US Rescues Second Airman from Iran after "Heavy Firefight"

[AverageOldGuy]

8. Here is NYT story -- may be behind paywall

NYT:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/04/world/iran-war-trump-news

An Air Force officer whose fighter jet had been shot down in Iran was rescued by U.S. Special Operations forces in a risky Saturday night mission that took commandos deep into enemy territory, said current and former U.S. officials briefed on the operation.

The rescue followed a life-or-death race between U.S. and Iranian forces that stretched over two days to reach the injured airman, who was a weapons officer, the officials said. In the end, U.S. commandos extracted the officer in a massive operation that involved hundreds of special operations troops.There were no U.S. casualties among the rescue team, a senior U.S. military official said. All the commandos, and the weapons officer returned safely. Rescue planes flew to Kuwait to treat the injured weapons officer.

I have seen one report that we destroyed two of our rescue aircraft. MSNOW is reporting (12:17 AM EDST, 4/5/2026) that two "transport aircraft" were damaged, replacement aircraft were flown in, the two damaged aircraft were destroyed by US forces.