to search for -- and find -- the American," the official said in a statement obtained by NBC News. "This was the ultimate 'needle in a haystack,’ but in this case it was a brave American soul inside a mountain crevice, invisible but for CIA’s capabilities.”