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US pilot describes miracle survival after Iranian missile hit his F-15E

On 14 September 2026, Israel Hayom published US pilot describes miracle survival after Iranian missile hit his F-15E. Batsheva Shulman wrote it. She retells a CBS interview with a US Air Force colonel, known only by the call sign Bravo, whose F-15E was shot down over Iran in April. The same account says more than 90 US troops were then stranded on Iranian soil. An American family should care because this is a reported case of American service members on the ground in Iran, under fire, during a rescue.

Background for new readers: On 28 February 2026 the United States and Israel began a joint air war on Iran. The Pentagon calls its part Operation Epic Fury; Israel calls its part Operation Roaring Lion. It came eight months after a shorter war in June 2025, when US bombers hit Iran's nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The question running through this section is whether the air war turns into American soldiers fighting on Iranian soil. This article is filed under Americans on Iranian Soil; the full article index lists every article on this shelf.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. The rating covers the article's report that more than 90 American troops were on Iranian soil, from the 60 Minutes interview with the rescued officer, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Adm. Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, as Israel Hayom retells it.

What the article says​

Shulman writes that, months into what she calls the US-Israeli war with Iran, Bravo told Norah O'Donnell of CBS how he survived after an Iranian shoulder-fired missile hit his jet in April. He was the weapon-systems officer in a two-person crew. The other crew member's call sign was Alpha. Cooper told O'Donnell the mission, call sign Dude 44, was aimed at Iranian industrial sites tied to drones and missiles.

The article says the crew ejected after the jet could not be saved. Both ended up on the ground in Isfahan, in Iran, about five miles apart. Bravo is quoted saying that seeing no parachute was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen. The article says the landing broke his back, arm, and shoulder. It says he moved away from the landing spot and climbed toward a ridgeline. CBS, citing military sources, reported that Iranian forces came within a few hundred meters of him.

A US rescue team reached Alpha six hours after the shootdown, the article says. Bravo was able to report that he was hurt but could still move. Hegseth told O'Donnell that deciding what to do next was a "really tough decision," especially after the rescue helicopter sent for Bravo took fire from Iranian forces. Hegseth decided Bravo would be taken out within another 24 hours.

Nearly a full day passed, the article says, with little water or food. Two rescue planes then reached him.

"But then sand clogged the aircraft's landing gear, stranding more than 90 troops, described by Cooper as among the military's "most elite service members," stranded on Iranian soil."

Adm. Brad Cooper's description, as given by Batsheva Shulman in Israel Hayom, 14 September 2026, recounting what he told CBS News.

The article says the service members destroyed the aircraft so Iranian forces could not take them. Other US forces then arrived and brought them home. Bravo told O'Donnell it was a story of what the United States will do "to uphold our promise and leave no man behind."

Shulman adds that the war was in its seventh month and that the two sides were still exchanging fire. She writes that, according to The Hill, Trump has said the war will conclude after the midterm elections and has floated the United States taking over Iran's oil supply. That oil remark is The Hill as cited here. This page did not open The Hill.

Status: Pete Hegseth is alive. Brad Cooper is alive. Donald Trump is alive. The article identifies the downed officer only by the call sign Bravo.

What other reporting adds​

Two other write-ups of the same broadcast. An RT write-up of the 60 Minutes segment, pasted on X the same day, gives Cooper's fuller count: "More than 90 US service members were ultimately deployed on the ground, while several hundred personnel were in the air and several thousand supported the operation," and says he "described them as the first acknowledged US 'boots on the ground' in Iran in 46 years." (as pasted by @rbg4lif on X, 14 September 2026; research capture: twitter/t49__v581.md). A second write-up says the jet "was hit by an Iranian shoulder-fired missile during a strike mission against drone and missile facilities south of Isfahan," that Alpha "was recovered in a daylight raid about six hours later amid incoming fire," and that Trump had "hailed the extraction as an 'Easter Miracle.'" (@LTSmash420 on X, 14 September 2026; research capture: twitter/t53__v633.md). An open-source aircraft tracker lists an F-15E with the call sign "DUDE44" among losses over Iran (research capture: twitter/t53__v628.md).

Dissent from the official story. Back in April, one account argued the stuck-in-sand explanation "sounds fake" because "Videos make it clear the ground was solid," and suggested the aircraft had come for a raid on a nuclear site (@Disinfo_Tracker on X, 6 April 2026; research capture: twitter/t50__v590.md). That is one account's reading of videos. No document in the captures supports it. It is a lead only.

Rating note. The rating stays MODERATE for this page because it rests on one retelling. Three separate write-ups of the same CBS broadcast now agree on "more than 90" on the ground. If the broadcast is checked directly, this claim would support STRONG or higher.

What it shows​

More than 90 of the military's "most elite service members," in Cooper's words as reported, were stranded on Iranian soil when sand clogged their aircraft's landing gear. That is the gap between "no boots on the ground" and what happened. Americans were on the ground inside Iran, in danger, in a war the public was told would be fought from the air. See Americans Already on Iranian Soil and No Boots on the Ground.

Check it yourself​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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