Military

A Modern-Day Parable in the Mountains of Iran

This weekend’s dramatic and harrowing rescue of a downed United States Air Force Officer deep in the mountains of Iran will undoubtedly be recreated and featured one day in a movie or documentary. 

But the incident also drove home an immediate foundational and long held principle and mantra of the American military:

No man or woman is ever left behind.

It was on Thursday night in Iran when a F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet was hit by Iranian fire. Both the pilot and aircraft’s weapons systems officer (WSO) were forced to eject. Within six hours the pilot was rescued, but the second officer remained at-large. He evaded enemy capture by hiding inside a mountain crevice on a 7,000-foot ridgeline.

The officer’s beacon device alerted the United States rescue team where he was – but they still needed to confirm he was alive and that he was the American they were looking to extract. Once that was accomplished with the help of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and various technologies, a misinformation campaign was launched to buy more time for the highly complex and coordinated rescue mission. U.S. officials began spreading the news in Iran that the WSO had already been rescued and was making his way out via a vehicle convoy.

It was all a ruse, but it was effective.

Members of America’s elite Special Operations Forces were called in, including Navy SEAL Team Six, Delta Force, the Air Force Pararescuemen (PJs), and the 160th SOAR “Night Stalkers” – the Army’s elite aviation unit. Dozens of other groups and individuals were also part of the daring mission. Well over 200 military personnel participated in the operation. 

Officials have described the mission as one of the most difficult and complex ever performed by U.S. forces. In the aftermath of the rescue, President Trump called the operation “an Easter Miracle.” He told NBC’s Kristen Welker, “The enemy was large and violent. The rescuers were brilliant, strong, decisive, and as cool as anyone can be. Such a rescue has never happened before in so violent an enemy territory. It is usually not done because it is considered not doable.”

In fact, it almost wasn’t doable as the two C-130’s dispatched to ferry both the WSO and some of the rescuers got stuck in the desert sand. Three replacement aircraft were sent in, and the abandoned planes were destroyed by the Americans to prevent them from getting into enemy hands.

After the WSO was safely back in U.S hands, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social:

“WE GOT HIM!” he declared. “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.”

He then added:

“WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND.”

Sending hundreds to save even one brings to mind the “Parable of the Lost Sheep,” the biblical story of a shepherd leaving his ninety-nine sheep to search for the one lost in the wilderness (Matthew 18:10-14, Luke 15:4-7).

America’s military is a secular force, of course, but some of the principles it employs, including the “leave no man behind” commitment, mirror teachings found in Scripture. Might that be the case because America was founded by individuals for whom God’s Word was a central or core part of their lives?

We are blessed to live in a country that can assemble a group of warriors with the bravery and courage needed to pull off such a mission.

It was revealed the first message the downed airman gave back to his rescuers was three words: “God is good.”

Speaking at the White House on Monday, President Trump summed up the rescue by saying, “God was watching us.” 

Please join us in praying for our military members serving in the ongoing conflict and for a peaceful and lasting resolution.

Court Upholds Trump Ban on ‘Transgender’ Service Members

A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to enforce its prohibition on transgender-identified individuals from serving in the military.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled a lower court had afforded “insufficient deference” to the secretary of war to enforce strict medical standards on service members.

The decision stays Biden-nominated Judge Ana C. Reyes’s March 18 preliminary injunction that had placed the Pentagon’s policy on ice after several transgender-identifying service members filed a lawsuit to prevent the policy’s enforcement.

Judge Reyes is the “first openly LGBT” person to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and “is a longtime Democrat Party donor,” The Federalist reports.

Judge Gregory Katsas, a Trump nominee, authored the Court of Appeals’ decision and explained the Hegseth Policy “is likely constitutional because it reflects a considered judgement of military leaders and furthers legitimate military interests.”

“The government identifies several legitimate military interests that the Hegseth Policy advances,” Judge Katsas continued. “Chief among them is military readiness. … Secretary Hegseth had before him evidence that treatments for gender dysphoria would limit deployability and may not be effective. … His predecessors unanimously agreed that these concerns are serious ones.”

In May, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a separate preliminary injunction in a related case that had prohibited the Pentagon from disqualifying transgender-identified individuals from military service. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson had dissented from the Court’s decision.

Judge Katsas cited the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling as a further reason for staying Judge Reyes’ preliminary injunction.

“The Supreme Court has already held that the government is likely to succeed on its contention that the Hegseth Policy does not violate equal protection,” Judge Katsas wrote.

Judge Neomi Rao, also a nominee of President Trump, joined the Court of Appeals’ majority opinion. Judge Cornelia Pillard, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, dissented.

Just one week after taking office for the second time, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order, Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness, that made it the policy of the U.S. government to “establish high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity.”

The order properly explained,

This policy is inconsistent with the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria. This policy is also inconsistent with shifting pronoun usage or use of pronouns that inaccurately reflect an individual’s sex.

The Pentagon then issued a directive on February 26 disqualifying individuals with a current diagnosis, or exhibiting symptoms, of gender dysphoria from military service. The directive also stipulates:

  • All service members will only serve in accordance with their sex.
  • Pronoun usage within the military must reflect service members’ sex.
  • Sleeping, changing and bathing facilities will be designated based on biological sex.
  • The Department of Defense will not pay for transgender medical interventions.

The directive reversed two previous presidential policies, implemented by the Obama and Biden administrations, that had relaxed the military’s policy of prohibiting “individuals with gender dysphoria, a medical condition associated with clinically significant distress,” from serving in the military.

Between 2015 and 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense spent over $52 million providing transgender medical interventions to active-duty service members.

Following the Court of Appeals’ ruling, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth posted a meme depicting his foot kicking “Woke Culture” and “DEI Military” out the front door of the Department of War.

“This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department. To rip out the politics,” Secretary Hegseth told hundreds of our nation’s top military leaders in a speech in September.

“No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction or gender delusions. No more debris.”

Now, two of our nation’s highest courts have upheld one of the administration’s initiatives to restore a “warrior ethos” to the military and end the “woke” at the Department of War.

Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver issued a statement after the Court of Appeals’ ruling, saying, “The D.C. Court of Appeals ruling affirms that the Equal Protection Clause does not require the armed forces to disregard its legitimate medical standards that are essential for mission success.”

“The ‘Hegseth Policy’ is grounded in objective medical criteria and the natural differences between the sexes to ensure that every servicemember is fully prepared — physically and mentally — to meet the challenges of defending our nation.”

The Daily Citizen will keep you updated of any important developments in this case.

The case isTalbott v. United States.

Related articles and resources:

Hegseth: No More ‘Woke’ At Department of War

Supreme Court Lets Trump’s ‘Transgender Military Ban’ Take Effect

SecDef Hegseth: Military Reinstating 8,700 Wrongly Discharged Servicemembers

Biden-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump Ban on ‘Transgender’ Service Members

Pentagon Ends Paid Travel Expenses and Time Off for Abortions

Photo from Getty Images.